ALMOST completed SS conversion for teh wife
 

i scored an old sekai 2700 frame (circa 1979?) and took a torch to it, removing the braze-ons... there were a TON of them, but none where i needed them. i also sawed off the derailleur mounting point and filed the bottom of the dropout to match the opposite side.

i left the little loops on the tops of the drop outs, front and rear, because she wants fenders. (soon to come. hanjo hammered)

i then filed down whatever remained of the hard solder, and took the frame to be blasted and powdercoated.


yellow jersey supplied me with a set of NOS decals which were surprisingly easy to apply straight. (i dont mean sober. i mean lined up and parallel!)


i goofed and only ordered one brake cable clamp, so thats on the list for this weekend's ebay purchases.
i also have a really old yellow saddle that's going on when i find a seat post that fits the rails. for some reason they are really far apart.


anyway, i guess the rest is pretty self-explanatory.

(powdercoated deep-Vs, sugino RD messenger crank w/zen 46t ring, polished to mirror finish

shimano 17t freewheel. nitto bars, 3T 80mm stem, and so on.)


i'll take better pics when the fenders go on.


i got to ride it today for a minute and found it to be really fun and surprisingly responsive. i might have to build myself a hooptie like this sometime.


http://www.sethciferri.com/bikes/lol...20(Medium).JPG

http://www.sethciferri.com/bikes/lol...20(Medium).JPG

http://www.sethciferri.com/bikes/lol...20(Medium).JPG

http://www.sethciferri.com/bikes/lol...20(Medium).JPG

http://www.sethciferri.com/bikes/lol...20(Medium).JPG

http://www.sethciferri.com/bikes/lol...20(Medium).JPG

http://www.sethciferri.com/bikes/lol...20(Medium).JPG

You're running one brake, but it's rear? What the F?
And you have machined sidewall only on the rear, so that percludes running a front.

what the ****?

Looks very nice! :D

But +1 about how the brake and machined rim should be on the front instead...

it's a freewheel bike, and she only wanted one brake.



if it were FIXED, i'd have definitely put one on the front, but i'd rather her be able to stop and not worry about going over the bars. i know it's unlikely that she would, but she'd sweat it if there were only a front brake.

pretty cool looking, hope she enjoys the bike

I think it's a very nice looking ride, great job. I was thrown by the rear brake and left brake lever, but I've set up a front brake with a right brake lever on a fixie, so I'm OK with it. Nice work!

Mark

its sad that an urban legend leads to such a loss of braking efficiency

looks very nice.

umm...

tell that to this guy.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1237/...be8be4.jpg?v=0



it's kinda stupid to make such blanketed statements, unless of course you know everything there is to know about everyone, and every bike, in every situation.

if thats the case, i sincerely apologize for my ignorance, and i will correct my wife's bike to suit your preferences.


may i go and enjoy the accomplishment now? will it be ok if i build a similar bike for myself?

lol, these guys gave me the same crap about having my one brake on the rear. I mean, it's not like we're the ones riding it and know whether they do a good job of stopping us safely.


Anyways, great looking bike. She's got some nice looking parts compared to what my wife is getting. :D

BTW: How does the 46/17 feel?

I put a 42/18 on my wifes bike, but no tires so we've yet to ride it. She's far from a hardcore cyclist, but she is in great shape. I'm thinking I may need to drop it down to a 16t, but I have no way to know yet.

it looks awesome, great job sir

apology accepted

would you please get to those corrections

Tell her that even all of us here who have SS's, have both brakes on them. No cool factor there, only safety.

Seriously.

Beautiful bike!

ok.. on it.

:rolleyes:

I don't see how the photo of some kid with a jacked up face justify not putting a front brake on the bike? Just because someone out there grabbed a handful of front brake and got thrown over the bars does not seem like a sound justification for removing the brake that accounts for the most amount of braking action. Sure one brake will do but two is quite obviously better.

However as you stated you are free to do what you want and think is best. You seem to have some justifiable reasons for not installing a front brake. I think those of us here just don't seem to understand what those reasons are based on your responses thus far. You are under no obligation to justify yourself here of course.

All that aside, beautiful build. Hope she rides it a enjoys.

Nice build, though I am of the two brakes on the SS school as well.

safety, too right ..


the way i ride , i feel sometimes i may need a 3rd brake somehwere ..
Cheers T

dammit... now im considering a front brake as well, but the thing stops really nicely as is... but i'm all worried about the one brake failing! dammit.. gee thanks!

;)

if you really loved her...

I lived on a bmx bike for years with only a rear brake, and never had a problem stopping. And that was riding like an idiot, doing stuff around traffic I shouldn't have been doing. Set up w/out fenders like you have it, I doubt she will be doing much foul weather riding, and also doubt she will be breaking any speed records. Roughly 72 gear inches, spinning at 100rpm gets you going about 20mph. Not knowing her fitness level (and not to bad mouth her), I doubt she will be spinning super fast on the bike.

Have her roll it around for awhile in a low traffic area, and see if she feels comfortable with the stopping power. When it's all said and done, she is the one that has to be comfortable on it.

yeah.. i hear ya.. she's in good shape, spending a few nights a week playing roller derby. but she's mainly just going to use it as a grocery getter.. the whole foods is about 1.5 niles from the house.. my guess is that she'll take 3 trips a week to the store, thats about it. she's a stay at home mom, the majority of the time...


we'll see how she feels about it.. i'm pretty sure it will be plenty, as-is.. but i'm always open to change.

Nothing wrong with having either a single rear or front brake on a singlespeed that's more of a "cruiser" than anything. Haven't you guys ever seen a cruiser with a rear coaster brake? You don't need more than that, unless you're bombing hills and splitting lanes.