This bike started out as a rusty old Royce Union 10-speed, a steel frame Japanese bike from the early 1970’s. I picked it up on Craigslist as a project to learn how to work on bikes.
I joined Time’s Up, an environmental action bike co-op in NYC, who offer free lessons and a workspace with tools and instructors. Over the course of 2 months, I put a lot of sweat and even some blood into this build. I learned a lot (thank you Mark, Luke, and Izumi) and now the finished product rides like a dream! The steel frame is pretty forgiving of the rough NYC streets, and the mountain-bike style handlebars give it great handling in traffic.
Full story and pics after the jump…
I stripped most of the old parts off the bike, keeping only the frame, fork, stem, pedals, and Shimano brake calipers. Then I removed the stickers from the frame, stripped and sanded it, and repainted it. I used Dupli-Color spray primer, paint, and clear coat from Napa auto parts. The lugs were painted by hand with enamel paint and a fine brush.
Then I installed:
— Sugino 75 track cranks, chainring, and bottom bracket
— SRAM single-speed chain
— 18 tooth rear cog with a Wheels Mfg. single-speed spacer kit
— 700c Mavic MA-2 rims, Shimano freehub
— Ritchey Tom Slick city / touring tires
— Race Face MTB flat bar w/ Specialized grips
— BMX 2-finger brake levers, new cables and housings
— CCM Pro retro vintage seat
Most of the parts were bought new, except the Sugino track set and the wheelset. Izumi at Time’s Up generously hooked me up with the Sugino’s for cheap, and the wheelset came from a Bianchi Volpe touring bike I’m currently rebuilding.
Check out some before & after pics:
BEFORE (bum bars, 27″ Araya wheelset, cottered cranks, cheapo SS setup):
AFTER (new wheels, drivetrain, bars, and paint job):
hey!… i know this bike..
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Nice job! I just finished my first single speed build as a Christmas present. Your paint looks great…nice to see some good rattlecan results.
Keep it up
I have a Bianchi Volpe and I want to put an adjustable stem on it because the drop handlebars are just too low. Do you know what size stem I’ll need? I would like to learn how to repair my bike and install parts on it, too. Did you learn a lot at Time’s Up? I live on 85 St in Manh. Where do you get parts for your bikes? Is it easy to do? I am intimidated about fixing and changing parts on my bike. That’s why I always go to the shop. But it’s expensive and they’re in it for profit, which is a good thing because that’s their job.
Mark,
Nice work on the conversion. A huge improvement over the original Royce Union configuration. Nice color combination – should certainly allow you to be seen in traffic.
I’m currently finishing a similar type of conversion – with a small twist. I’ve taken a Schwinn Traveller 12 speed frame and changed it into a 3 speed. I’ve built the wheels – Mavic 700c Open Pro rims – Campagnolo front hub and I rescued the rear 3 speed Sturmey Archer hub from a 1967 girls model Schwinn Breeze that was in the back of a pick-up truck on it’s way to the dump. I rebuilt that rear hub – ya gotta be brave to strip one of these hubs apart – and it shifts perfectly. I’ve replaced the old centerpull brakes with a single Campagnolo Mirage side pull unit in the front with hidden cable routing. I also replaced the original “trigger” shifter – it was too beat up to use anyway – with a new model twist shifter directly from Sturmey Archer in England. It looks really sweet and keeps the cable presence to a minimum. I’ve painted it mostly black with the seat tube and head tube done in dark grey metallic.
To finish it off, I took an old head badge from a 1932 “Ace” (predecessor to Schwinn)and repainted it as original and attached it along with a pair of original Schwinn “Black Phantom” decals on the down tubes.
The finished product looks like a track bike with 1 brake. I live in the Detroit area and we have an island park in the middle of the Detroit River (Belle Isle). It’s really flat, and 1 loop of the island is a little more than 5 miles. That’s where I’m doing most of my riding right now. No need for anything more than 3 speeds and the bike still has the look of a track bike/fixed gear bike.
Thanks for the great photos. Glad to see I’m not the only one thinking along these lines. Keep riding.
Gottago
MB
Wow Matt, I am impressed with the description of your build. please post a link to pictures of it, or email it to me at mechastudios **at** usa **dot** net. I’d love to feature it in a future post on this blog.
Hey I really like your blog keep up the good work with your posts
cool pics
First reaction when i saw the before and after: awesome.
Hey, this is an awesome post. I really think you should do more like this, I’ll be sure to visit your blog again to see your new stuff. Thanks.
Really excited to see such a beautiful overhaul of this bike. I was just given this EXACT same Royce Union by a friend clearing out his garage. It’s in a bit rougher shape than yours appears to have been, but I’m working on it. I’m actually doing so at Green Options Buffalo here in the Queen City. Sounds exactly like your Times Up workshop. The guy there who was helping me out was really excited to see that Shimano once made a Dura-Ace center-pull break. Good call keeping those! They’re classic, and unique.
Speaking of the breaks, how do they handle the 700c wheel set? I assume their predecessors were the original 27×1 1/4? It seemed to me they might not reach, but things look alright from what I can see in your picture.
Nice work – I hope mine turns out as well! If it comes close, I’ll post a link to some “after” shots. I’m keeping it a 10-speed, btw.
Hi Greg, it’s been a few years now since I built and sold this bike, so I don’t recall the performance too well. The brakes worked fine though, as conversions from 27″ to 700c are easy; 700c is just a little smaller than 27″ and most brakes can handle the difference with a minor adjustment to the pads.
I didn’t realize that this had the old DA centerpull brakes. I was quite the mechanic n00b when I built this bike (it was my first build) so I held onto the center pulls more out of ignorance and thriftyness than an understanding of their provenance.
I enjoy this website – its so usefull and helpfull
I did a Royce Union too!