Wheels on

...and so to put the wheels and handlebars on.




Next: the search for a chainset and bottom bracket.

Assembly begins

With the steerer cut and filed, it was time to start putting the bits together. After whacking the star-fangled nut into the steerer tube (using a sacrificial coach bolt, a hammer and a bit of hitting and hoping), I was able to get the forks onto the frame, giving the first sense of what the new machine is going to look like.


So far so good! I think that the fatter blades of the carbon forks together with the modern styling of the stem gives it a more muscular look.

I couldn't wait to get it looking more bike-like, so I chucked a few more bits on. I'm re-using the original bars, so I gave these a serious clean-up to get rid of the old bar tape gunk.

Steerer cutting

After putting it off for quite a while, I decided it was finally time to cut the steerer tube on the new forks. I was slightly apprehensive about this, as it's one of those things where you can't really afford to get it wrong. I'm putting in a couple of spacers to raise the handlebar height a little, so in theory there's soem margin for error.

As the old saying goes, "measure twice, cut once". Or in my case, measure four times, go away and think about it, measure again, put it off until next weekend.... There is also the question of finding the best tool for the job. A hacksaw with a nice new well-fitted blade is probably ideal, with some kind of guide to ensure a straight cut. A bit like that old mitre saw lying around in the shed, I thought - never mind that the blade is designed for wood. It went through like a knife through... well actually like a wood saw through alloy, really.

After making the cut, I remembered what it was I hated about metalwork O level. Filing. Such a tedious and unrewarding occupation. The only good thing about filing was having the opportunity to get your teacher to say 'bastard' ("hur hur, Sir said bastard").

Piece by piece

So, a bit of a catch-up required...

Since disassembling the bike at the end of August, I have been gradually accumulating the parts to put it back together.

There were a few key decisions along the way, some of which were driven by the old (obsolete) frame spacing. The original forks were 95mm and the rear drop-outs 125mm over lock-nuts (compared with today's 100mm and 130mm). Flexing the frame to squeeze an extra 5mm at the rear is easy enough, but I wasn't happy about the idea of spreading the forks. That leaves 2 options: rebuild the front wheel on the original hub or replace the forks. I chose the latter - it seemed by far the better option to update to modern hubs. Having decided to replace the forks, I also elected to switch from threaded to unthreaded headset, to bring the bike more up to date.

So to eBay to pick up the first few items:

• ITM Visia carbon forks
• M-Part 1" headset
• ITM Big One stem

The raw material

There it is - straight from the shed. This was taken on August Bank Holiday weekend just before I got started. An hour or so later, I had it stripped down to a bare frame, a box of bits and a big bag of junk.

It starts here!

So what's it all about?
My latest 2-wheeled project: turning a 30 year old Viscount Aerospace road bike into a single-speed London-style rapid commuter machine to use for my daily ride between Kingston and the City.
Why? (a) Because it was languishing in the shed looking sad & neglected, (b) because I've bought too many new bikes but still crave a novelty, and (c) because I needed a project.
More to follow, starting with some "before" pics...