Plunge Taken!!!

Well the deed is done. I have bought the wheels, fork and headset and now I am itching to get on with it!

I had a real internal struggle with choosing the wheel size. I fell in to the trap of following trends and was really trying to figure a way of fitting some 27" wheels to the bike when I had a brain fart. Fit 26" instead. Easy really.

So I purged my watching list on e-bay of the many 27" wheels and the one and the only suitable 27" fork and started searching again. E-bay is a really good resource for reasonably price bike bits. I'm not that precious about the manufacturer of the parts I'm fitting to this bike as its the first one I've done especially as the price difference between a part with an unknown brand on it and a well known brand can be hundreds of pounds.

I managed to find a pair of 26" wheels with a over locknut distance of 110mm, a front fork with a 1"steerer and a headset for less than £90 for the lot. Bargain!

Right Jargon busting time. 

Over locknut distance you should know, if not look at the last post.

1" steerer. This is the part of the front fork ( the bit the front wheel is attached to) which runs through the front tube (head tube). It is fixed to the bike by a headset. This is basically where the bearings are to enable you to steer the bike. Its the bit you loosened when you were a kid and then the front of your bike fell off....Just me then.

There are a couple of good E-bay shops that I have saved: Bankrupt bike parts and Bankrupt surplus bike bits. Sounds a bit dodgy but they normally have a good stock of old new bits if that makes sense.

Bankrupt bike parts is where i have ordered my bits from and they also stock the correct size tyres and inner tubes so I suspect they will be getting more of my custom soon.

When I started thinking about building a bike I looked at a few websites and manufacturers to get some inspiration. I discovered a magazine called Urban Cyclist. This is full of beautiful looking bikes which I never thought I would have an interest in. 

I'm beginning to wonder if this is my mid-life crisis hitting me and I just can't afford a Harley Davidson. 

One bike I saw that was absolutely stunning was called The Board Racer Special from Cosgrove Ball. http://cosgroveball.com/blog/

It really confirmed to me that even though that bike will cost around £4500 to buy, I would really love it if I had something like that that I could be proud to say 'I built that'. Even if it only costs £200 (hopefully!).

So Monday is the day the first parts get delivered. We shall see if they work. Otherwise I'll be selling the lot on Gumtree!