A new job with longer commute has inspired me to rebuild an old frame I had back into a complete bike, all I really needed was the wheels, chainring and an excuse for yet another bike
.
Between the ages of 15 and 35 the majority of my mileage was on a fixed, a minor heart problem means that I can’t spin on long descents, but for the 10 mile each commute this will be perfect.
The frame is a 20 year old Pearson 531, built back then by Dave Yates. Orginally this was my tour bike and can be seen in the reports about some of them at the bottom of the page. Most of that bike I transfered accross to a
Van Nicholas Yukon.
The wheels are new, Schmidt hub with BM IQ Fly on Mavic Open pro, built by me with DT Spokes, I will add a secondary LED during the winter
Carradice Super C Rack pack rear with Cateye AU100 and LD 610, I will add a Smart ½ Watt on the rear guard eye (the same as I have
here on another bike) during winter as some of the commute is on a unlit road. Strictly speaking the AU100 should be the other way up, although I use it that way on another bike and at a distance it still shows brightly.
Low angle view
View from a higher angle
TA Vega chain set, 170mm with 46t ring that I had to mount inside spider to get a good chain line, with a 20T sprocket this gives me a 62" ish gear, my commute is quite hilly! I had forgotten how much fun a fixed was, I confess I missed changing down a gear on long drags but hopefully that will become easier as my fitness improves.
The only change may be the old Campagnolo brake levers, as modern versions work better.
Paul_Smith
