It is the middle of winter, raining and cold (for Queensland, anyway!). But I still managed a sweat session on my JetBlack rollers this evening on my parts bin special built around a Cycling Deal track/fixie frame TF.
Sweat session on my Jet Black rollers using my Cycling Deal track/fixie frame TF parts bin special bike
I have finally built up my Cycling Deal fixie/track frame TF-56W.
I originally purchased this frame for a bike build project that I lost interest in when I purchased a Wabi Special. I was then going to build up the frame as a rain bike. I then realised that I had enough parts lying around to put together a bike to use to train on my rollers.
The bike, as shown in the photos, with no brakes, but with pedals and heavy wheels and tires, weighs in at 9.0 kg. I am yet to cut down the fork steerer, and the handlebars and saddle need to be dialed in.
The 56 cm frame/fork/headset was advertised as being 2.4 kg; by my kitchen scales, the frame is 1752 grams and forks are 882 grams — a total of 2.634 kg. That is a bare weight without the seat post or headset supplied with the frame.
The Cell Bikes wheels came from my first fixie. I have weighed them (with rim tape, but no tubes/tyres/cog) on my kitchen scales at 1.361 kg for the front wheel and 1.433 kg for the rear wheel. They are not lightweight wheels, but they have withstood a good flogging, and are still lighter than many other cheap wheels on the market. The Maxxis Xenith tyres are also not light, but I was unable to weigh them. Investing in a half decent set of wheels and tyres should see a similar build using this frame down around 8 kg, which is not too bad.
For more information on this bike, explore here and here.
I had a dig around my parts bin on the weekend to see whether I could find another bike in there somewhere. It seems I could! I am just missing some handlebar tape and bottom bracket bolts (I have a sprocket and stem not shown too).
The frame is a Cycling Deal fixie/track frame TF-56W. I bought it for another project, but then lost interest in building it when I got my Wabi Special. Being an aluminium frame, I thought about building it up as a rain bike, but really could not be bothered. When I realized that I had enough parts to almost build a bike to use to train on my rollers, I finally built it up.
The wheels are from my first Cell Bikes fixie. I used them on my second Cell fixie for a while before replacing them. I have pulled them out of the shed to complete this bike.
For more information on the bike, explore the Project Beetlejuice tag on this blog, and here and here.
A few people have asked me what is happening with Project Beetlejuice — my bike build using a Cycling Deal fixie/track frame TF-56W.
In short, Project Beetlejuice has been on the backburner for a few months. Over Christmas, my wife gave me a Wabi Cycles Special. (For more posts on my Wabi Special, explore the Bloke’s Lens Tigger tag, or Bloke’s Post Tigger tag.)
The Wabi Special is a much nicer bike than the Cycling Deal fixie/track frame TF-56W was ever going to be. The Wabi is probably lighter, even though it has a steel frame (high quality Reynolds 725 steel, mind you) and more comfortable geometry than the Cycling Deal frame.
I have therefore changed the focus of the Project Beetlejuice build. I had originally been building a budget bike, but spending money on a few key nice parts, such as wheels. The aluminium Cycling Deal frame is now going to become my rain bike. I may end up renaming the build at some point — I just need to find a more appropriate name!
I have fitted the headset, but done a bit of a dodgy job of it. Both the bearings and the seat were painted. I probably should have removed this paint before trying to fit the headset because the bearings were a stupidly tight fit. I am hoping that I have not damaged the frame or bearings in the process of trying to fit them. I will take some photos, but I have been unable to get the bottom bearing to sit square. I am hoping that a few hundred kilometres of road vibrations will sort it out.
A parts update for the Cycling Deal fixie/track frame TF-56W:
That should then only leave cranks, chainring, pedals, stem, brake levers and calipers, and a chain to complete this build.
For more posts on the Cycling Deal fixie/track frame TF-56W bike build, explore the Project Beetlejuice tag.
Project Beetlejuice now has a frame — a 56 cm track/fixie frame from Cycling Deal. Follow the build progress here. The challenge with this build is going to be to not overcapitalise the frame. While it is tempting to up-spec various parts, this is still going to be a budget build.
Boxed Cycling Deal fixie/track frame TF-56W
Cycling Deal fixie/track frame TF-56W
I met up with four guys riding fixie bikes around the Brisbane River Loop on the weekend. Two of the fours guys were riding these track/fixie frames from Cycling Deal. They were very happy with the frames, although one guy had needed a shim to make the seat post fit.
The 56 cm frame/fork/headset was advertised as being 2.4 kg; by my kitchen scales, the frame is 1752 grams and forks are 882 grams — a total of 2.634 kg. That is a bare weight without the seat post or headset supplied with the frame. I also have not cut the steerer tube yet.
The frame and forks were well packaged in plastic bags and bubble wrap. The welding is ugly in places — this is a cheap frame and I guess that is the price you pay.
There are several old posts on the internet where people have had to use shims to get the seat post to fit correctly. I had hoped that this problem may have been fixed with later model frames, but on first inspection this does not appear to be the case. I will look at this more closely when I actually go to build the bike. Update: it looks like the seat post does fit correctly in my frame without needing a shim.