Al Fur

[GeePig]

I have a bike frame with only one wheel, a small stock of other bike bits and pieces plus whatever other rubbish I can and have found - what could go wrong?

One of my wife's friends brought it over all the way from the city after she and her sons had a bit of a sort out in the basement. It is the most modern bike I have, even though it is from the cheaper end of the market, and I already know that eventually it will end up as a bare frame in my wooden barn, unless I happen to find someone who needs a bike.

The only question for now is what should I turn it into?

That tube which is draped over the frame is a 700 and it has a puncture, but the only wheel that came with the bike is a 26" and has its own tube in it.

The wheel is a bit beat up and has a very worn out tire on it, but did it come off this frame? It is made of aluminium and does not match either of my other two aluminium wheels - a 24" and a 700. I could fit either, the 24" is part of a front wheel has a decent hub while the 700 is a bare rim.

This wheel may not have come off this frame, but it has a 7-speed gear set and matches the 7-speed gear changer on the handlebars. I will have to fit the wheel to see if it aligns with the brakes.

The chain is very slim compared to all my others, and it is the only one with a split link that I own, and at the moment I am not sure how to remove it

Other than that I need to measure the front forks to determine one kind and length of front axle that I need, or I might be able to swop the front forks.

Lots of things to think about...

 

[GeePig]

I am still unsure quite where this one is going, but I have started to strip it down so that I can get more familiar with it.

I have cleaned up the front forks, removing the rather battered graphics, but now I need a tool to split the chain as nothing that I have is even close to being suitable, and then I will probably strip that three piece front sprocket down to being a single one without anything close to that amount of plastic on the crank arms.

Once that is all stripped down, then I can decide on things like which wheels I can borrow, whether I can get another set of front forks to fit, and how I am going to arrange the saddle and bars.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Cool frame!

 

[GeePig]

Cool frame!

Thanks, although now that I have stripped it down, I think I need to spend more time collecting enough other parts that will actually fit this frame, but I am considering using some of the parts that I have stripped off this one on my back up frame.

I have had my back up for a few years, I got it in exchange for one of my Romets when I supplied one of my Jubilats to one of wifie's oldest friends who was having health problems and needed to cycle more. It is heavy, like a tank, with suspension back and front, but beyond that all the parts were pretty standard.

But once I can find some replacement parts, this frame will be back

 

[GeePig]

Well I got all the bits off the frame, gave them a bit of a clean up and then evaluated everything. I would say that the bike was not generally ridden hard, which means I have a good set of bits - including another triple front sprocket that may end up lying unused at the bottom of my very heavy sprocket box along with the others. I do have a bike with a triple front sprocket, and it works fine, but when I come to build stuff I just cannot seem to find the enthusiasm to add one.

I would also like to know is why they wrap the crank arms in plastic?

What I could do is take one of my other dusty triple front sprockets, drill out the rivets holding the extra sprockets on, and see what the resulting single sprocket looks like.

The chain is definitely the narrowest I have ever removed, and I also had to buy a pair of the modified pliers you need to remove the link on modern chains. At the moment it only works on that one chain, but I am sure that I will see more of them.

So it is a nice frame, and by checking the prices I can see that a whole bike would be worth about 500 zloty, or 120 USD. Neither the rear gear changer, seat stem or the fork bearings would actually fit any of my other bikes, so it looks like it is time to hang the frame on the wall until I come across some other bits.

So instead I have finally dug this far eastern made bike frame out, which is about the same age as the Polish built bike above, but which uses old tech bike bits, as most stuff on it other than the brakes also fitted my Romets. I have never used it for anything other than as a supply of parts, but as it is no longer my 'new frame' and definitely has little actual value beyond the scrap weight (and it is heavy), so I suppose the time has come to use it.

Maybe I should avoid including the frame pivot spring/'damper' and hopefully the forks as well because I think they are slightly bent and they are certainly very heavy. 'All' I need to do is repaint the frame in one colour, select a simpler set of forks, borrow the 24" aluminium wheel and take the crank arms off Zenit, and figure out how low the frame can go - and then make something out of some material to replace the frame pivot spring/damper.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

What I could do is take one of my other dusty triple front sprockets, drill out the rivets holding the extra sprockets on, and see what the resulting single sprocket looks like.

I did that to mine recently, but I did it with the crank mounted on the bike, so it involved some cutting as well
Before:

during:

After:

It's a little rough, but it sorta looks cool too

 

[GeePig]

Great job. I think how much time you use in tidying up depends partly on how the frame looks. I see the well used tires and chipped paintwork, and I am satisfied with the way you cut up the sprockets. It is like tools - if they are all trim and tidy then clearly they are not seeing hard use

 

[Pondo]

I would also like to know is why they wrap the crank arms in plastic?

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe that's a cheap way to give an existing crank arm design a modern look?

definitely has little actual value beyond the scrap weight (and it is heavy), so I suppose the time has come to use it.

That frame might be a good start for one of these, which I was going to build this time but my frame wouldn't work.

 

[GeePig]

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe that's a cheap way to give an existing crank arm design a modern look?

That frame might be a good start for one of these, which I was going to build this time but my frame wouldn't work.
View attachment 247711

I think you maybe right. I do not spend much time looking at modern bikes, but recently I have and I think you are right, I assume that they are some kind of aluminium alloy?

I wouldn't mind doing something like that with my frame. I usually work with my collection of old Polish bikes, while most of the other bikes that I have I somehow collected usually sit around bare in my bike frame store. This one was made somewhere in the far east, and I only got it as a part exchange for one of my Romet Jubilats that I did not really need when one of my wife's oldest friends had health problems. So I gave her my recently rebuilt blue Jubilat and she gave me her son's dilapidated bike in exchange.

It is very heavy, though, more like a boat anchor

 

[GeePig]

I went down the agricultural engineers store in our local town - well, when I say 'store' I mean a small shop that has its entrance inside one of the local food stores there, and when I say 'town' it is because technically it is although it is more like a village that happens to have a very small market and some stores. So I went there and asked whether they had any paint stripper, as that would save the 20 minute drive to the local actual town and trying to find somewhere there.

This is what I got. I have never had it in an aerosol form before, so I was quite excited to see how it was going to work out.

It did good!

All I had to do was spray it on a bit heavy, and within minutes all the paint had lifted off. I even managed to do it on my work bench as there was really not much smell at all.

It was infinitely easier than using my anglegrinder or sander, as it got into all those little fiddly corners that a frame has.

The steel was mostly good, but the front section of the frame had a bit of rust on it, which needed some sanding down.

Next I need to paint it. At this stage I was considering using satin black, which is my usual choice, something I have done for decades, but since most of my Romets are usually a darkish shade of red I suppose it would not harm to do something similar. I usually use a lot of satin black, as it is a good way of making everything match no matter what make of paint I happen to have around or what material I am trying to cover up, and it matches the black rubber found on the tires etc. Maybe it is time to move on - but whatever I choose it is hopefully going to be better than the original combination of soft metallic red and bright yellow.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

All I had to do was spray it on a bit heavy, and within minutes all the paint had lifted off. I even managed to do it on my work bench as there was really not much smell at all.

Looks like they haven't legislated out all the good stuff where you are from.

 

[CRASH]

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe that's a cheap way to give an existing crank arm design a modern look?

That frame might be a good start for one of these, which I was going to build this time but my frame wouldn't work.
View attachment 247711

my fat ... would keep that low-ridin'

 

[ingola]

Looks like they haven't legislated out all the good stuff where you are from.

Here we have to use oven cleaner or anything with high caustic level.

 

[GeePig]

I had forgotten that I had bought an aerosol of red paint to do the rear light on my last build. It is a bit of a bright red, but it should make an okay first coat and then I can buy something a bit darker.

These are the bits that kept the front and rear halves of the frame together, back when it was still a running bike, before I ever got hold of it. The spring and damper are the worst parts as they were made very cheaply - it looks just like you were getting an adjustable spring damper system. The spring is just that, with nothing to increase the force progressively beyond the standard spring rate, a spring adjuster with nothing to lock it in place, and something that looks like a damper but isn't.

I am planning on replacing the spring and *cough* damper unit with some plywood that I have lying around. I could get some aluminium machined up, except that I do not have any and have no intention of going anywhere to get something done like that. I like to do all the work myself, using the tools and materials that I have - I mean I do buy screws and paint and even some tools if I believe that I really need them, but I would rather spend less money to enjoy struggling to solve any issues I have with whatever I can find. I find that to be much more satisfying.

I would have preferred to use a grey undercoat, but I only had part used can of that, so red it is. I always find this a very fiddly part of the bike to paint, but at least I didn't have to struggle with a whole frame.

Next I need to start doing the top coats, but I think I will have to hang in one of our barn doorways to do that.

 

[GeePig]

Looks like they haven't legislated out all the good stuff where you are from.

Yes, I was quite surprised by just how easy it all was - it went on and then a few minutes later I was scrapping the remains off.

 

[GeePig]

my fat ... would keep that low-ridin'

That is my plan as well. I have a set of short cranks that I am planning to use to see how low I can get it to go!

 

[GeePig]

Here we have to use oven cleaner or anything with high caustic level.

I was a bit surprised as well. I bought it from an agricultural supplier, but I do not know if that influenced its availability. I did not even think/bother to read what the ingredients were...

 

[GeePig]

Well, the colour does not show that well, but it is a fairly light and bright red.

By the way, in the background you can see the only bike that I have ever bought new, a Polish Kross. It is a good bike, except for the handlebars, which are always a bit uncomfortable when you first start riding it. It is a nice bike, but you cannot fold it up and put it in the back of the car like my old Romets, so I mainly ride it around the countryside here, for which it is a good choice

Now here is the smaller part of the frame, always a right pig to paint, especially as the can got a bit sputtery. I will have to give them a bit of a rub down as the paint dribbled in places, but when I go to pick wifie up later in the town I will have to visit the DIY centre there for some darker red paint.

You can tell it is mowing time, I have my mower service refuelling station prepped here...

 

[GeePig]

So I finally found time to go pick up some more paint, while I was in town picking up wifie from the station. I thought I would choose a colour that kind of resembles the red typically used by Romet for their bikes. All my red Romets are all different shades of red, of course, but this seems close enough to their classic red.

I will have to respray this part though, as I need to better conceal all the 'runs' that happened with the previous coat, but it already looks better than the deep red this part was originally.

All my Romets have hugely long head tubes since most were designed back in the 1960s, and without a suitable die to extend the threads then my fork options are either the rather beat up plunger forks that this bike came with or this one that clearly came off a kids bike. I have already used the front wheel on my last bike, so it is time to strip that bike and my Romet Zenit for useful parts, especially since the Zenit is due for a rebuild this winter.

While the weather is nice I need to do as much painting as I can, then I can worry about what parts will fit and how. I will clean this up and spray it red, just in case, and then it will be time to see how the wheels fit and how much clearance we have for the pedals.

 

[GeePig]

Things have been busy here, like we had a delivery of wood for heating our cottage this winter, with three and a bit rows of it stacked against the back of the barn and a stack of not fully chopped wood at the front. You can also see one of the two entrances to the roof section of the barn, but I have never been up there even though we store our ladders in here.

Anyway, I am still not sure whether this fork is long enough to do what I want it to do, but I have decided to paint it anyway and then I may extend it in a similar way to the fork on my most recent build. In fact I might borrow the whole front forks off that build. Why not, it is not like I was short of bikes to ride here or in the city, as every build means I restore some of the parts, and some of those might end up on a bike I sell.

I have been working on the Zenit recently, and riding it, but it needs the crank off my Zasada build sitting next to it. While I am at it I might replace the six speed derailleur with the seven speed one and chain off my most recent bike, the Btwin. I have extended the handlebars off a kids bike so it is easier to handle on the rough tracks in the woods around here, and fitted the saddle off the Btwin.

As a matter of interest, Tigger has the handlebar stem originally off Zenit, while the Zasada has the handlebars

Since I will be stripping Zenit down during the winter, I might be using some of those parts for this build, then refitting them back on Zenit afterwards.