Building bikes

I've been doing some bike building over the last six weeks. I've built up the old Giant Peloton frame that I bought last year into a very light and quite spunky little retro ride (it's from 1999). I thought I'd use it as a commuter but the ride is a bit harsh and the geometry is a bit too aggresive so I'm going  to sell it along with my old Repco Superlite that I haven't used for ages. Here they are:

I've also picked up a cheapo noname track frame/forks secondhand for $70 a few months back. I built it up as single speed that I could chuck in the back of the car and commute to work on, on the days that I drop both kids to school. However, after trying it out for a while, I've come to the conclusion that that I'm not particularly into the single speed/fixie thing. Maybe I haven't got the gearing right, maybe my legs just aren't strong enough or maybe I just like having gears to choose from. Anyway, I'll hang it up in the shed for the moment and maybe try it out again in the future. Maybe I'll even set it up as track bike and have go at a velodrome one day...

The bike I've most enjoyed building up and riding over the last month or so is my old Repco Olympic 12 (circa 1989). I've had it for a couple of years and was using it to commute to work on when I first got into cycling. It was a decent quality bike in it's day with a Giant made CRO-MO frame from before Giant became one of the er... giants of the industry. I've always loved commuting on it because it's so comfortable - the steel frame does a great job of absorbing the cracks, bumps and foreign bodies found in bike lanes. However, the drive train shows it's age so I've built it up with modern(ish) components - 9 speed STI shifters, a compact crank, upgraded brakes and wheels etc. and it's just lovely to ride. It's a bit lighter than it was - around 11kg - heavy by modern standards, but not too bad for a vintage steel bike.

Anyway, I've done some rides around the place on it and taken it up to Eagle on the Hill a few weeks ago and it was went okay. My Scott roadie is definitely less effort to push up a hill but going down hill the old Repco felt great. The Scott is quite skitty and harsh when descending down the rougher bits on the bike path whereas the Repco felt smoother and inspired more confidence. It looks a treat too, well I think it does anyway.  I has a bit of that 'modernised old bike' look about it which is not to everyone's taste, but I really like the look of it. Here it is, in it's blue glory....

 

 

Anyway, the whole bike building thing is enormously satisfying. This one presented a few challenges, but it worked out pretty nicely in the end.