We need a new home

March 2014
We need to vacate these premises by 31st May 2014 to make way for the car park of the new Community Centre that is currently being built.  Please get in touch if you know of a place we could move to.

We have moved - but only around the corner
August 2013
Spindles has a new shop.  We have moved from the dingy changing rooms to around the corner into  the snooker room which has made a fantastic bike shop.  It will not be long there as the whole community centre will be demolished around the summer of 2014.  However we will enjoy being in the snooker room as its a very usable space.  The following satellite view of Corsham Community Centre shows where we are now.

Yesterday there was a veritable torrent of customers wanting bikes fixed or wanting a reconditioned bike.  I wonder if we have turned a small corner in Corsham where people are looking to use bikes for transport.  There were some people asking for bike to enable their children to get to school, some wanting road bikes, a lot of maintenance plus some donations of kids bike.  We managed to get through them all by 4:30pm.

Here are some shots taken yesterday of the work space and the shop

Spindles Bike shop - New open air space to work

Spindles - a lot more room 

We can now work inside when it rains

Some of the current collection of bikes and frames

Just in a Sirius 653 bike with Mavic changer and Cinelli Criterium Bars and stem

This Sirius bike came in yesterday as a bike that had been dumped.  Its an interesting offering from the German bike manufacturer with Reynolds 653 which is a mixed frame set of 753/531.  Its a light bike which has seen a lot of miles.  The frame is a hideous colour which dates it to late 1980s or the early 1990s.  There's a mixture of components that indicate various upgrades at certain points.  The large flange hubs are good quality Shimano however its only 12 speed with a 125 dropout.  The first job will be to strip it down and get it repainted.

This Sirius has seen better days 

653 tubing but the colour is terrible

Mavic rear changer is quite a solid piece of engineering

brakes are Shimano

The paintwork has crackled 

Cinelli Criterium bars and stem

4 Adjustable Spanners - which is best

Some time ago I lost my Rothenberger 6" spanner which was a disaster as it one of the must useful tools in the box.  I knew that the standard Draper tool from B&Q just does not do the job so I looked on line and found a Facom 6" on ebay for about £15.  This proved to be a disappointment as the jaw is very wobbly.  In frustration I look on line again  and found a Bahco again for about £15.  May be this would be better but no - its slightly better and is made of better quality steel but its just not as good as the Rothenberger.

A couple of months later my Rothenberger turned up and the Facom and Bacho became surplus to requirements but the story does not end there as at a car boot sale last week I got a very nice Alloy Drop Forged (Spain) 6" adjustable for £1!.  This was actually just as good as the Rothenberger which I also bought at a car boot sale for £10.  It's not only the quality of the jaw mechanism but its also the quality of the alloy which makes the Rothenberger and the Spanish offering so good.

From the Left - From Spain £1, Facom (£15), Bahco (£15) and Rothenberger (£10)

My Great Grandfather

I thought I had lost this photo of my Grand Father Thomas Parry that was probably taken in Llandegla, North Wales around 1890 or so.  My Mum says he died in Winsford Cheshire around 1908 of a probably heart attack.  The bike looks far too big for him but it does look like he has got a Brooks Saddle similar to the one I have.  

I quick look on Google maps and I think I've found the place where it was taken.  The building is very similar and there seems to be a new road but this is definitely it

View Larger Map

Classic Problems

Monthly Ride
There wasn't a ride today as 2 of us were away so only Nick and Josh on duty supported by Robin.  There will be a ride soon so watch this space.
Our Classic Problem
We were asked this week whether we have any frames suitable for Single Speed conversion.  looking around the bike shed there were not many road frames - if fact one which is detailed in the pictures below.  Its a Raleigh Lenton Sports 531 frame from the 1950s with nice decals but a bit scrappy.    These frames are a classic problem as they require a lot of time to turn them into something which at the end of the day, is not desirable.  It has horizontal dropouts but getting 27 inch wheels or the right brakes to work effectively is hard.  It could also do with a respray and new transfers which would be around £100.
What do we do with it?  I'm open to answers

July it must be Tour de France

Spindles has been busy over that last few weeks and we have sold a lot of bikes which is great because the shed was getting a bit full.   The Argos (Holdsworth) was converted to a single speed and we have sold a number of other bikes to get the stock down.  Now the Bad news, the football team have reformed and want their old changing rooms back so we have to move.  Fortunately, the Community Centre have offered us half the snooker room so we will be moving but not far.  This will happen over the next few weeks.

Froome is leading the Tour de France, the sun is shining and bikes are becoming mainstream across the UK.

We will still need to move when the Community Centre is knocked down next year so
do you know of any empty building in Corsham near to the main High Street?
We have gone through most of the barns - Enterprise Inns (the owner of the Flemish Weaver) wanted too much money for the Barn at the back of the pub.  The Old Guides hut, at the back of the Tourist Information centre is used by Corsham council as 'storage'.  There must be something out there.
We should plan to increase cycling in Corsham by 100% in three years!
Judging by the number of people turning up on Saturday mornings recently, this could be achievable.

Single Speed Bob Jackson

There was a comment made by a friend at the Castle Combe Bike show yesterday regarding hub gears which went something like, '.. I really want Sturmey Archer gears to work but they just don't .. I changed to an Alfine and it worked first time...'  I felt a bit like that after doing the Bob Jackson conversion using a five speed Sturmey Hub gear.  I just could not get it to work consistently and the ticking noise, that accompanies certain gears, becomes annoying after a while.
Going to an Alfine defeated the object of the exercise as this would increase weight, so I decided to go the other way - single speed - and so built myself a new wheel - KingKong flip flop with Rigida Chrina to match.  With a thought to my knees I used a 21T free wheel to begin and went out for the first time about a couple of weeks ago.  The experience has been a revelation.  I quickly noticed the increased acceleration and started to understand how track bikes might work.  The hills were not as hard as I though they might be, OK its harder work than the usual low gear but the rate of assent is so much better.  I have only been defeated on one hill (out of Long Dean) and friend tell me that the use of SPDs would solve that one too.
I'm looking forward to breaking-in the saddle over the summer.  Maybe even a night ride.

Bob Jackson Single Speed

FSA Gimondi with TA Specialites chain ring - looks better than that originally supplied

King Kong Flip Flop - 21T - will reduce this number over time

Brooks Champion Special

      

Disc brakes and front suspension

At having received a request for a disc brake bike with front suspension I had a quick search in the Bike shed and came up with the following bikes, non of which really suit the request but by combining certain parts my come up with a candidate bike.

Claud Butler Rock - 7005 - 20" frame

GT Aggression - 6061 alloy - 20" frame

Rock Hopper Pro - 19" frame

Cross Sprinter 17 inch

The latter Cross has the best condition wheels and tyres - hardly used - Both spindles have solid axles indicating cost cutting compromises.  The rest of the bike is in poor condition.  The Front wheel on the CB could take V brakes.  The specialized is the most convincing frame but the CB has the better forks.   There's no prizes for guessing where the better components are but if you needed to build a convincing bike out of these scrap heap parts, which would you choose?

A Summer of Cycling - Single Speeds - Castle Combe

It was great to go on a ride yesterday,  I knew we had some jobs left over from last week and the shed was crammed which is not a good sign.  Nick was there as always when I arrived at Spindles at 9:30,  quickly followed by Josh and Robin with Alistair completing the compliment.  Edgar is currently in Turkey.  Some of the jobs were easy however an upgrade to a disc mountain bike proved unachievable.  We had some lovely racing bikes in for a quick fix along with a lot of enquiries about mountain bikes.
I was keen for us to finish early and go for a ride on the updated Bob Jackson,  yes the five speed Sturmey Archer hub has been replaced with a King Kong flip flop.  Tim arrived on his new Thorn Sherpa, Nick dusted off his Ken Bird, Josh was on his Look Spectrum and king of the mountains Ben on his upgraded Viking, completed the crew.
I haven't ridden a single speed since I was 10 which was a Halfords kids bike in a fetching pink, what were my parents thinking of?  I was surprised by how quickly the 531c frame could climb provided the commensurate energy was provided.  Towards the top of Neston I instinctively went to change gear which did not exist and so just put more effort in.  An interesting question came into my head, what would be the difference in speed over the same course between my Mercian with its 27 gears and the Bob Jackson?
The trees are now in full leaf at last,  the standing water that was around some of the fields a while back, a testament to the rain of the last 12 months, have finally subsided and its summer.  Josh announces that he's doing the 100mile sportive next week at the Castle Comb cycling festival, he's 17 and already doing serious distances on a bike he put together himself.  Spindles will also be at Castle Combe riding bikes, building bikes and hopefully selling bikes.  I would like to do an all night ride this summer and see the sun come up

See you at Castle Combe

Cannondale Mountain Bike Single Speed on Ebay - SOLD

SOLD - This Cannondale 20" frame has been around for some time and was turned into a Single speed as a project.  The frame is either an M2000 or M1000 from between 1990 to 1996.  Its does not seem to have the decals to support this  I cannot find the serial number on Vintage Cannondale web-site http://www.vintagecannondale.com but is BI-0301 as far as I can make out and it is located on the inside of the RH seat stay.  The frame is completed by Pepperoni Forks.

Condition of the frame- The structure is sound but there are a lot of scuffs and scratches particularly around the chain stay and on the forks.  Some of these have been highlighted in the images below

The headset is 1.25" and is brand new
There is a new saddle and seat post
The rear brakes are new Suntour self energising Cantis whereas the front are some very good cantis of unknown make.
 The FSA 175 cranks hold a new Talon 44 tooth single speed chain ring
The rear sprocket and cassette conversion is also new as is the singulator.

Other components are used including some great tektro brake levers and bar ends.


The Rims are Mavic 231 and Ritchley Rock under slick tyres.

Here are some images

Picture shows the frame number on the RH seat stay

A lot of scuff marks on  the inside of the chain stay

Classic Orange P7 and Gios frame

In the same week an Orange P7 Mountain Bike and a Gios Frame came into the workshop as donations.  The Orange P7 had interesting rigid forks with the brake stubs on the trailing side, which many would argue is the right side for the front brakes to be on.  It has great components: Deore 27speed gears and Avid brakes.

 
However,  the forks were wanted for a different project and so were swapped for front shocks

The Italian Gios frame came in from a very generous donor.  Building this into a bike will be a rare pleasure.  The fame is covered in in-bossed detail - the makers name and the Italian flag.  The whole frame and forks  have been chromed and then the frame only has been painted to provide durability