New Bike Day (last week) A New to me Quickbeam

[Bill Lindsay]

A while back I posted a WTB for a 58cm Quickbeam.  I finally found a frameset/wheelset on a trade.  It had all been ridden pretty hard as a commuter, and that pre-installed beausage kind of liberated me from some of the usual perfectionist tendencies that I have with my builds.  

A thread over on iBob showed off a ~$3000 Pro's Closet listing of a Vanilla branded "single speed tourer", and one of the responders suggested that we should have a build-off: build the nicest single speed tourer you can for the minimum amount of money.  

In response to that challenge I threw together a one-day build using entirely stuff laying around in my parts collection.  Particularly iconoclastic details include a gold anodized Nitto Pearl 11 stem, a heavily modified brakeset, and handlebar tape entirely fashioned from remnants.  Anyway, if you want to have a look, I've got a flickr album:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/45758191@N04/albums/72177720300383026

It's actually a 6-speed single speed.  In the album, there are 35/38 chainrings, a 20/22 Dos/ENO freewheel on one side and a 17T fixed cog on the other.  I did some calculations targeted at utilizing the generously long Quickbeam dropouts, and decided I can get away with 40/34 chainrings, which I also had on-hand on the chainring board.  I have a 16/18 freewheel on the way, and then I'll convert it to an 8-speed singlespeed, with gears ranging from 43 to 69 inches.  

There's another order in the works to make this 'Beam even weirder, but that project is a few weeks out.  We'll see if this build concept makes its way onto a Roaduno.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Steven Sweedler]

Very nice Bill, still can’t imagine touring  with any load with such limited gearing in my neck of the woods but if it works for you, enjoy. What model is the rear rack, and any special attachments for the panniers on such a short lower rail. Steve

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Steven Sweedler
Plymouth, New Hampshire

[Bill Lindsay]

Steven Sweedler said: "still can’t imagine touring  with any load with such limited gearing in my neck of the woods"

The build concept was a single speed tourer.  Whether or not you can imagine using it in a particularly steep hilly area is not part of the challenge.  Tour on it someplace where the gearing is sufficient :)  

My target is an overnight visit to UC Santa Cruz this September, where my daughter is a student.  By sleeping on her floor, I don't have to carry a tent.  By starting and finishing near civilization I don't have to carry much food, or a stove.  More like an S24O, I guess. 

The rear rack is the Nitto 27R, which has detachable lowriders, which are large and rectangular.  The Carradice panniers pictured on there are made for that large rectangular lowrider attachment.  You aren't supposed to hang a pannier on the "short lower rail" you see when the lowrider is not attached.  Detach the lowriders when you don't want to run panniers.  Bolt the lowriders on when you do want to run panniers.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[brendonoid]

Very classy build! I love it.

[Wally Estrella]

Nice, Bill! 

the build looks great! I hope you enjoy the Ent as mush as I have mine! 

[Patrick Moore]

That's an interesting project. The Puritan in me insists on "One Ring One Cog One God" (and no g-d freewheel) as an old t-shirt from the fixie fad era proclaimed, but I also have worked up devious ways to have my single-fixed gear cake and multiple gear options to eat too.

As to the contest, best ss touring/commuter/all rounder/beater ride for the dollar, I have to recall one that got away, that early '90s rigid top-end Diamond Back Axis Team (beautifully tapered, skinny straight leg fork; no one can tell me that straight forks can't be beautiful) that I converted with ENO hub to a 64" fixed gear all rounder with 60 mm Big Apples. Perfectly neutral handling, high bb allowing you to pedal the 170 mm cranks around corners, tires that rolled acceptably on pavement, floated over sand, and shrugged off goatheads even though this was 10 years before good sealants. All this was achieved largely for the cost of the ENO hub, as my brother gave me a family deal on the frameset and I had the other bits lying around; but it has been too long for me to recall a total.

I think this project beat out even that other low-cost fixed/ss project using an early-gen Raleigh Technium sports tourer.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Minh]

hey bill looks great, and the pre-scratch & dent frames can be a little liberating, but even with the parts bin build, a quickbeam is always gonna look great!

[Andrew Turner]

I had a chromed Soma Rush with a similar gear setup (two chainrings up front and two cogs on a road wheelset). That was a wickedly fun bike to mess around on and my first steps into non-conventional builds. Shoulda kept it but at least it paid for our first couch. 

[Will M]

Bill, I love the design constraints (one-day build, single-speed touring, AND low cost).  About 4 years ago, motivated by my Quickbeam's setup of "One Speed, One Cog, One God" (exactly, Patrick :) -- but needing significantly more luggage capacity than a Quickbeam for living car-free -- I did a VO Campeur single-speed conversion via a Surly Ultra New Singlespeed MTB Rear Hub and a Paul chain tensioner.  The Riv/Nitto Big Back Rack, naturally.  Porteur front rack.  Albatross bars. As you can see...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/millhiser/28828007907/in/album-72157668716780897/

Darn thing ended up being $1200 more than my Quickbeam, and it took me weeks to build it, so I failed 2 of 3 of your constraints.  But I love the simplicity of singlespeed touring. :)

Cheers,

Will

[Ryan]

Well that Vanilla is certainly pretty (and pricey). Neat build Bill; love the tape job and gold Pearl stem. You have quite the parts stash. But I have a question. How is your bike a single-speed when you have options for 6 speeds currently and up to 8? Is it a single-speed because there are no derailleurs so you can't shift on the fly? I get it that where you live is hilly so a true single-speed is probably not really practical

The Vanilla inspiring this challenge is a true single-speed in my mind, and it is sort of set up for touring with the rack and snug fenders

https://www.theproscloset.com/products/2019-vanilla-workshop-single-speed-xl 

Semantics....I know, I know. It's my retirement hustle as a linguistics student making me ask this.

Ryan/Winnipeg MB

[Bill Lindsay]

Ryan in Winnipeg said he had a question, and then asked two:

How is your bike a single-speed when you have options for 6 speeds currently and up to 8?  Is it a single-speed because there are no derailleurs so you can't shift on the fly? 

Yeah, I find it convenient to use the term "singlespeed" to describe any bike that has no derailers and no shifters.  People generally know what I'm talking about.  My builds usually have a lot of other details beyond the top level 'category'.  There's a decent chance that this Quickbeam will soon be a singlespeed with 12 choosable gears.  I'll probably label it a "dozenspeed".  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[amill...@gmail.com]

“Dodecaspeed” has a nice ring to it. 

Aaron in El Paso 

On Jul 20, 2022, at 11:30, Bill Lindsay <tape...@gmail.com> wrote:

Ryan in Winnipeg said he had a question, and then asked two:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/6751c9f5-780f-4e91-a111-dc04bd756308n%40googlegroups.com.

[Ryan]

Well...she not he actually...I see what you mean, and when you talk about bikes , you are usually crystal-clear. Thanks for answering. I always enjoy looking at your bikes and reading your posts about bikes and riding in general

[JohnS]

Not a touring bike, nor a one day build, but a super cool fixed gear over on the Radavist. Riv content, the cut down Choco bars really contribute to the vintage look...

https://theradavist.com/readers-rides-todds-morlock-the-time-machine/

Enjoy!

John

[Bill Lindsay]

Thanks!  I think the real deep philosophical question is: can I call it a tourer before it's been taken touring?  How long of a tour counts as touring?  From a pure 'naming' or 'categorization' perspective, there is such a thing as a touring bike.  That generally accepted "touring bike" is a touring bike even before it goes on a tour, even if it never goes on a tour.  So, for a bike that is not universally categorized as a touring bike; does it become a touring bike because it is taken touring?  

BL in EC