Yet ANOTHER tangent.... custom 1910 style English "sloping top tube" Path Racer project.

[37ccmflyte]

I got part way through my long lean BSA Path Racer and got distracted my another project... the Sloping top tube Path Racer look appealed to me so I started to look around at the bit of frame I had around and making a plan.
Part of the plan was smaller wheels, the bikes back in the 1908-10 period had 26 by 1 3/8 wheel options (590 rim) and they looked the best with the sloping tube.
So I have some Westwood rims on the way from the UK. Tyres in cream coming from Holland. Pedals from France....
I started with the Roadster frame I bought for $20 that is from some British bike from the '40's or '50's... the bike is going to be blue with yellow lug lining and have all brightwork nickel plated. I have a coaster brake Eadie from pre 1930 to use in the back, so no cables at all.

 

[37ccmflyte]

The first task was the take the frame from a 22 inch to 24... again to make the sloping top tube more radical looking..... I used the top of a BSA seat tube so I only had one join to make rather than adding in a two inch part....

 

[37ccmflyte]

The next task was to get a 26 inch wheel to look right in a 28 inch frame and bring the wheel base in for the look I was after.....

 

[37ccmflyte]

Next was to modify the seat stay to match, which involved straightening what I had before I could even start... made a hollow round sleeve on the lathe and welded that in. Then ground it oval to match the tube.

 

[37ccmflyte]

Before I go onto the forks here are some bikes that I am using for inspiration.....

 

[37ccmflyte]

Next was the forks.... I wanted them as short as possible again to accentuate the sloper look, and the forks on a lot of those bikes had lots of rake but not much curve... I started with a set of forks from a Dutch build Phoenix bike I have for parts and chopped them shorter then used the bottoms some old British forks and added those on.... took ages to get then perfectly on both sides but they are now and strong... braced inside the joins.

 

[37ccmflyte]

So now I know where my wheels are going to sit in the rear of the frame and the forks. The next stage was to clamp together various combinations of wheelbase and steering tube length until the right look appeared. Deric of Chritchurch NZ was a HUGE help at this stage as he has been looking at this style of bike for years and has an eye for the right line.
42 inch was to short..... 43 was better but when Deric suggested adding inch to the steering tube it all came together.... here it is in that configuration in my on the spot "jig"
Ignore the wheels... they are just stand in wheels of the right size....

 

[37ccmflyte]

Next was to size and fit the bottom tube and tack weld it in with the mig. The size the top tube that I had to make out of two tubes and tack that in....

 

[37ccmflyte]

Then it came of the jig and I had a rolling chassis..... last shot compares it to a 1954ish BSA...

 

[37ccmflyte]

Next was to mount a seat..... none of the seat mounts I had were the right angle so I made one.... please ignore the crappy welding... that will all get finished and cleaned up!!

 

[37ccmflyte]

Now a handle bar stem... I wanted the bars as close into the stem as I could get them for that 1910 ridding position. I tuned up a nice barrel shaped bit for the bars to go through and a pinch bolt bit.... and filled away the stem until the bolt down the middle would just clear.
Then I made and fitted a decorative sleeve.... then a top cap....

 

[37ccmflyte]

The final "thing" looks like this.... yet to cut the slot and clean the thread out of the top half of the clamp or finish the welding!

 

[37ccmflyte]

Bike with Brooks B17 Narrow I nicked off my CCM (I want one for this project!... or a Flyer with rear springs)

 

[37ccmflyte]

I consider this bike a full custom, not a replica of anything so I can pretty much so what I like... and I like slightly fancy lugs.... so I decided to made decorative "lug additions" for this bike. After many designs drawn and rejected (thanks to Deric again and Mel for there help) and I ended up with this quite simple larger design that I liked.

 

[37ccmflyte]

The job of making what has ended up being 28 separate bits of metal to be fitted to the frame has been a mission of patients and filing!! Then I decided that the ones on the seat and lower tube were to small and I have to make 8 more!! Back to the lathe to machine the tubes, marked ready for cutting and MORE filing tomorrow.

 

[37ccmflyte]

Plus I have started to make wooden hand grips for the bikes (and most likely for sale) I have the leather on the way to wrap them.... I have roughed out the wooden blanks so far from mahogany.

 

[37ccmflyte]

I am looking at custom making a chainwheel for it.... large, skip tooth, running a racing block chain and incorporating the bikes name or "make" in the chainwheel... at this stage the current working name is "CSC"...… "Custom Shed Creation" Just got to get my mate Steve to help with the design! Then have the design scanned and water jet cut from steel, finished on the lathe and nickel plated. I have some 7 inch cranks for it and rat trap pedals to finish the look. NZ is currently in lock down so I have amused myself with this project!

 

[RustyGold]

Killer project

 

[horsefarmer]

Wow! Simply amazing work and design! I'm slowly getting into using my flux core wire welder and this is inspirational to see. Thank you for documenting your process. Any details you could share as to your welding machine, wire, heat settings and wire speeds would be awesome. (maybe even another thread),

 

[SpikeFC]

That thing looks straight from the 20's-30's. Cool!