A while ago, one afternoon when life was getting me down, I headed out to the shed, grabbed the nearest bike and raided the parts bin. The result was this here Sun GT10 road bike with original 10 speed drivetrain (downtube shifters and everything), modern Charge Slice bullhorn handlebars and carbon fibre Cane Creek 200TT brake levers.
And so, as is the way with these things, I took it out for a shakedown ride and pretty much scared myself half to death… those vintage brakes just don’t have the stopping power I like to have at my fingertips.
That, along with the amber wall tyres, saved me from falling in love with it and before long, it went up for sale… there was only one problem, nobody actually wanted to buy it.
“Would you consider trading it?” somebody asked me.
“Yes, yes I would.” I said.
And this went on for some time… yadda yadda yadda until eventually, the Sun went off to its new home and I took ownership of a shamlessly bright Carrera Epic road bike. Readers of a nervous disposition should look away now.
With a bright green & pink two-tone frame, 14 speed drivetrain and elliptical Shimano Biopace chainrings, I suppose this bike qualifies as ‘retro’.
Readers of an even more (or less) nervous disposition should certainly look away now!
There I was, gazing at the bike and wondering what on earth to do with it, and I had a moment of either sheer brilliance or sheer madness… you decide which.
I grabbed a set of flat mountain bike bars, invested in a set of BMX brake levers*, some Gussett BMX handlebar grips and a pink, pink, pink Charge Bucket saddle. Oh, and I did all the usual stuff you should expect from one of my bikes – I trued the wheels, made sure the bottom bracket & headset were correctly adjusted, replaced all the cables, put the tyres on the right way around(!) and adjusted the brakes so they were perfectly centered on the rims.
I still can’t say I like it very much… it’s just not my style but at least it’s finally quirky enough!
If you like it, you like somewhere near Manchester and you have £200 (or close to it) burning a hole in your pocket, drop me a line at jimmy.phoenix@yahoo.co.uk and she’s all yours.
* today’s lifeinthecyclelane top tip – BMX brake levers have exactly the same amount of cable pull as road bike brake levers so if you’re looking to convert to flat bars, BMX levers are an inexpensive solution!