A call for advice

lol...just found a side effect of this whole retro bike thing. Does anyone recognise this scenario...

I run downstairs into the kitchen and say rather excitedly to my wife "GuesswhatI'vebeenonthisreallycoolsiteandtherearelotsofpeoplereallyintoretrobikesandi'mreallyexcitedaboutgettingtheorangerunningagain"

Wife replies with a level stare that says without word...."muppet"

Hi Gorbs

Whereabouts shropshire are you?

Ahh!

Never noticed you were in Shropshire!

Where abouts?

(Me's in Shrewsbury at the weekends)

Gorbs":36si1b4k said:

lol...just found a side effect of this whole retro bike thing. Does anyone recognise this scenario...

I run downstairs into the kitchen and say rather excitedly to my wife "GuesswhatI'vebeenonthisreallycoolsiteandtherearelotsofpeoplereallyintoretrobikesandi'mreallyexcitedaboutgettingtheorangerunningagain"

Wife replies with a level stare that says without word...."muppet"

Click to expand...

That's not so bad. There were plenty of Orange Muppets

Thats just stage 1.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... etrobiking

Gorbs":39mqet6r said:

lol...just found a side effect of this whole retro bike thing. Does anyone recognise this scenario...

I run downstairs into the kitchen and say rather excitedly to my wife "GuesswhatI'vebeenonthisreallycoolsiteandtherearelotsofpeoplereallyintoretrobikesandi'mreallyexcitedaboutgettingtheorangerunningagain"

Wife replies with a level stare that says without word...."muppet"

Click to expand...

Yep, its been like that for me EVERY day since I've been back into biking!

Welcome back though......and dont worry, we all understand. Every one of us is a muppet!

I would say the necessary upgrades, in order of priority/speed benefit, are:

1. V-brakes and levers
2. spd pedals
3. light wheels and tyres
4. suspension fork

If you change the fork, bear in mind that you have a 1" head tube and a threaded system, so you're not talking about a modern fork as they don't make 1" threaded any more. Also modern forks are so much longer than the existing ones that it will spoil the handling. This is where the problems start, because the only forks that won't spoil the handling are old short-travel ones, which obviously miss out on much of the dynamic benefit that a good-quality modern fork would offer. But if you must have the slight comfort edge, the kind of forks that Jez is offering you would give some travel without affecting the geometry/handling too badly, and I'm sure he wouldn't sell you anything without first ensuring that the length of the threaded steerer was sufficiently close to what you need that it could be cut down and you'd still have enough thread left.

Went for a day out to Bewl Water recently with a pal. Said pal is currently borrowing my C16R for commuting. He also has a GT Karakoram hardtail and a Club Roost (Santa Cruz copy) full-suspension bike. For a day out of cross country he chose to take the C16R. What more can I tell you?

I'm in Admaston. Next to Wellington

Thanks Anthony. That's some good gen about the forks, just the advice I was looking for.

I think that the best way for me to proceed is with a good strip down/clean/ examination...then I'll do the same to the bike (boom boom)

I'll get it running nicely in original spec first, then after the Christmas mauling of my bank account, I'll start looking at upgrades etc.

Gorbs":36loorym said:

I'll start looking at upgrades etc.

Click to expand...

Always shop here first, there are some real 'steals' to be had and you get the advice (if you need it) too