[Edit]  Now fully finished, with new wheels, tyres and brakes

Well, I say finished... its not actually rideable at the moment, but Ill get to that in a minute.  Picture time!  Click for big.  56k users go home to your mummies.

Painted bits:


BB, HS, cranks and forks fitted:


Looking a bit more like a bike:


All done:






Check my fly painting


...and my not so fly painting


I mentioned earlier its not rideable.  Basically, I get on it and hear some creaking.  Turns out the rear wheel has gone to pot, loads of spokes are silly loose.  Also, the freewheel now sounds like its full of sand, and doesnt look user serviceable.  Any suggestions?

Im seriously considering getting some different wheels, ally rims would be nice.  But Im struggling to justify them having spent Ã,£12 on getting this rear wheel undished.  Also, the brakes are pissing me off a lot as they never centre properly.  Really trying not to buy some mirage callis  :cry:

Ah, they match beautifully  

very nice - clean and simple, good work.


EDIT: just not too keen on amber walls!

Very nice job on the paint! Did ya clear coat it as well?

On the subject of wheel upgrades, if those are 27" currently, looks like youre got plenty of room to drop the brake pads 4mm to fit 700c. You dont need a SS rear wheel, just use a Shimano DX bmx cog with some pvc plumbing pipe as a spacer. Spray it black of course. Sometimes you can find modern alloy 27" wheels on sale for super cheap, so dont rule it out. Dont piss away money on boutique wheels unless you find a great deal, Regular 32H stoff is plenty light and strong enough for anybody.

Freewheel: you can usually remove the seal on the bmx jobbers with an xacto knife, then flush and lube.

Brakes: best and cheapest choice are some Tektro dual pivot long reach brakes. I run them my buddy Dan runs them (hes a pro wrench) and everybody and their mother uses them as theyre cheap and stop great. They work peachily with your new levers. They require drilling out frame and fork, see my thread about it. Takes only a couple minutes. Highly recommended.

Again, props on a sweet looking paint job, its only downhill from here. Chips away.

I didnt clearcoat it, as I got fed up with painting after the 6,000,000 coats I put on that thing.  I used Hammerite though, which is pretty darn tough stuff and doesnt really need clearcoating according to my LBS.

As for the wheels, theyve got 700C tyres so Im guessing the wheels are 700c too.  I dont want to spend a lot of money though, got any suggestions for cheap stuff, or should I just keep an eye on fleabay?  As for using a BMX cog, presumably youre reccomending a freehub type wheel then?  How do they compare pricewise?

[edit] oh and badabing, the amber walls are temporary.  Theyre only on there until I pluck up the courage to buy some of the yellow tyres you guys love so much  

Quote from: funkychicken9000As for the wheels, theyve got 700C tyres so Im guessing the wheels are 700c too.  I dont want to spend a lot of money though, got any suggestions for cheap stuff, or should I just keep an eye on fleabay?  As for using a BMX cog, presumably youre reccomending a freehub type wheel then?  How do they compare pricewise?

Pricewise, its pretty random. FW wheels will be nice in that theyll have teh proper spacing (126mm), but theyll require the dishing nonsense to fit a bmx freewheel. Plus: the undishing makes em stronger. FH wheels are 130mm, so can be tricky to fit unless  you cold set the frame or spring it apart. Mounting a DX cog is simple, but it can be a PITA to source spacers and a lockring, if you aint got them in your bucket o fun.

My last set of SS wheels cost a hooge $100. They were OK Mavic CXP22s on horrid 2200 hubs, so required fresh bearings, grease, and a true n tune to become $200 wheels. 3K on them since I tweaked them, and still within 0.2mm of true.

It looks the sex mate.

Well nice looking bike there, and the "not so fly" doesnt look that bad either. Well done on the paint job

Bending the frame+forks sounds like things could go very wrong very quickly.  Not ideal on a new paintjob either :S

Ill experiment on this wheel and see if I can get it sorted myself.  Otherwise its looking like Im going to have to spend Ã,£Ã,£Ã,£.  Toss.  

Im gonna order me some brakes to cheer me up.  Then go ringing round some pubs to see if they need bar staff  :x

Quote from: funkychicken9000Bending the frame+forks sounds like things could go very wrong very quickly.  Not ideal on a new paintjob either :S

Nah, Ive done it many times, its easy. You just need to spread the rear 4mm, which is something like half a degree. Or just spring it apart and dont be bothered.

QuoteIll experiment on this wheel and see if I can get it sorted myself.  Otherwise its looking like Im going to have to spend Ã,£Ã,£Ã,£.  Toss.  
 

Build up your existing hubs if they aint rotten, or if youre feeling frisky, find some new rims with close to the same inside diameter, and transfer the spokes one by one. Using an electric driver from the back of course.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/details.asp?D=P&Cat=WHEELS%20-%20FACTORY&Section=WHFR&GenCode=SHIMWHFR0900

Cheapest set of shimano FH wheels I can find new.  Ebay has toss all at the moment.  

There is this though.  "Slight rim damage" looks more like its completely shafted to me, but if I got the rear rebuilt on a new rim, reckon it would be worth it?  Is it difficult to source rims with low spoke counts like that?

Low spoke count wheels with proprietary bits are the biggest pile of bullsh*t cycling has seen in the last decade. A hand built set of 32/28 spoke front and rear, with off the shelf components, is almost always lighter, cheaper, more durable, and easier to service. That said, the Tiagra set is cheap enough to make it worthwhile as a disposable set. Youre a flyweight anyway, so super wheel strength isnt as important as it is to a beefcake like myself.

The rear wheel on Ebay you linked to is indeed completely shafted. Not worth the trouble. Run away.

So, in short, if you can pick up a pair of low spokers for peanuts, why not. Theyre wheels, they work, you might even think that they bring out the pink in your cheeks. But if youre plannning on spending $200+ on a wheelset for daily use, have a wheelsmith build you a set or get some prebuilts with standard parts, and have them hand-turned.

Yeah Id rather avoid low spoke count wheels, but just looking at ribbles prices for handbuilt wheels, the cheapest (CXP22 laced on sora) is Ã,£79.  Tiagra on Open sports are Ã,£85, or Ã,£104 if you want open pros instead.  Ã,£65 for the tiagra wheelset seems more favourable, sort of.  I dunno what theyre like though :?

With those sort of economics, it makes sense to get the Tiagras. I have a strong opinion against such wheels for philosophical reasons, but Id buy them were they cheap enough.

My current SS wheelset is Sora hubs + CXP22s, as a matter of fact. Its a hella durable, if heavy, wheelset. Sora hubs are fine if you put real bearings in them. The stock ones are verging on cubic. Cost me 52 UK squid in translation for front and rear. After an initial tuning by moi, theyve gone 3K w/o even thinking about going out of round.

The Tiagras are likely good enough, but according to Road Bike Review--the assembly quality can be shocking. If you get them, most def check and correct the spoke tension.

http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/wheels/wheelsets/shimano/PRD_366355_2490crx.aspx

Maxey, what you reckon to these?  Theyll be an extra Ã,£15-Ã,£20ish over the R500s with delivery I think...

look like his & his bikes to me