* jack *

winter fixed gear beater conversion

cuda2k

I think that's the one worst thing I've ever heard come out of your keyboard. And I've read most of your posts as of late.

I vote for #2 or #3. I can't say I've yet to fall into the charms of the Fixed/SS following, and its far too nice of a frame to hang on the wall and retire. I'll go with USAZorro on this one and say rebuild it as a 10speed. Finding parts of that vintage isn't difficult nor really expensive. How was the bike equipped before you stripped it down for cleaning?

SteveAZ

First of all, don't let that j@ck@$$ Euro hijack this thread!

Nick, make it a fixie

If you've never ridden one, you can give mine a shot when you're out here.

I personally like mine for

1: strength and spin training
2: when I'm riding with slower riders as it keeps me occupied
3: just for a change of pace some times

It's a cool frame and it's not like it's a permanent conversion. As a matter of fact, the crank I'm using on mine is a compact double (110bcd) with the inner ring removed.

Steve

barleyrocket

fixedgear = fixedgear +1

nnewton123

The stem and seatpost aren't stuck... they do come out with a little patience, but I don't feel any need to replace those parts so I am just leaving them for now.

The bike had some of the nicer Huret derailleurs which from what I understand were basically midlevel components back then. The brakes were Weinmann. They worked kinda crappily even after replacing the pads.

The rear is spaced at 120mm which would make it quite easy to turn into a fixie I believe. My main reason for not wanting to go the fixie route is that I live right in the middle of the city. I see messangers fixie'ing it around all the time, but I guess I don't really trust the stopping power, especially in the winter. Although I could put a handbrake on it.

formulaben

Fixed gear. WITH BRAKES!

hi565

mhm

Fix that thing up!

ggg300

fixed gear...

cs1

You've got to be kidding. That was a very expensive bike in it's day. Restore or update, steel is real. That is a classic. You should be posting this in the Classic forum.

Tim

USAZorro

When I first read this, I thought you said the Huret were medieval components. I guess the braking may depend in part on what you're used to. The other parts are rim material (steel is not conducive to good braking), and adjustment (which might depend on how true the wheels are). Whatever you decide, good luck with it - and if you don't want to keep it... well, it looks like it is my size.

marqueemoon

Another vote for fixed gear. Throw some white Bluemels fenders on there while you're at it, and ride it wearing a corduroy blazer with patches on the elbows while smoking a pipe.

Treespeed

Another vote for fixed gear, or even single speed, but with a front brake.
Nice paint.

FLBandit

Ship it to me as a Christmas present! I'd love to have a nice steel frame like that to play with! Seriously, I'd build it back up as original as I could.

Sluggo

+1

You would be getting some different responses in the Classic forum!

Those Huret deraillers (Jubilee?) were and are cool. The Weinmann brakes should work fine if adjusted well. Fix it as original as practical. Stick in a 6 or 7 speed freewheel if you want, it's not that difficult.

roccobike

#2

geraldatwork

I have almost the same bike in red an 1980 or so model. I still use it as my back up bike and rides very well. I upgraded some components over the years. Anyway I would replace the bottom bracket and cranks as suggested and basically restore whatever parts from what you can find from that general era. All sorts of stuff comes up on ebay from that time that might fit the frame: wheels, cranks, dererailers,brakes etc. seems to show up at reasonable prices. It is the whole bikes in nice condition that are over priced. What ever you can't find you can look in the box and put back that was origionally on the bike.

mollusk

Take CS1's advice and go to Classic & Vintage. This bike is too nice to convert to a fixie. I'd try and keep it as original as possible.

Glad to hear that the stem and seatpost are not frozen. That can be a royal PITA.

nnewton123

Well... after much deliberation and a chat with my dad, it seems I have come to a conclusion about the future of the frame. I am interested in using it in the winter and my dad is interested in using it the rest of the year as a great way to keep his diabetes in check. So the frame will remain geared and may even turn into a pretty sweet bike. My local LBS was getting rid of campy veloce cranksets and bottom brackets at bargain prices so that was the start of the upgrade. Suprisingly enough, the 29 year old bike accepted the new bottom bracket quite nicely. The rear dropouts have been slightly bent to accept a new 130mm hub which takes care of one of the major problems.

Here is what I have left to figure out:

1. The brake mounts are extremely high, and 700c wheels make this problems even a little worse. The reach needs to be in the 65mm region with the 700c wheels which is well above even a long reach road brake. Solution: In accordance with a Sheldon Brown suggestion I found some metal brackets used for reflectors that will shorten up the reach by about 3/4", just enough to make it perfect for any road brakes. I am pretty conifident this will work pretty well so this problem isn't too serious at the moment.

2. Running cables. The frame obvisouly doesn't have anywhere to run cables with sti's. Anyone have experience with this? I could run the cables along the frame but am looking for a cleaner solution. I haven't come up with any bright ideas yet.

3. I'm not exactly sure how the rear dropout derailleur hanger works. It's a little metal bracket that looks like it aligns with the dropout. But you can't attach it to the dropout unless it is slid forward a cm or two. Anyone have experience with these? It looks like this "adaptor claw."

Here's the first update... I will update more as i find more parts to put on:

formulaben

Can anyone confirm if THIS would work?




I think THIS SITE (scroll to the bottom) has the same thing, but they specifically say "Shift Lever Boss Conversion Stop - Converts your existing road bike shift lever boss into a cable stop for road bike STI use. Left and right."

Gonzo Bob

If you must. But with no permanent rear derailer hanger or shifter bosses, it screams out *single-speed* to me

re #1: Designed for 27"? If so, I'd stick with that.

re #2: Do you have clamp-on shifter bosses for the down-tube? If not, you could get some and get the STI down-tube cable stops.

John H.

flip-flop

Namenda

Another option would be to send it off to a harried, overworked painter. Let him sit on it for a couple of years. Eventually, folks will begin to doubt its very existence. This would provide you with endless BF material...

formulaben

LMAO! The legend continues...

USAZorro

1. That would work - as would an old Weinmann 710.
2. Sorry, can't offer help there.
3. You're right. The adapter causes the dropout to effectively be shortened. As long as you put the wheel in straight and clamp it in securely, it will work just fine.

formulaben

These guys claim to have "dual pivot sidepull brakes with a reach of 48-64mm."