My brother has just turned up, back from his OE, to stay with us for a little while.
After the mandatory "what was such and such a country like" conversation was over, I got down to business, and asked the real question, "what sort of bike do you like to ride now".
Turns out he doesn't much like racing bikes, but does like something a bit grungy, but mostly a bike to just get around (he doesn't drive).
With the design brief in mind I got to work...
(this all happened within 12 hours of him turning up at our place)
I had just come back from Auckland, visiting my mate Chris from the
Scroungers car club,
so was all inspired to build a bit of a beater bike.
Started with a Aussie Ken Evans frameset, which I had been given a while back, looking pretty much like it is now, paint half stripped by hand, surface rust etc.
Next we tried using some old "26 wheels with a Sturmey Archer three speed, but the rear didn't quite fit, which is a bummer, they looked real good.
I had a search of the leanto, out in the back yard, and found this ragged old set of wheels.
Campag low flange hubs on Fiamme "27 alloy rims, perfect.
Next I found a trashed set of campag cranks, with the alloy peeling, some cool old pedals and a half dead Cyclo freewheel, she was starting to take shape.
For bars, I used a set of GB alloys, for a little bit of flash, on a unnamed steel stem from a thirties racer.
Shimano 600 front brakes, with a BMX lever for a touch of the modern, or something.
Liam, about to test ride the bike, and nearly crash in to a parked cop (not wearing a helmet), when the brakes failed.Yeh it was pretty funny.
Looks cool, and goes good too.
This build up will have a nearly full British group set, so stay tuned and I will post some photos when finished.
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