tolfan

So true. I just saw an old fuji on Ebay converted to single and at $255 it didnt meet the reserve. I have almost the same bike still 12 speed , got it for $5. Nice to know I can keep all the good parts for other projects and charge 40X the money for the bike

nlerner

Well, some of us will never learn. Pic is of my sale today: a 1971 Raleigh Super Course w/ a replacement Tange CroMo fork, 700c wheels, front brake, shorty riser bars, 18-tooth cog/lockring, and cottered steel Raleigh Heron crankset. Even with that steel in the middle, the bike weighed 22 lbs. A fun ride for the guy who bought it from me.

Neal

mswantak

Neal, every time you do that, it makes the baby Jesus cry.

nlerner

Oh, one of many reasons I'm going to hell, Mike. Now, if I had chopped off the cable stop and cable guide braze-ons, then I'd really be in trouble!

Neal

USAZorro

I'm in big trouble then too Mike. I've been aiding and abetting.

nlerner

Yup, between my framesets and USAZorro's wheels, there's an entire circle of hell reserved for people like us. In Dante's version, I believe we're the ones who have to ride Magna mountain bikes up really steep hills for eternity.

Neal

Bikedued

Fixed gear Magna mountain bikes, with REALLY soft shocks, lol.,,,,BD

cudak888 

I wouldn't say that. Super Courses are meant to be singlespeeds or three speeds - at least, any of them with those silly, stamped dropouts that don't have built-in derailer hangers.

As for using flat bars, well, that's sufficent enough to get you into hell...I hear the head designer of dual-suspension MTBs from Pacific Cycles is technically VLW Hell's Satan...

-Kurt

P.S.: There's something about Bronze Green that makes it blend in with Mother Nature's greenery, don't you think?

jet sanchEz

I guess I'll join you guys there...an old granny bike was put out on the curb in my neighbourhood with a sign saying "Please take me!", so I took her, painted the fenders white with some spare spray-paint and sold her for $110 on CL. Made my week

nlerner

Well, I guess the pre-1977 Super Course is the descendent of the Lenton Grand Prix then. Here's the stamped dropout and derailleur from my '61 Raleigh LGP.

Neal

nlerner

So would you prefer the contrast with coffee, then?

cudak888 

Not exactly. The Lenton Grand Prix has a genuine Raleigh dropout as used on the Sports models - hangers on a high end frame were the norm for back then.

As for the Super Courses, their stamped drops are completely different - same as the cheap-o Record and Grand Prix. You'd think that in the era when hangers became norm that they would have built these things as such. Even their beautiful Super Course MkII model wasn't improved upon in this respect. At least they smartened up with the S.C. "MkIII" - the red models after '77. In fact, I believe a few of the '77-78 models sneaked out with those same damn stamped dropouts - take a look at the '77 catalouge.

-Kurt

P.S.: And stop using such nice stems on those bikes! I've been searching like mad for a stem with the same stem height and reach as that on the Coffee Super Course...

Sammyboy

So when you guys are building these things, are you using real track hubs, or suicide hubs? Or are the single speed freewheel, rather than fixed? I'm just seeing a market for the two Falcon frames, and various crappy parts that I have lying around is all. I could probably build an SS for no more than the cost of a chain, and possibly the redishing of a wheel......

cudak888 

Careful with building any up with a freewheel hub, and even more importantly, NEVER use a cheap, un-branded cog - they'll strip the threads right off the hub and cause the cog to slip at the worst moment.

-Kurt

USAZorro

I like my '78 SuperCourse, but prefer the gold model.

Sammyboy

Well, I could build SS, with both brakes. That would be a goer. Building a fixed on a freewheel hub......not so sure. If it was for me, then fine, but to sell on? Question marks in my mind. I have a crankset which somebody modded from double to single, I surely have frames, bars, stems and brakes aplenty. I have a wheelset, but not with lockring threads. Plenty of saddles, seatposts etc. I could possibly build two of the with the gas-pipe Falcon frames I have sitting around.

So, are you guys redishing the rear wheels? Yourself? Paying an LBS? And are you confident in the track cog and a BB lockring solution?

cudak888 

I prefer the red. Want to part with your frameset?

-Kurt

cudak888 

Yes.
Yes.
No.
No.

Built one up recently for a fellow who was complaining of the three-speed drive I built onto one of my for sale roadbikes - the cheap track cog stripped the hub in two days (and Sheldon will back me up here that the cheap cogs are trash). I'm sure you could use a quality track cog on a freewheel hub, but there's not enough room for the lockring if you go that route.

My advice? Track cog and fixed hub. No other way about it.

-Kurt

nlerner

I mostly do single-speed conversions with existing threaded rear hubs and BMX freewheels. Rear spacing and redishing of the head is necessary but not difficult. Biggest pain is getting a good chainline with the crank and often calls for using a shorter axle than might have come with the bike, but axles and bottom bracket cups aren't exactly interchangeable.

Neal

nlerner

Then again, there's this style of single-speed conversion: https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/223369509.html

Neal

cudak888 

A.K.A. "Cheap-O" singlespeeded...

-Kurt

kemmer

Nice, I've got one of those. It's a giant mountain bike, vertical dropouts sans tensioner and all. I keep it locked up downtown by the train station. If it ever gets stolen I'll be bummed about the 4 block walk to work and about not having something to ride on my lunch break but that's about it.

kemmer

https://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/bik/223272624.html

Reynolds 531 aluminum eh? I'm surprised he's only asking $450 for a bike built from such a rare material.

Sammyboy

Hmmm. I'd already have to buy a freewheel, a chain, bar tape, cables and probably brake pads. If I had to pay for a new BB as well, it might look less like a profitable way to use up my old no-name parts. I think I'll try it once though, but it may be the final trigger to learn to work on wheels....

sykerocker 

Kurt,

That comment shows, more than anything, how expectations on cycling equipment have changed in the last 30 years. 30-35 years ago, if you wanted forged dropouts with an integrated rear derailleur mount, you absolutely HAD to go for a high end double butted alloy frame. No exceptions. At a cost that most of us couldn't afford, of course. Nowdays it's so easy to write off stamped dropouts, forgetting that they were state of the art through a certain price point not so long ago.

I've always considered the Japanese effect on frames running a close second to what they did for derailleur design and constructon.