This is the Bleriot I recently built up. It's a very nice riding bike, and for the price it is very nicely made and finished frame. Components on it that are a bit out of the ordinary:

1. The cranks are NOS Sugino PX with TA 40-28 chainrings. I don't believe in large chainrings on a bike that's just meant for ambling.

2. The hubs are NOS Deore DX 7-speed, and the cassette is a 9-speed 11-32 with the 11t cog discarded so that eight 9-speed cogs fit in the space originally meant for a 7-speed cassette (nine-speed cogs have closer spacing so the overall width is the same). With the OCR Velocity Synergy rear rim this gives an almost completely dishless rear wheel.

3. The hammered Honjo mudguards look very nice, but as others have commented, they're very fiddly to fit. I also cut some washers from an old heavy-duty inner tube to provide a bit of insulation from vibration at the mounting points.

About the only thing I don't like about the frame is having the rear brake cable at about 10 o'clock on the top tube. It means that in my customary position when stopped at intersections or traffic lights, my leg is pressing the bare cable against the top tube. I can see that the paint is not going to last very long without protection.

Nick Payne

Canberra
Australia

njpayne@internode.on.net