A budget On One Inbred build

Got the headset fitted today, using a homemade press: a threaded rod, two big bolts, various sizes of washer, and a socket set.

Prepped the inside of the head tube with old, worn wet-and-dry paper, then cleaned it out. Put on a layer of grease and set to work. Top cup first.

The press is less wobbly than it looks but I stopped every half turn or so to make sure the cup was level and eventually squeezed it down flush.

Then did the bottom in the same way. And voila, it’s in! Fitting the crown race was a little more testing as I couldn’t find the right size of pipe to fit over the steerer, so tapped it very carefully down with a punch, rotating it a bit every time until it was set.

Next – let’s see if the forks fit.

These arrived today -- they're a bit weedier than they looked online. I only hope they'll be up to the job.

The more legit ones from name-brand manufacturers were surprisingly expensive: more than I'd paid for my crankset for example. But then maybe that's what's needed -- and they're not the kind of component that comes up secondhand much.

More cheap eBay bits coming in from China -- this is an aluminium bash guard. Seems pretty nicely made.

Ok, it wasn't really working for me, waiting for bits and bobs to trickle in and working to make everything perfect before putting it all together. It just didn't feel like I had a bike. So I thought I'd assemble it and get it working to see how it looked, and then I can fettle different parts one by one as with all my bikes. And ride it when it's in one piece again.

So this is how it came out. There was another slight hitch with the secondhand chain and chainring: although I knew old drivetrain parts don't play well together, it was disconcerting to see just how incompatible they were -- it was unrideable!

Oh, and I realise the white/black/orange colour scheme isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's really the stem's fault. Some bits had to match that old orange Orange.

Here's an update on the Inbred. I've been using it quite a lot but the ride never really felt great and I decided this was down to the rather narrow no-name handlebars I'd fitted. Then I found some Surly Sunrise bars on good ol' eBay which looked like a much better fit -- wider and with a greater rise.

Two problems: first, they're a 22.2mm diameter; second, they made the current Orange Boner Fido stem seem too long (and that stem was the whole reason for the bike's colour scheme.)

To solve the second problem first, I dug a very nice Zoom stem out of the parts box which was shorter and quite beefy. It seemed about right, length-wise, but the clamp was 25.4mm. So spent this morning making a shim from an old pair of aluminium bars.

I also had to lengthen the front brake cable and housing to compensate for the much wider bars, but when it finally came together, I was chuffed. The wider, higher bars have transformed the ride -- it feels so much more capable and manoeuvrable.

As for the colour scheme, I'm stuck with the orange bits now, even without the Orange stem.

More tinkering with this old thing: having improved handling with 820mm of Surly Sunrise goodness on a chunky Zoom stem, I decided to fit the Shimano PRO carbon forks with their greater crown-to-axle length. I'd been dithering about these forks because they're disc-only, but some cheap bits -- entry-level disc caliper, spare XT centrelock wheel and a rotor that fits made the decision for me.

It all went together pretty well -- after I messed up the star-fangled nut and had to install a new one. It's much more of a cruiser-style bike now but great fun for it.

Some more detail -- annoying how much dust shows up in photos . . .

I like that, whatever works for you.
I have some of those Shimano Pro forks, they're good

Looks great. I'm after some sunrise bars for one of my builds. Like rocking horse !
Love a coloured cable end tidy... reminds me, I've nearly run out!

albash82 said:

Looks great. I'm after some sunrise bars for one of my builds. Like rocking horse !
Love a coloured cable end tidy... reminds me, I've nearly run out!

Click to expand...

I found them on eBay for not too much -- must have been dumb luck. And yes, there's something about a nicely contrasting cable tidy!