alecw35

Hi folks. I thought that I would start a thread here about this bike



A Townsend mega Force One.
There version of the Formula One Bmx type bikes that were around in the late 80s. I think there was a Race series.

I seen it on Ebay, not too far away. Got it as an only bid at £4.99. I went up to the mans work, on 24/12/12, to collect it. As that was a bit nearer to where I live.

I will fit the 20" alloys I have from a kids MTB. Maybe later build a cassette hub into there, so I can have a good range of gears.
I have a SR Stump neck stem. Might fit MTB bars and bar ends.

fietsbob

Good luck.. . as setup I presume you are not very tall.

look into conversion BBs to replace that one piece crank.

alecw35

I just got it home today.
The seat and bars at the minimum insertion line. Its a 25.4mm seat pin, so I have others that are a better length

Im 5 foot 8" tall. 1.7metre.

I have looked into other BBs. I did have a square taper axle conversion axle in my Concept city folder. I put SR Custom alloy cranks from an old Raleigh racer on that. Ive seen those axles on Ebay for about £10. I might get that, or maybe the conversion cups made by DMR, maybe other brands too. They have regular bb threads in them, so can be used with a modern chainset that has a BB that isnt square taper.

fietsbob

I got a chrome-moly steel 1" diameter seatpost [branded Red Line, thru SBS, out of Seattle],
for a long extension requirement..
I expect a similar product under a UK brand is around there..

all else fails , there are Pedal adapters to screw in a 1/2" crank and,
then screw in 9/16" pedals.

smallwheeler

badmother

Is it a "american BMX" BB? What is the wheelbase (axel to axel)? Great to see you around by the way!

LittlePixel

Nice find Alec! Would love room for an old F1 Bmx - rare as hen's teeth over here...

alecw35

It does have the one piece crank, as on a BMX. I have looked to getting a conversion axle or cups, to run a 3 piece crank with a chain ring of over 50 tooth. To get a good spread of gears with an 11 to 32 cassette.
I did get a BMX frameset from the scrapyard last week. But its 3 piece crank is heavy steel. So not much use.
The wheel base is 36 1/2". Seat tube is 16" centre to top.

Its got near new Maxxis Ringworm tyres. I think there 20" X 2". Plenty of clearance for them. I do have 20" X 1.5" tyres too. So I can go skinny tyred if I want too. I will keep the 406 rim size tho. I like them, got a few of them. 451 rims arent so easy to get hold of here.

badmother

ok. I was asking becouse I bought a BMX conversion thingy some years back for a bike I have. Found out that my one piece crank is a fauber crank, different from a US BMX crank. Would make a light and good conversion into a modern cartridge BB. It has been sitting in its padded envelope since I bought it. Need to do some serious thinking to decide where to look..

something wery similar to this https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/dmr-wonder-cups-prod28321/

alecw35

I did have that DMR wondercup item, when I had my Concept folder. I got them second hand from ebay for a couple of quid. I fitted a conversion axle I got out of a Raleigh Dakota ladies MTB. Not sure why I didnt use those DMR wondercups. I dont have them now.

I did some work on the Townsend today. I stripped the brakes down. Its got 1 88, stamped on the back. So I geuss the bike is 25 years old. I fitted newer fasteners. I stripped the gear mech, lubed it. Fitted another pair of alloys, as the other ones werent a matching pair. I didnt go test riding. As its a bit wet here.

badmother

Going to IKEA tomorrow, full day. Repairing the car trailer on sunday. After that I can look around and see what I can find. I can post it to you if I find it- if you need it. If it is right it should give options for light and modern crank.

NormanF

I have one of these.... a Schwinn Qualifier - its an old F1 bike designed for street lot racing - back in the 90s, before the mini-velo craze, they were small wheeled bikes developed for conventional racing but there was never a mass following for them so they disappeared. I bought mine off CL and it was my first mini velo.

dynaryder

Also have a Qualifier. Unfortunately,the bonehead eBayer I bought it from didn't pack it right,so the seatpost rattled around and scratched the paint,and the fork got bent. It was NOS. Looking for a fork that's not crappy hi-ten. Still haven't decided if it's going to get finished or sold as it,too many projects right now.