lloyd_christmas
Retro Newbie
Hi guys, i'm new.
I decided a few weeks ago that'd like a road bike for cycling to work on, rather than using my MTB. I previously had only a passing interest in bicycles and had never sat on a road bike, but though i'd buy myself an old racer and clean it up.
Then I started reading about things, Reynolds this, 700C that, chainset, groupset etc. and decided I needed a handbuilt Reynolds 531 frame, but could only pay bottom dollar.
This came up for sale for £75 from Biggs682, hand built by Barry Bond of Leicester in Reynolds 531, so I bought it
I liked the idea of the clean lines of an unbraked fixed gear bike, but with the practicality of stuff like brakes and gears. So after a bit of elbow grease, it looks like this (apologies to people who think things should kept original):
Well not exactly like this, as i've put pedals on and changes the seat post, and done the bar tape properly, but near enough like that.
I want to leave the frame bare to expose the brazing and quite like the veins of rust that have developed under the aging paint. The idea now is to polish up the lugs, but leave the tubes as they are (more or less). It's got a 3-speed SA hub with coaster brake and, to keep the cabling tidy, a reverse lever for the front brake and an SA bar end shifter for the hub
Attempt at showing brazing around seat post (crap camera):
At the moment i've got the frame coated inside and out with ACF50. I rode it to work today and it flies. I've got a 10% hill to get up and down everyday and it looks like I guessed the required gearing well enough as I was just able to cycle up the hill in 1st.
I decided a few weeks ago that'd like a road bike for cycling to work on, rather than using my MTB. I previously had only a passing interest in bicycles and had never sat on a road bike, but though i'd buy myself an old racer and clean it up.
Then I started reading about things, Reynolds this, 700C that, chainset, groupset etc. and decided I needed a handbuilt Reynolds 531 frame, but could only pay bottom dollar.
This came up for sale for £75 from Biggs682, hand built by Barry Bond of Leicester in Reynolds 531, so I bought it
I liked the idea of the clean lines of an unbraked fixed gear bike, but with the practicality of stuff like brakes and gears. So after a bit of elbow grease, it looks like this (apologies to people who think things should kept original):
Well not exactly like this, as i've put pedals on and changes the seat post, and done the bar tape properly, but near enough like that.
I want to leave the frame bare to expose the brazing and quite like the veins of rust that have developed under the aging paint. The idea now is to polish up the lugs, but leave the tubes as they are (more or less). It's got a 3-speed SA hub with coaster brake and, to keep the cabling tidy, a reverse lever for the front brake and an SA bar end shifter for the hub
Attempt at showing brazing around seat post (crap camera):
At the moment i've got the frame coated inside and out with ACF50. I rode it to work today and it flies. I've got a 10% hill to get up and down everyday and it looks like I guessed the required gearing well enough as I was just able to cycle up the hill in 1st.