Recent Posts

1

Tech and Restoration / Re: A dream of mine. Not a BMX, but has some BMX parts

« Last post by Midschoolfool on April 15, 2024, 12:37 PM »

Other notes. The wheel has now been completely rebuilt also. Axle is new, and both the sealed and unsealed bearings are all brand new now too.

I *may* use a touch up brush to paint along the lines of where the carbon sheet joins in black. We will see. You can see what I am talking about with the above pics. They were still visible when I cleared them before, and, IIRC were visible when I got the wheel. It is not a flaw, it is just how early carbon was done. They wanted the wheel as light as possible back then, so did not layer on more than one single layer of matt. The wheel has a sort of sponge core, then they laid literally one layer of carbon over it, so the joins in the sheets are visible.

I am unsure if the chromacoat layer would hide this, so yeah I may indeed paint along those in black to conceal them under it. Again like I say, I will see.

2

Tech and Restoration / Re: A dream of mine. Not a BMX, but has some BMX parts

« Last post by Midschoolfool on April 15, 2024, 12:32 PM »

OK the hard bit has been done. Getting the fine line tape down.





The rest doesn't need to be precise, just cover anything up I don't want painting. Talking of paint, it arrived alive and well (I hope) this morning at mum's. So a good chemical wash (alcohol or something) and these and I will be ready to paint.



I reckon May is when the weather will be nice, so it is all hands on deck until then.

3

Tech and Restoration / Re: A dream of mine. Not a BMX, but has some BMX parts

« Last post by Midschoolfool on April 14, 2024, 04:03 PM »

Spending my Sunday giving HED.



With happy ending 

4

Tech and Restoration / Re: A dream of mine. Not a BMX, but has some BMX parts

« Last post by Midschoolfool on April 10, 2024, 02:03 PM »

"Just one more job".

I realised a few days back the rear axle was bent. I think this happened because of the spacing, and me overdoing it with the chain tensioners and then going ham with the ratchet on the wheel nuts. I think the ogre in me and my BMX side causes that, so unless something has a torque value I always go stupid.

This isn't a huge issue. I bought these for 16 quid with a voucher, as sadly the donor axle is the wrong thread type.



I could have left it, but I didn't want anything bad happening on a ride with me miles from home. Any way, whilst piddling around with all that a few days ago I also noticed the sealed bearing that seemed perfect was actually far from it. It is 30 years old, and when you removed it and span it it rumbled and there was lots of play. Not an issue, took me about 5 seconds to ID it and buy a replacement for about 2 quid delivered.



I then took another look at the wheel, and the murky matt clear coat was pissing me off so bloody bad. I knew if I tried to buff it I ran the risk of making it shiny, and that is exactly what happened. TBH the whole wheel was rushed because I did not want to invest a shed load of time (or money) into it if it was not going to work. However, as 30 miles on it showed last summer, it definitely works.

So, knowing the real risks and how hard it is to paint satin or matt clear out of a can (you can't fix any blemishes as they just go shiny when you apply any compounds) I decided to go balls out. Enter Chromacoat.



It's new, and expensive. Unlike chameleon or flip paints it can change through three colours. Now I used something similar on my Ruben, and it looked great. Until you touched it and it just fell off. However, that was the fault of the rubbish 1k clear coat I bought.

This time I decided to do it properly.



That's real, with activated hardener, 2k clear coat.

5

New School Racing / Re: 2024 Race Blog - Year 8 - It's Never Too Late!!

« Last post by Mikku on April 08, 2024, 11:04 PM »

The weather gods must have been happy because it was a lovely, warm day on Sunday. Oizumi Park was therefore full of people enjoying the cherry blossom and BBQs. There was also a good turnout in KBU's over 30s mixed class, with 16 riders making two full gates and the top four from each going through to the main. I went 6/6/7, so missed out on the final, though had a day long dice with the same rider, which was fun. I was determined to beat him in the 3rd moto, so going over the final set of jumps into the first berm, I saw an opening but had to dab the brakes to avoid contact. Not only did that lose me the chance of fighting for 5th but it also let the guy behind through to take 6th. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. It was an enjoyable day though, made better by staying on afterwards for some much-needed gate practice!

Here's a video of the first moto. I'm in gate 7, second from the right:-

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In other news, the Joetsu BMX Association has just announced its track opening plans with the first race of the season scheduled for the end of the month. It has been quite a while since I last raced in Niigata, so am looking forward to that. Time for some stamina training for the long straights there!

6

New School Racing / Re: Beth Shriever Rocks!!

« Last post by Mikku on April 08, 2024, 10:48 PM »

Beth just won the Olympic test event in Paris! Fingers crossed she can repeat the feat at the real thing this summer!! 

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Tech and Restoration / Re: A dream of mine. Not a BMX, but has some BMX parts

« Last post by Midschoolfool on April 06, 2024, 02:48 PM »

I can't say on this setup as I haven't ridden it yet. Want it insured before I take it out, and the winds are insane.

What I can say is that on the PK frame it was a blast to ride. I would not ride 29" wheels on a MTB again as they feel like cart wheels, but when light they are a different story.

PK is next. Going to put it all back together with some of the original parts and lots of leftovers.

8

Tech and Restoration / Re: A dream of mine. Not a BMX, but has some BMX parts

« Last post by Taipan on April 06, 2024, 12:15 PM »

I really like that fella!    love those type of wheels and those bars are sweet! what does she ride like?  I'm only just getting used to riding mtb's with 27.5" wheels myself 

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Tech and Restoration / Re: A dream of mine. Not a BMX, but has some BMX parts

« Last post by Midschoolfool on April 05, 2024, 08:10 PM »

It wasn't quite finished. It is now.







I definitely need to redo the clear on the rear wheel. I swear it is getting worse. The other side? is perfect ffs. I think I am going to go satin, not full matt. I think matt is far too prone to misting like that. I will still try a brillo pad and see what happens (it may just be the top layer) but if that fails yeah, I will get some proper 2k satin clearcoat.

It's just cosmetic but it is far more annoying now than it was.

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Tech and Restoration / Re: A dream of mine. Not a BMX, but has some BMX parts

« Last post by Mikku on April 05, 2024, 11:35 AM »

Cool looking bike. Top job👍

+1 on that! Came out great!!