BO15 Old English

[johnp.smith]

Hello all, I havent done a rat build in a long time but with the extra free time right now why not. A few months ago, I spotted a rusty Phillips bike in the dumpster at work. I brought it home and saved the frame and fork for that some day project. Maybe that day is now. Im pretty sure I should have enough stuff to build a fun bike. I will have to dig it out for pics. Its not a usual diamond frame. Phillips always curved their top tubes

 

[kingfish254]

I was picturing a normal Raleighish diamond. Look forward to seeing the curvy Phillips.

 

[OddJob]

Glad you're joining in the fun! Looking forward to the pics.
RaT oN~!

 

[johnp.smith]

 

[gowjobs]

Very cool! I love these kinds of builds.

Sent from my BND-L24 using Tapatalk

 

[kingfish254]

LOVE that frame!!!

 

[SpikeFC]

It has a set of pulleys for a very old derailleur or a very old internal gear hub. Do you know the original setup on the frame?

 

[johnp.smith]

It had a three speed wheel that was frozen and the front had a dyno hub. I think i still have the front. I was digging out wheels yesterday and im going to try a 26 cruiser wheel with a coaster brake first. It makes a weird noise so I have to repack it. If that doesnt work i have a set of black mtn bike wheels from a wally world bike that i can put a single speed on.

 

[horsefarmer]

It has a set of pulleys for a very old derailleur or a very old internal gear hub. Do you know the original setup on the frame?

I was looking at that pulley and wondering if it was metal. A 1970's Raleigh I have has a broken plastic pulley.

 

[OddJob]

Those pulleys are really cool! This frame has it's own personality. It looks like it was set up for touring, can it take a 27" wheel?

 

[Captain Awesome]

That frame has such good lines. It looks fast standing still

27's and some fast slicks would look good. Although some 26's and tires that fill up the negative space could look equally good

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Great looking lugged frame. Lots of potential!

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

Love that frameset. The older British Steel is such high quality.

Every time I see the title of this thread, I think about an old friend who used to enjoy the malt liquor of a similar name.

 

[Wildcat]

The 27" wheel might be too large, but a 700C may work, it's only an inch taller than the original 26". You could get a wider variety of widths for your tires also.

 

[SpikeFC]

It had a three speed wheel that was frozen and the front had a dyno hub. I think i still have the front. I was digging out wheels yesterday and im going to try a 26 cruiser wheel with a coaster brake first. It makes a weird noise so I have to repack it. If that doesnt work i have a set of black mtn bike wheels from a wally world bike that i can put a single speed on.

If it's a Shimano or Sachs hub they're super-easy to repair. Barely an inconvenience

 

[johnp.smith]

The back wheel was tossed, it was way beyond repair. I should have some time to play with it tomorrow night. i do have a fixie with 700c wheels i can try but im leaning toward the coaster brake if I can make it work. I also found a really cool raleigh chainguard to use and a new chrome chain in the box. Going for a 70+ mile ride in the morning so have to see how much energy i have left

 

[johnp.smith]

Also, my goal is to build it with what is in my garage. From what I can tell, the only things I will need to buy are crank cotter bolts and maybe tubes.

 

[sdframe]

I'm really diggin' that frame and head badge.

 

[johnp.smith]

So I have a dilema. The coaster brake wheel wont work. I repacked it and its even worse. I think the bearings were not hardened and they are either flat spotted or crushed to an egg shape. I then remembered that I had a 20 inch coaster brake wheel for parts but it is the same falcon hub and does the same thing.

So then I tried the black mtn bike wheel. It took a while to clean the gunk out of it just to get the adapter in there to spin it off. It spins pretty straight and I can shim it to work but then I do not have any brakes to reach far enough to the wheel.

so back to the wheel garden again, this time I found an english style 26 by 1 3/8 3 speed wheel but no shifter parts. I would have to dig further to see if i have any parts for it.

for now its either the 3 speed wheel or I do have a fixie I bought used for lunch time rides at work before losing my last job. The wheels are a light sky blue color. Not my choice of color but might be all I have to work on this frameset.

I didnt realize there were so many differences in 26 inch wheels

 

[johnp.smith]

Guess Im gonna have to roll with these..what the heck