Just built my 1st Fixed Gear
01-09-10, 07:15 AM
#1
十人十色
Thread Starter
Just built my 1st Fixed Gear
This is my 1st post to this forum and I come here from Classic & Vintage. How do all!
I've just finished building up a Chesini Pista frame that I bought (my first ever new frame, as my C&V participation would suggest) when I visited Verona, home of Chesini, back in September last year. I looked in their window and saw a black, Columbus steel framed Pista. And it was good. I went back the next day and ordered one. It arrived here in Tokyo in November and I finished building it up at 2.30 yesterday morning. Yesterday and today I've been riding it. It's simply wonderful. Apart from being mysteriously beautiful to look at, it is light, taut, comfortable and responsive. What mostly goes through my mind is "WOW!"
It isn't my only fixed gear machine. I have a 1950 Thanet Silverlight with a fixed gear but it's very different from this modern machine. It's rather plush and ponderous and not a bit heavier. Otherwise, I usually ride a 1950 Hetchins, a 1982 Trek 730 or a 1979 Dawes Atlantis, my 'rainy day' machine with a Torpedo Duomatic hub and mudguards.
So, to the Chesini Pista - the visually stunning aspect is due to the Velato finish. The frame and forks are chromium-plated and then painted with clear green (or your choice of colour) paint. The result is like coloured chrome. In sunlight the the frame looks variously green, blue and pale grey. If you have the sun behind you the glare is spooky.
All the parts were to hand except for the rear hub and the tyres so it is an unusual mixture of 1950s English and French and 1970s Italian parts, the result of 2 years buying stuff for my other machines and then deciding to use something else. All my machines, apart from the Dawes and the Thanet, were bought as frames and then built up in my living room with wheel building and frame tweaking done by my LBS. Oh, and the brake lever is a 2008 Tektro as the 1950s GB lever I wanted to use was too small to fit on the Cinelli 'Priest' bars.
The stem is temporary and will be replaced by a stem of whatever length I find best. For me the most notable thing in the group set is the crank, a steel cotterless Stronglight Competition, which I can't find any reference to anywhere. And which I was going to use on the Thanet but looks great on the Chesini.
More photos at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/2298367...7622858499138/
I've just finished building up a Chesini Pista frame that I bought (my first ever new frame, as my C&V participation would suggest) when I visited Verona, home of Chesini, back in September last year. I looked in their window and saw a black, Columbus steel framed Pista. And it was good. I went back the next day and ordered one. It arrived here in Tokyo in November and I finished building it up at 2.30 yesterday morning. Yesterday and today I've been riding it. It's simply wonderful. Apart from being mysteriously beautiful to look at, it is light, taut, comfortable and responsive. What mostly goes through my mind is "WOW!"
It isn't my only fixed gear machine. I have a 1950 Thanet Silverlight with a fixed gear but it's very different from this modern machine. It's rather plush and ponderous and not a bit heavier. Otherwise, I usually ride a 1950 Hetchins, a 1982 Trek 730 or a 1979 Dawes Atlantis, my 'rainy day' machine with a Torpedo Duomatic hub and mudguards.
So, to the Chesini Pista - the visually stunning aspect is due to the Velato finish. The frame and forks are chromium-plated and then painted with clear green (or your choice of colour) paint. The result is like coloured chrome. In sunlight the the frame looks variously green, blue and pale grey. If you have the sun behind you the glare is spooky.
All the parts were to hand except for the rear hub and the tyres so it is an unusual mixture of 1950s English and French and 1970s Italian parts, the result of 2 years buying stuff for my other machines and then deciding to use something else. All my machines, apart from the Dawes and the Thanet, were bought as frames and then built up in my living room with wheel building and frame tweaking done by my LBS. Oh, and the brake lever is a 2008 Tektro as the 1950s GB lever I wanted to use was too small to fit on the Cinelli 'Priest' bars.
The stem is temporary and will be replaced by a stem of whatever length I find best. For me the most notable thing in the group set is the crank, a steel cotterless Stronglight Competition, which I can't find any reference to anywhere. And which I was going to use on the Thanet but looks great on the Chesini.
More photos at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/2298367...7622858499138/
01-09-10, 08:08 AM
#3
Radac!
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nice bike
you should join a few of us for a ride sometime!
you should join a few of us for a ride sometime!
01-09-10, 08:16 AM
#4
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VEry nice! Post pics in the Porn thread.
01-09-10, 08:28 AM
#6
十人十色
Thread Starter
Are you down in Yokota? Or Tokyo, as your Location has it? Where do you ride?
I'm keen to learn the tricks of fixed gear. I saw a woman doing little hops yesterday and later, talking to the owner of a shop in Yamate Dori (next to Yoyogi Hachiman shrine, called Second House, learnt it was a technique for setting up the pedal position for what you are about to do. Does that make sense? I speak Japanese but am not familiar with the language used about riding fixed-gear.
I'm keen to learn the tricks of fixed gear. I saw a woman doing little hops yesterday and later, talking to the owner of a shop in Yamate Dori (next to Yoyogi Hachiman shrine, called Second House, learnt it was a technique for setting up the pedal position for what you are about to do. Does that make sense? I speak Japanese but am not familiar with the language used about riding fixed-gear.
01-09-10, 09:11 AM
#8
Radac!
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im at yokota
Im hoping to meet up with some other members on teh board, but it seems to never work out due to my schedule
Also sometimes the little hops are skid hops. Alot of girls do it, cause its easier to lift the back of your bike, and lock and skid upon it hitting the ground, than overcoming the force while rolling.
Im hoping to meet up with some other members on teh board, but it seems to never work out due to my schedule
Also sometimes the little hops are skid hops. Alot of girls do it, cause its easier to lift the back of your bike, and lock and skid upon it hitting the ground, than overcoming the force while rolling.
01-09-10, 09:53 AM
#9
十人十色
Thread Starter
01-09-10, 10:06 AM
#10
Gentlemen.
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That's a beauty! What rims and tires are those? I like your wheels a lot.
01-09-10, 10:42 AM
#12
Your cog is slipping.
More photos and info are on the flikr link he provided.
01-09-10, 10:45 AM
#13
十人十色
Thread Starter
Thank you!
The rims are Super Champion Arc-en-Ciel 36 hole. They come in 32 hole - https://www.levelodansleretro.com/sup...ars-nos-en.htm and a gorgeous blue - https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...ht_1714wt_1167 ).
The tyres are Japanese Soyo Pro-fessional Spurt Racing tubulars - about $50 a pair on Yahoo Auction Japan - https://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n78612477
Spokes are Hoshi DB, rear hub is a Shimano 7600 and the front a Campag Nuovo Tipo.
The rims are Super Champion Arc-en-Ciel 36 hole. They come in 32 hole - https://www.levelodansleretro.com/sup...ars-nos-en.htm and a gorgeous blue - https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...ht_1714wt_1167 ).
The tyres are Japanese Soyo Pro-fessional Spurt Racing tubulars - about $50 a pair on Yahoo Auction Japan - https://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n78612477
Spokes are Hoshi DB, rear hub is a Shimano 7600 and the front a Campag Nuovo Tipo.
Last edited by Dawes-man; 01-09-10 at 11:17 AM.
01-09-10, 10:59 AM
#14
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Are the crank pedal threads French? Are the pedals Lyotard? Again, let me congratulate you on one of the nicest classic builds I have ever seen.
01-09-10, 11:01 AM
#15
十人十色
Thread Starter
Thank you!
I'm just learning to ride it but it was an instant pleasure. It actually reminds me of my Trek 730 - very balanced and light. The Trek weighs 9.7 kgs (21.38 US lbs) and the Chesini 8.9 (16.62 US lbs). It would be lighter with alloy instead of steel cranks.
I'm just learning to ride it but it was an instant pleasure. It actually reminds me of my Trek 730 - very balanced and light. The Trek weighs 9.7 kgs (21.38 US lbs) and the Chesini 8.9 (16.62 US lbs). It would be lighter with alloy instead of steel cranks.
Last edited by Dawes-man; 01-09-10 at 11:26 AM.
01-09-10, 11:10 AM
#16
十人十色
Thread Starter
The threads are British - oddly as I bought them from Le Velo Dans Le Retro, a dealer in France. He's the guy linked to both pairs of Arc-en-Ciel rims above. I've bought a few things from him and find him great to deal with. Has all sorts of obscure stuff, mostly NOS.
Yes, Lyotard 460D, my favourite. I like them so much I have them on all of my bikes
I also have a pair of Marcel Berthet that I might try on the Chesini but I didn't get on with them on my Thanet. I've fitted clips to the one on the bike now and will try them out tomorrow.
Last edited by Dawes-man; 01-09-10 at 11:15 AM.
01-09-10, 12:04 PM
#19
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Yes! This is what I'm talking about, everyone in SS/FG take notes!
Stronglight crank is a beaut! Love the whole vintage build. Well done!
Stronglight crank is a beaut! Love the whole vintage build. Well done!
01-09-10, 03:54 PM
#23
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Read the OP's last post. He said "I've fitted clips to the one on the bike now and will try them out tomorrow."
01-09-10, 07:16 PM
#24
十人十色
Thread Starter
2nd, I'd like to be able to do all that trick stuff for the sake of enlarging my safety zone.
I raced a 1000cc BMW for a season a couple of years back. A very noticeable result of riding for 10 laps at a time at the very limit of my abilities and the bike's grip was how, back on public roads at street speed, the experience slowed everything down. I thought about this when I watched that video of Gregory Bauge recovering after coming into contact with Kevin Sireau on the 'Poseurs' thread. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-z0K...layer_embedded
Bauge's recovery, as well as being a beautiful thing to watch, was his instinct kicking in and the result of his ability to control a skid. You can bet that he was relaxed the whole way through.
I also want to be learn to ride backwards
Last edited by Dawes-man; 01-09-10 at 07:59 PM.