Felt Owner in Utah -

[Willie-D]

Recently, I walked into a deal on a Felt 'RED BARON' that had been banged up by a teenage boy. I bought it for $180!

But, I NEED to customize it, as I REALLY wanted an M.P. - but they are fairly rare and the new ones are $800+ and have that new tank frame which I don't care for.

So, I started customizing this bike.

First to go were the handlebars and grips. I bought some semi-ape hangers, grips and a bell from the local bike shop.

The worst dinged up piece was the chain guard. I hammered out the biggest misshapen dents and then roughed it up and painted over that beautiful Iron Cross that was damaged beyond repair.

I am planning on Replacing/Upgrading the following:

1. Pedals with some refurbed DK Iron Cross pedals
2. Fenders with some black full fenders from Felt
3. A couple racks front & rear
   - Possibly some wooden panniers
4. a front light and a tail light
5. a Shimano 8 speed hub in the rear
6. a SA front brake & dynamo hub

I am considering replacing

1) Front forks with something similar to the M.P. / el Guapo forks
2) Lay back style seat post
3) Seat

Here is the kicker: other than changing a tire, I REALLY haven't done much bike work! The relacing of the spokes looks especially challenging to me! But, I figure with the good folks here and maybe a YouTube video I can tackle it! If not, then the Local Shop is going to be getting some more business from me - not that I am against that, but I would like to DO THIS MYSELF!

I will be searching through threads and trying to gather info, if you have any recommendations or "You should Do THIS!" suggestions, please fire away! I am a middle-aged kid.

~Willie-D

 

[Willie-D]

It was a good week. Busy at work and all sorts of parts started arriving!

I got in my Nexus 8-speed hub - MAN! That thing is HEAVY! Now I understand why multi geared bikes use cassette packs with external gears! It is friggin HEAVY!

I got in my fenders, and the struts are CHROME so they need to get rattle-canned or powder coated (I guess I need to find a powder coater!).

My rack order got cancelled, as they were out of stock so I will begin my interwebz search again! Good thing about sponsors and banners on here!

My lights came in, but I don't have my racks to mount them on, so that's on hold too.

I did get in my pedals, and found out that they need some serious loving as they were rusted up & frozen! So I disassembled, cleaned and lubed and reassembled my DK Iron Cross pedals! They were a tough score and were only in 9/16th shafts. So I order a set of 1/2" shaft DK plastic pedals for $12 shipped and then used the shafts from them and transplanted them in the Iron Cross pedals.

I am now thinking I need to buy a bike stand for making it tons more convenient when working on the bike. Which also means clearing out some of the junk I have in my garage!

Went for a bike ride with my wife this morning, and it was a blast!

I am loving this new bike! ('new' for me that is!)

~Will

 

[Willie-D]

I took my Nexus-8 and rear wheel up to the local bike shop and got reminded how little I know about this new again hobby: I need new spokes (duh!) and the hub might not fit my frame without some stretching!

SCHIESSE!

Woulda been cheaper to buy a 3 speed & wheel combo already put together from the get go!

Hopefully next weekend they will have the wheel & hub put together. I started assembling my fenders and rattle-canned the chromed fender struts/braces - we will see how those turn out...

~Will