vuelamanuel

Check this out:

https://picasaweb.google.com/EddieGri...19750161638146


I was just looking for some pics on how to restore a classic Raleigh Competition GS (I found just the frame)...

yellowjeep

What a dumb ass.

EatMyA**

shame

Caferacernoc

Why remove the hanger if you are going to leave the fender mount eyelets and cable stops. Stupid.

huerro

I love the line "...so I can use it as a single speed." as if the hanger were somehow holding him back.

wrk101

What an idiot....

awc380

Man have you ever ridden a SS WITH the derailleur hanger NOT cut off?
The wind drag is incredible!!!!

Rabid Koala

Ouch! That hurts to look at.......

Bearonabike

Poor bike, died and went to he11.

j0ew00ds

i'm kind of a rookie here, but all that work and he didn't re-dish the rear wheel? it looks stupid with a full 1.5 inches of spacers back there.

gr23932

What's so wrong with cutting the hanger off? I did it to my Colnago.




I'm only playing but I'm sure someone will "let me have it".

GMS 

And .... How To Ugly a Crank

Bam42685

How To Ugly a Crank Part II

jtarver

Funny, when I build a single speed or fixed, I tend to remove that unsightly and redundant chainring before I saw off the braze ons and paint it gold. He missed the cable guide, could've shaved a couple grams there...

jsmithepa

Hey man, it's not like he's cutting off a Colnago. A hanger with nothing "hanging" does look like a sore appendix.

As far as other "ugly aspects" hey, I think people build fixies 'coz they don't have the $ for a full build, and for that, this guy did a decent job with what he had I say. Nice gold paint. The red/pink color does crashes badly with the gold however.

mastershake916

He ground down the chainring, he ground down the freaking chain ring.

vuelamanuel

[QUOTE=jsmithepa;7130541]Hey man, it's not like he's cutting off a Colnago. A hanger with nothing "hanging" does look like a sore appendix.

It might not have the mystique of a Colnago, but Raleigh bikes were winning races around that time (1980 Tour de France) and even tought it might not be a "Team" is close enough to give any bike from that era a run for it's money. With the "Arabesques" & the "Team Pro" reaching the stratosphere, a $400-600 Competition is desirable enough to guarantee a grimace when frame functionality is irreversibly destroyed to make it look like something is obviously not...and this is coming from a guy that loves fixies, and is happy when someone salvages an old ten-speed and puts it back on the road...but still feels a punch in the stomach when sees pictures as the ones shown above. And judging from the responses, I am not the only one...

There are ways to enjoy your cheaply found classic bike without wrecking it...hey, it's money out of you pocket too!!! How much does a generic fixie fetch vs. a vintage lightweight???
Leave those hangers in place and save the parts!!! If you hate the hangers just flip the bike.

Grand Bois

It's his bike to do with as he pleases.

cudak888 

It is what happens when someone with no mechanical abilities attempts to do something that requires usage of tools. Precisely why some folks go fixed - they don't know how to properly adjust a derailer drivetrain.

-Kurt

vuelamanuel

+1.
Agreed...
But why encourage someone to mess up something nice just because they can?
Specially when it's against their best interest...

vuelamanuel

A couple years ago, a young kid came with a 70's De Rosa to the Shop I now work at. Some friend was advising him to convert it to a fixie... when told the value of the Bike he was ecstatic...he had no idea what he had...he did ride the De Rosa a fixie for a while, afterwards he changed back to a Roadie and transfered all of his Fixed gear bits to an old Bianchi Pista frame.

If one of our mechanics hadn't been nosy and talked to him about it, don't you think he would have regretted it?
If he, knowingly, would have decided to botch the bike, fine with me.
But I would have still made fun of him...

Sixty Fiver

Kurt - I don't think that a lack of mechanical ability has anything to do with people riding fixed gear bikes.

cudak888 

Definitely! I am most certainly not trying to negate that - I was commenting on the type of cannibalization done to the Raleigh Competition referenced to by the OP.

I was also referencing to what I have learned from speaking to some of the newer members of the local fixie crowd, for I've learned that a number of them have built their machines in such a fashion due to the fact that they're a bit spooked about adjusting and working on derailer drivetrains.

-Kurt

John E

Fixed gear is something different, but I suspect many of the single speed freewheel fans either fall for a fad or think they cannot deal with the complexity of installing, maintaining, and perhaps even using derailleurs, so they go for the ultimate dumbing-down of their bikes.

Derailleur hanger amputation is such a sensitive issue because many of us grew up in an era (1960s and 1970s) in which the presence of a derailleur tab instead of a claw denoted a superior frame. My first three road bikes (cheapo 1962 Bianchi Corsa, 1971 Nishiki Competition, and Armstrong 3-speed converted to a Cyclo 3x4 hybrid driveline) all lacked derailleur tabs, and I finally resolved my severe case of derailleur tab envy when a college friend gave me the first of the 3 ca. 1960 Capos I have owned.

There are lots of Peugeot UO-8s and similar frames out there for anyone wanting to play single-speed and not liking the look of an unused derailleur tab.

gutbucket

I probably shouldn't elaborate on the violence I performed on a 70's Raleigh Super Grand Prix to make a discarded frame & form into quite a decent fixed gear (IMO), but it did require a good deal of 'hammer & anvil' skills you're not likely to find on the Park Tools website before I was even able to tackle the issue of chainline.
I'll spare you squeamish young'ns the details. Just don't tell me fixed gears are for the mechanically dis-inclined.

Dave