Retrofitting BSA SLR- Is it worth it?

[Sushant Naithani]

Hello all,

I have been looking to upgrade to an endurance road bike but given the bike shortages that plan is on hold.

In the meantime been using my BSA SLR for shorter rides every other day upto 20-30 km this quarantine. I love this bicycle, have used it previously as an office commuter and easily put 2.5-3k km on it.

Few issues I currently have-

- Climbs are brutal on ss.

- Braking is beyond crap

- Ride beyond 20 km is not enjoyable
Been meaning to upgrade the drivetrain and brakes on this bike but I am lost on where do I even start.

My questions to the community-

- Is it even worth retrofitting parts in this bike?

- Has anyone modded their steel, single speed bikes(BSA SLRs and the likes) here?

- Which bike store in Bangalore would you recommend for such mods to be carried out?

Thanks

Sushant

[Sushant Naithani]

attaching few pictures of the bike

[Narayan R]

It's a beautiful frame and very light.

Below means investment, but worth it,  if you like to ride what you build

1) Get Aluminium rims with slick tyres ( I got one from btwin)

2) Medium reach caliper brakes will work right.

3) Change to sealed Bottom Bracket  (Normal ones are good , but one needs to be hands-on in  tweaking ) 

4) Fit a three speed shimano hub gear . Make sure to get the chain line straight. Else the chain is drop off

    Note you can remove the coaster brake option on 3 speed. Which is sometimes annoying

(1) and (2) will address brakes

Regarding climb, opinions of  climbs will change as you pedal more. (4) will help you get there.

                  if you can't get a hub gear.  Try to get 46 x 18t i.e 46 crank and 18 Sprocket  . 

If you plan on embarking the above. Make sure you spend 2 weeks regarding Sheldon brown on all 

the compatibilities. Else you will have no compatible components at hand and an unfinished project.

With Regards,

R Narayan

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[Avinash B M]

Totally worth upgrading..

Here is the pic of my bike.

Upgraded hero hawk 

Purefix wheels 

Good saddle from.cannondale

BTWin pedals and crank 

New chain, (some Japanese make) 

No brakes

I have used it for 100km + rides . feels amazing

Go for it. Upgrade ur bike

Pls share what u finally make out of it.

Cheers

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[Avinash B M]

Also, the folks at crankmeister helped me build the modified bike. They could help u as well.

[jagan]

Why no brakes...isn't that scary!!

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[Sushant Naithani]

Thanks Narayan. looking into it.

[Sushant Naithani]

Beautiful bike you got there. Will share the build once done.

[db]

BM -- great looking bike.  Are the handlebars & stem from the orginal bike?  And have you set it up as a fixie?  (hence no brakes?)  How much did you spend?

Callm... -- You can check at Crankmeister, as suggested by BM; have seen their posts on FB etc., re: bike (re)builds.  Some other shops like RR Cycles Madiwala might also be able to help (with components, if not the build itself); but Crankmeister should probably be the first choice, in BLR.  Or some individual folks.

For the new bike you were looking to purchase, if the budget was Rs50K+, and you are able to 'upgrade' your BSA SLR for ~Rs15K, and can use it as a for few years (even as a backup, after you get the new bike), it might be a good spend.

From what I had considered (but never done), a while back -- get the BSA SLR frame checked, to make sure it is good for taking extra stress (which it will have to, after you upgrade it), for many years.  Maybe a good simple re-paint (which will also involve removing the old paint, enabling you to check for rust/damage etc.).  Then see if you can get used handlebars, brake/gear levers, cranks arms, pedals.  See if handlebars+stem & saddle changes, make considerable difference; and then wheels.  So keep it as a single speed, initially.  Other than the rear hub, I think everything else can be same, if you move to a geared config; then again, you can first go for gears just on the rear, and then decide if you want to have gears on the front as well.  

So hopefully you can upgrade in steps, and stop when you feel comfortable enough; and fine tune well, to a specific budget.  The BSA SLR cycle frames had a nice look (am thinking of the one i rode long back in my college days), so you can have a good vintage-look-frame, backup bike.

-{db}.

.

.

[Ali Poonawala]

DB has mentioned a valid point about the quality of the frame. 

 TI frames , ( or my riding style ! 🙄) , may be suspect. I have ladybird as well as Mach1, with dropped bar, a hand me up from my son. 

Both had head tube fractures.

Both spontaneous, I.e. no collisions etc. Some usual falls.

So check out that area of the frame...I 

I don't know if there are any predictive features of that impending disaster. I realised 'unusual' play during turning as a warning shot.

Thanks

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