Elle, the Elswick Tour Anglais

I've got a new project, her name is Elle. She is a very old racer, and the plan is to convert her to singlespeed/fixed gear. That plan also involves 'as cheaply as possible'.

She currently looks like this...




Today I made the first step towards one speed-dom, my good friend Pete helped me shorten the chain and remove the derailieur so that I to have in essence a single speed bike. Eventually i plan to remove the old cassette and replace with a single sprocket. The rear wheel is also set with a flip flop hub, meaning I can add a further sprocket and locknut creating a fixed gear side.

My initial assessment leads me to conclude that my first round of tasks will be:

- buying a new rear tire, it is super fatigued!
- changing the seat post, it's just too short
- flipping the handlebars and making into bullhorns
- retaping the handlebars.
- replacing pedals, and maybe getting clips
- checking and replacing brakepads
- sprocket and locknut for FV
- replacing hub bearings
- sprucing the old gal up, cleaning off rust etc.
- replacing ballbearings in rear hub.