45 CHOP

How to fuck up a front end:

1. Buy some Mullins 35mm trees and ebay some forks. Add to frame and congratulate yourself on having great taste when it comes to narrow front-ends.

2. Apply ruler between forks. Accompany ruler round swapmeets, scrouge ebay, wrangle advice until realisation that the only drum your ruler vaguely approves of is from a cub 50 scooter which has an axle diameter of about 6.734 mm.

3. Decide: brakes or suspension. Or machine your own hub but by that time you've already laced a Kempton found drum to the Borrani rim even though you knew it wouldn't fit but it was a twin leading shoe and you got carried away. Brakes over suspension it is.

Chop (all important word) the fork tubes.

This is actually the first part I ever made on a lathe.

Milling in the lathe.

Taper practicing.

Taper turning.

At this point I drilled and reamed a hole. Actually I snapped the pilot drill half way but seeing as it took me like two days making this part and working out how to use the lathe, I alternated. Plunged an end-mill in about 2mm (the snapped drill bit rising into the hole in the end-mill), oxy-acetylened it, hammered protruding drill bit flat, plunged the end-mill another 2mm, repeat 10 times until mad with the world then enlarge messy hole to correct size.

Make a little axle.

Trim the fork tube caps.

OPTIONAL: Advise all comfort cynics that you spent everyday for the last four years riding a completely rigid bicycle with 19mm cross-section tubular tyres at 180psi around crappy, pot-holed, English roads and you only had to see the doctor about an embarrassing lump on your anus once. This should distract them from knowing best about vibration damage, cornering-grip, and other borings.

Out of action

Theoretical Analysis

Experimental Validation

A 45 Chop

Photoshop Practise

2007

University

This blog may be called 45 chop but being stuck at university means I don't get to chop any 45. My last term though then we can get back to the point.

In the meantime check out this record box I spied in a student room last night. His Dad raced Triumphs. And won.

In the post

Wheels

Tosh has sorted me out! 21/19

Groovy Baby

http://vimeo.com/7640196?hd=1

Angelo Coppi

Angelo Fausto Coppi. Nicknamed Il Campionissimo, he was one of the most successful and popular cyclists of all time. Twice won the Tour de France (1949 and 1952), and five times the Giro d'Italia. Plus the man had style for miles, check those tights!

Speedholes

Renshaw's new blog

http://23bricksforever.blogspot.com/

Decisions decisions

Seat, post or springs... want to use the frame pivot up in between the tank.

1930s clown bicycle

Looking forward..

..to the weather getting better again.

Cambridge, last summer.

Wilson Metal Spinner

My metal spinning lathe.

One previous owner, an old timer from Birmingham who was delivered it personally by Mr. Wilson himself. This thing weighs a ton. British engineering at its best.

Finally got the 6hp motor hooked up to the three phase. Now I've just got to get home and learn how to spin! Oil tanks, headlights, wheel covers, velocity stacks and cocktail mufflers here we come...

Riot Police

My brother Sidney (pictured) gave me some flares and a megaphone for Christmas. Perfect presents!

Possibly the greatest 45 ever

Dual carbs, home made oil tank, magneto and British gearbox.

Love it all.

Bill Phelps

La Mia Bicicletta

My new daily raider.

Italian steel lo-pro frame. My favourite frame style it has a sloping top tube for aerodynamics. Gives a good aggressive stance. Rear wheel is tight up next tot he post, chromed rear legs.

Sideburn sticker! Lovely hand-filed lugs also on view. Steel Nitto NJS stem and Japanese headset. Rear brake. Admittedly the handlebars are a bit 'fixie' but are comfotable. This bike is fast though.

700c rear wheel and 650c carbon-fibre front. Still got 700c forks on it but I can't afford new 650s. It's kinda like the 70s choppers where they increased the fork length but didn't rake the frames so the bottom rails sloped upwards. It looks "wrong" but because it worked and they just did, it's OK.

私の自転車

Japanese Vivalo Keirin Track Racer.

Keirin racing is big in Japan and the bicycles are some of the best in the world. There are strict equipment regulations and every part has to have an NJS stamp. For some conponents there are only one or two manufacturers worldwide who are awarded the NJS standard.

Sturdy track dropouts. The whole frame is chromed under the paint. Some Keirin builders even design their own specialist steels. Note the NJS stamp on the chain. It's still in the condition I got it but I'm going to add some bling. White ostrich leather Keirin saddle is already waiting.

The forks are tight! Pure racer. Regulation states no brakes. If none of them have brakes then they can't suddenly slow down and cause a pile up in the velodrome.

Mein Fahrrad

German Bauer Gymnasts' Bicycle

Got it off eBay 3 years ago from Germany at about 1/3 value. Only bidder, he had spelt the English word 'bicycle' wrong. Bycicelle or some shit.

The best bit is the frame. It's used in gyms for balancing dance routines. See the video and prepare to have your head blown off. And you thought you were good at balancing at the traffic lights. The pedal height is abnormally high - the tube behind the chain is almost horizontal, on racing bikes it slopes down) . This also throws the vertical tube pedals to saddle back - it's normally vertical not diagonal. This throws the saddle back, good for balancings acts, and gives it that beautiful long top tube. The frame is actually really tight but takes smaller specialist wheels. This, coupled with the straight forks, allows the front wheel to spin 360 degrees. When it's not in the gym all this gives it a kind of 'old man' stance. It's cool.

Would be worth owning for the hubs alone.

The gearing is <1 and I can't bring myself to change it to something normal. So no road use but I ride in slow tiny circles around my Harley. Like a pagan ritual.

Gymnasts' saddle, handlebars (thick enough to stand on - see the video), pedals, tyres and hubs.

VIDEO:

http://bikehugger.com/2006/07/bikrobatics.html

Blows my mind duuude!

Burn Baby Burn

Wet Grass

My trials bike is a 1999 Bultaco 250 2-stroke Graham Jarvis replica. They scrapped the '98 bike and designed this bike from scratch and it is literally just an engine and wheels, the whole thing only weighs 69kg. They did such a good job that neither themselves nor any of the competition could improve on it for 6 years, until Montesa brought out a four-stroke fuel injected bike. 1999 was the only year it was produced under the Bultaco badge, later becomming Sherco.

This bike never ceases to surprise me. The weighting, gearing and power delivery are so perfect , the limiting factor is definitely my skill. Liquid cooled 250cc 2-stroke with high-inertia flywheels for low-rev torque, 18" rear, 21" front, no indicators, no mirrors, no seat!

"Trials bikes are basically choppers" -Renshaw