Sibreen
Maximum Pace
- Jul 23, 2010
- 584
- 256
Hello,
I'm Simon. I recently came across this website (as I was looking at how to renovate a Roadman), and wanted to post a greeting.
Brief history:
I lived in Kanazawa for two and a half years before I moved to Tokyo and bought my first ever road bike there. It was an entry level Giant with Sora components and I absolutely loved it. Kanazawa has mountains, hills, a sea, and is a cyclists paradise (apart from the salty sea air which rusts everything). In particular, there are many reservoirs in the mountains of astounding beauty. I had put about 9000 happy kilometres on my bike, but when i came to Tokyo some nob stole it. What sadness! We shared so many good memories.
For various reasons I have very little money, so I bought an old Roadman on the Internet with a view to converting it to a single speed (one of the reasons I found this forum, in fact, is that there is another poster who is building up a Roadman). Now that I've dismantled it and put it back together, the bike goes, but the wheels and cranks are not true, and I need to replace the brakes and cables.
It's also pretty rusty on the whole.
My plan is to replace the wheels first, then the brakes, next the cranks, BB, and chain in one go. Lastly I'd like to repaint it. I understand that upgrading an old bike is not costeffective - it'd be better to save the money and buy a new bike in one fell swoop. But hopefully this will become a nice project for me, and in my current situation it's easy to save up a few thousand yen in bursts than a few mann over a long stretch.
Regarding singlespeed conversion, my plan is to use one chainring and cog from what's currently there, disregard the rest, and use spacers. Haven't decided yet on how to maintain chain tension, there seem to be a few options. To begin with, though, I might use the current rear dérailleur as a chain tensioner.
Any opinions, criticisms, feedback much appreciated.
I hope to see some of you around one day.
Simon
I'm Simon. I recently came across this website (as I was looking at how to renovate a Roadman), and wanted to post a greeting.
Brief history:
I lived in Kanazawa for two and a half years before I moved to Tokyo and bought my first ever road bike there. It was an entry level Giant with Sora components and I absolutely loved it. Kanazawa has mountains, hills, a sea, and is a cyclists paradise (apart from the salty sea air which rusts everything). In particular, there are many reservoirs in the mountains of astounding beauty. I had put about 9000 happy kilometres on my bike, but when i came to Tokyo some nob stole it. What sadness! We shared so many good memories.
For various reasons I have very little money, so I bought an old Roadman on the Internet with a view to converting it to a single speed (one of the reasons I found this forum, in fact, is that there is another poster who is building up a Roadman). Now that I've dismantled it and put it back together, the bike goes, but the wheels and cranks are not true, and I need to replace the brakes and cables.
It's also pretty rusty on the whole.
My plan is to replace the wheels first, then the brakes, next the cranks, BB, and chain in one go. Lastly I'd like to repaint it. I understand that upgrading an old bike is not costeffective - it'd be better to save the money and buy a new bike in one fell swoop. But hopefully this will become a nice project for me, and in my current situation it's easy to save up a few thousand yen in bursts than a few mann over a long stretch.
Regarding singlespeed conversion, my plan is to use one chainring and cog from what's currently there, disregard the rest, and use spacers. Haven't decided yet on how to maintain chain tension, there seem to be a few options. To begin with, though, I might use the current rear dérailleur as a chain tensioner.
Any opinions, criticisms, feedback much appreciated.
I hope to see some of you around one day.
Simon