new kit just arrived, to be fitted to F frame moulton

V

velosolex50

New Member
Hello everyone. Impressed with the kit, rapid delivery, well packed etc. Well finished & seems to fit together very nicely too. Now to try it on the (old,rusty) Moulton. Not a usual donor, but its got a low top tube, is fully suspended and I just like it! Will post pictures as & when possible. So far, the seat has gone on well, but there are some issues with the front triangle, as the Sturmey Archer hub gear is narrower than a derailleur wheel. A few spacers should sort it out, but no doubt there will be something I haven't thought of. The original tall handlebars seem perfectly placed. Just wondering if I could get away with using the original quill stem(7/8 inch) with a sleeve to make the clamp for the front triangle fit. Or is there a good reason to convert to an ahead type steerer that I haven't thought of? All comments gratefully received.........
Regards
Huw
 
Doug Burton

Doug Burton

Zen MBB Master
Hi Huw,

Having just watched this:

http://www.northroadbicycle.com/fframemovie.html

I love those '60's style promo films...

I think you'll have a very entertaining and unique bike with excellent riding qualities. And there's a good chance it will be able to break down like the original for transport.

I'm sure there'll be some learning and a bump or two, but your planning around spacers and sleeves seems completely sound. I wouldn't change to an aheadset arrangement unless I exhausted my options with the original quill.

How wide is the SA axle from tip-to-tip? Some creativity may be available to mate it to the triangle brackets.

All of us will be watching and waiting for notes on your progress, and of course pictures are great!

Bring all questions; I have parts here for the purpose of simulating what you might come up against.

Best of luck, and have fun!
 
Mark B

Mark B

Zen MBB Master
Huw,

Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to seeing your build progress. We love pictures, too, so be sure to keep us fed with plenty of bike porn.

Mark
 
V

velosolex50

New Member
Thanks for the welcome Doug & Mark. Well, it works! I wouldn't go so far as to say it's finished, but I took a very wobbly ride down the road and back this afternoon. I can see why you all recommend staying away from traffic and precipices etc, it was a bit exciting at times!
The main issues with assembly were related to retaining the quill stem and the sturmey archer hub gear. The stem is 7/8" diameter, and to make the clamp from the upper part of the new front triangle fit, I had to make up some packing, which ended up as 3 sawn off pieces of the steerer extension supplied, fettled to fit concentrically within the clamp to take up the clearance. This has only been partly successful, as I can still turn the clamp on the quill with panicky incoordinated handlebar movements, so will have to be modified. I could do with something akin to a seat post shim, but I can't find any that go from 7/8 to 1 1/4........Any suggestions anyone?
The sturmey hub gear is a lot narrower than a derailleur hub, so I have had to use spacers (Large nuts) to move the front wheel mounting plates inboard by just over 1/4" each side---this in turn means that the chainstays don't line up with the plates, so I have put a longer pivot bolt in, extending from the inside of the plate, screwed into the threads if the inner chainstay fork end. then locknutted on both sides of the outer chainstay fork end.
I used an old Brompton crankset & bottom bracket as the originals were bent. I had to grind off part of the left crank end as it fouled the chainstay, I'm hoping that 1mm clearance will be ok. The chainline is not perfect, but better than a derailleur at extreme, and it seems to work. The only thing now is that my heels keep clonking the chainstay but if I can't get used to it, I will just have to get a wider bottom bracket. Now lets see if I can attach some pics...
 
Mark B

Mark B

Zen MBB Master
That looks pretty darned good. My only comment would be that I would try to get those cables under control. Looks like you have lots of excess.

Nice! Quick build, too!

Mark
 
V

velosolex50

New Member
:D Thanks Mark. I knew if I tried shortening the gear cable I would not get it going today! Its cable-tied out of harms way in a loop. I'm going to have to strip it all down again to paint it once I've got the hang of riding it, so that will be the time to fix the odds & ends----It would be a shame to fix the rusty rims, spokes, crappy wheel bearings, chain, peeling paint flaking chrome etc etc & then wreck it while learning. Must be nice to convert a brand new bike! Still, I'm hoping it will be a nice ride when I've finished.
No doubt I'll be back asking for riding advice before long.
 
Mark B

Mark B

Zen MBB Master
velosolex50 wrote: :D Thanks Mark. I knew if I tried shortening the gear cable I would not get it going today! Its cable-tied out of harms way in a loop. I'm going to have to strip it all down again to paint it once I've got the hang of riding it, so that will be the time to fix the odds & ends----It would be a shame to fix the rusty rims, spokes, crappy wheel bearings, chain, peeling paint flaking chrome etc etc & then wreck it while learning. Must be nice to convert a brand new bike! Still, I'm hoping it will be a nice ride when I've finished.
No doubt I'll be back asking for riding advice before long.
Click to expand...

:lol: :lol: I said the same thing about my conversion. I was just going to ride it around a little, then break it back down for paint..... Yeah, right! I'm still riding it!

Mark
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
visit our website visit our website
Top