Alves 531 Fillet Brazed

[Dale cannon]

Re:

Thanks to French air traffic controllers the Alves has made it home sooner than expected so the build has made a little more progress .

The levers are too high and will need moving down a little and the cables are too long and will need shortening.

The 115mm BB is too short for the crank arms to clear the massive stays so will need swapping for a 122mm.

I've never installed a U-brake before, it was pretty easy and feels nice to use but the cable set up looks pretty ugly. So I might revisit it at some point.

My standard Charge Spoon saddle and Lifeline tubes are on the way from Wiggle. I'm still unsure as to what tyres to use, Fawkes cycles are selling Panaracer Pasela 1.75 for less than £19 so I'll probably go for those.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

How about treating it to some Compass Rat Trap Pass tyres. She surely deserves it.
https://www.velovitality.co.uk/products ... e-26-x-2-3

 

[Dale cannon]

I do like Compass tyres but those ones are too wide for what I need.

The Slumguillion looks better suited but when it's made in the same molds as the Panaracer it's hard to justify the extra price.

 

[Dale cannon]

Re:

After a lot of thinking and in conversation with a fellow Alves owner I've decided not too sell this beauty (I know that I'd only regret it afterwards) and keep in in the garage till I've got the time to do it justice.

One thing the Velofrog has got me thinking about is the bike fitted with 700c wheels and wider tyres so this morning this happened.

Obviously plenty of tyre clearance, I offered up a spare road bike caliper to the front and rear mudguard mounting hole and everything lines up pretty well...now that has got me thinking.

I also moved the levers to get a better bar to hood transition and tidied up the cables.

 

[Dale cannon]

Re: Alves 531 Fillet Brazed - Staying Put!

Front clearence.

 

[Dale cannon]

Re: Alves 531 Fillet Brazed - Staying Put!

Short test ride today. Position feels spot on but I may change it to a 100mm stem and compact bars. 41x16 felt good on the road but I might use 41x18 when I venture off road.

Crap camera phone pictures...

 

[NeilM]

Re:

Yummy.

That drop bar look suits the frame, I bet it feels good at speed.

 

[Dale cannon]

Thanks Neil, didn't really get a chance to get her up to any real speed but hopefully will next week, felt very nice climbing out of the saddle though.

 

[Dale cannon]

Planning to get a Tange stem like this, looks a lot better...

 

[Dale cannon]

https://www.strava.com/activities/85144 ... 1485947525

First real on/off road ride. A few small adjustments before venturing further.