Have a look at the original Plycycle here .

24 September 2015

Bolting on more bits pt2.....



More bits went on, handle bars, brakes and gears.... in fact everything except the chain and the new front tyre.

I fitted the new super thing rear tyre and the fit is perfect, less chunky but I think that is OK.

So this is what it looks like so far.


The rear brake line was too short to take he route i had carefully prepared, so it is hanging loose for the moment. I either have to get longer hydraulic hose or reposition the lugs.

There is one big potential problem though. I think ther is too much flex in the frame. I haven't ridden it yet but it just doent feel right. In making it lighter and thinner I may have gone too far.

21 September 2015

Bolting bits on.....

It has been a couple of weeks of good progress after a summer of no spare time.

I managed to start bolting on some of the mechanical bits and extra fittings.

But before I fitted the bits i decided to weigh the bare frame as I had neglected to do this with the Mk1. It came in at 3.8 kilos. Now I have no idea if this is good or bad, it is what it is.


Weighing in on the scales, 3.8kg.

So, the bits. Well the head set went in perfectly which allowed the forks to go on. (I had resprayed the forks to match the head tube.) I also fitted the bottom bracket which meant that i could fit the cranks. This was the first real time I could see if the clearance would be good between the crank arm and the rear stays. It was fine, generous in fact.

Vid of the bits fitted so far.

I also drilled and fitted the head tube safety bolts. I used a small drill bit to avoid the exit hole from splitting, but it still did. I expect the bit I used was getting blunt. There is no excuse for that.Still, the split was easy to fix with a spot of wood glue as it was only cosmetic. I then drilled out the holes with the larger bits, and fitted the bolts. I had intended to rig up my small pillar drill but went free hand in the end. I got the holes just right, phew. The bolts look good too.


 
Crank, headset, forks, bottom bracket, crank and seat fitted.

Wheels on test.

The final thing was a wheels on test. I fitted the fresh tyres I had got in for the project, as I was recycling the wheels I thought the least I could do was to fit fresh boots on the bike. Anyway, it wasn't the good news i was hoping for. The back tyre rubbed on the frame. The gap was measured to fit a 1.4 tyre and in my excitement I had got 1.5 tyres. i thought it wouldn't make that much difference, but it does. So to be safe I have ordered a pair of 1.2 tyres. 






PAINT


As I worked hard to get the wooden parts of the frame done, I lost sight of the metal work and in the course of sanding shaping and varnishing I bashed the metal bits and as a result there were a couple of big paint chips. This was a real shame as I had gone to great lengths to paint everything carefully before fitting to avoid painting once fitted. However I did end up having to.

Grinding of the old paint.

As much of the old paint had to come off as possible. If you have ever tried spraying on top of existing paint it never goes well. I tested a bit and sure enough it went like crazy paving. i think it is because the chemicals in the paint below absorb the fresh paint and cause it to shrink. Anyhow, back to bare metal is always best.
Fresh primer, fresh paint, and fresh lacquer.

Plycycle with fresh paint and head tube sticker all lacquered in.

I carefully masked the frame with expensive masking tape around the details and covered the rest in old newspaper. over a couple of warm days I got all the spraying and inter coat sanding done. I was super pleased to get it all on one week.

Rear drop outs all masked and painted.

Bottom bracket masked, and unmasked one painted.


Taking off the masking was nerve racking but fun. It revealed that I had completely missed a few spots, but they will clean up no problem.

Vid of taking the masking off after painting.

i am pleased with the way the painting worked out, it was worth doing.