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She isn't so pretty anymore but after some serious abuse everything is still in one piece. I was concerned that the wheel may move around in the dropouts but that has not been a problem. I did have one issue with the chain getting sucked in between the tire and frame so I used an old shark fin...

Got the headset and got everything together. It shifts perfectly and stops on a dime. The weight came in just shy of 35 pounds. The first ride on dirt went pretty well. I did put the headbadge on crooked though. I need to fix that.

Yeah, I am still waiting for the headset to arrive. I sent out a 1 1/8 Chris King headset to a guy who uses a lathe to turn them down to fit pre-war size headtubes. It should be here next week then I will complete the build.

All that remains is the headset. It should be here early next week. I plan to swap the skewers for some black XT ones, trim the cables etc. The rear brake cable is a little shorter than I would like so I had to route it differently than I planned. I could just get a new cable but I just bled...

Painted today and started working on the headbadge.

I removed the seatpost clamp. I have a nice alloy one I am going to use. The frame had some heavy pitting but I think after I get the primer sanded it will look ok. I still need to get the headset turned and get the bottom bracket adaptor and get a suitable bottom bracket and crank. Hopefully I...

Oh yeah, if you are just getting the bike rideable again then the patina route is the way to go for sure. Old bikes should look old. That Elgin I am building is intended for off road use so I need it strong. That frame you have will be plenty strong.

The fender mounts were always the first place to start rusting but the good news is that rust had to work pretty hard to get inside the main chainstay tubes. Cut that peice out and braze in a piece of tubing and you are good to go. If you can't do it yourself any decent welder with a gas setup...

I considered internal cable routing and it almost would have worked but drilling this frame would have been a bad idea for several reasons. If I ever find an old schwinn in decent shape I may try it but these Elgins are just not good candidates. The way the wishbone is welded creates a block...

Got all the cable guides and stops on today. I also poured in some more brass around the dropouts to smooth them out. Cable routing on the downtube seemed the best option because it is the only straight bar on the bike. Using the top tube for the brake line was the only option for the rear...

Re: '41 Elgin build Certainly one of the most elegant frames ever.

The drum could be a Gremeca or it is a cheaper made in tiawan knock off. Still, they were pretty well made. The spoke guage means it is probly from a tandem like a town and country or something. Cool bike for sure. Lacing up those slotted eyelet hubs is a ......

I was brazing like crazy today. Clearly I still have alot to learn but i managed to get a nice heavy strong braze. The key is keeping the surrounding metal red hot so the brass flows. Getting the mount tacked into position was a ...... I used my disk wheel and clamped the brake in place on the...

The drum brake looks like a Union. http://www.clunkers.net/tips/tips.html Check out Mr. Tick for bolt on canti brake bosses. http://mrtick.us/more_products_to_buy.html

The purists will hate me. I have been working on this one a while. Here are the plans: 1. Sandblast off all that rust. 2. drop some hot brass in around the joints to smooth them out. 3. Flatten and trim the drop stand tab, drill and tap a derailler hanger. 4. Cold set the rear to 135mm...

Almost finished. The Atom drum works really well with the deerhead levers. The bike stops on a dime, shifts flawlessly and rides smooth and silent. The home made truss rods ended up fitting pretty well. They can be removed in about 20 seconds without removing the wheel. There are still a few...

So it has been almost 6 months. I have finally made some progress on this one. The 24 inch frame is a burgundy metallic. That will be the next project for my son. At this rate he will have outgrown it by the time I finish.

That thing has $150 bucks worth of personality alone.

Got em shaped and painted.

Well both frames are out for paint and I got the wheels finished. I decided that instead of spending money on a headbadge I would try doing one myself. I read a good post on MTBR about it and decided to use copper surplus which I can get cheap. They use it to do roofing on mansions and there is...