Does anyone here customize their bike

[cycle tramp]

Here are some befores: IMG_20230612_112858.jpgIMG_20230612_113027.jpg
The afters will probably be ages if my past projects are anything to go by. It seems a real shame but all of the purple stuff will go, including the fork and lovely stem.
It will end up something like this:DSC01184.JPGDSC00930.JPG

That purple one is lovely

Could you not keep the forks- is it a aheadset/ midfork eyelet thing? How about keeping the forks, opting of an elegant nitto stem, and perhaps a porter rack attaching to the mudguard eyelets, center crown mount and perhaps the brake bosses?

[warey4life]

I love customising, building and tinkering probably more than I do cycling. I've building 3 bikes so far, 2 mountain bikes and the latest is a 26er gravel bike, or as I like to call it, "Adventure bike", see attached (actually not see attached because I can't attach anything for some reason)
I can build a bike dirt cheap using mainly second hand bits.

[gregoryoftours]

Here are some befores: IMG_20230612_112858.jpgIMG_20230612_113027.jpg
The afters will probably be ages if my past projects are anything to go by. It seems a real shame but all of the purple stuff will go, including the fork and lovely stem.
It will end up something like this:DSC01184.JPGDSC00930.JPG

That purple one is lovely

Could you not keep the forks- is it a aheadset/ midfork eyelet thing? How about keeping the forks, opting of an elegant nitto stem, and perhaps a porter rack attaching to the mudguard eyelets, center crown mount and perhaps the brake bosses?

I'd like to but it's just not practical for what I want to do. I need a long stem for a backswept Jones bar, must also be 31.8 clamp with removable faceplate for the same bar. Cannot find all of this in a quill stem, so it would have to be an ahead stem with adapter.

I like the bars much higher than they are currently, and I haven't seen a quill converter with enough height gain (being quill a high one would also be flexy, especially with wide bars, and I'd worry about metal fatigue in the long term).

And yes, I use a Surly threadless fork with mid mounts because I want the strength/rigidity and pannier position of tubus Tara rack. I prefer the threadless headset standard for its strength, lack of flex and ease of turning bars (I use a locking headset spacer below the stem).

I wouldn't like to be repeatedly turning the bars on a quill setup because the bolt torque for the wedge is necessarily much higher. Maybe I should get my surly fork sprayed metallic purple!

[gregoryoftours]

IMG_1503.JPG

Now the forks on BOTH bikes are the wrong way round?!

Yes they are. I'm still confused.

[cycle tramp]

531Colin... has your post been removed and did you get an explanation? - I've just fired off a message about the posts removal

[cycle tramp]

Following the removal of 531Colins post from this thread I will not be adding any more comments to it.

[531colin]

Yes, it was a comment about coloured bolts being obviously more important than having the forks the right way round.
I wonder if it would have been removed if the OP didn’t have a disability?
By the way, I’m not too distressed about my post being removed, but the general dumbing down which has happened over the last several years is disappointing

[Pinhead]

Yes, it was a comment about coloured bolts being obviously more important than having the forks the right way round.
I wonder if it would have been removed if the OP didn’t have a disability?
By the way, I’m not too distressed about my post being removed, but the general dumbing down which has happened over the last several years is disappointing

I have replied to admin as posting here was pointless so I gave up

Do not patronize me

[Pinhead]

Sent to Admin

Sent: 28 Jun 2023, 6:22pm
by Pinhead

It is amazing (Oh and thank you) that people do not READ what I said

I was working on the bikes
I undid ALL the headset/stem and riser bolts so that the handlebars and suspension could rotate freely FROM each other so that I could sit on the ground and work on the "chain side and rotate the forks to clean them without getting up
When finished I re aligned the handlebars and forks
It was temporary
As you know when you undo all the bolts the handlebars and suspension rotate totally separately

I gave up bothering to explain

I did say [i][b]"Actually It is the right way I just turned the lot 180 to get to the pinhead locks"[/b][/i] on page 2, then I didn't say all rotated back and locked down, sheesh...........

Now please give it a rest

[attachment=0]Img_1541.jpg[/attachment][attachment=1]Img_1540.jpg[/attachment]

[Pinhead]

Sent to Admin

Sent: 28 Jun 2023, 6:22pm
by Pinhead

It is amazing (Oh and thank you) that people do not READ what I said

I was working on the bikes
I undid ALL the headset/stem and riser bolts so that the handlebars and suspension could rotate freely FROM each other so that I could sit on the ground and work on the "chain side and rotate the forks to clean them without getting up
When finished I re aligned the handlebars and forks
It was temporary
As you know when you undo all the bolts the handlebars and suspension rotate totally separately

I gave up bothering to explain

In future i will go into raptures about things to make it simple for people to understand

Now please give it a rest

Img_1541.jpgImg_1540.jpg

[531colin]

OK I will try not to waste any more of your valuable time

[rareposter]

I was working on the bikes
...
It was temporary

That's fair enough and I don't think anyone set out to patronise you but you've got to understand that if you'e going to post a picture of your bikes midway through some repairs without an initial explanation of it, people are not going to pick up on the customisation, they're going to point out the obvious issue of the forks being the wrong way around. No-one meant it harshly - it's potentially a fairly major safety issue!

If you're going to present your bike for comment, unlock it from its storage, set it up as you ride it and take a photo against a plain-ish background to show it off properly - that way you'll avoid any confusion and get proper comments on it.

eg



(not mine, but a nicely presented custom build touring bike)

[Carlton green]

OK I will try not to waste any more of your valuable time

It seems a shame when good and well meant advice is set aside … and allowance should be made for direct speaking Yorkshiremen too, it’s cultural . However things are as they are and I hope that you’re not too upset - to my understanding the vast bulk of folk here really value your comments and the wealth of experience that you have .

[531colin]

Do not patronize me

When you are messing about with safety critical stuff and I doubt that you fully understand what you are doing, you want me to just ignore it?
For example, do you have a locking spacer between the headset top race and the stem? If not, did you check headset adjustment after turning the bars?
What torque did you tighten to ?
Replacing safety critical bolts you need to check corrosion resistance and tensile strength.

[markjohnobrien]

OK I will try not to waste any more of your valuable time

Your input is really appreciated and vital to this forum and I’ve always loved your expert comments (as the designer) of some of the Spa frames and kit.

I agree that, sadly, this forum has dumbed down and your expert advice is a corrective to this trend.