Hi all,
A few years ago I made a thread about a Raleigh Caprice I had done up for my girlfriend. Since I've made a few changes, and there seem to be a few more bikes around now, I thought I'd post it up again.
It's pretty standard except for the singlespeed conversion (I wanted the 3-speed hub for myself!) and the removal of the old heavy rusty noisy steel mudguards, replaced with quality plastic ones. The dynamo lights are pretty good too - decent 1960s Miller ones. The brakes are Dia Compe BMX calipers and levers with Shimano 105 cables which are a hell of a lot better than the originals. I was thinking about upgrading to cotterless bottom bracket, but the steel cottered crankset seems impervious to wear compared to aluminium rings! The paint was originally white, then I rattlecanned it blue which lasted for a couple of years before getting too tatty. Then I Rustoleum'ed it in red, but I found that it chipped far too easily and my girlfriend didn't like the colour (although it was her choice). So at the end of last summer I got it powdercoated in pastel green.
The only change I might make on this bike is getting hub brakes, as I study in a different city to my girlfriend so reliability is of utmost importance.
While I'm at it, I might as well post my daily bike:
It's a Dawes, early 1960s judging by the derailer and stem. It's a couple of sizes too small for me but that's fine for short journeys. It has some nice period accessories like slide-on plastic brake lever grips (removed in that picture), the Tornade pump and the Dawes branded stem and shifter cap. The frame is Reynolds and has some nice details (like the cable guides are also the pump pegs). I have since converted this to singlespeed with modern 700c wheels; when I sell it I'll put it back to being original.
Watch this space for my Peugeot university bike, too.
And some computer modelling:
I made a Fiat 126 in Autodesk Alias. It's my first computer model so there are a few discrepancies compared to the real thing, but I learnt a lot making it, and if I made it again it'd be much more accurate.
A few years ago I made a thread about a Raleigh Caprice I had done up for my girlfriend. Since I've made a few changes, and there seem to be a few more bikes around now, I thought I'd post it up again.
It's pretty standard except for the singlespeed conversion (I wanted the 3-speed hub for myself!) and the removal of the old heavy rusty noisy steel mudguards, replaced with quality plastic ones. The dynamo lights are pretty good too - decent 1960s Miller ones. The brakes are Dia Compe BMX calipers and levers with Shimano 105 cables which are a hell of a lot better than the originals. I was thinking about upgrading to cotterless bottom bracket, but the steel cottered crankset seems impervious to wear compared to aluminium rings! The paint was originally white, then I rattlecanned it blue which lasted for a couple of years before getting too tatty. Then I Rustoleum'ed it in red, but I found that it chipped far too easily and my girlfriend didn't like the colour (although it was her choice). So at the end of last summer I got it powdercoated in pastel green.
The only change I might make on this bike is getting hub brakes, as I study in a different city to my girlfriend so reliability is of utmost importance.
While I'm at it, I might as well post my daily bike:
It's a Dawes, early 1960s judging by the derailer and stem. It's a couple of sizes too small for me but that's fine for short journeys. It has some nice period accessories like slide-on plastic brake lever grips (removed in that picture), the Tornade pump and the Dawes branded stem and shifter cap. The frame is Reynolds and has some nice details (like the cable guides are also the pump pegs). I have since converted this to singlespeed with modern 700c wheels; when I sell it I'll put it back to being original.
Watch this space for my Peugeot university bike, too.
And some computer modelling:
I made a Fiat 126 in Autodesk Alias. It's my first computer model so there are a few discrepancies compared to the real thing, but I learnt a lot making it, and if I made it again it'd be much more accurate.
