Fallingwater

I already have two pin wrenches, and I took the locknut off with one, but the pin is too narrow to fit in the hole in the cup. I wasn't about to Dremel the pin to make it narrower, as that would have made it work on the cup but would have weakened it for other purposes; my way is a bit brutal, but ensures I can deal with the cup even with simple adjustable wrenches in the future if need be.

By the way, this rust converter stuff I have? Nasty. But it seems to do the job; it's blackened all the rust on the headset part of the frame that I wasn't able to wirewheel off and gone transparent anywhere there isn't rust, leaving a (somewhat bulbous) protective film which should harden in a few hours. I can't say it's nice to look at, but at least it keeps rust off and it's a lot easier and faster to apply than a full repaint. Time will tell if it'll stay in place or flake off.

Oh, and an hour after wirewheeling rust off I was feeling a slight itch on my chest, so I went to scratch it and found a bristle from the wirewheel embedded in my skin through my shirt. PSA: wear eye protection.

devinfan

Good for you for keeping the paint! I love where this restoration is going, I think its going to look absolutely beautiful in the end after all your hard work.

Fallingwater

It is done.

Well, almost.

It runs. It's usable. I've already done an errand on it.



(Pic is clicky. Also, the original again for comparison)

But: the whole wheel fiasco forced me to turn it into a single-speed until I get the whole thing sorted with the shop and they hopefully send me a properly dished wheel.

Although I'll say this - it feels surprisingly good. I got rid of all the original bells and whistles I have no need for (fenders, rack, massive vintage-style headlamp, dynamo) so none of that clangs around, no derailer means much less noise as the chain doesn't have to go through two additional gears, and it feels smoooooth - every bearing in the bike has been repacked and regreased, including the new wheels.

I chose a 20-tooth sprocket (with a 46-tooth chainring) because there are a few hills around here and I want to be able to take them without getting off and pushing - but this also means that while I can go almost fast without tiring myself out too much, to go actually fast I have to spin like a madman, so I'm pretty sure I'm gonna put the gears back on as soon as possible.

And the brakes will have to be changed - the current ones are flimsy, meant for steel wheels with barely any friction at all, and they bend like crazy under hard braking with the aluminium wheels. They stop me in a usefully short distance, but they're spongy and squeaky and I feel really uneasy potentially trusting them with my life. Maybe I'm just spoiled by maniacally tuned V and disc brakes, but these really don't feel good at all - I can't even lock the rear wheel without squeezing the lever so hard I worry it could snap. I'll order a set of modern dual-pivots with the new wheel and get rid of the problem.

Also it's absolutely fugly, because the anti-rust treatment blackened everything and dulled the chrome, and I had to strip almost the whole plating off the handlebars because there was a ton of rust under it, so they got blackened even more than the rest of the frame and now they look like they were built by the orks of Mordor. But I choose to see the glass half full: it certainly isn't a shiny hipster-bike that screams "STEAL ME". And as everybody knows, red makes things faster (the original had red cable housings and I wanted to maintain at least that little aesthetic detail).

All in all I'm happy (though I'll be happier further on) and I learned a ton of things about bike mechanicals.

Edit: yes, I know the angle of the seat needs to be adjusted - I forgot to tighten the bolt, went down a step and almost slid off the back.

devinfan

Congrats on getting it back on the road! Amazing job especially taking into consideration where the components started at. I confess it would have been too much for me. If I may humbly suggest I think a beat up Brooks saddle would complete the look, the modern one doesn't really suit the patina of the frame, but nicely done regardless.

Fallingwater

Yes, that saddle looks terrible on it, but the shops in my town only have modern saddles that are narrow - all the vintage-looking ones are massive slabs of brown rubber with large springs, and I know from previous experience that I really can't ride well on those. I'll be on the lookout for a narrow vintage-looking seat, but I'm not getting branded ones - I googled a bit and a Brooks would cost more than the entire rest of this restoration.

Updates:

I reeeeally love the narrow handlebars - I can squeeze between everything.

I reeeeeally hate the brakes. I know I said they're crappy already, but words cannot convey how crappy they really are. New ones are the number one priority now, even before wheels and gears.

I'm kinda liking singlespeed riding. I've ridden singlespeeds before, but they were all heavy clanging dutch-style citybikes that would herniate you if you had to carry them up stairs. The experience is totally different on a stripped-down bike like this, and it agrees with me. I still plan on putting gears back on because hills, but if I lived in a totally flat area I might just keep it as it is.

cyclotoine

very nice. I have nitto bars from an old japanese city bike that I believe are copies of the cinelli pope handlebars. They would put the hands in a similar position to these. Hands down my favorite fixed gear handlebars. Moustache bars I like too though, especially for skidding

markk900

Not to hijack your thread, but my Italian city bike project went much like yours....the chrome is not even as good as yours, but I did repaint (as the PO had already repainted once). Many similar features to your frame, and I agree - lightweight single speeds like these just FLY when you are riding them.....



Still haven't repainted the fork or the chaincase.....its warm enough now but I would rather ride it....and yes, brakes are crappy (but better than the steel sidepulls on some of the english bikes I have).