Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Newbie's first build!!

So I found this bike in hard rubbish about two weeks ago & have finally gotten around to getting started on it. The bike started out as a 9 speed or so? Chain hanging off, worn out red grips, front brake disconnected, flat tires & so on.. Since then I've managed to take off all the front brake components, remove the gearing mechanism, back wheel made up for single speed & started removing the c**ppy adhesive from the bars.

My future plans for it are a Matador Red respray, white grips & thats pretty much it. Although because it has vertical dropouts I need to buy a suitable chain tensioner, I've done the research & the DMR STS SS Chain Tensioner seems to be my best bet at making this work.

I dont have a whole lot of knowledge as to how I should go about doing certain things to this bike so I'll be asking a fair few questions, if y'all could help me out that would be greatly appreciated!

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0302_zps4897d7fa.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0303_zps55c26a43.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0304_zps16043b27.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0306_zps2142722a.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0310_zpsa26c5fa4.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0313_zpsdf73ce09.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0312_zpsa56e9d13.jpg

Also I can only assume these are Carbon forks? If so is there a special way I should go about cleaning them up and spraying them? Thanks.

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0317_zps41bd4917.jpg

http://d22zlbw5ff7yk5.cloudfront.net/images/cm-26400-0507b97a7ece10.gif

lose the sandpaper and get yourself some brake cleaner

are you using a pair of panties as a rag?

lol, those your panties? Not gonna lie, I've used weirder things as rags.

Diggin' the bike though, looks like it is, and will be a fun project,

Hahaha yeah just an old pair of underpants in the bottom of the drawer. Was using the sandpaper along with WD40 to try and get the old adhesive off the handlebars, worked alright but after reading a little more I realized I didn't need the sandpaper, just the pants lol. Any thoughts with painting those forks guys? Cheers :D

Sup?

You can paint it like its anything else. Give it a light sanding beforehand.

Yep, light sanding and you'll be good to go. Don't forget to post pics afterward! :D

Wait, a noob build thread that isn't completely dumb?

278758

http://www.jjthreads.com/uploads/images/applause1234363884-1.gif

Thanks guys, what grit sandpaper do you think I should use? I gave 120 Grit a go on the handlebars and felt it was a bit harsh on it. Picked up a can of Etch Primer this arvo so pics of the forks should be up by tomorrow :D

200, 400, 600

But you should leave the fork as is.

Looks like a great find. Are you going to use it as a single speed (and ditch the second chainring) or take it back to a multi geared bike?

Good idea Bat56. I've been doing a fair bit of reading into the whole fork idea and don't think I'll continue with it. So many people saying not to sand or paint as it could damage the "structural integrity" of the forks. Seems legit and not too keen to ruin the only bike I've been able to find lol. I'll just clean them up with some degreaser and maybe apply a clearcoat tomorrow. Are there certain clearcoats to use or NOT use?

sundaecommuter I I didn't even think of removing the second chain ring, good idea! Not too bike savvy lol & yeah I'll just be using it as a single speed :)

Thanks guys.

is it just me, or does that stem look painfully long?

Yes, the clear coat on the fork is what makes it structurally sound.

Also, make sure not to remove the load bearing decals.

Yes, the clear coat on the fork is what makes it structurally sound.

Also, make sure not to remove the load bearing decals.

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/000/681/what-you-did-there-i-see-it.thumbnail.jpg


indeeeeed

Did that bike come with a pair of those old 105 shifters, or just the one?

Plug up those handlebars unless you want a hole in your stomach. :rolleyes:

I doubt the sticker on the fork is load bearing, but it could be. It is definitely worth proceeding with caution. As for what you read about sanding reducing the structural clear coat, those Profile forks are build pretty good but you have options if you are nrevous. First option is to recoat with structural clear, the other is to use strength-preserving sandpaper. That is pretty hard to find. Some people have developed techniques to sand without damaging the "structural integrity" that you read a fair bit about but I am not well versed so I'll leave that to the experts.

Alright guys so I just got home then from the hardware store, picked up some of that structural clearcoat, pretty pricey but it's for a good cause. Also directions on the barrell say 83 coats, is that too much? As far as strength-preserving sandpaper goes, they were all out :( So I figure ill just dip them in a vat of resin.

Just ordered some new tape for the bars so they should be here in a few days. Just the one 105 as well hockeyteeth.

Diggin' all the feedback guys! :D

You're a good sport, pfdun! :thumb:

hes caught on too quickly, must be trolling.

More to the point, the reading that indicated some sort of compromise from painting a carbon fork was wrong.

Sorry Bat I was kind of rambling as I really have basic knowledge of bikes & didn't want this thread to die in the ass if I was rude or too blunt or something of the sort. Will not be painting the forks, just cleaning them up a bit. Pictures coming soon! :)

The undies match the water bottle cage. Nice.

Taken apart the remainder of the bike now, just have to wait for my chain tool to arrive so I can nick that old one off. Removed the forks as well. Cleaned the handlebars up much more with some WD40 and yet another pair of old underpants, this time grey!

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0323_zpsd25cc30d.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0322_zpsdaba151b.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0332_zps3d1e753d.jpg

Taking sundaecommuters advice i've decided to remove the second chainring, although i'm having problems getting the last bolt off due to rust & my allen keys are nearly being stripped because of this :( Any thoughts on getting it outta' there?

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0320_zpsbf39789c.jpg

Also a bit of a n00b question but this grey Shimano ring/washer at the bottom of the tube, is this meant to be removable? Its not budging at all.

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0336_zpsfdec18de.jpg

Thanks :D

blast that bolt with wd40 and let it soak in for a min, then hit it again and try and crank on it. if all else fails: drill

that shimano thingy is 1 of 2 headset cups and its what the bearings roll on when the fork is in there
you dont really need to take it out, but you can fashion (http://forums.mtbr.com/tooltime/how-make-your-own-headset-cup-remover-how-633778.html) a tool if you feel the need to
just make sure its as clean as can be on the inside and theres no rust or indexing (http://sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html)

also make sure youre greasing the proper stuff when you put all this back together

Thanks heaps Mumonkan, really good advice, will give this a go tomorrow and get some pics up :)

That cup should only be removed if you REALLY want to paint this thing correctly. You are going to have to put it back and that's not noob work. Painting around it, however, is definitely half-ass.

You should reconsider this paint job. Clean the bike up, grease everything, and ride it. If you really want paint do it later.

It might just be in my head, but in some of the pics, the weld between headtube and downtube looks cracked, and the fork doesn't look like its seating correctly with the headset, looks like it's bent. This might be why it was thrown out.

Take some more pics of the front end.

More pics Nagrom, what do you think? There doesn't look to be any cracks at all. Well at least I hope not. I think i'll take your advice Bat and put it all together when the rest of my parts get here, but how would I go about getting that second cup off? For future reference.

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0343_zps6ddd3d25.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0339_zps3b619bf7.jpg

Thanks.

Looks okay to me.

how would I go about getting that second cup off? For future reference.

same tool just put it through the other side.
park tool makes a "real (http://www.parktool.com/product/head-cup-remover-rt-1)" one but its like 30 bucks and 2 feet of emt pipe is like, $2

i concur with waiting on the paint too, ride it for a month or so and see if you love it enough

I'm seeing a large elliptical something in both pics. The paint chips in the second pic run tangent to the inside of the shape I'm seeing.

Might be crazy.

i chalked that up to removed stickers?

The headbadge is still on there, so idk what stickers would be there.

Yeah there were thick clear stickers half peeled off where those marks are. So slide a bit of pipe through the downtube and it will pop the other cup off?

I'm seeing that too. Like there was an oval sticker on both sides of the headtube. Good eye.

I make my cup removers out of whatever I can find, usually PVC pipe. I've also been known to use screwdrivers, pieces of wood, and other garbage.

Yeah there were thick clear stickers half peeled off where those marks are. So slide a bit of pipe through the downtube and it will pop the other cup off?

Ok, good. Just checking, couldn't tell if they were massive dents or not, haha.

Take a LARGE flat head screwdriver and place it on the inside lip of the cup, give it a few healthy taps, now rotate 180 and keep doing it.
You have to hit pretty damn hard.
Once they're out, you're going to need to take it to a bike shop to be reinstalled. You don't need to take them out, really.

Yeah there were thick clear stickers half peeled off where those marks are. So slide a bit of pipe through the downtube and it will pop the other cup off?

Not really "slide a bit if pipe" - the pipe should have vertical cuts as shown in the mtbr link. Did you look at that. And you don't really slide it, you smack it. With a hammer or a brick. Preferably a dead blow malet. You need to watch a video. Or ten. There are lots of ways to screw it up. One of which is not catching the cup and sending it flying. But you are in Australia so it will probably come back to you if that happens.

Awesome, heading to Bunnings tomorrow so i'll pick up some PVC & give it a go :D

Once they're out, you're going to need to take it to a bike shop to be reinstalled.

nah:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i164/low3rme/2012-06-25_12-41-20_797.jpg


You don't need to take them out, really.

yeah

I've got one of those, lol.

+1, works fantastically

Yup

Stickers were probably those clear stickers to keep cable housing rub from rubbing off paint - helicopter tape

Fwoah what on earth is that contraption?! Think i'll take the safe option and just get the bloke from the bike shop to take it off for me when and if I need it done. Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it! :)

its just a big screw, some washers and some nuts, crank on both sides and it pushes them back in

twss?

Last night all my parts & tools arrived :D So this morning I put the bike together to see how she handles. Fitting the chain was the biggest pain in the ass to date because stupid me didn't take the time to measure how many links I needed to take out, I took out too many & then couldn't run the chain on the bigger chainring because there wasn't enough chain. So I'm running it off the smaller one :D DUHHH made an absolute knobhead of myself with that one.

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0344_zpsb85dd90c.jpg

I was just going to use the smaller chainring but the bolts that go through the two were too long for just the one and wouldn't tighten anymore so I had to use both although i'm running the bike off the smaller one at the moment.

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0345_zpsc03b8c46.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0348_zpsf115559a.jpg

Gusset Bachelor Tensioner :D

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0347_zpsfd0028f9.jpg

Thar she goes! All thats left is to wrap the bars and it's all done, until I want to paint her that is :P

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/pauldoonam/IMG_0349_zps1d10823b.jpg