New Bike Day!

Joined: 23 Sep 2012 Posts: 2814 Location: Isle of Wight

Well yeah, its a new frame and a few parts. Going to be my little summer project. Been off school for about a month now and dont go back till September, so im getting quite bored at home.

Found this little gem on Ebay... Luckily the seller was over in Southampton so a quick boat journey across the water and back and the bike was soon in my garden.

Its a Peugeot Road Frame, made of Carbolite 103 Tubing. Not sure of the exact model, or age, the seller said from the 80's. I payed £45 for it. Dont know much about the bike, nor do i about any of the sizing... Will give it a good measure up soon. Dropouts are 100mm front, 130mm rear and the bike rolls on 700c wheels

Need to get a few things till its rideable... A Wheelset, going to go for a Flip Flop hub, fixed on one side, freewheel on the other Very Happy

Will need 2 sprockets, a chain, some pedals and tyres before its ride able.

Eventually, i want to get a new crankset, new saddle (brown Charge Spoon) and new bar tape (Deda Leather Look)... The brakes may go completely too and then i will put on a flat bar lever and front brake when i use the freewheel, but i havent decided on that yet. Will speak to my mate about it. Trying to do it with the tightest budget possible. Sub £180 would be nice.

The bike will only be used to get around on and go for chilled out rides along the seafront. May be tempted to take it on a few long distance ones once i'm finished building and built my fitness up. I think i will end up selling it at the end of summer to put the money towards driving, as i was meant to be saving up everything i earnt, but when a mate brought a fixie the other day, i kind of had to get one too Embarassed

Joined: 07 Mar 2013 Posts: 1685 Location: Southampton

Looks like it will be a nice little retro build Smile

Joined: 23 Sep 2012 Posts: 2814 Location: Isle of Wight

Thanks mate, cant wait... Hopefully have it rideable in 2/3 weeks and fully built in about a month...

Joined: 23 Sep 2012 Posts: 2814 Location: Isle of Wight

Bike is pretty much finished now. Waiting on bartape to be delivered, but that will take a few weeks as its out of stock. Im stoked on how well the build turned out Very Happy

Tried to keep it looking as retro as possible, hence the brown saddle (+bartape when it comes) , tan tyre walls, shallow rims and original crankset, bars, seatpost and brake levers

Out on the roads, it performs really well. My first blast along the cycle track was ridden on the freewheel side, just so i could get use to riding the bike, and making sure everything worked as it should. After that, the wheel was soon flipped onto the fixed side, and since Tuesday, its been like that ! Fixed gear is certainly different, i've never ridden one before, and if i was to explain my first few rides on the bike, id say it was like learning to ride all over again. Simple things like going off curbs, and pulling up to junctions is a whole lot different when you cant stop pedaling, let alone cornering, when you have to judge if you will be able to make the corner with the speed as you cant keep your inside pedal up Shocked

Riding with toe straps is also difficult, suppose its like SPD's, they'll just take time to learn and remember how and when to clip in and out...That said, it certainly keeps your concentration up

The bike just rides so nicely on the road, comparing it to my MTB, its like night and day Laughing

I've never ridden a bike that accelerates so fast, instant power and i pull away so quick. On my first proper road ride yesterday morning, i done a little over 17 miles, which i found decent considering i'd ridden the bike like twice before, and i was hanging from the night before...I got a max speed of around 30mph which scared me a tad, even though ive gone faster on my MTB...

Fixed gear riding is so addictive, i can see myself out on this alot more than my MTB at the moment Embarassed

Its so versatile, i can quickly nip down to the shops, bang out long road rides, or just cruise around with my mates who are also building / have built fixies Razz

Spent under £250 on this bike in total i think, and for the money, i'd say its totally worth it, if anyone hasn't tried fixed gear riding, i would definitely give it a go Wink

Wheelset, sprocket, freewheel and chain were from SingleSpeedComponants.co.uk , Tyres are Michelin Dynamic Classic 25x700c which i picked up from CRC, Pedals are System EX EX398 Pedals from Tredz, the Brown Charge Spoon Saddle and U-Bend Brown Tape are both from Triton Cycles and the innertubes from Halfrauds Laughing

The rest was all with the frame, which i got for £45! I also brought a crankset from eBay but it was cheese and binned it Twisted Evil

Here's the picture from yesterdays morning ride. Once finished, i will try get a proper one:

Joined: 09 Aug 2012 Posts: 367 Location: Balby, Doncaster

Looks good mate.

Joined: 28 Aug 2013 Posts: 242 Location: Derby

Nice one. Really looks the retro biz.

I'd be tempted to remove and bin the brake lever extensions (the ones which extend toward the stem) though as they are worse than useless.

I think everyone should have a bike like this at some time in their life.

Joined: 23 Sep 2012 Posts: 2814 Location: Isle of Wight

Thanks guys,

Yeah i wanted it too look retro but perform like a new bike, hence the new drivetrain, wheelset, finishing kit and brake calipers Wink

I can partly agree with the brake lever statement. Yes, when riding on the flat bar section, they are sh*t, as you have to use all your fingers to pull the lever up otherwise it gets stuck on your knuckles, however i've found that they work really well when im on the hoods of the drop levers, using my fingers under the bar to pull up on the lever. Its weird, but its comfy and effective and means i can brake without having to get into the drops...

A new stem is also on the to do list, as i want one the drops down for the more attacking aero position

Razz

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:44 pm Post subject:

Looks good, and nice little write up of your experience, enjoyed that. Very Happy

Couple more pictures though, don't forget. Wink

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:52 pm Post subject:

Nice effort that

Joined: 26 Aug 2010 Posts: 823 Location: UK

Like it... Do you have any trouble with the rear wheel slipping or chain tension with it being a non single speed specific frame ?

Joined: 23 Sep 2012 Posts: 2814 Location: Isle of Wight

Thanks everyone,

Will get a few more pictures up once its fully built. I will Take some on a proper camera too as that one was only off my phone Embarassed

Might do a ride report when i do the big 60 mile'r as it will be quite an achievement with one gear Laughing

So far, its all been good. I dropped a chain yesterday, but i think thats down to me not having the right chain tension to start with and the road being really bumpy. I clipped my pedal on the floor at the same time too which jerked the bike sideways so i think it was a factor of all 3 which caused that

The bike has horizontal style dropouts, so its easy to get chain tension. Once torqued up, the wheels stay put pretty well Very Happy

With the tooth count being different for the fixed and freewheel sprockets, the wheel sits in a slightly different position in the dropouts depending on what i use, but it isn't so dramatic that the brakes need re-positioning after each swap which im rather pleased about Very Happy

Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 2200 Location: County Durham

Love it. Your project has spurred me on to do something similar his autumn/winter. Never even ridden a singly but would be ideal for my commute.

Joined: 23 Sep 2012 Posts: 2814 Location: Isle of Wight

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