Vantage wrote:I've no idea about how to go about measuring this frames angles. I thought maybe photoshop and a ruler or tape measure but on my last attempts, every time I moved the camera to get it dead-on the angles changed. I will say the fork supplied has probably less trail than that of the Vantage which was according to Dawes, 55mm. The reason I think this is because I keep hitting my foot on the friggin mudguard and it's really getting on my 7i7s.
However, I have now got the bike to it's final build/finish.
I have tried to photograph my bike and then use Gimp (an open-source alternative to photoshop) to compare the 'fit' to an old bike from the early eighties but I haven't been able to get a 'straight enough' photo of my current bike - I suspect that I'll have to take it out of the kitchen and stand further back with a longer lens
A very nice looking bike you have
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute.
I tried a similar method using camera and photoshops built in angle measurer but I found that every little change in camera position messed up the angle measurements. Getting the bike to stand dead upright added to the complications. I gave up.
I'm recently discovering that every little ripple in the ground seems to 'grab' the front wheel like it's following a tramline and throws the bike to either side. Very unnerving at times.
Bill
“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
Those were exactly the nasty handling characteristics i was having, making me feel i didn`t have enough trail. It was resolved by taking a mallet to the headset frame cups and fork race which transformed the handling-give it a go.
How does that work? It's the first headset I've ever fitted but it looks seated perfectly. I was gonna fit the Vantages fork after repainting it but despite recommendations of Hammerstein Smooth, I've made a right pigs rear end of it. Looks like I'll have to sand down the fork and use shake can spray paint instead. Im starting to hate this damn bike with the problems I'm having with it. The Vantage just worked unlike this piggin Raleigh.
Bill
“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
I had a bike that couldn't be ridden no-handed - as soon as you took your hands off the bars, the front wheel started to wobble side to side. The (threaded) headset bearings constantly worked loose too - I usually had to tighten them up mid-ride. I always suspected either bent steerer or badly seated cups or races/badly faced headtube (but I never did get to the bottom of it - was going to use it as a 'project' but decided my money was better spent on a new bike). I'm not sure of the local bike shops - can only think of Halfords, and I wouldn't trust them to face a headtube.
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute.
Vantage wrote:Looks like I'll have to sand down the fork and use shake can spray paint instead.
Unless you’re really determined to do it yourself, I think you’d be better off taking it to a powder coaters who use black a lot (Which is probably all of them) and get them to do it. Seeing as the going rate for a frame & forks in the colour of your choice is £30 - £50, I can’t see them charging much more than the spray cans are going to cost you. You’ll get better finish and a lot less work!
