Gorgeous in Green

Friday morning rolled around and it was time to witness the teenage dream’s re-birth. When I arrived Chris and Graham were busily loading the guns with zinc-chromate primer and it only took ten minutes for Graham to work his magic in a mist of gunmetal. Satisfied with an even coverage, my frameset was passed into the oven for curing at 150 degrees.
Taking a break, Trevor led me through to the back room playing host to all manner of projects awaiting refinishing. In amongst the motorcycle frames, mudguards, tanks and less engaging household items sat a Kirk Precision. It’s been a while since I saw one of these magnesium frames, although I was tempted when a local dealers offered them as a frameset including headset and bottom bracket for £99 back in 1990. Mercifully I resisted, ploughing my limited reserves into the teenage dream.

Interesting from a cult/curiosity perspective, Kirks suffered from terrible lateral stiffness-a 70 kilo rider could easily cajole the seat-stay into fouling the tyre when cornering hard. Casting, while improved when Dawes cycles bought the marque in the early 90s remained relatively poor and corrosion equally problematic. The owner is clearly smitten, asking Trevor and the boys to put it right irrespective of cost. Given magnesium is both brittle and extremely flammable, restoration is far from straightforward… Before work can begin the frame will be chemically stripped prior to blasting. Casting needs refinement with skillful applications of filler. Given the heat, powder coating isn’t viable, so epoxy two-Pack and a final lacquer are the order of the day. Keen to chart the Kirk's progress, I’d never have one other than as an ornament given their flaws but hopefully there'll be opportunity to follow the restoration of this one in the coming weeks.

With my frame freshly baked, it was the moment we'd all been waiting for. Trevor had generously ordered some 6010-there’s not much call for green amongst his clientele. A few pumps of the trigger and we were away, the frameset coming into bloom one tube at a time before entering the tunnel of love for a final curing. An acrylic clear coat was applied once sufficiently cooled to beautify and protect. Polyester lacquers are cheaper and tolerate being applied directly to hot surfaces but Graham explained these have greater tendency to craze and peel in the long term. Next on the agenda is to arrange some time to visit Justin Burls and ask him nicely to clean the offending seat-tube and install a new headset and bottom bracket.

Whatever Happened to The Teenage Dream....

Project road path is taking something of a back seat while I await the right wheelset and crucially, the right wheelset at the right price. In my experience when one project slows, another gathers momentum and in this instance, the teenage dream-my bespoke road bike from 1991 has been blasted ready for spraying by the good folk at Maldon Shot Blasting & Powder Coating. They’ve been so busy over the past weeks but Graham found five minutes on Friday morning to work his magic.Poor finish wasn’t exclusive to the paint-the seat-tube was poorly reamed, scratching nice and indifferent seatposts with equal malice. Supposedly reamed to 27.0 thus preserving the integrity of relatively thin tube walls, I had designs on taking it out to 27.2 but conversation with frame builder Justin (Burls) suggests this is inadvisable. That said, he’s generously offered to clean it up for me and install a new headset into the bargain. While preserving the bike’s character, some modernisation is planned starting with the cockpit. An Ahead adaptor will allow me to enjoy the benefits of stiffer bars and a really nice set of dual pivot Ti callipers will bring stopping bang up to date.
Reasoning that an ISIS type bottom bracket and crank would not only look out of place but means retiring a perfectly worthy Stronglight crank to the spares drawer, the princely sum of £10 changed hands buying another square taper ACOR fit and forget cartridge bearing model-basically a 113mm version of that sported by the Holdsworth. It might lack glamour but remains a marked improvement over the nigh on twenty-year old FAG design it replaces.
Noting the Hutchinson tyres were now ready for pensioning off, I acquired a nice set of folding 700X23 Kevlar belted rubber-the sort that should really blast along with nominal effort. Their super supple carcass should’ve literally slipped aboard the rims but they fought back with gusto, earning my thumb a huge, pulsing blister and snapping a very nice tyre lever in two! Running seven bikes and with a stint on the trade side of the counter under my belt, I’ve changed plenty in my time but the language they induced turned so blue as to shame the Holdsworth.

Next Week: Primed & Ready For Painting

A Break In The Chain?

Neither shy of, nor purposefully courting controversy rumour of the hipster crowd’s desertion of the fixed fraternity in favour of another fad pleases me. The Times newspaper suggests the beautiful people are headed in the direction of a new retro revival-1950’s French style delivery bikes. Bon! This hopefully means the fixed faithful can continue enjoying the one cog as part of a wider cycling diet without approval or direction from the self appointed gurus of chic.

This might spell an end to the fashion for stripping every braze-on clean from a frameset in the name of aesthetics. I’ll confess to a pleasant indifference to conversions having cut my teeth on one some twenty years back.

Conversions make great, low maintenance winter trainers while providing a new lease of life for older but otherwise worthy bikes. Fashion can be fun but all too often it’s at cost to practicality and many fixer framesets were track inspired with no provision for rack or fender mounts. Track bikes by definition are intended for the Velodrome and have some very distinct limitations for road duties- you only need to stand on the corner of a busy London street watching the messenger wannabes wind-milling about on ridiculously tall gears sans brakes.

Conversely, we owe the hipster a degree of gratitude; afterall, they’ve been influential in driving the boom and much improved supply of frame and components. Take hubs for example, not long ago choice was limited to Maillard double fixed for budget builds or Campagnolo or Dura Ace at the opposite end. By contrast there’s now a wealth of wallet friendly, weather sealed units just right for daily road duties and the same applies to cranks and sprockets, which, frankly is just what the doctor ordered.


Clothing has become more exciting and arguably more practical-especially round town. However, while supply and demand are reasonably well matched in these contexts, this fixed fetish has pushed the price of older steel frames through the roof. Admittedly many of the gallery bikes are found unwanted and unloved, rotting in a neighbours yard, by the roadside or indeed in skips/dumpsters. I was very, very fortunate to have been gifted the Holdsworth given its relative rarity and the asking prices for very tatty examples.

Such trends are by no means exclusive to cycling and I draw parallels with the cyclical popularity of Lambretta scooters and old type one and two VW cars. Time was when basically well kempt 1500 Beetles could be had for £1,200. Now, thanks largely to the hipster/pseudo surfer crowd you’d be luck to find a wreck for £1800.

Long lived fixed as a popular, enjoyable and relatively inexpensive niche. Good riddance to messenger wannabes and anyone else for whom fashion is their only culture

Bother That Bung!!

Things had got off to a flying start, I’d unearthed the high lustre Nitto stem with lazer etching, a bevy of compatible pursuit type bars, a little used EAI track sprocket and of course, the dynohub front wheel complete with front tyre to replace the elderly Araya that met it’s maker the week previously.

In the quiet of Saturday afternoon, I set the Holdsworth in the workstand and had a quick check, offered the spacers and stem atop the steerer-everything aligned perfectly- just a question of getting the bung in place and save for bar tape and brake calliper, the front end was complete.

The Woodman bung does away with the star fangled nut in favour of a re-useable expanding wedge, working on exactly the same principles as SFNs and the old fashioned expanders found on quill stems. Inexplicably, mine had been assembled incorrectly so a quick bit of tailored surfing confirmed the correct layout. Returning to the garage, I applied a slither of non lithium based grease to the expander wedge and threaded sections before inserting, popping spacers and bars and stem in position but alas, this was not to prove a euphoric climax…Mysteriously, the cone shaped locking nuts and metal sleeve managed to come adrift, lodging themselves firmly into the steerer tube. I had hoped to turn the fork upside-down, pass a small drift through the fork crown and tap it free-unfortunately; I had screwdrivers of correct diameter but insufficient length so the race is on to find a suitable implement and I’m now wondering if a SFN might prove the better option and in this respect, Cro-moly steerers are a godsend.
Deflated but calm, I turned my attention to the Univega. Setting in the stand, I reasoned if I was using the Nexus dynohub wheel, I might as well turn the increased resistance to good use-namely producing my own illumination. The Basta lamp gifted me a few weeks previously thoughtfully incorporates an integral switch (fortunate as I couldn’t find the Shimano unit) and so it was simply a case of trimming the wiring to correct length and plugging into the hub.
Having treated the contacts to a quick lick of Vaseline, I invited my six year old to spin the wheel. His eyes lit up as the headlamp bust into life and I explained the principles behind dynamos. He seemed very excited at the prospect of generating our own light without worrying about charge levels in Ni-Cad and Lead acid bottle batteries. I’ll be mounting a white LED as a contingency but it’ll be nice to remove some handlebar furniture!

Bringing It All Together

Progress has been somewhat disappointing over the past week or so, thanks largely to the wrong diameter stem. However, it’s served as a useful template for cutting the steerer. Some advocate ruthlessness but I didn’t want to be committed to an uncompromisingly low position, choosing in favour of some additional length and employing spacers to close the gap. Interestingly, I have learned the original, threaded fork was paired with a Campagnolo mirage headset-useful to know but I’ve also discovered the shallow steerer placed additional strain upon the headset cups, resulting in their untimely ruin.

I now have a choice of Nitto Bull horns, or longer pursuit style bars. One is reliant on me finding the illusive silver anodised, lazer etched Nitto stem or going the pursuit bar route and buying a new stem-deviating from the use what-you-got script a little but needs must when the devil rides. Either configuration will shave a further few grams, continues the minimalist theme while still providing the ideal platform for Tri Bars or Spinacchi extensions should the lure of ten mile TTs come calling. Sticking with the broad WTB drops would be the beginnings of a slippery slope likely to result in a build mimicking my Ilpompino.

Once this cockpit dilemma’s sorted, it’s a question of rounding up the remaining components and acquiring a suitable short reach dual pivot calliper. I don’t want to be laying out a bundle here so the smart money’s on a Tektro. Not being a nostalgia stalwart, a Specialized Toupe’ gel with titanium rails provides a superbly comfortable perch and is considerably lighter than the Brooks B17 I’d initially earmarked. From there it’s just a question of bolting the Stronglight cranks onto their tapers, threading in some shop brand SPDs, wiring up the front brake, slipping on some bar tape and waiting for the wheels to arrive. I am the sort of rider that goes for years without a puncture and then plagued by a succession on one single outing. A jaunt to the seaside aboad the Univega last Saturday being a prime example. The first I put down to fluke and a shard of glass penetrating the tyre’s Kevlar belt but unfortunately a further round of deflation instigated more intimate examination.

To my horror, I discovered the otherwise healthy looking Araya rim was splitting at the join. Knowing I had a perfectly good wheel, complete with dynohub languishing in storage and faced with two burst tubes, I rode a very choppy fifteen miles home on the flat tyre. Still, 12000 miles is pretty good going from an inexpensive rim and it soldiered on when I needed it most. This also presents the ideal opportunity for me to utilise the Basta lamp that landed in my lap a few weeks back…

Leading From The Front

Equipped with carbon fork and super-smooth needle roller bearing Aheadset with aluminium cups that wouldn’t look out of place on an XC mountain bike, it was a quick forty- minute drive to Justin Burls’ workshop. The warm spring day encouraged further unexpected belching of Waxoyl from the Holdsworth’s bottom bracket shell but mercifully I had lined the Ka’s footwell with cardboard-thus defending the interior from the muddy brown discharge. After ten minutes marvelling at the size and refinement of the headset, Justin worked his magic with the headset press, installing the cups and fork crown with consummate ease. Forgetting to bring the Aheadstem means I will need to pop the bike into the work stand and cut the steerer to the desired length myself. Still, this a comparatively straightforward task and I will err on the side of caution, cutting less rather than more and filling the gap with spacers.

The new fork means I can take advantage of a modern shallow reach dual pivot brake calliper and 700C wheels. Mercifully the Woodman doesn’t employ the irksome star fangled nut but an interesting bung-type assembly. If I’m not totally happy with this, I will opt for a headlock bolt- ideal for carbon steerers, heavier and/or more aggressive riders.

Being as it was still early afternoon, we took the opportunity to go for a blast in the spring sunshine- I aboard his Russian TI fixer and he aboard “Old Faithful”. After some brief pre-ride preparation- the inflation of tyres and in his case, the taming of a rogue mudguard (fender) bolt, leading him to reflect upon a rebuild after 20,000 winter miles. Five minutes later, we were blasting through the outskirts of Harwich and into the long and winding rural landscape.

Following as close on Justin’s wheel as my legs and a 67-inch gear would allow, we cantered up the climbs and dived into the descents, the bright, tranquil landscape deceptively still as we battled into an unrelenting headwind. Two thirds of the loop completed, he stopped to tend to a missing mudguard eye bolt whilst I contemplated a loose stem cap. Justin jokingly remarking that old faithful might well explode before we returned to the safety of the workshop!

Mercifully neither men nor machines expired and after resuming civilian dress, it was quick cup of tea and a look at his wife’s new bike. Mila can’t ride a solo so Justin built this delightful frameset out of Columbus tubing he’d had lying around. The fork, also fillet brazed by him is slightly shorter than standard suspension corrected designs. Crank arms need shortening by 20mm to 155mm but he has this all in hand.

The Great Fibre Provider

The past few weeks have been frustratingly slow, although there’ve been some positive developments on the Holdsworth build. The fabled carbon fibre front end has finally emerged. Carbon blades with lawyers lips bonded to a Cro-moly steerer might not be the most exotic combination but the rake should have a positive effect on handling whilst providing a harmonious marriage between classic and contemporary.

Component choice is now much less prescriptive, sure a Cinelli or Nitto quill stem oozes old school charm but an Aheadstem was my weapon of choice and going threadless means I can ditch the quill adaptor, gain a stiffer cockpit and shed a few grams into the bargain. An alloy, CNC machined Woodman with needle roller bearings takes care of steering and Justin Burls has kindly offered his services seeing as my tools are on loan.

Bike builds, like racing are often metaphors for life- not everything can be done by the book and I secretly enjoy offending the dogmatism of the purists, the neurosis of the weight weenies and the hipster's clique ridden, pseudo intellectual chic. Sure, it’s nice to have a faithful period build, some weight savings will undoubtedly make you go faster and Lime Green Velocity’s may get you laid but neither I, nor my bikes are so conveniently categorised.

Elsewhere, the teenage dream, my classic road frame is getting a makeover. Receding enamel of the “lick and a promise” school of frame finishing forced my hand. Sharon loves the retro British Racing Green livery so it’s been entrusted in the care of Trevor and sons at Maldon Shot Blasting & Powder Coating for a blast clean and 6010-powder finish.FAG sealed units seemed like a great idea twenty years back but this is being replaced by a much stiffer ISIS configuration. Sans tool, I resorted to knocking the taper through using a two- pound mallet before judicious cup removal with a hammer and drift. However, being plastic eliminated potential damage to frame threads.