Parts needed for Po’s bike

Just a list of parts I need to get for Po’s bike, with an estimate of what they will cost on eBay:

1. Kids 150mm crank set (£25-35) – ordered from All Terrain Cycles
2. Bottom bracket (£20 – £30) – Shimano UN54 Wiggle
3. Blue anodised pedals (£25) – new Velosolo
4. Chain and 7 speed block (£15) – eBay
5. Mavic XM317 black rim brake rim for rear wheel (£25) – Wiggle
6. Shimano XT rear hub (used) – £7 – eBay (may also use the Campagnolo hubs with screw-on block)
7. Mavic XM317 rim + Commencal front hub – got it (may rebuild onto Campagnolo front hub)
8. Skull saddle (£15) – eBay
9. Seatpost 25.4mm alloy – (£6.99) – eBay (ordered)
10. Mudguards (£20)
11. Quill stem 1″ x 60mm alloy – from Paul
12. Bars (cowhorn or drop or flat with bar ends) (£15 – £25) – Brick Lane Cycles?
13. Bar tape (£8)
14. Tyres + tubes 26 x 1.0 road (£30) – eBay
15. Brake levers + shifters (£15)
16. Brake and gear cables (£10)
17. Brakes (dual pivot road 55mm drop) – £25 Parker Intl (Campagnolo)
18. Spokes (£20)
19. Blue anodised spoke nipples Halo £14
20. Spacer – 1″ x 3mm stem (blue anodised) £3-£5
21. Front and rear pannier racks (£40 – £60)
22. Rim tape £5
23. Front derailleur (ordered All Terrain)
24. Rear derailleur (or spare Shimano from the Spesh)
25. Headset (new bearings in original set)

Damn… that comes to quite a bit. Will have to do some canny buying to lower the total. But it’ll be a good little bike.

In a nutshell we’ve taken an old steel framed Apollo kid’s 24″ MTB, stripped it of the junk steel parts that were on it and we’re now rebuilding it with better quality alloy parts and narrow 26″ MTB wheels plus road tyres. Amazingly the bigger wheels with small tyres fit neatly in the frame and as the original cantilever U brakes don’t reach, fitting it with road style dual pivot brakes. The frame itself is quite pretty with thin steel tubing, tapered and curved forks and is relatively light. I think we’ll make a unique and rather nice kid’s road touring bike out of it.

Tandem Musings

In the background to getting the Falcon sorted out, I’m thinking about what components we’re going to need for the tandem. Being an old track frame of unknown origins we have a sort of free hand. I think it’d be good to retain some integrity with the original frame geometry and setup, but some stuff can be cheerfully modernised.

For example it does not appear to have had brakes fitted originally, clearly to use it on the road we need these. Being a tandem we’d need good brakes so why not fit the best – hydraulic discs?

Second, we need good strong wheels. 48 spokes is very strong, and could even be used off road. I could therefore build up a set of 26″ MTB wheels with 48 spoke hubs and discs quite easily. But the frame was built for old school 26″ x 1 3/8 road wheels, a.k.a. 650B and now enjoying a fringe resurgence in the USA as the 27.5″ MTB format (in between 26″ and 29er).

Now I have an eccentric streak and I sort of like that idea. First, the 650B rim size is actually true to the frame. Second, I can get MTB or road tyres for it. Third it would result in stronger wheels than 700c or 29er due to the slightly smaller diameter. Fourth it retains better ground clearance and possibly speed than could be achieved using 26″ MTB wheels.

So I have been digging about. I scored a Halo 48 spoke rear disc hub on eBay a while ago for £19. Absolute bargain, these are well over £100 new. And amazingly it fits in the rear dropouts with only a bit of stretching. I’m looking for a 48 spoke front disc hub now. I’ll lace whatever rims I decide on with Sapim strong single butted 2.3mm spokes. That should result in a seriously strong wheel, suitable for on and off road touring.

More recently I have found some new old stock 48 spoke 650B rims. They are pricey at £50 each, but probably well worth it and being a classic road rim, very true to the look of the tandem. They are also top quality from a now defunct european manufacturer. So I am very tempted but it will have to wait till I can spare the cash I suspect.

I have found in the UK that 650B old stock road tyres are not hard to find, as this was a very common town bike or 3-speed size, so I can shoe it for a very reasonable price. The last bit was to find suitable off road tyres, which seem nonexistent in the UK. Knowing of the 650B MTB movement in the States I looked there and have now found some excellent ones available so I’d probably buy some in. I want the option of on or off road tyres, not that we’d go seriously hard core off road but some moderate XC is easily on the cards with a strong steel frame and a suitably rugged setup. Maybe we could build her up as a tandem cyclocrosser!

I just found this blog about 650B MTBs, it’s got lots of useful information on 650B tyres and rims.

Info for Anoraks

Just starting this page as I was trying to date the Ron Kitching from the Reynolds 531 stickers. Will let it evolve for now.

• A useful couple of pages about Reynolds 531 fork blade construction and an explanation of what the different 531 stickers mean. Our Kitching is the best type – the top left sticker…
• Just started a project with one of my girls and I’m going to need to get short cranks for her as she’s only 9. Useful info at Myra Simon’s blog.
• From Myra’s blog I found Highpath Engineering (UK) who do crank shortening for kids and other bike component work. Brilliant.