WIP carrera vulcan ss

sloppycowpat

So my ratty old steel frame is horrible and i have a vulcan frame in my room so im going to strip and paint it and improve it so to start I present the frame



after some time with a pen knife and sand paper



then after i used some paint stripper



just a bit of stubborn paint in the welds and drop outs now

Greer_

I'm interested! I've got a Carrera vulcan half built at the moment and trying to decide between SS or 8 speed for the drive train. If I go singlespeed I'll probably use A DMR kit. What parts do you have in mind/already have? And what colour?!

sloppycowpat

stuff so far

16" carrera vulcan frame 07/08 i think
kore 70mm stem
mid rise husslefelt bars
x-tasy seat post
carrera seat- needs upgrading
gxp fire x cranks and bb
bike-hut x pedals
kmc cool chain
on one steel forks
board-man hubs on mavic xc221 'i think' rims
gusset ss kit
probs use a 32 13 gear ratio and change it to 16/18 if i use it off road
either hayes sole brakes or tecktro I0 mechanical with avid levers- may upgrade to hayes 9's if i can be bothered to take my old ones apart and replace the seals

don't know about colour yet, black forks and maybe white, purple, green or yellow frame depends when i buy the paint and what i fancy


need to get a headset, grips, saddle and maybe a 90mm odd stem if its a bit cramped

want a charge spoon saddle, cane creek or similar headset and superstar grips as funds allow, this driving lessons lark is expensive!!

If you go for ss the gusset kit is soooo much better than the dmr one

sloppycowpat

a few more pictures

the doner bike



cranks and nice rusty chain :oops:



the ss kit



bars/stem



wheels i just built with out a stand seem well dished and are true so yay v brakes and an old frame do work



the forks

Greer_

How did you decide on gear ratios? Gusset kit looks quite good, more adjustability on the tensioner but how do you correct the chain line? The spacers are the same size - the DMR kit gives you different sizes. I'm using:

Tektro IO brakes
Suntour XCM fork (from new bike)
Stock handlebars/stem/seatpost/wheels
Modified cranks/chainrings - guessing you need a SS specific chainring or will any do?
Stock BB and headset
An undecided SS kit and chain
And Shimano clipless pedals - can't remember model

Its going to be more of a cycling to the shops sort of bike but as I upgrade my current bike, the old parts will go onto it.

sloppycowpat

chain line is adjusted by the metal spacers on the rear hub just move the sprocket along until it is nice and straight

gear ratios were trial and error really 32/16 or 2/1 is a very common starting ground, but i've been ssing for a couple of years now so was spinning out when i commute and found 32/13 to be fine for road hills and about 18mph cruise speed

used the 32/18 when i was in the peak district for obvious reasons

as far as chain rings go, so long as the chain line is good and the chain is nice and taught the ring does not really matter it works fine with a standard geared chain ring but i have to admit that a proper ss ring is better and look nicer

sloppycowpat

oh with the gusset kit for middle ring the small spacer is on the spoke side (left of the sprocket) or the big ring the bigger spacer is on the left

so (BS) (sp) (ls) for outer ring

(ls) (sp) (BS) for middle ring

BS= big spacer
ls= little spacer
sp= sprocket

sloppycowpat

sod it this sanding lark takes sooo long im getting it powder coated white and black forks I think, £40 quote seems reasonable