Spent the day getting as far along as I could on the bike. All I need now is for my other tire to come in and a chain tool and this thing is a rider!
After trying every way I could think to get the 50/24t gearing to work, I couldn't find a solution that didn't involve welding so I had to go with the 39/17t combo. It's probably going to be a little taller than I want but it's as close as I could get without spending money.
I reinstalled the seat post and seat. The seat I may replace or recover, I'll know more when I get some miles on it.
I reinstalled the brake levers and the front calipers. Got everything adjusted and working properly. I put the new pads John sent on the front along with the new foam grip material.
Looking good! Front brake pads look like they might be backward. Long part goes toward the rear. "Toe" them in by bending the brake arm so the front of the pad touches first. If they squeal toe them a little more. Those Kool Stop pads on chrome grab pretty hard and flex the brake arm twisting it so the pad ends up flat. If you apply the brake and push the bike you'll see what I'm talking about.
In reply to NOT A TA:
I wasn't sure which way to put them, I had them the other way then switched them around. I do have the front of the pads touching first. We'll see how they do when I can ride it. Seems like they grab pretty good by just spinning the tire.
Sweet! Good progress, can't wait to see it ready to ride!
Got a problem in the driveline. The bike has a pretty serious freewheel wobble (not unexpected), the front sprocket is also out of round or warped or something. The problem is I didn't check it out before I tore it down, so I don't know if it's something I've done or it has always been like that.
If you just spin the wheel and let it free spin by itself the chain goes; tight, loose, tight, loose, tight, loose.
If you spin the crank along with the wheel the chain goes; tight, loose, tight, TIGHT, loose, TIGHT, loose, tight, loose, LOOSE, tight, LOOSE tight, loose.
At it's tightest it has about 1/2" deflection in the chain and at it's loosest it has almost 1 1/2" deflection.
I'm not sure how I'm going to approach it. I was hoping to get it into riding condition as is before starting to upgrade components.
I guess I'm just going to ride it and see if it wants to constantly throw it's chain. If it is a problem I will move upgraded BB and crankset to the top of the list, followed by a new hub with either a cassette style freehub or a SS specific freewheel hub.
There might be some slop between the front sprocket and the crank. If you pull it apart and loosen the lock not from behind, you may have a bit of wiggle room to center it. Though honestly my hunch is you'll need to reinstall the derailure, even if it's just locked in a fixed position since you're running it as a single-speed.
Quick update.
First test ride was awesome! Gearing is good. Bike rides very nicely!
Had one major component failure. I will explain tomorrow what happened but would anyone like to hazard a guess which component couldn't handle my awesome power?
I tell you, I love this thing as a single speed. It's very quite and very smooth. It feels lightweight and responsive. It's just simple, the way a bicycle should be. Gears are way over rated
The only problem I'm having is my right knee pain. I went out this morning and rode for about an hour and it hurt on every single down stroke. Sharp pain behind the knee cap. I don't want to give up riding again, I may just have to suck it up and get it scoped.
Good job, I knew you'd finish it!
Try a set of BMX cruiser bars. 20" BMX bars will have too much leverage on the stem (for that style) and the stem will slip on the bars allowing the bar to rotate. Also get a long BMX style chain tensioner to keep the rear axle from pulling forward under torque or eventually when you're going up a hill or trying to wheelie the axle will slide forward till the rear wheel jambs and you go over the bars.
A long seat post may help with the knee pain , the seat's way too low for you. Knee comes up too high (I see in pics) and the angle isn't good for your knees. Not surprised knee hurts. Push the seat back as far as you can.
In reply to NOT A TA:
I'm planning on a top loading BMX stem to complement the bars. I'm pretty sure that the steerer tube will accept a standard BMX stem, anyway I will measure it to be sure.
I agree the seat is too low, on the list is a longer offset seat post and a new saddle. I have the seat as far back as I could get it now.
According to an orthopedic doctor I saw about eight years ago I have partially torn meniscus in both knees. I never got anything done about it, but that's what made me get off a bike in the first place.
Did the Paypal come through?
Looks great! Is that green a FORD color?
Bonus points for GRM shirt and Crocs
Paypal received, thanks for covering the shipping!
Don't forget to get a chain tensioner of some kind before bad things occur.
That's super cool, I love how it turned out. I just picked up an old 70's Raleigh road bike project and I'm going to do a singlespeed conversion too. Those K Rad tires look sweet, I really like the look you went for, and nice use of a cheapo bike.
In reply to sethmeister4:
Thank you!
I still have a couple things I want to do but so far I am extremely happy with it.
Well something was bound to fail on this thing.
Was out for a ride this morning with the boy and a couple miles into it I noticed the BB was getting loose. Headed home and snugged it up but as I tightened the locking nut down I promptly stripped the threads off of the crank.
There goes getting my legs back into riding shape anytime soon.
I guess I need to decide if I want to keep it one piece or convert it to a three piece crank.
I guess since all my pictures are dead now I need to throw an old picture up just to have something to look at.
