Bike! (part2)

Once I got the basic sorted for a single speed, I found that reawakened my love for my old Dawes bike.  I've been riding single speed now for a couple of years with the occasional foray into fixed wheeling.  I've not yet found the courage to ride fixed wheel in London but may soon.

Through a combination of need, experimentation and occasional whimsy I've continued to modify and change my bike until it has reached it's current state.  I *think* that there are now only 3 parts (including the frame) of the original bike.  The other 2 parts are the saddle stem and the handlebar stem.  Everything else has been changed at some point.  Some things like the rear wheel, numerous times.

Here's some of the changes:

New handle bars.  I got a pair of bullhorn bars off of ebay for a good price.  I'd always ridden with bar end extensions before and really enjoyed the additional hand positions they afforded so thought I'd try bullhorns as a progression to this.  After 2 or 3 adjustments in height and angle I have to say I really like them.  They provide about 3 different riding positions that I use regularly for normal, fast and uphill cycling.

I added clips (no straps) to the pedals.  I have ridden clipless for a while using shimano cleats and I might go back to them one day.  The clipless shoes were particular good being stiffer than the ordinary trainers that I used and they dried out much quicker as well which is handy in the winter.  However, with the constant stopping and starting in London, I found myself permanently at the risk of embarrassing falls.  Indeed in the 6 months I where did use cleats I fell off twice (once at the traffic lights in front of a lot of work colleagues).  But, to be fair both falls were in the first couple of months so maybe I was getting better.  Combining a fixed wheel with clipless seems to me to be the height of cycle daring!

I finally got round (about 18 months after fitting the Omega rear wheel) to being able to justify to replace the front one with a matching equivalent.  The old front wheel had done a good many years service and was showing some serious wear on the rim.

I've upgraded both tyres to a much thinner road tyres (Continentals ...) which seems to add to general feeling of smoothness and quiet I get from the bike now.

The saddle is a real hard core razor blade of buttock clenching thinness.  It's a Selle Royale which I again got cheap as it was a test model.  Didn't seem to be anything wrong with it except that it had a big "TEST" sticker on it which has eventually worn away.  It *is* hard and it *is* thin, but I have to say that it is without a doubt the best and most durable saddle I've ever had.  It's outlasted all it's previous incumbents by many years.

Bottom Bracket and Front Forks.

My philosophy towards my bike choices (partly brought about by a reaction to the bells and whistles of the Kona) has become one of urban, gritty minimalism.   Nothing on the bike I don't need.  No mudguards, racks or gears etc.  The only thing I consider every year is the weighing of a minimalist philosophy against the inconvenience of a soggy bottom and back - I may put the mudguards back on.

Bike! (part 1)

Repairing and maintaining my main commuter bike has been an on and off activity for me for the last 20 years.  About 2 years ago I decided that the bike I'd had for about 17 years was finally past it and I invested (thanks to the Cycle To Work scheme) in a fancy new model.  A Kona Dr Dew.  It had all the bells and whistles a bike can have - pneumatic disk breaks, many many gears and a bell etc.  I added a hub dynamo and german lighting.  But, I never really got on with it.  Too much to go wrong and maintain.  Ultimately, I was really disappointed with it.  I seemed to spend as much time tweaking and fixing it as I did riding it.

A chance discussion with a cyclist friend introduced me to the idea of single speed and fixed wheel cycling.  Suddenly I found myself staring and wondering at the rusting 18 year old bike I had turned my back on.  A wistful nostalgia coupled with an urge to get my hands dirty led me on a 18 month project to rebuild my old bike!

I started with the Dawes Hybrid Synthesis that I had had since 1993 - it would have looked something like this originally (only it was in silver):

Dawes 1993 Synthesis Hybrid

I did a lot of reading of Sheldon Brown's brilliant cycling website and started planning what I needed to  do for a single speed conversion.  The Dawes had horizontal dropouts which was the main requisite for a conversion so all looked good.

To make the conversion work, I essentially had to remove the derailer, the rear gear cassette and replace the chain.  To tidy things up you then remove all the gear cables and on this bike, replace the integrated shifter/brakes with just brakes.  I soon realised that my front chainset was cheap and a single integral piece with the right hand brake.   It was also cracked and deformed, I wanted to be have a clean look with only a single chain ring so I decided to replace the existing integrated chain ring/pedal with separates.  For best results I've found it pays to use a single speed chain.  Normal chains have wider gaps to accomodate the angle in the chain as it moves up down the gears via the derailer.

The next thing I did was head to my local cycle shop.  They were very helpful and sold me a bag of second hand bits cheap.  This got me new brake handles, a new pedal and front chain set.  I ordered a new single speed chain and a flip flop wheel.  This gives the option of swopping between single speed freewheel and single speed speed fixed wheel.

So to work.  Whilst I waited for the chain and wheel I set to work removing the gears and swapping out the pedals.  With my newly acquired pedal removal tool (love a tool) I eventually got my new chain ring and pedal in place.   I felt a nervous excitement as I gutted my bike of it's gear cables and shifter.

Mk1 was ready for testing.  With the chain hooked round a low gear on the cassette I went for my first test ride.  It seemed OK but I wouldn't really know until I got the single speed wheel fitted.

The wheel I had chosen was a Mach 1 Omega rim track wheel from the Raleigh Tru-build range.

The wheel arrived a week later and I fitted it with a single speed freewheel and position it onto the bike.  Getting a good chain line and maintaining chain tension has always been tricky with my frame.   The wheel tends to move in dropout over time and that can lead to the chain coming off.  Recently I put a spacer onto the rear axle which has slightly improved the chain line.  I've also found that I need to retension the chain every couple of months and replace the chain about every 12 months.   If I keep an eye on these then the chain performs pretty well.

Anyway, the bike was ready (and cleaned) for daily use in around April 2010 and I haven't stopped loving it or using it since.   It really has reinvigorated my enjoyment of cycling.  I love single speed and would never go back to gears!  There really is a "clean" and direct feel of cycling with single speed, a better connection with the bike and the road.  It's hard to explain until you've tried it.