I did say earlier that I would only be doing one build-off per year these days: The Muscle Bike Build-Off, but the parts and pieces are all falling into place for something along these lines...
Been wanting to build a heavy-duty off-road single speed for a while, something a bit different than what is usually seen...
Wish list:
Light weight but strong frame and forks.
203mm (8") disc brakes front and rear, possibly hydraulic.
Single speed freewheel.
14mm axle hubs with sealed bearings.
Double wall 48 spoke 26" rims.
One piece cranks with a small BMX chainring.
Early Klunker style handlebars.
Fairly narrow knobbies, maybe 26x1.75 or 1.95...
The biggest issue with all that is the 48 spoke disc brake ready 14mm axle hubs...
You can buy a rear hub from Yuba, but it is meant for a 7 speed megarange freewheel, not single speed, and they don't sell to Australia, and even if I could get it, it would be well over $100 landed...
Then I got to thinking about flip/flop BMX hubs with a spin on disc mount, did some searching and found some good hubs I could get at reasonable prices and some very high end hubs that are out of my price range: for instance the awesome Odyssey Hazard hub, 4 sealed bearings, 14mm axle and standard freewheel thread one side (for the disc mount) and the smaller "metric bmx" thread on the other for 13 tooth freewheels, which would mean I could run a 26-30 tooth chainring rather than something huge... But too expensive...
Hmmm,
that hub looks familiar... Run outside with a torch to my bike pile and start digging for gold... Pull out an old rim that got thrown in with a $5 bike deal from the dump shop, a triple wall Alex rim, but all the chrome is peeling and the aluminium is corroding badly, beyond saving, but laced to that rim is an Odyssey Hazard hub!
For the front I can just use any normal 48 spoke rear 14mm axle hub with a spin on mount, I have plenty of them, it will just be a matter of selecting the best one, pretty sure I have some nice Redline ones out there...
Now I would need some nice double wall 48 spoke, preferably eyeletted rims...
That is a bit harder. Again I could buy from Yuba, but the same issues apply, I know some tandems run 48 spoke rims, but they are not popular in Australia...
Last resort, try eBay...
No 48 spoke 26" rims anywhere, no undrilled 26" rims anywhere either...
There is one listing for double wall, eyeletted, 40 spoke rims, that seems odd, pretty rare to find a 40 spoke set up, might have a look...
Last line of the ad, in small writing says: "I also have 48H rims, same manufacturer, please enquire."
Wrote them a message, should have a reply soon!
Next item: Klunker bars... Hmmm, I did find a BMX not long back that I seem to remember had some cool bars... Run back outside with a torch...
Not bad!
Well that is all the hard stuff done, pretty sure there would be a few frames out there that could be modified to give me what I want, I have some 203mm Avid discs here, and some mechanical callipers, would have to buy a hydraulic pair if I went that way, need to buy some tires, may or may not have spokes here...
Should be a pretty cheap project and a cool bike at the end... Now I just have to decide if I will do it for the build-off or just as a standard build...
Luke.