108 replies to this topic

[ajperry]

So, now that I have finished uni for another year i needed something to fill some time over the summer. As i don't have anywhere i can keep a mini i went for something a little more managable considering I live in a one bedroom first floor flat.

I decided I could do with a push bike as my skateboard is getting a bit tired and I facied a change, so I hit ebay... a few weeks of sleuthing and a few bidding wars later and I picked up this beaut for £82 at the beginning of June.


Its a German 1950's Goricke frame with the origninal chain ring and hubs, including a Sachs clutched hub (can still freewheel and pedal backwards to brake) which I am considering keeping over the fixed gear option, more rider friendly. Plus I'm lazy so i like to coast every now and then! New Michelin Proteck City tires with the reflective 'whitewall', new pedals to fit and a new GT saddle. The frame and rims were resprayed by the previous owner but it has a lot of pitting all over it.


I love the angled front forks too.


Its got some new BBB carbon fibre handlebars on a Sakae stem too which look great so I'm keeping those too.



So, what I plan to do is remove the pump holder bits (you can kinda see them in the pictures above) and get rid of what I assume was the old dynamo mount and the front brake caliper (which is redundant as there isn't even a brake lever, pedalling backwards works just fine) and take the frame back to bare metal for a completely new respray in something like OEW or a light cream. I love the completely simple sleek look of the new fixies on the market so will try and get close to that level of minimal!
Also gonna get rid of the saddle because I really want an old vintage style Brooks saddle as think it will look far more in keeping with the age of the frame. I want to keep the old chain ring too so will buy some brasso and get to work on that when I've got it off the bike and make it shine like new...

After an evening it looked like this:




This pedal and crank is a real . It just won't come off.


Also one of the spokes is missing from the front wheel, which would explian the slight buckle, but not too worried as i want to get some deep rims to replace the dodgy painted ones.


can you spot the where the spoke is missing?!?


Anyway my mate's coming over on sunday with some of his tools and some beers and we're gonna dismantle the rest together before watching the footy! How appropriate... dismantling a German bike before the England team play Germany. Haha

Thanks for reading, more updates to come... advice, opinions and ideas welcomed!

[mighty mini jack]

Goodman! I'll be keeping my eye on this.

[mattdc2r]

Back pedal brakes rule lol.
Goodfind, something different, all you need to do now is find some retro dynamo powered lights

[ajperry]

I have been slacking on the bike this week... but i took the wheels apart completely and am borrowing a chain breaker and crank puller tonight so i can get those last bits off of the frame before I start sanding it down and readying it for paint!

In the meantime here's some inspirational eye candy:





All photos of Brick Lane Bikes... Mmmmmmmm...

[george91]

Mate don't forget its more than likely that the left crank arm has an opposite thread like all modern bikes, if it hasn't been taken off in a while then its probably going to be solid, just use lots of wd40 or similar and be patient and after a while it'll come off. Anyways its looking good just needs a new seat imo.

[olds_kool_lews]

i used to build n repair push bikes (from the age of 6!) for people before i moved onto motorbikes, then at the age of 13 i wanted to get into cars, so got my first mini!

looks like a good project you got there, very minimal, not overly complicated with suspension, Y frames and millions of gears! simplicity at its best!
i got a couple of old bmxs, got 2 raleigh burners (mk1 and mk2) with mag wheels etc and various old skool frames waiting to be one day built up!

good luck with it!

[ajperry]

george91 cheers for that... i soaked the crank in wd40 and it still wouldn't budge so i took it to my local bike shop and they have now, after much struggling, got it off. Having removed it however, The chain ring which i wanted to keep is all in one piece with the bottom bracket and other crank. I'll put some piccies up tonight so you'll see what i mean!

olds_kool_lews, I love mag wheels and i always wanted a set for my bmx's i had in the past. looked at getting some 700c versions for this project but they are just so expensive, i don't really want to spend too much money, although it has to be done right!

Cheers for the comments guys. I'll put some picture up of the few bits that have happened this week later!

[ajperry]

As promised, if a little later than expected, photos of the progress so far....

frame completely stripped of remaining parts:


The single piece crank/chain ring... disappointing because i need a new crank set as these are knackered but i wanted to keep the original chain ring and polish it back to new. Ah well more shiny new things to buy!



The Sachs clutched hub which I'm keeping. Needs a bit of a service and a polish but it's in great working order.


I bought some copper coloured handlebar tape from Cali last week and it arrived so I was itching to do my handlebars. I think they look sweeeeet! also gives you an idea of how the colour scheme is going to go... cream, black + copper.... yum!





And lastly I started chopping off the bits I didn't want on the frame and sanding it down to the metalwork, which is in as new condition. mint.




also found out that the original colour was an emerald/jade green... pretty nice actually... hmmmmm





So thats where I'm at right now... gonna be looking into getting the frame sprayed sometime next month when i can afford it! Anyone know of a reasonable place I can get it primed, prepared and sprayed to a decent quality in/around Portsmouth???

Ta. Perry

[BRC]

Love the Project, would like to do one myself, but don t think the missus would go for me getting a third bike

One word of warning though, is if you’re going to wait a month before you get it sprayed, I’d at least try and get some prima on the bare metal, I re built my old bmx up last year, had it sand blasted which weren’t cheap so I had to wait a little while before I sprayed it, within a couple of weeks there was signs of surface rust again, only a small amount so I sanded that back, gave it a few coats of the hamerite rust protector paint and it looked good. However the dreaded rust is back, wither it was a botched sand blast job, or I just screwed up leaving it bare metal for a couple of weeks. It was quite rust before the sand blasting though so that could also be a factor, any way, just thought I’d let you know

Here's a picture of the bmx, i was going for the more ratty old look, so I’m not too fussed that the rust is back, goes with all the other rusty bits on it!
 24042010026.jpg   987.6K   16 downloads

[ajperry]

BRC, Cheers for the advice... I'll get right on with getting it primed and sprayed in that case, other new parts can wait. As I'm sanding it down I can see a few odd spots of surface rust but being a perfectionist I sand until I can see only bare metal... hopefully I can get whoever paints it to give it a once over before they start as well just to be safe?
loving the yellow chain too!

[E-Tizzle]

how are u getting on??

[ajperry]

how are u getting on??

I'm glad you asked...
I've been on holiday for a week so nothing has happened on the bike for a little while but on the upside some goodies arrived!

H Plus Son 'Formation Face' rims in black.... *drool* 42mm deep v rims all the way from China!



And a comparison of depth with the rims that came on the bike:




A little imagination can get you halfway there...


I also found a 2nd hand Brooks Professional saddle on fleabay for a good price
It's in as new condition bar two tiny teeny scuffs on the side! Also came with the essential Proofide maintenance kit.
The black and copper colours follow the idea for my colour scheme to!




Excuse the appalling close up photos, my camera just wouldn't co-operate last night.
I love the large hammered copper rivets on the saddle so i'm going to try and polish them up so they shine like new as they are a little tarnished.

Apart from that I have sourced a powder coating company who have a lot of experience with bike frames and I'll be sending the frame and forks for blasting, dipping and powder coating next week!
Thinking of this colour:

RAL 9001 - Cream

And then adding the pinstriping around the lugged parts of the frame in black. Like this one, but in reverse colours:

So, thats about it until the weekend when I package my frame up ready for sending to the powder coaters. Also going to be selling my old BMX, a KHE Flatliner, to fund this project and get down to my local bike shop, Haslemere Cycle Exchange, to do some dealings and trade in some of my old parts and hopefully get them to build my wheels!

As always any opinions, suggestions and feedback is greatly appreciated as I am still learning the art of bicycle building!

Thanks for reading!

Edited by ajperry, 21 July 2010 - 12:56 PM.

[E-Tizzle]

i love that pinstripe idea!!
are your wheels gonna look like the one in the above apart from the crazy crazy spokes!!

[ajperry]

i love that pinstripe idea!!
are your wheels gonna look like the one in the above apart from the crazy crazy spokes!!

Yeah hopefully, those spokes look pretty rad but i'm sure they cost a bomb! i'm going simple so normal straightforward lines me thinks!

[mighty mini jack]

That seat is beautiful! Can't really go wrong with deep V's either.

Here's a mates we worked on last week, all smoothed and painted in olive drab camo paint.

Edited by mighty mini jack, 21 July 2010 - 01:39 PM.