The Violet One, and the Black One

[Wildcat]

My birthday bike showed up finally. The headtube has a dent and there are a few dings and scratches but nothing that can't be fixed.

I was going to make this a 700C bike, but I think the 26" wheels and whitewall 1.50 smoothies will work fine. When this is done, I'll start on the black frame just like it but use 700C wheels.

With a 44 tooth chain wheel and an 18 cog, the 2 speed should be pretty fast. I calculated 61 and 84 for gear inches.

I've got a bunch of parts on order and hopefully are all the right size.

 

[twojs.bike]

The dented head tube is unfortunate. How will you fix that?

 

[Wildcat]

My favorite bike, Chrome Molly had the same problem, a dent in the head tube.

I used a solid 5/8ths bar and gently tapped out the dent.

This one isn't as bad so I think it will be fine when I work on it tomorrow.

 

[Wildcat]

I had 20 dollars worth of parts show up at the same time. The spacers came with a headset but that wasn't shown on the ad. So I have an extra headset, one where the bearings sit inside the headtube. I'm using the external kind with sealed bearings on this bike.

 

[Wildcat]

I tapped the dent out using a piece of water pipe and pressed in the new headset, 34mm.

I've never used this kind of headset but it went together easily. I used most of my spacers and didn't have to trim the fork. I need the bars high so it works for me.

The BB and crankset is due to arrive today.

 

[Pondo]

That's a great looking frameset!

 

[Wildcat]

So far so good. The BB and cranks fit and I've got the chain attached already. I spun the wheel and 84 is a high gear.
The 27.2 seatpost is due today. That just leaves brakes.

 

[Wildcat]

The seatpost and handlebars needed trimmed down. The curve in the seat tube wouldn't let the stem drop in far enough and the bars were way too wide.

Then I checked and I have brakes that will reach the 26" rims, but no spindle for a front brake but tons of all the other parts. So I ordered a front brake, same anodized red to match the hubs and spokes.

 

[Wildcat]

The violet and red looked too much over the top for me, so now it's the black and red one. I swapped the parts over since it's the same frame, only different forks. I have a red headset and handlebars ordered. Maybe I'll get red cables also. The violet frame will be violet and black with 700c wheels.

 

[Wildcat]

More red things showed up and I see I need a few more spacers for the handlebar stem.

 

[Kevin B]

That looks really good.

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Love the black and red!
The violet frame is such a beaut in itself. Looks good with grey/polished aluminum parts I reckon.

 

[Wildcat]

Red and black are my high school team colors. The Perkins Pirates.

I've already got the parts to make the other one violet and black. Not the same drivetrain, it's going to be 700c.

 

[Wildcat]

The red brakes cables worked well and the seat clamp showed up so it's almost done, just needs a kickstand and a couple spacers.

 

[Wildcat]

The parts arrived last night and I took it out for a ride this morning. It's slightly downhill from the house so I coasted then started pedaling. Low gear was pretty good then it hit 2nd and I could have hit 30 mph, if I was a young man. I have the tires at 65psi but they can go to 85. Coming back up the slight incline low gear worked with some effort because the bike is around 25 lbs. This bike will work best on the flat.

 

[Da Gas Man]

Hey, same colors as my old alma mater, Pat-Med. Love the color scheme of this bike.

 

[Wildcat]

Now on to the violet one. I was going to go 700C like the frame was made for, but the 26" wheel makes it just the right size for me. I recently got the rims, spokes and hubs when they went on sale. They were trued up at the shop today. The tires are a set made here in the Philippines, 3 bucks a tire.

 

[Wildcat]

I swapped some cranksets to get better gear ratios on both bikes.
The violet one just needs brakes. It has a 44/16 setup for 69 gear inches. It's the lighter of the two. I found a pair of Kenda Quest tires for 15 bucks and ordered them for this bike.

The black one now is geared more toward older folks, 39/18 for 54/73 gear inches on the 2 speed auto.