20th June 2020 - Jack Taylor ride - Lockdown LBS loop

A few photos from todays ride out on the Jack Taylor Super Clubman. I had to head into town to the local bikeshop, which funnily is called 'the Bikeshop'  as I have been sorting some hubs for when I put the JT Sports wheels together and had a set of 5 speed first gen Dura Ace hubs I needed to rebuild and lucky for me the local shop up here had a new old stock Shimano 10mm axle at 145mm. I had to cut it shorter which was no problem with the Dremel and a bit of patience to make a neat job and was only a fiver. So this along with some new bearings was well worth it. 

Weather was iffy when I left home so packed a long sleeve jersey as well as my rain jacket in the trunk bag just in case. Thankfully didn't need either as once I left town and headed south to do a longer loop home the weather brightened really nicely to the point I was thinking I should maybe have worn my shorts.

Once loaded up with my axle and bearings from the shop I did a quick loop of town and ended up down at the harbour with a quick photo looking over to Dunnet Head and Hoy. 

I ended up heading south east out of town on the small singletrack roads and basically doing a big loop inland before coming back down onto the coast near home. It turned out such a lovely afternoon I think I could of just kept on going for a good few hours more. If we weren't still on lockdown I may well have gone a lot further but as it was I had a great ride. 

This feeling of a great ride is in no small part due to the ride feel of the Super Clubman, it really is such a joy to ride. And this is with me openly admitting I have it only partially set up how I really want it. It just rides so surefootedly and stable but with that feeling of nimble handling that I find hard to describe. It just feels right, secure and effortless. I think once I have it fully dialled in I will get it repainted back to it's former glory as it so deserves to look as nice as it rides. 

I think this may be why I am having a hard time finding the motivation to finish my Mercian as I am enjoying this so much that I don't feel the need for anything else.....at the moment. :) So far I am keeping content and useful tinkering with wheels and hubs. It's not always motivation sometimes these last few months it is more to do with enjoying my weekends at home with the family with short rides and pottering about rather than being away on long rides. I suppose lockdown has kept me busy with work and like most made everything a bit unusual. 

I hope everyone is keeping safe and well. 

See you on the road soon.

Jamie

June 20th 2020 - Dura Ace High Flange First Gen rear hub rebuild/refurb

Decided to sort out this lovely High Flange Dura Ace rear hub.
It's a first gen so 1974 5 speed hub.
I recently picked these up for a bargain price and while there was a slight issue it was not the sellers fault or even to his knowledge of the issue.
I wanted to build this set up for the 1963 Jack Taylor Sport on some 27'' rims. The problem with it has been that the previous owner had replaced the axle, which originally would have been a quick release and put in a solid axle. I hadn't really paid any notice to it, until I tried it on the old Jack Taylor and found yes it's a 120mm hub but the solid axle is cut the same width as a QR which means that it doesn't come out past the dropouts in the frame meaning you cant put a nut on either end  :shock:  So such a nice and rare old hubset meant a complete refurb was in order and luckily the local bikeshop had a new old Shimano axle in the right diameter that just needed cut down to the exact size. These old 120mm hubs had a axle length of 131mm where as this new one was a standard 145mm. I had called in and asked about it earlier in the week, and so had a nice ride into town for it today on the Jack Taylor Clubman and then a nice long loop home, with the sun coming out and warming up throughout.
So an hour or so after getting home job done. With the new axle, bearings and grease fitted, the original  races and cones were spotless and far better quality than those on the new one so they went straight back on. The drive side of the old one had the alloy spacer seized to the axle so that took a bit to get off as it had also seized the outside nut to it and the axle. Just took a bit of fine cleaning, WD and persuasion to sort.
You can see in the photos the state of the end of the axle it came with so at least I have made it usable again. I really like these high flange hubs for touring and these early Dura Ace are so durable and smooth that for the £8.50 for axle and 18 x 1/4'' bearings I now have a great set of hubs for the Jack Taylor when I do get round to building it. It's about the only thing I have a use for these 120mm hubs.
I have still to get the rims but am hoping to find some Mavic MA2 27'' somewhere on my travels.  I also have several other wheels to get sorted  for various other ideas/projects. While I can lace and build and get through to the end stage it is the tensioning and final trueing that I have to find more patience for. :)
I did have an excellent ride to town and then home the long way to get this stuff but that's for later :)
Hope you all had a lovely Solstice.

Jamie

The solid axle on the rear hub on the right




New, nicely cut ;) axle

May 31st 2020 - Jack Taylor Super Clubman - Local Lockdown Ride

A lovely day up here in the north of Scotland today, pretty much the same as yesterday really and while sunny and warm there has been a really strong south easterly blowing. 

While I have had a few rides to town and a bit of commuting this was the first ride for a while that had no destination, just a rough direction with a meandering route. The aim was to just go for a ride and see where I ended up. 

So after a lovely morning at home the Jack Taylor was checked over, tyres pumped, chain oiled and off.

Nice weather to just be out cruising along and while the roads were noticeably busier than what they have been, they were still quieter than normal. 

The Jack Taylor is such a pleasure to ride, just a very nice handling well fitted and confident bike to ride. I am getting it close to right with how I want it set up. While of course it may not be as quick as a modern machine, and neither am I these days, it's near on 50 year age belies the ride quality and sure footed handling. This machine wasn't built to be an out and out race bike but a good all rounder, something it still does with a lot of style. 

While the wind was pretty wild depending on direction it wasn't enough to spoil such a nice ride. The bike was riding perfectly, so a nice couple of hours were spent heading around the coast, taking a couple of off road or dirt road detours which are normally a bit muddy but were bone dry today and then a few singletrack tarmac lanes with just a bit of main road riding thrown in when it was necessary, though to be fair there was not much traffic anyway.
I then returned home to a late lunch while watching the Space X dragon module dock with the space station before the family went across the field to the beach. No one at all on it as only one way in and was fine for Heather who is still in lockdown/shielding.
A good day indeed. I hope everyone else has had a good weekend as well.

Stay safe

Jamie 

Family Beach Time