1968 B25 Front wheel... (pt 94)

[Derek996]

5 years is the recommended life for bike tyres. The ones on my B32 were around 20 years old when I bought it. I replaced them with Heidenau K67s which I thought were reasonably priced. Mitas also do arrange of tyres that will fit classic bikes, again reasonably priced.

[MadPete]

You know how it is. One thinks one has the difficult bit done and then one discover another aspect of B25 brake upgrading that one didn't initially and fully realise the implications of.

One of the difference between the 1968 B25 and the 1969 B25 is the change from SLS to TLS along with all the dual cam and linkage gubbings that comes with it. This new and somewhat more crowded brake plate makes fitting the original straight lower mudguard stay a bit difficult due to the position and interference of the cam spindle and the stay. Hence (I suppose) the move to a bent lower front mudguard stay on the 1969 TLS B25.



I wonder if I can just bend the old stay to look like the later one. or use a spacer to push it out by 1/4" or so.

[JulianS]

I fitted a TLS to a 1968 B25 many years ago. To avoid the stay I sawed off the threaded section of the cam then drilled and tapped it 1/4 BSF and used a short bolt and a penny washer to retain the cam. 

[limeyrob]

Bend the stay, its the fix with the least failure modes

[MadPete]

Wow! @JulianS' approach is subtitled "once an engineer - always an engineer". Respect mate! :0) Not sure I will go that far but its a neat solution. It seems a suitable spacer will do in the interim but I am torn between bending the stay ala @limeyrob above or buying a new 1969 "bent" stay (£29) and selling the old one... I suspect that, properly done, "bending" will require heating (and lots of it) and then repainting. By the time I have made a simple jig to bend symmetrically - and heated and bent and painted - it may be easier to buy one! :0)

[limeyrob]

Most of these things will bend fine cold, that said £29 isn't a lot when a job is going pear-shaped