Very shiny Sun Worksop - WARNING...fixed wheel 'nonsense'

grumpycommuter

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I acquired this frame and fork set earlier in the year in readiness for making a new winter bike. I wanted to learn more about wheels so decided to kill two birds with one stone, build a fixed winter ride and convert an ordinary wheelset thus trying my hand at truing, redishing etc.

On getting it home i discovered that the original forks were like spaghetti. Chalking this one up to experience i ploughed on getting bits together, some period-ish others not quite so.

Playing with the back wheels wasn't too bad, freewheel off, i then respaced and then redished which took about 4 hours and at least 8 spokes. The end result is reasonably good especially when considering that the rims and spokes are almost 30 years old, any further truing was getting difficult as more and more spokes were breaking :LOL:

The bottom bracket adjustable side was yuck, very very loose. Fortunately everything sort of rights itself with about 2 - 3 turns to go, so i chucked it all together and am now not thinking too hard about it.

It all finally came together mid-September, a winter bike on the road in time for an Indian summer!! The Hiduminum stem and Superhood levers are ones i had knocking around, the gb brakes i got off t'internet, a nice change from Weinmann centre-pulls. The cranks are off a mid 60's Carlton while the wheels are off a mid 70's one. The frame is far too small for me as evidenced by the rather long seatpost but i love the shininess. The forks are new and look like they were made in a shed somewhere in India but they are straight. Ive kept a rear brake as my route home involves some steepish descents, not fun at the best of times in the ice and snow and also as a backup due to the absence of the correct lock ring

Not sure what model it is. The serial number begins with an X. The little information on Sun's i have gathered from here and elsewhere puts it possibly around 1968. Not sure myself. It was painted at some point in it's life as there are some green flakes left around the top of the seat stays, so someone has certainly stripped it. Maybe? As for the model, maybe a Snipe? Anyone else got any ideas?

It weighs a ton but looks great and is a highly inappropriate colour for a winter ride. Perfect :roll:
 

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Very nice! That's a massive saddle bag BTW. I have front and rear brakes on my winter fixie too - I like being able to stop. Kudos on redishing the wheel. :)
 
Utterly gorgeous!

You can't beat an all chrome frame for sheer class and decadence!

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Nice :D

Spokesmann........is that an early Carlton Cobra ?? Looks a bit too fancy for a cobra LOL

My first proper bike whas an all chrome carlton cobra but it had a flash of spray paint over the lugs and top of the forks.

Shaun
 
Midlife":3tawt6m2 said:
Nice :D

Spokesmann........is that an early Carlton Cobra ?? Looks a bit too fancy for a cobra LOL

My first proper bike whas an all chrome carlton cobra but it had a flash of spray paint over the lugs and top of the forks.

Shaun

Its a 1958 Constellation.
 
Many, many thanks for the positive posts everyone!!!, it makes me almost forget about the new fork nightmare! Headset locknut fits new forks so LBS cuts to size. Due to the tiny headtube the steerer is tiny also!!!! Fit the forks at home and the locknut wont turn :evil: then i realise that the lower 2/3's of the steerer are chromed so i have to 'ream' it with the top nut! Not a nice feeling. Much sweating and cursing later i'm done. Crown race on? NOOOOOOOO it's too big. Bollocks!!! fetch a tin can from the recycling box (tin of beans..maybe Aldi, could be Coop) lots of snipping, wedging, slicing of fingers and voila!! functioning headset :roll:

zzpa - its a capacious bag, perfect size for beer take-outs.

jonny69 - wait till you see my 'gentlemans' fixed tourer!

spokesmann - i almost got a constellation f + f of LFGSS earlier in the year but missed it by 2 hours, i was cross for days :LOL: It;s a thing of beauty that you have.
 
grumpycommuter":3m51ligc said:
Many, many thanks for the positive posts everyone!!!, it makes me almost forget about the new fork nightmare! Headset locknut fits new forks so LBS cuts to size. Due to the tiny headtube the steerer is tiny also!!!! Fit the forks at home and the locknut wont turn :evil: then i realise that the lower 2/3's of the steerer are chromed so i have to 'ream' it with the top nut! Not a nice feeling. Much sweating and cursing later i'm done. Crown race on? NOOOOOOOO it's too big. Bollocks!!! fetch a tin can from the recycling box (tin of beans..maybe Aldi, could be Coop) lots of snipping, wedging, slicing of fingers and voila!! functioning headset :roll:

zzpa - its a capacious bag, perfect size for beer take-outs.

jonny69 - wait till you see my 'gentlemans' fixed tourer!

spokesmann - i almost got a constellation f + f of LFGSS earlier in the year but missed it by 2 hours, i was cross for days :LOL: It;s a thing of beauty that you have.

Thank you.

You can read about it here:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... stellation
 
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