Fun with chainlines and building trials bikes

More old draft posts that I am coming back to so that I have more content! yay.

So as readers will know, I ditched the rear wheel that came on my $180 Trials bike in favor of some new trials oriented parts. I kept the Alex DX32 rim but threw out the crappy hub and spokes.

I purchased a used Echo 135mm trials hub and some DT spokes from pricepoint.com and dove into my first adventure with wheel building. Lacing is easy I figured out. I followed the Sheldon Brown article about wheel building and had no real problems.

Where I ran into problems was trueing and tensioning. I now own a Park Tool TM-1, and am looking for a second had dish gauge or might build my own soon. Ultimately I corrected the dish of my rear wheel just using the frame as a guide and it has not given me any problems. At least not in terms of the wheel construction! :)

I also put a FFW crankset on the bike at the same time to facilitate the rear wheel. This gave me heartache because I had purchased the wrong bottom bracket and thought all my chainline spacings were messed up. As it turns out I simply put things together wrong.

I was trying to use an Echo 18t bashring under my Echo Freewheel on a set of Brethe bike cranks. The problem I did not notice the first time around is that the crankarm and bash ring were interfering with each other causing everything to bind up and look crooked. I put the bashring in the mill and shaved a channel into it and everything fits fine! The bashing was on $20 used of of OTN, for the record.

Thats all for tonight. happy pedaling!

Zoo Pitbull Picture

This is what a partially built trials bike looks like! yay!
I finally received my wheelset from Britain yesterday so i of course had to take some pictures. Sadly I have not ordered tires yet along with lots of other parts that are in process still.

enjoy!

And now for something completely different

Who knows what a trials bicycle is? I think not too many people!
Thanks to my friend Brian I now own not just a MotoTrials but also two Trials bicycles!

The first bike I bought was a Norco Evolve. It is from about 2007 and I think a pretty decent frame for general use. I have put a new front rim and converted to a front disc brake, and that is about it so far!

The second bike is more of a project really. A ZOO! Pitbull frame and some parts. I happened across this gem on eBay and it turned out to be a local seller so I messaged him and a week later I had the frame, a front fork, stem, handlebars and some worn out tires. Score!!

I have done some riding with Brian and some cats from Minneapolis and I feel like  I am doing okay, skills wise. I have to say that riding Trials is very enjoyable from both a personal fulfillment aspect and as a great training tool for general bike skills both Moto and Pedal.

Cheers
G