I kind of miss the bracing too. Funny thing is that they were added without giving much design thought to it, purely functional.
Sure does, especially with the comparison photo! Just imagine it with a black or, black and yellow striped seat.It resembles a wasp.
This is true... Vintage levers, designed for calipers and/or canti brakes, do not pull nearly as far or nearly as quick as modern V-brake levers. This ought to present no problem on the rear brakes. On the disc, adjust carefully and eliminate as much cable slack as possible. If necessary, add a barrel adjuster for fine tuning.
Thanks for the info. A short test ride last night confirmed that the rear brakes and gear shifting are pretty much dialed in. The front brake still needs a little work. The pads are dragging a bit against the disc as I get them close enough for the lever to really work well. The alignment between the disc and caliper is just off a little. Unfortunately it is in a direction that the caliper and mounting bracket don't allow adjustment. Is it safe to assume that the pads will wear in to better align with the disc or should I consider making a shim? Like I say, its not a lot of drag but it does prevent the front wheel from just running free.
It's truly a work of rolling art and deserves to be shown at its best. Well done!!Painted Frame
Thanks @CRASH for the nudge on getting this into final paint. I'm pretty sure I would have settled on leaving it in primer without it
You're in a better position than I to judge the degree of drag that misalignment is causing. Just an opinion, but such brake drag on bicycles is more annoying than it is detrimental. I'd be more concerned if they were drum brakes or a coaster, where heat could build up. Would the disc be better shimmed? You bet. But I think the biggest danger you're really facing is accelerated wear and squeaking.
Wow, that's a heart and soul build bro, an engineering masterpiece, and a welding textbook all in one.
I've been out of the loop for a bit, bought a house and it's a bona fide fixer upper so I've been back to my original trade of woodworking , roofing, painting, etc on the ol' money pit.
BUT, this build tutorial makes me anxious to pull my little ol' flux welder out and get to work again. I got the bug here a couple years ago, and welded up two bikes for buildoffs...and I swear, the smoothing was the hardest work of all....nevermind all of the joints and bends and welds you had to contend with...your fingers must have been raw LOL
CONGRATS on the build, the work, the inspiration... oh, and the win too.
What a beautiful beautiful bike.
franco
