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Chapter 10 - Tubeless in Trenton
With the bathroom complete and the shop in respectable order, I finally got a chance to put some pieces together. I usually start with the headset or the bottom bracket. It makes sense to put those chrome cups in first. I usually have to get in there with my dremel and sand down some of the powder that worked its way inside so that the cups will fit. Between the original bike and my donor frame I was able to get nice chrome for both sets of cups. Unfortunately, when I started, I knew I'd only be getting to a certain point because I'm still waiting for the ever so elusive 20 x 1-3/8" tubes. Can't get them anywhere locally, and I had to have a shop order some in. Still waiting on those. No idea what I did with the original tubes, but part of me remembers them being folded over inside the wheels because they were the wrong size.
Front fork was smooth. The original stem was in great shape after I removed the rust and gave it a little polish. The original wide bars were just okay, but not okay enough to make the final cut. They had some serious pitting on the bends so I laid out my best options and picked and appropriate pair.
Bottom bracket was also painless, so I moved on to the brakes. Again, the original set was in really rough shape so I needed a replacement. I had forgotten that this bike needed smaller calipers and I hadn't planned anything for this. Luckily I bought a lot of NOS BMX calipers on eBay that had universal sets, fronts and rears. The brand is LKS and the universals were the perfect size, as well as shiny new. Before I put the back set on, I remembered that the rear fender bolt needs to go on before the brakes otherwise it isn't accessible. The rear fender is original. It's not perfect but it makes the grade and I don't have a suitable replacement. The original front fender was toast, but luckily the donor purple ccm cheetah frame had a decent front fender.
With all that fitted, I decided to open up the NOS Shimano 5 Speed Click Stick that I bought on eBay on new year's eve. It was so new in the package that it still had a clear plastic piece protecting the chrome shifter cover. Nice!!
Now, this is the part where I improvised a little and decided to make some changes to the styling of the bike. If you look at an original picture of the Canadian Firebird version of this bike, pay attention to the overload tube on the top tube.
It's attached with a shimano "D" style bracket that fits a 1" top tube. I have several of these brackets and was planning to use two instead of the one that the original bikes came with. But... I changed my mind when I opened up the NOS shifter package and found two "B" style brackets. I never really liked the look of the overload tube on this bike because it looked flimsy with only one bracket and the straight tube looked odd clamped next to a curved top tube. It looks like an after thought. Also, the cable between the shifter and the overload tube that came with the shifter I bought was longer than I expected. When I put it on the bike, the overload tube could be extended as far as the seat stays. So, that's where it lives instead. I just had to make sure the brackets cleared the brakes. Voila!! A much cooler looking solution in my opinion. And one more thing. It certainly pays to have extra parts laying around. The shifter in the package came with a 5/8" mounting bracket and I needed 1". I was able to switch brackets with a 3 speed shimano I had in the tool box.
I got a lot done, but I'm still tubeless in Trenton.
With the bathroom complete and the shop in respectable order, I finally got a chance to put some pieces together. I usually start with the headset or the bottom bracket. It makes sense to put those chrome cups in first. I usually have to get in there with my dremel and sand down some of the powder that worked its way inside so that the cups will fit. Between the original bike and my donor frame I was able to get nice chrome for both sets of cups. Unfortunately, when I started, I knew I'd only be getting to a certain point because I'm still waiting for the ever so elusive 20 x 1-3/8" tubes. Can't get them anywhere locally, and I had to have a shop order some in. Still waiting on those. No idea what I did with the original tubes, but part of me remembers them being folded over inside the wheels because they were the wrong size.
Front fork was smooth. The original stem was in great shape after I removed the rust and gave it a little polish. The original wide bars were just okay, but not okay enough to make the final cut. They had some serious pitting on the bends so I laid out my best options and picked and appropriate pair.
Bottom bracket was also painless, so I moved on to the brakes. Again, the original set was in really rough shape so I needed a replacement. I had forgotten that this bike needed smaller calipers and I hadn't planned anything for this. Luckily I bought a lot of NOS BMX calipers on eBay that had universal sets, fronts and rears. The brand is LKS and the universals were the perfect size, as well as shiny new. Before I put the back set on, I remembered that the rear fender bolt needs to go on before the brakes otherwise it isn't accessible. The rear fender is original. It's not perfect but it makes the grade and I don't have a suitable replacement. The original front fender was toast, but luckily the donor purple ccm cheetah frame had a decent front fender.
With all that fitted, I decided to open up the NOS Shimano 5 Speed Click Stick that I bought on eBay on new year's eve. It was so new in the package that it still had a clear plastic piece protecting the chrome shifter cover. Nice!!
Now, this is the part where I improvised a little and decided to make some changes to the styling of the bike. If you look at an original picture of the Canadian Firebird version of this bike, pay attention to the overload tube on the top tube.
It's attached with a shimano "D" style bracket that fits a 1" top tube. I have several of these brackets and was planning to use two instead of the one that the original bikes came with. But... I changed my mind when I opened up the NOS shifter package and found two "B" style brackets. I never really liked the look of the overload tube on this bike because it looked flimsy with only one bracket and the straight tube looked odd clamped next to a curved top tube. It looks like an after thought. Also, the cable between the shifter and the overload tube that came with the shifter I bought was longer than I expected. When I put it on the bike, the overload tube could be extended as far as the seat stays. So, that's where it lives instead. I just had to make sure the brackets cleared the brakes. Voila!! A much cooler looking solution in my opinion. And one more thing. It certainly pays to have extra parts laying around. The shifter in the package came with a 5/8" mounting bracket and I needed 1". I was able to switch brackets with a 3 speed shimano I had in the tool box.
I got a lot done, but I'm still tubeless in Trenton.
