Two Wheels - Six Strings

Random news and thoughts about various two-wheeled projects and music, especially my band, Skull Full Of Blues.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Best Laid Plans - Clubman Edition

I got out the frame I was planning on using to build my 3-speed Clubman, the other day, and started getting it ready to go the powder coater. One of the seat stays had a small bend in it, so I straightened it out, first.

Then, I went to remove the seatpost and...well you can probably see what's coming. The seatpost is solidly frozen in the frame. I even clamped the head of the post in my vise, and used the frame for leverage to try and break it loose. No go.

Now, this is not a particularly fine frame. I don't even know who made it. It's simply an older, European lugged frame in my size. Probably a Motobecane, but I haven't even pulled the bottom bracket to see if it's English or French, I am just basing the guess on the lugs and dropouts. It simply isn't worth the effort to cut the seatpost out of it.

So, now, I don't have a frame suitable for that project. I have some Japanese frames, but I want to base this bike on Bristish or Euro steel.

I guess it goes on the back burner, allowing the new cyclocross bike to take center stage (in conjunction with building a nice fixed gear out of my old crosser, the LeMond).

Plus, I need to finish assembling the Trek STP so I can start "training" for Moab.

In the meantime, I'll just keep an eye out for a frame to build the Clubman on.

Projects.

It's funny how a planned build can run into so many snags and delays, yet a build like the Scorcher will just fall together effortlessly. Maybe that's why I love the junkyard dogs, so much.

x

4 Comments:

At 9:32 PM , Blogger getinlost said...

Ammonia perhaps? I've heard that it works sometimes. And have you tried ALL of Sheldon's methods?

 
At 2:37 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

man, dont we all hav it bad? (till we ride) lol

 
At 2:40 PM , Blogger Apertome said...

Man, that sucks! Here's hoping you find another suitable frame.

 
At 10:18 PM , Blogger Christopher said...

That's to bad. I love your work and I am interested in your rendition of a Clubman. In my effort to have a collection like Sheldon's I built a '76 Raleigh Grand Prix with a '55 AW hub laced into 700 hybrid rims with 37 mm tires. Rode nice, but it was too difficult to get parts for the frame so I recently swapped all the parts to a Japanese Centurion frame.
Looks even better now with fenders, Acorn saddle bag, and generator light combo.

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

 

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