Donor bike arrives...!

[trapdoor2]

Good to hear that, Doug. If I had had a quill adapter this weekend, I would have been sorely tempted to yank the guts out of my Raleigh and take the Conversion for a ride (probably as a single-speed rather than fixie!). Any recommendations for a front derailleur? The original (wal-mart) is not going to work w/o major surgery due to the huge tube dia difference.

I caused somewhat of a traffic jam this morning at the coffee-shop. I brought the Conversion down for 'show and tell' with my brother (we meet every Sunday morning for coffee). I had it propped up behind the truck and it turned a lot of heads. Huntsville is crawling with engineers (NASA, etc.), so something like this guarantees interest.

Peder, my paternal grandmother's family emigrated from Oslo in the 1880's to North Dakota...where there is a large population of Norwegians; she was an Olsen. We have many rivers and lakes here in Alabama and I have always loved fishing (and eating). In the early 1980's, I worked on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and fed the crew many evenings on the fish I caught around the rig.

 

[Doug Burton]

Hi Marc,

The SRAM X-Gen front derailleur works very well, but they're getting hard to find - here's a listing:

http://www.beyondbikes.com/bb/itemdesc.asp?ic=QFD4601

You'll need a 34.9mm clamp. I think they start at 34.9 and use shims to fit to smaller tubes.

They're being phased-out so the prices are right when you can get 'em.

Here's one on the front of a Freerider, using a clamp-on cable stop. Your kit top-front-tube will have a cable stop welded-on.

This is a good derailleur because it's top-pull and works well with micro-ratchet twist shifters. This one also works well because it has generous inward cage travel - I found out the hard way that with the equivalent Shimano FD, the cage would interefere with the top-front-tube when I used it with the Sugino crank, and it wouldn't shift to the inner ring well. It's listed with a max chainring tooth count of 48, but I've used it with as high as 53t and it works just fine; you have to assure you've got the cage aligned properly with the rings bigger than 50, but it's really no big deal.

Have fun,

 

[trapdoor2]

$12.99 ea. Thanks!! On order.

 

[trapdoor2]

Well...my LBS failed me on the quill adapter and I had to order one off the net. However, I did receive my BB and "upgrade" rear derailleur. I thought I might have a problem with the BB though: I ordered a 68 X 125 and received a 68 X 127 (Shimano evidently doesn't make a 125mm width). No worries though, the extra 2mm gave me just a smidge more clearance (um, about 2mm ) and all is well. The Sugino crank fit quite nicely...probably need to remove it and give it a good polish though.

The rear derailleur (perhaps I should stop calling it 'rear', it is more like 'lower' now) bolted right up...a bit of chain and it should be fine. I tried to find a handlebar riser (or whatever you call that thing that clamps the stem to the bar) to suit but my LBS only had one which would fit...and it was $80!

Adjusted the rear shock to lower the seating a bit, that worked quite well. The shock-spring on this bike is quite stiff, so I was able to take it as far as the threads would allow. I'm sure I'll mess about with it more once I've got the bike rolling.

So, I had to make several orders last night. Seatpost, quill adapter, handlebar riser. Holiday weekend, so I wont be receiving anything till next week. *sigh* :| Ah well, it has been too cold to ride most evenings anyway. -7C one night and -3C this morning. I think I'll make a list of 'necessary' items for this particular conversion once I'm thru.

 

[trapdoor2]

Interesting weekend...and that was just being coerced into hitting Wal-mart @ 4am for the big "Black Friday" sales...

I started out in a turkey-induced haze Thursday night, got my stuff together to rig the brakes and rear derailleur...but no cable cutter. I bought one two weeks ago and just took it off the card...poof! Now it is gone. I know they are sitting in plain sight...no amount of searching (without major cleanup) finds them. I am a bit angry with myself and so I just give up and go take a nap.

Friday afternoon I make yet another search of the workshop for the cutters and find none. Frustrated, I head for the LBS's. Of the three nearest, only two are open. The 'modern' shop has only a 15/16mm cone wrench I need and nothing else (no cable cutters either). The "old time" shop is one I rarely frequent as they tend to sell nothing but "beach cruiser" bikes...but they've been in business since the mid 70's and often have cool old stuff. I barely get out of there without melting down my debit card! This guy has more cool old DF bikes/frames/parts than ought to be still around...but nothing I need for the conversion. I go home and stare at the incomplete bike.

Saturday, I head out once again to my favorite LBS. I have done some more research on the web and I think the quill adapter I refused just might be the right size after all. It was marked 1" to 1-1/8" adapter...but I need 7/8" to 1-1/8". So, we measure it. Sure enough, it is 22.2mm (7/8") and I take it home (I was feeling guilty about ordering it and then not accepting it anyway). They don't have cable cutters either.

So...I head home and decide to tear the workshop apart. 15min into moving and cleaning (and sweeping up), I see a familiar pair of grips poking out of a box of parts. Cable cutters! They'd fallen down behind some stuff and dropped in a box of junk...just deep enough to disappear. I'm so happy they didn't turn up in plain sight! I hear the dogs start barking (meaning the mailman has paid us a visit) and I have a package...a quill adapter. Now I have two.

I spend the afternoon/evening rigging the brakes (piece of cake) and start working on the rear D. The SRAM front D, BTW is still in transit. Break to watch Alabama stomp Auburn, back to the bike. The Shimano rear D is a 7-speed mountain bike piece of kit and nicely done for not much money. Unfortunately, it has such large jockey wheels that they interfere with the gear cluster. Long story short...it needs to be hung about 10mm lower than the kit D-hanger hole provides. Back to square #1. I make the attempt with the "crappy" stamped-steel D which came with the bike. Works fine, shifts OK. Not Campy/Ultegra but it works.

So, now I'm left with a nearly complete bike. I rig the seat and the too-short seat-stem by moving the seat as far forward on the frame as it will go. The seat now lays back low enough to safely engage the stem and the stem is safely engaged in the frame clamp. Not perfect, but I can sit on it and get my feet up on the pedals. Sweet!

This morning, I took the bike (in the back of the truck) to the coffee-shop where I meet my brother every Sunday. Show 'n' tell, etc., just like in grade school. I had thought that I might go a bit early and get a test ride in...but it is cold (4C) and raining. :|

However...I just got back from the first test ride! Want to hear about that? I'll post it in "Ride Reports"... :twisted:

 

[defjack]

Nice report now we need to see some pictures. Jack

 

[trapdoor2]

I'll get some pictures up when the weather clears and I get the new seat riser in (should be here Monday). Cold here this weekend, I doubt I'll do any riding.

I did get the SRAM X.0 front derailleur in and spent a fiddly hour getting it mounted and working properly. It works nicely whilst in the stand, I'll need to do a demo ride to make sure it is sorted for riding.

I may mount a bike computer over this weekend. At least with the handlebars up high, there'll be no issues with being able to read the damn thing!