saracen singlespeed beater project FINITO!!

[lewis1641]

just having a bit of fun with a saracen i picked up off here for £20 posted

how it arrived. pretty weighty and nothing working properly!
the choices were throw money at it and get it working or go budget singlespeed. the single speed option won!

the shifters were sti units and i didnt want to fork out for new levers,

so off the shifters came. 10 mins with a hack saw later and...

the chainset is rivetted together. i was going to cut the rings off but it weighs a ton so i stuck on an ex kona sugino one i had lying around. i didnt have a good middle ring so the middleburn 44 outer is being used. i'm happy with that as i think singlespeed bikes look far better with a bigger ring. the sprocket is a 21 tooth stripped from an old cassette.

grips are good old onza ules.

front tyre is a maxxis worm drive that the bike came with. rear is a wormdrive attached to an 86 schwinn thats hanging up in the shed. its got a pimpy red pinstripe too.

with that chainset gone it is significantly lighter.

next jobs are new brake cables and the small matter of removing the seized seatpost!

cost so far, £20 and a reduces storage stash

 

[thedirtyroger]

nice work!

 

[lewis1641]

Cheers. I'm interested to know how it rides

 

[tee-one]

oooh i like that

 

[lewis1641]

i've still got the box if you want it back!

 

[jimihendrix]

Look's good so far , only thing with using an outer ring on a single speed is getting the chainline right, also try putting it together without a tensioner, sometimes you can be lucky with chainstay length and run without one.

 

[lewis1641]

its worth a shot for sure. the only problem i can see though is as the chain wears it will loosen off?

 

[jimihendrix]

its worth a shot for sure. the only problem i can see though is as the chain wears it will loosen off?

Not if it's set up right, i dont run any tensioner on my E3, a new chain fitted to it is very slightly tight but perfect after the first couple of rides once it's bedded in (cranks spin two whole revolutions when spun backwards), never had the chain fall off or snap, think i've fitted two new chains in the last year.

 

[lewis1641]

well i set to with good intentions to get this rolling on sunday. didnt get far


the seatpost was my first job. it was stuck fast. couldnt twist it with an adjustable spanner on the seat clamp area. so i hit it with a hammer. and it moved! seatpost now not stuck!

started on the brakes but a minor catastrophe with one of my dogs hampered progress somewhat ( he broke his claw - lots and lots of blood and £20 for the vet!

 

[lewis1641]

yay made some progress last night. recabled the brakes and stuck some new pads in. bearing in mind the lo cost nature of this project i went to asda for some "bell" brake pads. i think they are a couple of quid for a pair. sadly my local store has thinned out its cycle stuff for the winter. as it was 7pm i popped to halfords. their cheapest pads on display would have been 10 quid a set. i asked the guy behind the counter if they had any cheaper ones and he dissapeared.

can back with 4 brand new pads but not packaged. £4. ace.

so brakes now done i turned my attention to the drive.

i tried all sorts of ring and sprocket combinations to get a magic gear but no such luck. i think the one i have (32/15) would work with a half link but that necessitates spending money. so on with the broken tensioner! the spring has gone so it is now fixed in place.

i decided against using a bigger ring and sprocket(my preferred set up for aesthetic reasons) for 3 reasons...

1. the ring i am using is steel and threaded so no need to cut down any bolts, hurrah

2. i am using 4 bolt arms instead of the sugino ones which frees them up to go back on my lava dome. hurrah

3. the 5 bolt sugino i was going to use has a middleburn 44t ring attached in good nick - i can now sell that. hurrah

so there we have it. the tyres roll pretty well on tarmac. it is a bit big and upright for my liking but for what i want to do with it it will be fine.

one last obstacle though - the left crankbolt is solid and is rounding off. taking it to my mates workshop to get neanderthal on it tonight all being well, hence only 1 pedal in it

it is also a lot lighter than it started out too. i borrowed wu tangled scales and it only weighs 23.5lbs. awesome