The Puch Prince I got for Mel for thirty quid from a police auction has finally been turned into a commuter.
It started like this:
New saddle, front wheel and pedals were all that was needed. But it just wasn't right. The old brake levers were mince, but riding on the hoods isn't for Mel just yet, and the bars had to be popped up high anyway for her to ride in comfort which looked odd with the drops.
Problem solved. A week ago I stripped my old Dawes to pass the frame on, and stuck the flat bar and brake levers onto the Puch. Added some nice Charge grips. Suddenly it stops and feels much more controllable. I may need to get a stem with more reach as Mel has complained of being a little cramped. It was a bit harder on her wrists than her MTB as well, feeling as though the saddle was pitching her forward, so need to do some other tweaks.
But overall the ride in this morning went well, and it'll be even better when I've got a thumbshifter as she can't use the downtube shifter yet so has basically been riding it as singlespeed. She'd gone right off the look of the MTB, much prefers this, and it's in her favourite colour (which, as we all know, is one of the most important things when it comes to bikes...).
having seen the pics she now wants some better cycling clothes, and is going off helmets (got the Bern in the pics from Cyclechic, which was an improvement, but might be going bareheaded at some point - I can't really argue against it given I commute lidless).
