Category: Working

Bob Jackson Vigorelli Rebuild

You may remember a while ago now that Ed took his long serving Bob Jackson Vigorelli frame to Argos Cycles to get a fresh paint job on the frame he’s ridden for 2 years. You may also have seen the finished frame. Well over the past couple of evenings Ed (along with a little help from myself) has rebuilt the bike, with 90% new components, giving it a bit more of a new-school/old-school feel & bringing Ed into the 21st century with an ahead stem & outboard bearing cranks. I took a few photos before it hits the hills, so here they are:

The 30 minute pub bike

Bored at home 8:45pm on a Tuesday night & I had just woken from an unplanned power nap, meaning I had missed TDO Tuesday Club, but I felt the need to do something bike related. Remembering that earlier on in the day I had inherited my old Charge Plug frame once again (the first ever fixed bike I owned, originally bought in 2007) I decided I’d have a go at putting a bike together.

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I gathered up a bunch of components to see if I could build a working bike out of them as I am without a ‘pub’ bike right now. I found myself a set of Sugino Messenger cranks, a pair of wheels & a Spank bar & stem.

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The wheels have an odd pair of tyres, but when you’re building a pub bike you must resist from spending any money!

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The rear hub is one i got hold of in 2007, the year i started riding fixed gear. The bearings are still going strong & smooth!

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By 9:00pm I had fitted the bars, stem, cranks & pedals, luckily they all went on without any problems (a rarity when building bikes) & I almost had a bicycle looking object after only 15 minutes!

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Next up was a simple case of fitting the wheels, then hoping the chain was the right length. A couple of links added & I had it on. I gave the bike a quick check over & it was ready to ride. Sure, it could do with some modifications, and a matching pair of tyres, but I’ll have to wait for a free pair as this bike is strictly cheap as potato chips. Done.

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Patiently waiting

Over the weekend I decided to finally do something I’ve been putting off for too long. My Bob Jackson Vigorelli has desperately needed a new coat of paint since I’d had mudguard eyelets and a few other bits of brazing done. A quick clear coat by me to cover the bare metal wasn’t doing the job.

I was going to go with a simple one colour powder coat. But in the end decided to take the plunge and head back to Argos Racing Cycles where I’d had the brazing done for something a little more involved.

It was so hard to decide on what to go for. I ended up making my final decision whilst I was at Argos, being surrounded by frames and having the sample colours in front of me certainly helped!

I was quite pleased and surprised when I was told one of my requests had never been done by them before. Fingers crossed it turns out looking ok!

Pictures to come in about 6 weeks. Hopefully it’ll be worth the wait.

I couldn’t visit without taking some pictures of the always amazing and interesting array of frames, waiting to be collected or worked on.

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