It's taken a while, but I've finally made some more progress on my 1963 Witcomb fixed gear bike. After giving the frame and all the parts a really good cleaning, I started putting it back together. I've kept most of the original parts, with a few significant changes for practical reasons.
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Original tire and bent rim
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First and probably biggest change, I rebuilt the wheels, using new stainless steel DT spokes, DT brass nipples, and some nice old MAVIC MA2 clincher style rims, laced to the original Campagnolo hubs. The original rims were MAVIC Championnat du Monde, with some very old tubular (aka sewup) tires. One of the two rims, I think the front, had a very serious dent in it, which rendered it useless. I thought seriously about re-building with sewups, but the more I thought about it, the less appealing that was. Sure, that would be the "correct" choice, but I really want this bike to be something I can ride regularly without a lot of worry. As nice as sewups ride, the care and feeding is frankly more trouble than I want for this bike.
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Rebuilt wheels and new tires
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When building the wheels, I decided I would mimic the original spoke lacing patterns for the front and rear wheels. The front wheel has 32 spokes, and were laced in a "cross three" pattern, while the rear has 36 spokes, laced "cross four." While most production bikes would have had 36 spokes in both wheels, laced identically, a small, custom builder like Witcomb might do something different. The rear wheel seems more weight and stress, so a "beefier" build makes a lot of sense. Thus more spokes, with more crossings of each spoke.
I do love the classic look of tan sidewalls, and a nice round cross-section and smooth tread, so I opted for a set of Rene Herse 700x32c Stampede Pass tires. A bit fatter than what would have been on the bike originally, but I like some cush to my ride these days. The Rene Herse tires are light and fast and supple, so these should make for a lovely ride.
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Original headset
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Another change I made was to swap out the headset. The original was a Campagnolo Record, but someone somewhere along the line had painted the upper cup yellow, to match the frame. I tried my best to clean the paint off, but the end result didn't look good at all, so instead I installed new loose bearing headset, the Tange Levin, a classic that looks a lot like the original Campy, works just as well, and doesn't cost a king's ransom, like a period correct Campy one would. I figured from 5 feet away, nobody will know.
Finally, a new rear sprocket was installed, as well as a new chain. The reason for this is because the original gearing was a bit high for the kind of riding I'm likely to do on this bike. First, I'll be dealing with hills, and I'm also not as young as I once was. So, instead of the 16 tooth sprocket originally installed, which gave a gear of 79 gear inches, I installed an 18 tooth, for 70 gear inches.
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Original brake levers
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So, what's left? Well, obviously, I need to wrap the handlebars, and since this is a classic from the 60s, I'll be using cotton tape for that. Black would probably be the most straightforward choice, but I'm toying with other options. You can't really tell from the photo, but the bike had blue cotton tape when I got it. More important than tape, I need to install a front brake. Some people ride "brakeless fixies" but not me, thanks. I want a front brake on there just in case the chain breaks or comes off, and I also find it handy sometimes while riding. The bike appears to have been built to have a front brake, and it had an old Weinmann when I got it, but it was not in good shape, so I will be installing something else. I have a Universal Mod. 68 (introduced five years after the bike was built, but close enough for me) that I'm planning to install, with a matching lever. The previous owner had a "dummy" lever on the right hand side, basically just the body without the lever, and I might do the same, as it makes a convenient hand grip when riding.
Oh, one final thing, pedals! I'm going to put some modern, "clipless" SPD-compatible pedals on the bike to start with. Yeah, they'll look a little weird, but I'm out of practice at flipping over and inserting my foot in toe clips on a fixed gear bike, so the SPDs will be easier to start with. Eventually, I plan to put a more traditional "track" pedal with toe clips on there. I actually like riding in toe clips sometimes, and they just seem right for this old bike.
For more on this bike:
Sometimes Bikes Find Me!
1963 Witcomb Update
For an album of photos:
1963 Witcomb Fixed Gear Bike
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What it looked like when I first got it.
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What it looks like today!
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