This one was possibly a result of too much confinement in the house, under the current circumstances, prompting a need for some retail therapy. I'd also just off loaded a frame and realised I'd not built a new bike for three years.... The cue was a few rides I did in the early part of the 'lockdown' on a fixie I'd thrown together about 12 years ago, but never really used. This was dragged out and fettled, a pair of sawn off drops used for 'bullhorn' bars (fixie de rigueur) and the 18mm tyres ditched for some 23mils, all that would fit in the frame. This frame is quite nice as its an ex track bike frame sporting the name 'Sandy Wallace' of Edinburgh (in)fame. It was actually built by M Steels in Newcastle, source of many custom steel frames over the years. Being a track bike, it was incredibly stiff, had bugger all clearance and was actually quite heavy. I'd drilled the forks to take one brake, fitted a 42/17 gear and gone for a proper try out. Having ridden a lot of single speed this year, I was in a much better frame of mind to appreciate a fixed gear. But the frames limitations were manifest. No room for mudguards, so useless other than for dry weather, very twitchy (not ideal when every time you try to freewheel it tries to hurl you out of the seat) and very uncomfortable.
So as usual the seed had been sewn and I spent some weeks ruminating on whether I should invest in something that could be run fixed but was overall more usable. A surly steamroller was the obvious choice but its still track geo and not that versatile off the road. Furthermore there were none to be had in the UK or Europe in my size. Some of the fixed gear specialists offer some nice frames, specifically Brick Lane Bikes in London, but none of them quite met my exacting needs. I could have fixed the Straggler but this would have involved a new back wheel and a fair bit of fiddling. Plus disk brakes on a fixie??
Hmmm, how about a Cross-check then. I'd actually had one of these previously, my first ever Surly. It was a great thing but I'd got it a size too large as I hadn't a clue how road bike sizing went. So it was always a bit long plus I only really used it for commuting. By the time I was back into cycle touring, it was totally knackered and therefore got neglected. Soon after I became enamoured of the idea of disk brakes on a road bike so the cross-check was abandoned and eventually sold. But if I got the right size then it would be a far nicer prospect, the dodgy canti brakes would only be a back up to the fixed wheel, and being a 'classic' Surly, pretty cool to boot. Or something.
Of course there were non to be had of these in my size either. Some web searching sourced one in Germany for not much more than the bargain priced ones in Spa cycles (that weren't due in stock until October). I was pretty dubious about this as if it went wrong, sending it back would be a PIA. I also like to buy my frames from Bothy Bikes these days as its the nearest thing to my local bike shop but they had none in stock and were therefore dependent on Ison getting more in October. The shop had good reviews and if you used a bank card rather than Paypal the exchange rate was pretty much what was being advertised as the standard rate across the board. Word of advice, Paypal rip you off for exchange rates, paying this way would have cost me an extra thirty quid. So I hit the button and fretted for 10 days until it duly arrived on Monday.
All was well (in fact it was mint) and I noted that unlike my old one, its now also got the ED black coating which cuts down on rust inside and out. Also new were extra barnacles on the fork crown and mid blade, for a front rack. I'd been digging through my parts bin, as well as looking at what was on the track bike and figured I had most of what I needed. Wheels were a pair of Miche track wheels with a 120 rear hub, and practically unused. I had a selection of stems, various drop bars, various cranks, some old XT cantis, nice Cane Creek road levers, a choice of seat pins and a nice brown leather Charge spoon saddle. I then got the chance of a set of mini V's cheap so went for them figuring they'd be easier to set up and live with than the cantis, which were always a pain in the backside back in the days when there was nowt else.
First job, waxoyl the frame. I use a sprayer which fits into a standard waxoyl can on my compressor. This is very messy but if you thin the waxoyl with white spirit, the spray coats the inside of the tubes with a thin film. I've done this on all my steel frames and ones that have been used for many years in all weathers are still mint inside. ACF30 spray gets used for awkward nooks and crannies, chainstays and fork blades etc. This then gets left to dry for a few hours.
Next up, what used to be my least favourite job - bashing in the headset. These days I use a Park headset press which is a nice thing. I also have a 30 Ton press for the stubborn ones. The Cane Creek headset I got off the BB forum classified is nice in that it has a slight machined reduced diameter which allows you to push it in a bit square prior to pressing it it fully. These are half the price of a hope one so guess what I'll be buying next time. You can use a bit of M20 threaded bar, nuts and washers to do this but the Park tool is really nice, comes with stepped spacers and makes it a breeze. The crown race put up a fight as it was quite tight. I prefer the split ones as you can just push them on.
Next up, in with the forks, put some spacers on and fit a stem to hold it all in place. I've not cut the steerer yet as I want to have a sit on it and measure up. On three of my bikes I've been a bit keen cutting the steerer and ended up with bars too low. Given my age and dodgy back I err on the side of long and upright. I hate the horrible star fangled nut things so used a BBB wedge type steerer bung. Lavish use of copper grease figures in all of these proceedings. Then on with a seat and put the wheels in. I'd converted the front to QR and spaced the 120 hub out to 130. The cross check has forward facing drop outs with adjuster screws sticking out the back. Years of motorcycle ownership has lead me to appreciate screw adjusters to tension the chain but these adjusters only locate the wheel, not adjust it as they would for rear facing drop outs. I contemplated various designs in my head to turn these into things that would drag the wheel back but in the end got a Surly hurdy gurdy chain tensioner. Despite the stupid name it's a nice piece of machined stainless kit designed specially for this or other forward loading drop out frames. The only issue is that the wheel spindle is a bit short . I'll have to get a new axle but this will do for now.
The plan was to use these RF 46 cm deep drop bars cut down to bull bars. But they have a short reach and initial sittings-on suggested they would be uncomfortable. I then did my usual internal debate about bars and stems and what I could buy; but in the end stuck to my original determination to not end up spending huge amounts of dosh on new bits for what is only going to be a commuter come mess-around machine. So the RF bars got returned to the back hedge and the bars I'd had on the track back went on. They are a wee bit narrow but fine for now. Note short stem (70mm with a 35 degree angle). I just do not get fitting a 120 stem on any bike road or off-road. And thats speaking as someone who (like everyone else) had a 150 stem on my mountainbike, back in the day. Short stems make for very light and responsive steering and mean your not facing the front tyre. For me its crucial to minimise the angle I lean forward on a bike, in order to minimise back pain. So short stems are a double whammy meaning sweet steering and a nice comfy riding position. After further debate I decided to lop an inch and a half off the steerer tube.
Another job I used to make a meal of. Using a saw guide helps immensely - this is an Ice toolz one. Annoyingly my only hacksaw blade was blunt so I reached for the power saw which is a bit of a scary thing but licked through the cromo tube in jig time.
I wired up the brakes and got them set up with minimum fuss, justifying getting the mini V's. Got a good lever feel so they should be fine. There is some amount of nonsense talked on the net about setting up cantis or V brakes. People talk about having lots of 'modulation' for good feel, but this is what I (and any other motorcyclist) refers to as a crap, spongy brake. I like to feel the blocks hitting the rim / pads hitting the disk; followed by a generous dose of braking power.
I was still awaiting the arrival of a BB so cracked on with fitting the mudguards. These were previously on my Strag but were a bit narrow for 40mm tyres. For the 35mm marathons I'd bunged on this they were ideal. After a bit of stay faffing and messing with bits of bracket, bolts and washers I got them on. The front was a bit tight under the brake cable so I may need to fiddle a bit more. The brake works fine however, it just rubs the 'guard a bit. I always run the front stays to the mid fork mounts. This gives a much stiffer front guard as the stays end up very short. It requires a bit of bending and fiddling but works really well and eliminates horrible mudguard off tyre rattle. I don't use the safety clips on the end of the stays. I appreciate why these are fitted but I don't like them, despite once having a rock up mudguard / jam fork / face plant / cracked skull scenario many years ago. They wear quickly (The SKS ones with the waggly bit on the plastic lump that detaches under force) meaning they can detach under normal use. Having a loose stay flailing about as you descend a gravel track is not a good thing. The chances of a stick getting caught up are slim, and I just take extra care when riding trails covered in sticks.... Whilst doing this I taped over all the weld vent holes. Water can get in these holes and can't drain out so the tubes could rust from the inside, even though I've waxoyled them. I also tape round the chainstays where the tyre goes and up the seat stays where the bike will get lent against posts.
The BB arrived so it was on with the (laughably simple) drive train. I had various crank / ring / BB options but fancied using a set of old Ultegra cranks that were actually on my last Cross-check. They are Octalink and the BB I had was worn out. They don't last as long as the square taper ones and cost £32 so I may revert to square taper at some point. Ring wise I had a choice but went with 38 to the 16T back sprocket. Gearing on fixies takes up a lot of internet space and the 'standard' seems to be 46/16. Fine for the city or open road without any big hills but way over-geared for my needs. I'd had 42/16 on the track bike with the 23mm tyres so 38/16 with the 35's will work out a wee bit lower in terms of gear inches. Note I use circumference of the wheel to calculate this (not the stupid convention of diameter only to compare with a mythical penny-farthing!) as you get a real value i.e the length traveled for one pedal revolution. A check of the chainline with a straight edge indicated it was spot on by good fortune. More wrenching and tightening, a quick check of everything I've done so far and.....
Boom, finished. Just need to ride it, faff a bit, ride it some more, faff some more and then get on with it. So it proved. First ride of 12 miles revealed a few minor tweaks required and then the next day it was out for a proper ride. As it happens I ended up doing 60 miles (mostly in the rain) and it was great. But knackering as freewheeling involves taking the feet of the pedals which looks highly dubious to me.
In fact I've been checking out all of those youtube vids showing nutters screaming around various metropolis's on fixies with scant regard for personal safety. (Search for Terry Bartensen, they are well worth a look.) There isn't much scope for such silliness round here and I'm too old for it anyway; but its clear that fun is to be had on these things, which makes a change from my normal bike riding exploits. Next blog from the hospital!
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