I have a couple of bikes in the garage that am working on for some friends. One you have seen bits of, is the Trek 613 650b conversion. All of the parts I needed for the build made it in this week, and I have started to fit it all together. Today I made a wooden mandrel to dimple the 50mm Berthoud fenders for a clean fit.
Things are just a little tight at the fork crown and chain stays. With the block I am able to support the form of the fender while using a steel tube and hammer to form the fenders into the indentation. It turned out better than expected. I took an abundance of pictures and hope to have a full write up completed in the coming weeks. For now, here are the test fit pics.
Next it all comes back apart, the headset will be polished and re-built with loose ball bearings, spread and align the rear, replace the bottom bracket and bolt everything back together. Should be done this week.
Another fun little bike was wrapped up this past weekend. A co-worker of my wife had this old Nishiki Prestige kicking around. It came in filthy and covered with a fresh ly hatched set of baby spiders. A thorough cleaning, lube, new brake shoes, tires headset and tape.
It is still a little rusty and tired, but a very fun bike with life left in it. The Tange 2 tube set has a nice ride to it.
I also was able to pick up a couple of shirts this week
A pair of honest rugby shirts, MADE IN THE U.S.A.!!! I am very happy with the initial sample pair. (more on that soon too)
It looks like that rear tire is really close to the chainstays in the picture. Are you planning to dimple the chainstays for some extra clearance? I’ve been contemplating a very similar project with one of the low-trail Trek frames, but was hoping that I could get some Hetres on it if I dimpled the chainstays. How is clearance width wise at the fork (it’s hard to tell with the fender in the way)? Also, what tires are you running on it? I can’t think of any 40c tires.
There is more room than it looks, camera angle problem. The tires are the Panaracer Col De La Vie, 584-37ish,and will fit in a trek low trail conversion with plenty of room to spare. The 50mm Berthoud fenders are tight at the chainstays and fork. With dimples they fit fine and there is still plenty of tire clearance. With this combination there is no need to dimple the chain stays. I have read that dimples may be requred to fi tthe Hetre tires. In all hosesty I think the Panaracer tire is just fine, particularly on a blue collar budget.
Stau tuned, as I wrap up the build I will take some more detailed pictures an measurements.