GT ZR4000 update

The problem with several projects on the go at once is that they all seem to take so long to finish. Never been much good on focussing on one at once...

Anyway, here's the GT ZR4000 shopping bike. All that is left is cable stops and toggle chain for the Sturmey five speed. I like the way it has worked out though now I look at it I fear it is a bit too small for me; rideable but the position is a bit more dropped than I was hoping for. Oh well, it'll be a good excuse for another project.

GT ZR4000, just some final tweaking left.

Front wheel looks strangely larger than the rear. It isn't.

New school Sturmey trigger and Dia-Compe levers.

Campagnolo Centaur dual pivot brakeset.

Chinese chain tensioner. Looks nice enough, weighs like it is
made from cast iron.

Nice pattern on the Shimano chain ring.

BSA Gold Vase project update

All parts to finish off the Beesa Gold Vase are now assembled. Having a spot of bother with a couple of components - the ebay buy chainset is warped and needs straightening, but it was cheap and came with a pair of pedals so I will forgive it. The Cyclo gear set appears to be largely knackered but hopefully there is nothing I can't overcome. The gear lever is well and truly seized up and the jockey wheels are very very wobbly.

There's definitely stuff needs tweaking and sorting, the mudguard line is pretty awful and cables need making up. Getting there though, hopefully back on the road in the next few weeks.  

GT ZR4000 project

Any psychologists out there please don't comment! Looking around the workshop I saw that I had accumulated a couple of wheels and a few other odds and ends. Rather than do the obvious and sell them on I decided that what the wheels needed was a frame to hold them together. A nice lightweight bike for nipping to the shops on would be 'a good idea'. Then this GT ZR4000 frame came up on fleabay.

The frame was cheap. When it arrived it gave every appearance of having had a hard life, then been dumped in a canal, then dredged out and cleaned up to be sold to someone gullible. The ZR4000 from 1999/2000 was never a particularly high end machine but it is light and strong and I just somehow like GTs modern take on the classic 'hellenic' rear triangle frame design.

Of course even if you think you have all the parts lying around for a build you are soon to be proven wrong. Yes, I've already spent more than the finished article is worth and it still isn't complete.

The Sturmey 5 speed rear hub lent the cycle a bit of a fixie-ish appearance and as it is to be a shopping bike I decided to go for flat bars. Just really a pair of brakes to go and the thing will be nearly there. I'll post up when it is done.

GT ZR4000. Not too bad a machine in its day.

Actually pretty pleased with the way it is turning out visually.
Rear wheel is Sturmey XRD-5 on a Mavic CXP33. Front is a
Mavic Ksyrium,

Berthoud bar plugs were hanging around the workshop looking
for a home. Stem is an ITM, levers Dia Compe mountain bike
and a Sturmey thumb shifter. The grips are offcuts of Brookes
leather tape on top of electrical self amalgamating tape for a
bit of cushioning. The bars are cheap chinese generics.

Shimano Tourney XT chainset from the first ever mountain bike
I had - a Saracen City Bike from around 1985. It's converted to
a single chainring from a triple with Stonglight bolts and is
fitted with Middleburn puller bolts. Owing to the dark arts of
bb axle sizing I have had to mount the chainring on the inside to
get the chain line right.Annoying!

Selle Italia Royal saddle and surprisingly
reasonably priced Cinelli sieatpost, I guess
they've moved production of lower end stuff
to China.

Alan project update. Campagnolo why the weird sizes!

Nearly there with the Alan.

Most of the refurbing and fitting together is now complete. Had a short hold up when I discovered that the cable anchors for the Campag Delta brakes use a 3.5mm allen key. Why would anyone choose that as a size to use!! I then discovered that the Victory chainset uses a 7mm key for the crank bolt. The choice of wonky sizes by Campag was surely a willful swipe at the home mechanic. Luckily I've got a really decent toolshop nearby so it turned out that getting the right keys was just a short ride away.

I had a bit of a dilemma over what to do with the gear cable run on the bottom bracket. From new the cables run direct on to the shell through small guides with no protection for the delicate aluminium. Over time the cables run score marks on to the shell. I toyed with the idea of putting a new plastic guide on but the original guides fouled up with it and it would have meant cutting them off. In the end I settled for small teflon tubes. The tubes seem to hold themselves in place ok and are stopped from lateral movement by the angle of the cable and the original guides.

Not a lot more to do now than adjust and polish.

Campagnolo Delta brake showing that annoying 3.5mm
allen head anchor bolt.

Campagnolo Delta brake. Over-engineered, over-complicated,
beautifully made and a joy to behold.

Campagnolo Victory chainset with odd 7mm crank bolt.

Bottom bracket cable run showing teflon sleeves. Not the
most elegant solution I will confess but one which works
and doesn't involve modification to the frame.

BSA Gold Vase project update

Progress to date on the BSA Gold Vase. It's been a case of trying to use parts that I've got lying around and matching up the patina to the frame. The bars and stem I had bought simply because I liked the shape and that they had the original John Bull grips. They're alloy bars with a nice moustache bend. The wheels are tandem type with British Hub hubs, they fit and are with a three speed block to match the Cyclo gear hanger. I might just fit the end product with a auxiliary cyclemotor engine so the extra braking power will be useful. A pair of Bluemels Airweight alloy mudguards picked up on the bay of E look right as does the Dorset Saddle I bought a short while back.

Just a chainset to find and then renovate the whole lot and we'll be rolling.

Just about everything collected to build up a cycle now. Just
lacking a chainset.

The Cyclo derailleur I had lying around has turned
out to be a little bit less functional than hoped for.
Twisted and rusted but it should free up and bend
back in to shape. 

Original BSA Gold Vase transfer.

Sweet badge on the Bluemels Air Weight
mudguards.

Original period John Bull handlebar grips.

New old stock Lucas bell from the jet age was lying around
unused and looks a treat on the Beesa.

Handlebars, a stylish moustache bend. Cyclo changer is seized
up so may need new cables making.

Miller headlight with a Terry's clamp on bracket.
Need a rear light to go with it plus maybe a dynamo
or battery pack.

VAR Depose third hand brake tool

I used to use one of these every day back when I worked with Jack Hearne Cycles. Brilliant tool, so much better than the more recent dodgy sprung wire ones. Thus I was pretty stoked when I saw this one come up on ebay and picked it up for a song. One of the most useful cycle workshop tools, do yourself a favour and seek one out for yourself.

VAR Depose third hand brake tool.

The VAR Depose in action.

Bicycle wall mount idea

I saw a photo of a cafe with a cycle hanging from the wall by a pair of handlebars, the details weren't clear but it looked good. I had a pair of unloved bars hanging around, a wall that needed a bicycle and the urge to make something so this is what I came up with. It was a fairly easy job: just measure up the distance you want the cycle to hang from the wall (doesn't have to be too accurate as it's adjustable anyway by the angle of the bars), find a scrap piece of heavy guage plate and a tube with the correct internal diameter for the stem.

I cut the plate in to a shield shape as it kind of suits the house, picked a good looking angle for the tube and welded it on. Four screw holes (countersunk) to hold the bracket to the wall seemed like an appropriate amount. Some white bar tape and a couple of Brooks end plugs that were kicking around finish it all off.

Overall I'm very pleased with the result. It's probably not anything like an original idea but I hadn't seen a bike hung like this before. The bonus is that it is really easy to lift the cycle on and off.

Sun Manxman project

The Sun Manxman is slowly progressing. A few finishing touches and it will be ready for the road. (Previous update on the Red Devil Motors blog).

Nearly there.... It took a while to find a suitable double
cottered chainset.

A new old stock Brooks B17 has been found.

Love the engraving on the GB bars.

Campag bar end levers took a while to find at a reasonable
price. These ones came over from the US. Brooks bar tape
is quite pricey but really finishes off a build nicely.

New Campag downtube cable stops aren't period correct but
are unobtrusive. A bit disappointed to find out when they
arrived that they are plastic.

GB Sport brake set

The regular fleabay trawl has turned up a nice period set of GB brakes for the Sun Manxman project. The calipers are 'Sport' and the levers are 'Arret' models. The set is ideal for the Manxman, correct period, quality, functional and long reach. A curiosity about the levers is that instead of the usual small circular GB logo they have an image of a Lincoln Imp. I wonder if these levers were originally from an Elswick Lincoln Imp? The logo is identical, if anyone out there knows please comment.

Purely coincidentally the last project completed in the shed was an Elswick Lincoln Imp.

GB Sport front brake on Sun Manxman.

GB Arret brake lever with Lincoln Imp logo.

Compare with the Elswick Lincoln Imp logo. Identical?