# Breezer series one fake



## Barfbucket

I’m new here. Here is a project I’ve been working on for years. Tinkering around for a few minutes at a time. Most of the time the frame hangs forgotton in my attic. This winter I dug through my junk stash and was amazed I had almost all the parts. The gear ratio will be original. Most parts are as original. Mild steel tubing instead of straight gauge chrome moly. Started with a $98 bike and cut off all the guides and brake mounts. I used a Huffy fork which I lengthened, laterals from another Huffy Mixie and misc. Frame parts from five other junk bicycle frames. The frame also has all the cable guides attached but I don’t have photos of the frame with them on it. I guess Joe doesn’t mind the imitation, he said it’s better to be remembered than forgotten when others have imitated his early bikes. I have tires with a similar tread pattern as the original. I’m wondering if the bb will be too low so I’m using165 crank arms. I hope it all works. I also made my own seat sandwich so I can use a more modern seat post with the double rail saddle.









































StartIng point. The basic frame came from a bicycle that was similar to this.


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## Barfbucket

I started making the rear cantilever mounting jig today.


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## gkeep

Some inspiration. Here's Joe at the 2017 Rolling Relics ride telling the whole story of Mt Bike evolution and on the wall next to him Breezer #2, #1 is in the Smithsonian.


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## Barfbucket

The frame is almost done, it still 











needs the seat post clamp, water bottle nuts and pump mounts. It will need a lot of finish work after that.


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## Barfbucket

I’m new to CABE so I got this in the wrong place. Looks like it should be under projects. I’m not going to post this project anymore, what a mess, started on the wrong foot.


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## Bendix

Well, if it's not in the BEST place it's in the second best! I say go with it!

Fun concept. 

I've always wondered what Joe could charge if he made another limited batch of those...$$$$    

BTW he's a very nice person IMHO.


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## dave429

Very cool. Looks like a fun build. Love the early days of mountain bikes.


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## GTs58

Barfbucket said:


> I’m new to CABE so I got this in the wrong place. Looks like it should be under projects. I’m not going to post this project anymore, what a mess, started on the wrong foot.




Simple solution. Contact one of the moderators and make a request to relocate this thread to the projects section.


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## Barfbucket

Bendix said:


> Well, if it's not in the BEST place it's in the second best! I say go with it!
> 
> Fun concept.
> 
> I've always wondered what Joe could charge if he made another limited batch of those...$$$$
> 
> BTW he's a very nice person IMHO.



They were about $3000 in today’s money when they were new, so they were pricy and he still was able to sell nine.


GTs58 said:


> Simple solution. Contact one of the moderators and make a request to relocate this thread to the projects section.



Gosh I would never be able to figure out how to do that. I’m 75, and don’t speak geek. I have to go for psych counseling after trying to plug in a Vtec land line phone. I won’t waste more than 5 minutes trying to figure something on a computer. If it’s not immediately solvable it’s not worth the frustration and time to get something simple done. I only have so much time remaining in my life so I won’t waste valuable seconds of my life. Thanks though, this solution would be good for someone under 50.


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## GTs58

Barfbucket said:


> They were about $3000 in today’s money when they were new, so they were pricy and he still was able to sell nine.
> 
> Gosh I would never be able to figure out how to do that. I’m 75, and don’t speak geek. I have to go for psych counseling after trying to plug in a Vtec land line phone. I won’t waste more than 5 minutes trying to figure something on a computer. If it’s not immediately solvable it’s not worth the frustration and time to get something simple done. I only have so much time remaining in my life so I won’t waste valuable seconds of my life. Thanks though, this solution would be good for someone under 50.




Well I thought it would be a breeze but it seems the Staff list is non functional (Disappeared) at the moment. Another glitch creating more wasted seconds of one's life.


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## Barfbucket

The seat post clamp was installed today in -7 F Wind chill, 12 F without the blizzard. 40 yesterday, what the? I almost froze my hands. It’s way too cold, deadly cold. I’m doing short bursts of work as I have no heat in my garage.


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## Barfbucket

Water bottle mounts are in.


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## New Mexico Brant

It is coming along great!  There are a couple guys in the UK who have also been building Breezer tributes; do a search at: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/
Joe was very supportive with the two guys building the tribute bikes in England.
He was also on this forum briefly last August discussing Indian bicycles but sadly some of the guys were a bit gruff with him.


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## Barfbucket

New Mexico Brant said:


> It is coming along great!  There are a couple guys in the UK who have also been building Breezer tributes; do a search at: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/
> Joe was very supportive with the two guys building the tribute bikes in England.
> He was also on this forum briefly last August discussing Indian bicycles but sadly some of the guys were a bit gruff with him.



My iPad can’t find that server. I also tried an independent serch, but got nowhere. I have a feeling that the English guys probably know what their doing and probably are making real tribute bikes. Mine’s a hack bike. Thanks though, I wasn’t aware of these guys in England. We have WiFi through a land line (no cell service here) and there are times when we can’t find a server for some sites.


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## New Mexico Brant

You should try again later; it seems RBUK is down at the moment.


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## Barfbucket

I started on the mock up. Original tire pattern but only available in whitewalls because of the lockdown. Vintage motorcycle brake levers.


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## Barfbucket

Part of the reason for the mock up was to see if there would be room for the pump and water bottle. The laterals make planning locations more critical than on other bikes. I put on the pump mounts today and it’s a tight fit. The water bottle has to be taken half way out and turned to avoid the bottle top hitting the laterals. It works good, just different.


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## Barfbucket

Motorcycle brake levers take bigger cables than bicycle cables. I made shims out of my junk. The brass tubing is epoxied to a standard furel so it can be used again if the cable housing needs changing.


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## Barfbucket

Bogus needs testing. Issues will come up. The brake cables don’t look right using the original style routing so that will change.


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## kentercanyon

That's so cool.  Joe won Repack on his Breezer the first year he rode it in part maybe because Gary Fisher didn't have one, they say.  It's amazing that the top times riding down that whole mountain are seconds apart.  These guys were not fooling around. Did the first Breezers have a front double or triple socket?


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## Barfbucket

kentercanyon said:


> That's so cool.  Joe won Repack on his Breezer the first year he rode it in part maybe because Gary Fisher didn't have one, they say.  It's amazing that the top times riding down that whole mountain are seconds apart.  These guys were not fooling around. Did the first Breezers have a front double or triple socket?



Some had double, some triple chainrings. Some had alloy rims, some steel. Different pedals, different derailleurs, different bars, and at least three different kinds of cantilever brakes. Not all had the Brooks B 72, at least one had what looks like a 68?  There are also different hubs, some quick release and some not. Joe couldn’t get tubing in the lengths and sizes as the bike tubing suppliers wouldn’t make a special order for him. He bought 20 foot lengths of straight gauge aircraft chrome moly and cut it himself. He was worried that it might not be as strong as bike tubing and used laterals. He made ten but ran out of the aircraft tubing on number ten so the last one he made has a piece of tubing from a road bike in the frame. He made them from what he could get. It looks like, from photos, that there were a least two sizes of frames, but that’s a guess.


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## Barfbucket

On the road today for the first time. There are some issues to resolve.


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## GTs58

Barfbucket said:


> On the road today for the first time. There are some issues to resolve.View attachment 1389795



Looks like one of the issues might be the front brake position being to high. Or is that an optical delusion?      Cool rough country ride!


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## Barfbucket

GTs58 said:


> Looks like one of the issues might be the front brake position being to high. Or is that an optical delusion?      Cool rough country ride!



It’s too high for my liking. I have another fork and a set of cantilever mounts so I’ll have to do that. It works and clears everything, including the tires, but just a little lower would be better. I put them on with a tack weld and remove and adjust if necessary. Ive done this several times before and this was the first set of cantilevers that I didn’t have to remove and reposition. Once they are welded on your done. Good eye. Also notice the down tube cable guides. Their bent from my shifting and new ones will have to be installed. What a learning process. This project is right at the top of my ability and patience. It’s a bit much. It’s a stupid project with no real use except gravel riding. I had most of the stuff so it became a pandemic project. I’m as tired of building this as I am the pandemic. I’m almost ready to hang it in my barn attic and forget about it.


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## GTs58

Barfbucket said:


> It’s too high for my liking. I have another fork and a set of cantilever mounts so I’ll have to do that. It works and clears everything, including the tires, but just a little lower would be better. I put them on with a tack weld and remove and adjust if necessary. Ive done this several times before and this was the first set of cantilevers that I didn’t have to remove and reposition. Once they are welded on your done. Good eye. This project is right at the top of my ability and patience. It’s a bit much.




Can you modify the drop out slot on the fork, looks like it's not deep enough and the washer is hanging past the drop out.


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## Barfbucket

GTs58 said:


> Can you modify the drop out slot on the fork, looks like it's not deep enough and the washer is hanging past the drop out.



It’s in there, but I would like it to be deeper. If it was in there deeper the cantilever mounts would probably fit. The fork is homemade, welded together from two forks and spread from 94 to 100 mm. I’m pretty sure I just need a different fork. I used a welded in gusset and through pins above and below the fork welds so that any failure would not be catastrophic. I just put it together with what I had as I didn’t want to buy any parts until I get to the point where I’m reasonably confident I can do this. it rides but there is a ton of work still needed.


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## Barfbucket

GTs58 said:


> Can you modify the drop out slot on the fork, looks like it's not deep enough and the washer is hanging past the drop out.



I got it in all the way. It’s better but I would still like the brake mounts a little lower. I worked on new down tube cable mounts today. It started raining so hard that I don’t want to go back to my shop to finish them. It’s going to rain until Saturday.


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## Barfbucket

Barfbucket said:


> I got it in all the way. It’s better but I would still like the brake mounts a little lower. I worked on new down tube cable mounts today. It started raining so hard that I don’t want to go back to my shop to finish them. It’s going to rain until Saturday.



I bought a new fork and welded on cantilever bosses. Much better than the old 24 inch one welded up using parts from two other forks. No one likes a sketchy fork. I hate to buy stuff when I can make it cheap, but safety is more important than cheap.


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## Barfbucket

I proofed the welds today by riding the short route in a local gravel grinder, 55K. Nothing broke, everything worked. I’m surprised. Painting is next.


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## GTs58

Barfbucket said:


> I proofed the welds today by riding the short route in a local gravel grinder, 55K. Nothing broke, everything worked. I’m surprised. Painting is next.




You do know if it's going to break it'll be after it's painted. But that's just my luck.


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## Barfbucket




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## Pondo

Lookin' good!


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## Barfbucket

I laced up a different rear Araya rim today. This one doesn’t have a hop and bend.


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## GTs58

That sure is looking pretty!


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## Pondo

That really turned out great!  It’s pretty inspiring. I’d like to take a crack at building one someday when I have time. Nice work!


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## Barfbucket

Pondo said:


> That really turned out great!  It’s pretty inspiring. I’d like to take a crack at building one someday when I have time. Nice work!



So far it’s been almost a year. It’s a COVID project and the frame building took place during the worst of the lockdown. It was actually beyond my abilities and I made a few mistakes that had to be redone. I used almost all heavy mild steel frame parts which I stick and mig welded. Two joints were brazed, but I couldn’t get enough heat last winter to get it to flow well. Silver brazing might be an alternative? I saved a lot of old frames and made a fence out of them. Last winter, when they were frozen in, I cut them up as I needed parts. They were held in place by the frozen ground and made scavenging parts easy with a hack saw. Vintage Araya alloy rims are getting hard to find and expensive. The original Breezers had steel Araya rims and stoped very poorly so I went with the alloy ones, which I had. There are a lot of inexpensive steel rims available and BMX shops on line have Araya decals. Brooks B 72 saddles are no longer made, but pictures of Breezer # 10 had a conventional Brooks spring saddle. Vintage Brooks B 72s are expensive and almost always have the leather ripped at the nose rivets or will rip soon as the leather is old. You could make a fake one like I did but I was lucky it all worked out. I would advise against this, too much that could go wrong. I made a homemade steel seat sandwich to accommodate the double rails on my fake B72. I used an old Huffy Mixie frame and cut out the laterals. I carefully fitted that to a $98 Walmart Kent fixie. You have to make sure the laterals are parallel with the fixie frame, I used two levels. I cut off the kick stand brace, the brake blocks, braces on the laterals, the cable guides and replaces them with pieces from donor frames that mimicked the original. The original lateral braces were cut out after the Huffy mixie laterals were welded in place. The brace between the laterals and around the seat tube was made from a head tube cut from a donor. It was flattened in a vice around a mandrel made from a large heavy pipe to make the top curve, then drilled out with a hole saw, then cut in half so it could be tack welded around the seat post tube and onto the laterals. The bottom of this cross brace used a similar 2 piece method but the steel was flat. I used lead to fill around the seat post tube tacks and to hide the two piece joint after it was tacked in place. The original seat post clamp was an external band that I discarded, cut the seat tube down and welded on a real clamp from one of my donor bikes. The pump mount was cut from a donor frame. The water bottle mounts were made from aluminum rivet nuts that were installed with JB Weld to make sure the nuts didn’t turn once the rivets were flattened on the inside of the down tube. The hardest things to install were the cable guides as they are small, delicate, hard to center and difficult to clamp for welding. I vaporized several sets before I decided good enough was perfect. The crank is a Maxy with TA decals. The crank is 165 mm as I wasn’t sure how much ground clearance I would have after substituting 26 inch wheels for the original fixie 700 c. I think longer crank arms could be tried if you can’t find 165. I used the original gear ratio, which is useless for single track but OK for gravel. The original was really built for downhill racing. I wanted to appreciate what the originals must have been like to ride. I used tires that had almost the same pattern as the original Uniroyals. I used vintage style motorcycle brake and clutch levers, similar to the originals, reproduction which are available on line for prices way cheaper than early mountain bike levers. You have to make shims so bicycle cables fit the motorcycle levers. The frame drops needed spreading. For the final version I discarded my homemade fork and used a cruiser one that was close in appearance to the original Koski Brothers unit. I welded cantilever brake bosses to the cruiser fork. My brake bosses were removed from old frames using a touch and hammer on the bolts. They could also be cut off and ground and filed to fit. That’s about it for the frame. You are in for a lot of cutting, filing, drilling and careful fitting of jury rigged parts. Cereal box templates were used to make the brace that goes around the seat post tube. Whew, you still want to do this? Its doable and best if you work a little each day instead of trying to do it all in a short time. You need time to think each step through.


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## Pondo

Barfbucket said:


> So far it’s been almost a year. It’s a COVID project and the frame building took place during the worst of the lockdown. It was actually beyond my abilities and I made a few mistakes that had to be redone. I used almost all heavy mild steel frame parts which I stick and mig welded. Two joints were brazed, but I couldn’t get enough heat last winter to get it to flow well. Silver brazing might be an alternative? I saved a lot of old frames and made a fence out of them. Last winter, when they were frozen in, I cut them up as I needed parts. They were held in place by the frozen ground and made scavenging parts easy with a hack saw. Vintage Araya alloy rims are getting hard to find and expensive. The original Breezers had steel Araya rims and stoped very poorly so I went with the alloy ones, which I had. There are a lot of inexpensive steel rims available and BMX shops on line have Araya decals. Brooks B 72 saddles are no longer made, but pictures of Breezer # 10 had a conventional Brooks spring saddle. Vintage Brooks B 72s are expensive and almost always have the leather ripped at the nose rivets or will rip soon as the leather is old. You could make a fake one like I did but I was lucky it all worked out. I would advise against this, too much that could go wrong. I made a homemade steel seat sandwich to accommodate the double rails on my fake B72. I used an old Huffy Mixie frame and cut out the laterals. I carefully fitted that to a $98 Walmart Kent fixie. You have to make sure the laterals are parallel with the fixie frame, I used two levels. I cut off the kick stand brace, the brake blocks, braces on the laterals, the cable guides and replaces them with pieces from donor frames that mimicked the original. The original lateral braces were cut out after the Huffy mixie laterals were welded in place. The brace between the laterals and around the seat tube was made from a head tube cut from a donor. It was flattened in a vice around a mandrel made from a large heavy pipe to make the top curve, then drilled out with a hole saw, then cut in half so it could be tack welded around the seat post tube and onto the laterals. The bottom of this cross brace used a similar 2 piece method but the steel was flat. I used lead to fill around the seat post tube tacks and to hide the two piece joint after it was tacked in place. The original seat post clamp was an external band that I discarded, cut the seat tube down and welded on a real clamp from one of my donor bikes. The pump mount was cut from a donor frame. The water bottle mounts were made from aluminum rivet nuts that were installed with JB Weld to make sure the nuts didn’t turn once the rivets were flattened on the inside of the down tube. The hardest things to install were the cable guides as they are small, delicate, hard to center and difficult to clamp for welding. I vaporized several sets before I decided good enough was perfect. The crank is a Maxy with TA decals. The crank is 165 mm as I wasn’t sure how much ground clearance I would have after substituting 26 inch wheels for the original fixie 700 c. I think longer crank arms could be tried if you can’t find 165. I used the original gear ratio, which is useless for single track but OK for gravel. The original was really built for downhill racing. I wanted to appreciate what the originals must have been like to ride. I used tires that had almost the same pattern as the original Uniroyals. I used vintage style motorcycle brake and clutch levers, similar to the originals, reproduction which are available on line for prices way cheaper than early mountain bike levers. You have to make shims so bicycle cables fit the motorcycle levers. The frame drops needed spreading. For the final version I discarded my homemade fork and used a cruiser one that was close in appearance to the original Koski Brothers unit. I welded cantilever brake bosses to the cruiser fork. My brake bosses were removed from old frames using a touch and hammer on the bolts. They could also be cut off and ground and filed to fit. That’s about it for the frame. You are in for a lot of cutting, filing, drilling and careful fitting of jury rigged parts. Cereal box templates were used to make the brace that goes around the seat post tube. Whew, you still want to do this? Its doable and best if you work a little each day instead of trying to do it all in a short time. You need time to think each step through.



Thanks for all the detailed info and tips!  I won't have time to do one of these for quite a while, too many other projects.  But I'll be keeping my eyes open for parts and I'll definitely be referring back to this build when I'm building it.  Looking forward to it, it will be fun!


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## Barfbucket

Almost there. It’s drizzling, but will clear later so I hope to finish up and ride this piece of junk later today.


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## Barfbucket

Riding. Next wall hanger.


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## dubsey55

*Finished product looks great!  I dig the way you worked through the project,  problem solving, and testing/ improving your skills as you went. Using what you had on hand, improvising, etc. Great project, and inspiring!  Whats next??*


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## Pondo

The final result looks great!  Really nice job!


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## Barfbucket

dubsey55 said:


> *Finished product looks great!  I dig the way you worked through the project,  problem solving, and testing/ improving your skills as you went. Using what you had on hand, improvising, etc. Great project, and inspiring!  Whats next??*



Maybe another Breezer 1 clone frame. Perhaps an electric bike?


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## Barfbucket

I started another Breezer one clone. Everting bicycle reflated is too expensive right now. Mixte frames are priced ridiculous, I guess the hipster gals are into them now. So, no inexpensive laterals to be had from chopping up 1970s lungless American mixte frames, unless you want to spend $200+. The tubing diameter for the laterals is not available region wide at local hardware stores and it would be $100+ to get them on the net and they are still too short. I measured all my junk bike frame seat stays and had enough to furnace braze into the right length. 




Some of the frames had tapered seat stays, so those were no good. I used CharBroil furnace brazing to cobble the stays together. It will be difficult to get the laterals parallel on the head tube and stays. Much easier by cutting off mixte laterals.










 I’m trying to cobble together a system that will firmly hold the laterals in place for brazing. It’s obvious I’m way over my head and don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve tacked them onto a short piece of pipe while vice gripping them onto a an old frame to get them sort of aligned.


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## GTs58

I would think around your area there would be piles of old bikes for donors. I used to visit the City of Mesa's sales and there were loads of scrap bikes for sale at give away prices.


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## Barfbucket

GTs58 said:


> I would think around your area there would be piles of old bikes for donors. I used to visit the City of Mesa's sales and there were loads of scrap bikes for sale at give away prices.



Yeah, I have many old frames. This fall I found a woman’s 10 speed in Green Bay, at a Thrift store for $7. When I paid for it I found out it was on sale so it only cost $4. I rode it about 10 blocks on flat tires back to our motel. Everything worked perfectly, but it was a big box unit and only good for frame donor parts. Mixtes are another matter, I’ve only seen one up here for sale in the last 10 years and I bought it. Craigslist and Market Place have taken a lot away from the thrift stores and yard sales and bikes are too expensive on there. The local St. Vincent‘s wants $20 for an unridable 20 inch rusted, junk Walmart kids bike with missing parts. I just wanted it to cut off the rear track drops. I didn’t get it. Region wide on, craigslist and marketplace, there is only one mixte available and I think that’s 700 miles one way.


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## Barfbucket

Found some more donors.
This $5 one will donate grips and track style drops.





This $20 one will donate rims, fork, shifters, cassette and derailleurs.


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## Pondo

Awesome!  I'm looking forward to the new build.


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## Goldenrod

Barfbucket said:


> I’m new to CABE so I got this in the wrong place. Looks like it should be under projects. I’m not going to post this project anymore, what a mess, started on the wrong foot.



We put bikes against walls and shoot pictures.  CABERs are easy going but don't make a mistake in North Korea.


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## Barfbucket




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## Barfbucket

The fork is now been spread to 100mm.


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## Barfbucket

I widened the slots in the fork drops by only filing on *One *side. The force is in between the fork legs and I flipped the file every 100 strokes. A 7mm round file and small quarter round file takes care of the step at the bottom of the slot that is the result of widening. Slow going as the metal is hard. I don’t like the flat filing of hub axles to fit drops that are too small for the new hubs. Both flat filing or widening the drops is likely to ruin something. Careful going and a wing and a prayer.


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## dubsey55

Absolutely love your building style, right on!   Interested in knowing more about your "furnace brazing" process.  Looks like you are using wood/charcoal fired heat source?  I see some brass fittings, are those the brass filler material, and if so, what are you using for flux?  Please explain, and keep at it!!!


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## Barfbucket

dubsey55 said:


> Absolutely love your building style, right on!   Interested in knowing more about your "furnace brazing" process.  Looks like you are using wood/charcoal fired heat source?  I see some brass fittings, are those the brass filler material, and if so, what are you using for flux?  Please explain, and keep at it!!!



It’s been very cold so it was not the ideal conditions when I tried my furnace brazing experiment. It was probably single digits F. I did it two ways. The best result I had was to take some brass fittings I bought at the hardware store for $1.15 each and thread the inside of the cut off seat stays to match the brass fitting threads. The ends are cut off so you get two joints from one brass fitting.


I heated the brass fittings and sprinkled a little Fortney’s premium brass flux on them so it melted. I threaded the ends together, clamped the threaded together seat stay sections in a piece of angle iron and tacked the joints together on opposite sides.
I only tacked one side on one of the joints and it bent when the weld got red hot. After this I tried threading a bridge made out of a very short section of a cut off bolt, drilled through the tubes into the bolt and did a plug weld. 


I put brazing flux on the bolts. The bolt took away too much heat so brazing was more difficult, but it worked. I had to blow air into my my small maple fire that had turned into natural charcoal embers. To raise the heat I needed a draft of air and I did that with a propane torch on the fire. In the summer I could use a bigger fire and my shop vacuum exhaust. I used flux coated brazing rods that I kept dipping in the flux when it melted off.
It’s slow going as the fire is marginally hot enough, even with propane assist. You need heavy grilling or welding gloves and hold the rod with vice grips and it’s still very hot on the hands. You need to be steady and patient. The torch helps the brass to melt as the red hot metal alone wont melt the brass. There are better ways to do a brazed butt joint but I don’t have access to those so this was a desperation experiment. Everything has to be very clean, washed in solvent, all rust and scale removed. I didn’t even use cutting oil on the tapping.


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## dubsey55

*Thank you, for  the detailed explaination,  furnace brazing can, and has been done for centurys using open hearth methods.  your joints look good, and I applaud  your creative ,problem solving ,  approach.   Very refreshing to see, many/ most people nowadays would never think of this, much less do it!   Inspirational,  in many ways,,, Keep at it,,,   Please!!*


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## palepainter

Really enjoy watching these builds.


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## Barfbucket

dubsey55 said:


> *Thank you, for  the detailed explaination,  furnace brazing can, and has been done for centurys using open hearth methods.  your joints look good, and I applaud  your creative ,problem solving ,  approach.   Very refreshing to see, many/ most people nowadays would never think of this, much less do it!   Inspirational,  in many ways,,, Keep at it,,,   Please!!*



I’m cheap and frugal by nature, which forces you to think outside the box. This was much less expensive than buying a mixte just to cut off the laterals. I hope it’s durable. I’ve done some brazing on a bike frame before with the new MAPP gas substitute but it wasn’t hot enough for it to flow, it just gobbled up. It did work but not well. The brazing rods came with the MAPP torch, but that was a useless throw away, marketing gimmick.


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## Barfbucket

Today I’m making the seat tube lateral brace. In case you never noticed I don’t have any spiffy machine tools. I use files, hack saws and hammers.


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## dubsey55

Hacksaw, files, and hammer,  the basic tools for any metal fab. work!   They work, and actually the use of hand tools can provide nicer fit and finish.  Hating to wait,,,,  another great reason for creative solutions.    Thats always been a big one for me, why wait for somebody else to do work for me.  figure out how to get it done yourself!!


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## Barfbucket

I finished lacing the wheels. Used parts.


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## Barfbucket

First cross brace.


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## Barfbucket

I made the first half of a seat sandwich for my Brooks B72 saddle today. Lots more careful fitting yet to do. It’s 46F today so I could finally work without gloves.


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## Barfbucket

Second brace on the laterals.


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## Barfbucket

I used my stick welder to do a filet brazed joint. The tubes aren’t heated to red hot so the arc brazing did’t flow out but formed a puddle that solidifies into a bubble. A lot of filing got it part way there.


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## Barfbucket




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## Barfbucket

The homemade seat sandwich is finished. Small steps.
You need a longer bolt than the ones that comes with the post to compensate for the seat sandwich. Uno posts have an odd bolt size. They are the typical post m7 size but the pitch is very coarse, more than the standard m7 x1. I cross thread an m7 x 1 through the top alloy post clamp and use an m7 x 1 bolt on the new longer bolt.


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## Barfbucket

Pump mount made from a small bolt, nail and gob weld that was filed to shape. I don’t have any more mounts on frames that I can cut off.


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## Barfbucket

For the last few days I’ve not able to work on my bicycle. We’ve had two days of hard rain and today it’s another blizzard. It’s warm enough to work outside, 30F, if It wasn’t for the wind. It’s a low roar, not howling or whistling. Yeah for that.


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