Todays find

[Abaca]

Was looking at the drop outs and they look quite short compared to other singlespeed I have built,do you think it should work or will I need a chain tensioner?
Cheers

 

[randomdan]

Nice find and recycling at its best.

With a strip down, clean up with spirits and a toothbrush that frame will come up nice I recon.

Singlespeed Shminglespeed! Don't you have hills up in Scotland?

 

[Abaca]

You mean white spirit? Never thought to usr that,is it safe to use on everything?
Yes we havt bloody massive hills but I have tree trunk thighs and walk the steepest ones

 

[randomdan]

Thought you had some well I have to tip the hat as I need at least a few gears to get me up the worst even on our gentle hills here.

Yeah I've done a few strip downs and rebuilds and used white spirit to clean out gunk and grease with no real issues. I might be being uneducated about this though - I guess it could make plastic parts whiten and turn brittle but then again 20 years exposure to UV light already probably has done that

Bike shops sell muc-off, but in my experience it's crap for all but oil and mud and fresh plant sap. You'll need something aggressive to strip that aged gunk off the bar - white spirits or another solvent (meths etc) should do it. Squirt of WD40 and a wipe with a rag is usually what I do after.

 

[Abaca]

Thanks,another question I had was can I put v brakes on it??

 

[JonTom]

A Dremel should clean up that skewer. They make a few brush attachments (one of stainless steel, one of brass) that will strip the rust off it in about 30 seconds.

Or you could soak in CLR for an hour or two.

 

[randomdan]

Thanks,another question I had was can I put v brakes on it??

Yeah, they should go on the boss points OK and set up for the rim, but check your levers as they may need to be swapped over to linear pull type. And you'll need new outers too IIRC.

Old cantis have a curve of efficiency and a sweet spot in their setup where the braking power so the levers work in a non-linear way to correct for this (Sheldon Brown has quite good info on this)

 

[Abaca]

Found complete v brake sets on the bay,probably pick them up.
I was considering getting a dremel,seems like it could come in handy a lot.
Clr??

 

[Abaca]

Anybody had a good result using a dremel wannabe? Theres some available on the bay for 15 bucks

 

[JonTom]

Re:

I'm sure a Dremel wannabe will be just fine. And you'll find the Dremel wannabe brushes on Ebay for a fraction of the price - they work just as well and last almost as long.

CLR is a product here in Aus - I expect there's something similar in the UK. Try B&Q or Homebase etc.