Vintage (style) conversion

[pdarnett]

I haven't used my mountain bike for a while and when I do it's only been for towpaths and guided rides etc.. so it seems a bit overkill. With this in mind I rescued a vintage Swift bike for the cycling recycle project I work at to build a "Towpath Tootler".

Its got a 3 speed Sturmey Archer hub which needed some work, but fine now, and I fitted my cyclotricty wheel with a torque simulation controller and tried to make the conversion as stealthy as possible. The frame satchel has the controller and battery in it, the controller being in a piece of square down pipe that's bolted through the bag onto an aluminium bar underneath that's fixed to the frame. There's straps through the inside of the bag that go around the top tube and they're hidden by the bag flap.

The only problem i had was the hub motor wheel was a bit of an odd size so I had the put a "retro Roadster" tyre on the front with a standard 26 by 1 3/8 on the back. Both cream coloured.

Tried to keep everything else as stock and even hid the lcd with a leather cover.

 

[selrahc1992]

I haven't used my mountain bike for a while and when I do it's only been for towpaths and guided rides etc.. so it seems a bit overkill. With this in mind I rescued a vintage Swift bike for the cycling recycle project I work at to build a "Towpath Tootler".

Its got a 3 speed Sturmey Archer hub which needed some work, but fine now, and I fitted my cyclotricty wheel with a torque simulation controller and tried to make the conversion as stealthy as possible. The frame satchel has the controller and battery in it, the controller being in a piece of square down pipe that's bolted through the bag onto an aluminium bar underneath that's fixed to the frame. There's straps through the inside of the bag that go around the top tube and they're hidden by the bag flap.

The only problem i had was the hub motor wheel was a bit of an odd size so I had the put a "retro Roadster" tyre on the front with a standard 26 by 1 3/8 on the back. Both cream coloured.

Tried to keep everything else as stock and even hid the lcd with a leather cover.

View attachment 11867 View attachment 11868 View attachment 11869 View attachment 11870 View attachment 11871

it looks great, very stealthy, and generally, as a city bike. I thought about doing the same with an ancient BSA I have. One thing - how do you know how strong the forks are? Were vintage forks stronger, less strong or as strong modern steel forks? many thanks

 

[Alan Quay]

Like: The little leather cover for the LCD display.
Don't like: Side pull brakes.

...looks great though, good job!

 

[pdarnett]

Side pull brakes were the original ones so thought I'd leave then (with inline brake sensors). The forks were a little worry for me as I wondered how they'd stand up, so after the pics were taken I fitted torque arms clamped to the forks for a bit more reassurance. But seem as strong as a modern bike, they were a bit of a b*tch to ease out to fit the hub, had to slowly widen them, let them spring back then slowly ease a bit more.

 

[selrahc1992]

Side pull brakes were the original ones so thought I'd leave then (with inline brake sensors). The forks were a little worry for me as I wondered how they'd stand up, so after the pics were taken I fitted torque arms clamped to the forks for a bit more reassurance. But seem as strong as a modern bike, they were a bit of a b*tch to ease out to fit the hub, had to slowly widen them, let them spring back then slowly ease a bit more.

many thanks, that sounds brave - the problem with a fork is that it's such a critical component - if it goes it will when hitting a pothole downhill at 40 mph - I think it looks classic what you've done, but suspect, being somewhat neurotic, I'm going to have to replace the BSA's fork with a cheap suspension one.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Check it with a magnet. If he magnet sticks, it'll be OK.

 

[selrahc1992]

Check it with a magnet. If he magnet sticks, it'll be OK.

many thanks, it is steel, but 60 year old somewhat rusty structurally dodgy steel. is there a specific kind of cheap suspension fork the chinese use for front wheel drives or can i just whack any old bottom of the range disk drive equiped job on?

 

[Alan Quay]

many thanks, it is steel, but 60 year old somewhat rusty structurally dodgy steel. is there a specific kind of cheap suspension fork the chinese use for front wheel drives or can i just whack any old bottom of the range disk drive equiped job on?

Why not use another rigid fork? It'll look better, be stronger and lighter. If you want comfort, use balloon tyres.

Unless you plan on off-roading, suspension is a waste of time. Cheap suspension is even worse.

Roughly speaking:
rigid fork = Steel
Suspension fork = Ally
(of course there are exceptions)

 

[selrahc1992]

Why not use another rigid fork? It'll look better, be stronger and lighter. If you want comfort, use balloon tyres.

Unless you plan on off-roading, suspension is a waste of time. Cheap suspension is even worse.

Roughly speaking:
rigid fork = Steel
Suspension fork = Ally
(of course there are exceptions)

thanks, good idea, will blend more aesthetically, I want to over amp a hub motor (perhaps up to 900W), should I go for something like an old mountainbike fork, or are all old steel forks equal?

 

[Alan Quay]

hmm, not sure I'd want 900w in the front, regardless of the fork.

But to answer the question, no, they are not all made equal. Mountain bike fork will probably be the strongest option.

One of my bikes is a Trek Bruiser. Its an older DH mountain bike. The forks on it are rigid, and very strong:

However, if you have an older frame forks like that might not fit (They might, I have never tried to mix parts like that).

 

[selrahc1992]

hmm, not sure I'd want 900w in the front, regardless of the fork.

But to answer the question, no, they are not all made equal. Mountain bike fork will probably be the strongest option.

One of my bikes is a Trek Bruiser. Its an older DH mountain bike. The forks on it are rigid, and very strong:

However, if you have an older frame forks like that might not fit (They might, I have never tried to mix parts like that).

many thanks, I think BSA used standard one inch quill stemmed forks like Raleigh, but will need to double check, will keep a lookout for old trek MB forks, somehow the idea of a spinning front wheel got me going..

 

[craiggor]

For some reason I can't see the pictures.