Anyone tired of their fg or ss bike?

Harrybelafonte

Interested in a straight swap for a racer and a mountain bike (56cm)?

NeilMcEoigheann

what kind of racer or mountainbike? cos i've seen some that i'd swap straight away and some that i wouldn't go near for free

Harrybelafonte

NeilMcEoigheann wrote: »

what kind of racer or mountainbike? cos i've seen some that i'd swap straight away and some that i wouldn't go near for free

I posted that then reread it and went.... eh not much detail there. Sorry about that.

The racer is a 56cm Raleigh Elan I got off adverts last year and I haven't had call to use it as much as I'd like. Was serviced and had new clips, did about 50miles then garaged. It does have horizontal dropouts but is in too nice a condition to be ripped apart for a fixed gear effort.

Similar to this but in turquoise:

http://cgi.ebay.nl/RARE-RALEIGH-ELAN-RACING-CYCLE-SHIMANO-REYNOLDS-501-90S_W0QQitemZ270302888426QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Collectables_Bicycle_RL?hash=item270302888426&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1399|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

The mountain bike is an old Trek 800 sport, but has front suspension.

Similar to this:

http://www.buysellcommunity.com/uploads/080408/ww1/vpppwlnbnjbb.jpg

I probably should have waited and posted all the kit on them properly, but just wanted to gauge interest first.

TBH I'm not even sure if they'd both match the price of an FG/SS but I have no problems with someone pointing that out to me.

Trojan

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

The racer is a 56cm Raleigh Elan I got off adverts last year

Original adverts thread cache:
http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:tOykb0GLiZsJ:www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php%3Fproduct%3D45333%26cpage%3D1%26perpage%3D15%26cat%3Dall+site:adverts.ie+Raleigh+Elan&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ie

NeilMcEoigheann

you should just strip the Elan like you would do to give it a really good service/clean and just put a fixed gear rear wheel. and store all the parts in tissue in labelled boxes ride fixie for a while and if you change your mind you have a really clean bike to put back together,
i could prob revert my fixie back to a full geared bike in under 2 hours

Harrybelafonte

NeilMcEoigheann wrote: »

you should just strip the Elan like you would do to give it a really good service/clean and just put a fixed gear rear wheel. and store all the parts in tissue in labelled boxes ride fixie for a while and if you change your mind you have a really clean bike to put back together,
i could prob revert my fixie back to a full geared bike in under 2 hours

I have considered that but have very little hard cash and would rather try and shift the two. I'd also prefer a track frame. It's more for single speed too

TinyExplosions

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

I have considered that but have very little hard cash and would rather try and shift the two. I'd also prefer a track frame. It's more for single speed too

If you want single speed, then it makes even more sense to just take the bits you don't want off the elan. You can do it all ghetto and the cost would be the price of a new master chain link (or whole chain if you're feeling fancy)

Well worth doin IMO

Harrybelafonte

TinyExplosions wrote: »

If you want single speed, then it makes even more sense to just take the bits you don't want off the elan. You can do it all ghetto and the cost would be the price of a new master chain link (or whole chain if you're feeling fancy)

Well worth doin IMO

Well, it would be more because I'd need to change the wheels which are too thin (seriously they're really skinny) for my ginormous weight, which would also mean changing brakes. I asked in Joe Daly's re bigger wheels and was told that it couldn't be done.

Wez

It can be done very easily Harry, I was in the same boat, so converted a half dead frame.

Bigger tires would prolly help you, move upto (I'm guessing) 700c x 28/32. Will help spread the weight, and absorb bumps.. Me and my brother are in no way lightweight, but have abused my racer conversion (with my home-built back wheel) and it still runs true.

Changing bikes will be so much hassle, you can buy a rear fixed wheel on ebay (found one there for 70) and that will be your conversion, fully fixed! Single speed is too easy, just lose the derailer (gear mech's) and shorten your chain and select the straightest/most comfortable ring on the back. Done.

If you have any problems, we're all here to help! Most expensive part is the back wheel, and is pretty much all you need!

EDIT: Just thinking there, if needs be I'll actually call round and give you a hand if I must, it's so straight forward, and doing it yourself saves money for parts from bike mech labour. It's too easy!