My P20 Custom Tourer...













Forrest - 1973 Phillip's 20 Custom Touring Bicycle

Hi 65er.
i've been wanting a 20 inch commuter/touring bike and yours looks good. is that a raleigh 20 or did you make it yourself? also how do you find the 20s in general compared to larger tire sizes?

thx

Build was based on a 1973 Phillip's 20 and retains the H frame and hinge which is an excellent design.

Replaced the rear stays, converted the bottom bracket to standard threading, built up a new fork, and added the required stops, guides and mounts for water bottles... in the process is lengthened the wheelbase, increased the bb clearance, and made adjustments at the front to reduce the trail to make the bike a little quicker in the handling department.

Also built the wheels and a custom 7 speed block to work with the half step crank set up... the powder was done in house at our shop.

Have been riding this bike for 5 years and have taken it from it's original upright three speed configuration to where it is now.

It has been one of the best bikes I have ever owned and now it is just even better... it has been my preferred long distance bike and just rocks in the city as it spins up fast and the handling is is outstanding... it is a perfect all rounder that sometimes has pretensions of being a racing bike although then touring gearing limits to top speed a little.

Thanks for that. I just read some of your bikefiend writings. Good stuff. Sorry about your mother passing. My parents & inlaws are getting into their 80s and their health is not good as a group.

But, another 20 incher question. Do you ever drag the derailleur? Looks like a risk. Ever consider an internal hub?

Thanks

If that derailleur ever scrubs the ground I probably have more to worry about... the only place where it would be an issue is if I went rolling through rock gardens as it does sit lower.

My mom had a long and wonderful life and she is deeply missed... one of my favourite rides was to go and see her and listen to her tell me how amazing it was that I rode my bike all that way to see her even though I told her 85 km was not very far to ride a bike.

Will be going on that little tour in a week or so and instead of heading south to where she lived will head west to where she came from and where she was laid to rest alongside her mother and father... this will be a longer ride as it is 165 km to my brothers and will be taking the long way home so I can visit other family.

Hi all,

I thought I'd share a frame I built recently, made mostly from rebar and self-made parts (no bearings, just grease and tight fittings). Let me know what you think!

Here's a link to a Tumblr explaining the process:

https://rebarbike.tumblr.com/

Well now that's actually pretty cool!

I think you could probably improve it by triangulating the down and seat tubes - two bars side-by-side instead of the single one. I'm tempted to try it myself...

Where can I learn how to build with bamboo?

Pretty innovative use of materials! One of my other interests is swords and a couple of smiths took several old bicycle chains and welded them together for bar stock. They then proceeded to heat that contraption up and forge it out as a sword. The links made for some very interesting and cool patterns in the finished sword.

Here is my attempt at a bamboo and carbon bike. Its pretty flexy but overall rides nice.

Nice job szaffiri! This is the first logical use of an ISP that I've seen.

Some amazing craftsman ship in this thread!!!

Some great looking builds here.

At long last, here's my first frame...rattle-can paint for now. Thanks to the forum members for direct advice and the cumulative wisdom in various threads. It was a great help when I started the build a couple of years ago.

Looks great engo, are you running that fixed/ss or do you have an IGH? Do you have a thread or blog detailing your build?

Thanks greaper. It's set up with a 3 speed AW hub from the 70s. Shifting is a bit finicky, so I'll be rebuilding it over the winter. This build took me so long (around 2 years), mainly because of long periods of inactivity, that I didn't consistently document the process. I have a few photos that I took at various stages, but I really just followed the steps that Cassave outlined in his excellent thread...along with some clips from you tube, and help from the Paterek Manual, which I borrowed from the library.
Lots of fun, and a number of lessons learned for the next one!
Neil

This summer I built my first frame, with a lot of help from a well known UK framebuilder. This is the result:

It's fillet brazed Reynolds 853. Silver stove enamel with cut vinyl graphics under the clearcoat. As you can see it's purposed for tarmac and gravel.

fr333zin, that is a great looking frame & build. I like the red accents and the 2-tone bar wrap. Gravel racing seems to be the next big thing.

+1,000 on that two tone ... it is simply subtle and simply beautiful!

first project custom frame Columbus SL Niobium , custom hubs.

very impressive George Usov. I like a steel track bike. it just looks right.

George, do you have pictures of the frame build?

custom hand carved lugs - it took about 50 hours to make them

some photos of frameset - custom laser cut rear dropouts

Seat lug