The Finished Classic Red, Lugged Frame, Fixed Gear / Flip Flop Cruiser Bike w Saddle Complete

Below: The little red classic single speed/fixed gear bike is finally finished. I gave up on waiting for the first saddle to arrive from China and ordered another saddle locally. The China saddle did finally arrive after a nearly two month wait. I like the second one better anyway. I`m sure the China saddle will be put to good use eventually.

Below: I did still have the ding in the top-tube to take care of. My plan was to sand it to the metal. Then fill it with J.B. WELD. Then file and sand it down flush. I was not sure how this would go as I have never used J.B. WELD for repairing a ding before.

Below: The ding sanded and ready to be repaired. It is important to expose the bare metal so the J.B.Weld has something to bond to. I sanded a slightly larger area than the actual ding. In masonry I would call this "feathering" the repair. This makes it easier to make the repair smooth or even with the un-repaired area around the damaged area.

Below: After filling the ding with J.B. WELD. The package says you can file or sand this after 30 minutes. I gave it a little extra time due to the cool weather.

Below: After I filed and sanded it down flush I decided to hide the repair with a piece of black vinyl 3M trim. This trim will also act as a top tube protector.

Below: When applying the 3M Trim and Detail tape I was careful to keep it centered on the top of the tube. I ran the tape past the end of the lug and cut it in with an X Acto knife for a professional look. I also made the graphic on the seat tube with the 3M detail tape.

Below: Here the 14 tooth fixed cog is on the drive side. Notice the axle is pretty much all the way back in the drop-out. Seeing all the drop-out I had to work with I went with a larger 18 tooth free-wheel cog. This just made sense to me. If I was tired or had some hills to climb and wanted to switch the wheel to the free-wheel side, I would want a larger cog for easier pedaling / hill climbing.

Below: Here with the 18 tooth free-wheel cog on the drive side. You can see the axle is now farther forward in the drop-out. But there is still plenty of drop-out to secure the axle properly. I think this is pretty cool being able to go with a bigger cog on the free-wheel side considering this is just a typical 10 speed frame.

Below: I am very pleased with the ODI Grips. The ODI grips do require assembly (some others do not) and they came with no instructions. I did find a video on the "you tube" showing how to assemble and install the grips. Even though this bike is a mix of the old and new, it somehow works out ok. I was not sure it would.

Below: The head badge hammered out from an old penny with a simple H engraved in it looks ok. At some point in the future I will experiment some more with homemade head badges. Adding black ink to the engraving was a mistake, I think it looks much better now without the unevenly blacked-in engraving.

Below: I removed the Avenir Pedals with traps so my friend Laura could take it for a ride "on the fixed cog". I like the look of these classic style touring pedals so much I decided to leave them on there. Of course the new owner will get what ever they want pedal wise. (within reason)

Below: This pic shows why I call it a fixed gear cruiser. With or without the front side pull caliper brake mounted, you won`t be spinning these handlebars around. Unless of course you actually want to break your bloody neck!

Below: A nice shot of the bike from the drive side. Finally a photograph where the front lawn has been mowed recently.

Below: A shot of the left side. And yes it has a alloy kickstand, which is removable by the way. I hear about that a lot from the no kickstand crowd. But I have 20+ bikes in my garage/shop at any given time. There just is not that many places to lean them. So get over it already :-)

Below: The bike as it was when I found it at a Thrift Shop. All in all I think it is a pretty cool transformation.

Below: At the end of the Roadmaster post I included a photograph of my current project, the Raleigh Sprite. It has been really challenging with a few surprises. Here is the frame ready for Rust-Oleum primer, which will have to wait as it is too humid for any painting right now. I found some original paint under the license sticker. It was at one time a beautiful copper with fine metal flake effect. I thought it had been a light brown. This Raleigh bicycle is "hands down" the most challenging restoration I have ever attempted.

Before this bike showed up I was planning on restoring a Fuji Grand Tourer SE. Now another Raleigh has taken it`s place in line. So it is going to be a little while. I think you are going to like the next Raleigh. It is also pretty rough, but not so bad in comparison.

Until next time Please RIDE SAFE and Remember to Always RESCUE, RESTORE & RECYCLE Cheers,Hugh