Had this Pipedream for a few years now.
It was my main bike running 3 x 9, BB7's and a Rockshox Duke, did a lot of miles.
Then tried full suspension with an S Works enduro so it was left for winter work, I could not bond with full suspension so transferred all the running gear over to a Ragley frame, which I still love. This left the (by now) very rusty Pipedream without a purpose, the Ragley did everything I wanted plus with longer forks.
Was thinking of selling the frame but thought I had best investigate the corrosion first, apart from the cable guides rotting away all was OK. TBH I was a bit disappointing as I do keep my bikes clean, even though it had been used through 2 winters.
Anyway removed the guides, stripped to bear metal, rattlecan spray job and I had a single speed with a couple of those stick on cable guides.
Used a Superstar tensioner and all was good, but it didn't get used much and I gradually stripped it for parts, at one stage I was thinking of skipping it.
Then I happened upon the New Sirius with sliding dropouts, this was about the time everything goes swamplike around here and when I start yearning for an SS.
I'm in the middle of a Trials Motorbike restoration so a new frame was out of the question so I dug out the old frame.
Due to the weather I have been doing a lot of miles on the road using a Giant Hybrid framed bike, all alloy and rides very nice, especially the fork. I then see a similar fork on Ebay so buy that for the Pipedream.
The rest were parts I already had except for the 185mm disk adapter, this is not due the the startling speed I will attain ( quiet the opposite! ) but due to the pipe routing on the fork and my lazyness in changing the pipe end.
First ride was awfull with loads of chain skipping and a puncture, tried the tensioner in up and down tensioning but made no difference so tried another chain from the garage floor ( a sad indictment of my workshop practices ) shortened it to the same length as the original ( physically, but one link less ) and put it on, much to my surprise I had found the magic ratio! No tensioner needed, the ratio is 17/32 by the way, I usually do the classic 16/32 but the tyres are pretty big and I'm getting older.
Trouble is I don't know how much I have used this chain, will it suddenly go slack? Will a new one with the same number of links be OK? Going to carry the tensioner with me for the first few rides, just in case.
Went out yesterday, the rigid forks and big tyres ( converted to tubeless ) work well together and the chain was fine, it was good to be off road again, even if it was pretty easy stuff.
It rode sufficiently well that I may well get the frame powdercoated in the summer ( If we have one ) The current rattlecan job is looking pretty tatty, I used up some leftovers, hence the Kona like 2 tone fade, anyway here's some pics.
It was my main bike running 3 x 9, BB7's and a Rockshox Duke, did a lot of miles.
Then tried full suspension with an S Works enduro so it was left for winter work, I could not bond with full suspension so transferred all the running gear over to a Ragley frame, which I still love. This left the (by now) very rusty Pipedream without a purpose, the Ragley did everything I wanted plus with longer forks.
Was thinking of selling the frame but thought I had best investigate the corrosion first, apart from the cable guides rotting away all was OK. TBH I was a bit disappointing as I do keep my bikes clean, even though it had been used through 2 winters.
Anyway removed the guides, stripped to bear metal, rattlecan spray job and I had a single speed with a couple of those stick on cable guides.
Used a Superstar tensioner and all was good, but it didn't get used much and I gradually stripped it for parts, at one stage I was thinking of skipping it.
Then I happened upon the New Sirius with sliding dropouts, this was about the time everything goes swamplike around here and when I start yearning for an SS.
I'm in the middle of a Trials Motorbike restoration so a new frame was out of the question so I dug out the old frame.
Due to the weather I have been doing a lot of miles on the road using a Giant Hybrid framed bike, all alloy and rides very nice, especially the fork. I then see a similar fork on Ebay so buy that for the Pipedream.
The rest were parts I already had except for the 185mm disk adapter, this is not due the the startling speed I will attain ( quiet the opposite! ) but due to the pipe routing on the fork and my lazyness in changing the pipe end.
First ride was awfull with loads of chain skipping and a puncture, tried the tensioner in up and down tensioning but made no difference so tried another chain from the garage floor ( a sad indictment of my workshop practices ) shortened it to the same length as the original ( physically, but one link less ) and put it on, much to my surprise I had found the magic ratio! No tensioner needed, the ratio is 17/32 by the way, I usually do the classic 16/32 but the tyres are pretty big and I'm getting older.
Trouble is I don't know how much I have used this chain, will it suddenly go slack? Will a new one with the same number of links be OK? Going to carry the tensioner with me for the first few rides, just in case.
Went out yesterday, the rigid forks and big tyres ( converted to tubeless ) work well together and the chain was fine, it was good to be off road again, even if it was pretty easy stuff.
It rode sufficiently well that I may well get the frame powdercoated in the summer ( If we have one ) The current rattlecan job is looking pretty tatty, I used up some leftovers, hence the Kona like 2 tone fade, anyway here's some pics.
