RRBBO - Fixer Adler

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Joined
Jan 31, 2007
Messages
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Location
Nürnberg, Germany
adler03.jpg

So finally I decided to enter this bike in the build off. It's made in Germany by Adler in the 50s, and I want to build it fixed gear with as many cheap and used parts as possible.
adl_head.jpg

Nice art déco style head bagde

BTW - the topic title is German and has two meanings: fixed (gear) eagle or quick eagle!
 
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adler

Outrage, Thats a beautiful frame I love the lugs, should be a nice fix gear project. Don't forget to post photos of your finished bike to fixedgeargallery.com and velospace.org We need more bikes like yours on this forum

Cheers,
Gareth
 
rad1.jpg


Here's the front wheel. Union hub (from my "hubs" cardboard box), radially laced to a Weinmann aluminum rim (from the junkyard).
 
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now for the rear wheel: it's not easy getting a fixed gear hub if you don't want to spend a fortune on Dura Ace/Record track racing parts. So I decided to take an old Sachs Jet coaster brake hub (from a wheel I found on the roadside), take all the brake parts off, and weld the cog carrier to the hub shell. Advantage: The gear ratio can be changed, because this hub features the same sprocket system as Shimano/SA internal geared hubs.
Cog carrier (left), hub shell (right):
jetfix1.jpg


Parts put together:
jetfix2.jpg


Parts welded togehther (and filed. I am not The Big Welder :oops: ):
jetfix3.jpg


Spray painted silver:
jetfix4.jpg


The re-assembled hub:
jetfix5.jpg


The hub, laced to a Mavic rim, 3 leading - 3 trailing pattern:
jetfix6.jpg
 
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Been busy again: I visited a friend, wo has a lathe I can use (of course, he looks over my shoulder, so I don't ruin his equipment :D ). First, I had to machine the fork crown, so the race of the headset will fit. Second, I had to make the bottom bracket fit. Problem: The Adler frame doesn't have a standard BB, and they're gone out of the bicycle business in 1957 or so, so you can't go to your LBS and buy a handful of Adler BB parts. Idea: I take an old cartridge BB with plastic case and machine it to fit, and for the opposite side I'll make a ring from black nylon material.

Before: nylon material, ... bottom bracket, fork.
adler04.jpg


Fork crown with race:
adler05.jpg


Fork in the lathe:
adler06.jpg


Close up:
adler07.jpg


After: fork, BB with ring (on the left):
adler08.jpg
 
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Bottom bracket pressed in. Fits like a glove:
adler10.jpg


Some nice parts: iwis chain, Shimano DX seatpost, Altenburger Synchron brakes (they came off a bike a friend disassembled to trash it - I gave 'em a shine with Nevr Dull, and they are like new!), Kool Stop Vans brake shoes, ITM quick release seat clamp, Thun headset (aluminum with needle bearings - very nice!):
adler09.jpg
 
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sweet brakes there buddy. i got educated by a "fixie" ridder who said that those with real brakes are p*&^%ies. i looked at him and said "thats cool lets see how good you are when your rolling along and a car pulls out in front of you and you have nowhere to go. bet at that moment you would wish you would have put brakes on your bike!"
 
Agree. I think its moronic to ride without brakes. And: I live in a half million city. I'm sure the police will get you if you ride without brakes. And again you wish you would have put brakes on your bike!
 
There's nothing wrong with riding brakeless on a fixie, you can stop pretty quick if you know what you're doing. Not as fast as with a hand brake, but about as fast as a coaster brake. There's also nothing wrong with using a brake, in fact more people should. To say that only "p*&^%ies" use brakes just causes more unskilled riders to go around crashing into parked cars, enforcing the idea that riding brakeless is super dangerous. I would say that brakeless riding (by a skilled rider) is similar to poorly adjusted rim brakes or old pads on steel rims. It's a little dangerous, but it's not exactly a death wish. You might consider using just a front brake for style points, but there's nothing wrong with using two.
 
exactly yea you can stop pretty quick but still. and there are a lot of newbies buying fixies and removing the brakes because it is cool before i feel they really know what they are doing.
 
- I'm not cool (and I don't want to be) in this "messenger attitude" sort of way.
- This will be my first fixie and I'm used to have brakes on my bikes. I can try not to use them, but removing them don't come to my mind.
- I live in a big busy city and brakes are my life insurance. German motorists are nuts, believe me. And did I mention "police" above?
- If someone tells you, it's cool not to have a fire extinguisher in your workshop, do you remove it? Maybe you weld, grind, braze half of your life and don't need it. But one day, you will be glad it's there.
 
Lots of non-bike things to do last week, but finally I mounted all the parts from the last picture, and this nice German made Thun Aero Coronado cranks:
adler11.jpg

(I had the idea to use as much German parts as possible, but that's difficult. There are a lot of German bicycle parts which are cheap, heavy, chunky and made of chrome or nickel plated steel. Or very fine and VERY expensive parts, and only very few inbetween. So I had to take a look to the rest of Europe and Japan, especially if I want to finish in time)

This is how the bike looks at the moment:
adler12.jpg

I was not sure about the bar/stem combination. First, I wanted to use this:
ataxphi.jpg

An Atax stem/Philippe bar. The stem looks old fashioned, and the bar (a so called French training bar) comes very low. I also considered to chop/flip a road racing bar, but that's half of the bikes on fixedgeargallery.com look like. Now on the bike is a CTA stem/bar combination. Sorry for the poor macro function of my camera, the bar has very nice engravings, and it says "La technique avion appliquée aux 2 roues" (airplane technology applied to 2 wheels). If this isn't a reason to use tis bar :D
And the best: weight of the bike is under 9 kilos, only the pedals, the brake levers and brake cables missing!
 
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that's looking very good Stef.

I admire your work in locating parts...I'm sure it must be tough,
and frustrating some times with a limited amount of
resources..and a desire to build something ,not having access
to what you want..

The bike is looking awesome!!
Kev.
 
Finally I managed to get a picture of the engravings of the handlebar:
avion.jpg


I wanted to mount the pedals on the left: Lyotard Campy-style racing pedals. But they turned out to be both left-threaded (someone in the world has two right-threaded pedals and also can't use them :lol: ). So i will use the right ones - also Lyotard aluminum pedals:
adler13.jpg


Of course, I will give'em a shine w/Nevr Dull or Autosol before.
 
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Next step: the brake cables (with white housings) and brake adjustment. I thought about wrapping the bars with road racing bar tape, but I think that's too much hassle. Instead, I took a pair of black rubber grips out of one of my boxes. Finally, I could go for a test ride:
adler14.jpg

Yes, tere is a tiny bell (made in Germany BTW). I need one in the city. Bicycle weight is under 10 kilos anyway.
adler15.jpg

And yes, I'm gonna stick with that ultra-modern Ritchey saddle. Of course, an old-fashioned Brooks or Idéale leather saddle would be a perfect match, but I don't have one lying around, and buying one would easily double the value of the bike. Some mid-80s race saddle like a Turbo or a Rolls? Nah, looking dull. So the Ritchey gives that "21st century touch" (and makes it harder to estimate the age of the bike), and I like it!
BTW: Fixed gear riding is a weird experience. At least, I didn't fall off!
 
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