Converting a 90's MTB into a retro drop bar bike

[12boy]

Why do any welding? Bar end shifters work well with drop bars.

 

[mickle]

Why do any welding? Bar end shifters work well with drop bars.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363148401772

 

[Andy in Germany]

Why do any welding? Bar end shifters work well with drop bars.

I like bottom bar shifters. That said, on this narrower tube I may be able to get a collar.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Only issue is how it will look to your charity if you buy one of their bikes for your personal use? Might be okay or they might think you are getting personal benefit from your employment...?

I understand your point, but it's positively encouraged, as recycling is part of what we are here to do. Guess where I'll be getting the furniture for my flat?

 

[12boy]

I am sure you can. Many 70s bikes had clampon down tube shifters..

 

[Andy in Germany]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363148401772

Are those the adjusters I see on Long Haul Truckers?

Unfortunately that company can't export to the EU any more, but as Shimano UK is in Stuttgart I doubt I'll have too much trouble finding bits.

 

[mickle]

Are those the adjusters I see on Long Haul Truckers?

Unfortunately that company can't export to the EU any more, but as Shimano UK is in Stuttgart I doubt I'll have too much trouble finding bits.

Other down tube cable stops are available..

 

[Andy in Germany]

Other down tube cable stops are available..

But do they fit to the lever boss?

 

[Andy in Germany]

One of the issues visible on the Yellow Peril above is the thoroughly jammed BB.

This is what a thoroughly jammed BB looks like in close up:

You're welcome.

This was seriously gefurkled; all attempts with spanners, pipe wrenches and bilingual swearing had failed, so today when I had to take a delivery of bikes to another centre, I went to ask a colleague if we could use the monster vice in his workshop. My colleague loves bikes and loves challenges, and was fed up with writing reports so we clamped the removal tool into the vice and turned.

The tool was turning visibly, in fact the vice was moving slightly as well.

So this was it, the end of the story. We'd played nice and tried the mellow hippy approach and it hadn't worked; it was time to get serious.

I work for a very unusual company, and we have an in-house car workshop, and so the frame was taken down there to be introduced to Mr. Impact Screwdriver:

Mwahahahaaa...

The operation was complicated by the mechanic assigned to the case not being able to speak more than a few words of German, and yours truly not really having the requisite vocabulary, like "Impact Screwdriver"*

Anyway after some mutual misunderstandings, he applied the machine to the BB.

About 30 seconds later:

The German for "Impact Screwdriver, by the way, is Schlagschraubenzieher. Obvious really.

*I did look it up, honest, but I'd forgotten it again.

 

[mickle]

But do they fit to the lever boss?

Yes. Minoura, Campagnolo to name two off the top of mein head.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Finally:

 

[mickle]

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-spares/origin8-down-tube-shift-adapter-286318mm/

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-spares/black-286-mm-origin8-clampon-double-frame-cable-stop/

 

[Andy in Germany]

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-spares/origin8-down-tube-shift-adapter-286318mm/

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-spares/black-286-mm-origin8-clampon-double-frame-cable-stop/

I've come across those, but I think welded versions look a lot smarter; also I've got a tame welder in the company I work for.

Come to think of it I think my boss may be qualified as a welder; he seems to be qualified as just about anything else...

 

[Andy in Germany]

I'm currently with the family a couple of hundred Km from my workshop, so I've been thinking about the two most important questions of the project: What colour should the bike be, and of course, what should it be called?

I'm also agonising over the paint. I originally thought I'd paint the bike with a rattlecan, just as I did with the Wayfarer, but the Wayfarer is a bit vulnerable to dings and scratches, so I'm wondering about using a metal paint like Hammerite or the local version thereof. Has anyone had any experience of this?

I've also been quoted anything from 140 € to 200 € for a one colour powder coating of a bike frame.

Are these all my options or have I missed something?

In the meantime I've been working out transfer designs:

I think I prefer the blue so far, and "Peregrine" seems appropriate when I read the definition.

 

[All uphill]

@Andy in Germany

This a great project, but I'm not sure about naming bikes. They are machines not people and we shouldn't anthropomorphise them; besides which they don't like it.