A few months ago, I was asked if I could build a bike with the following specifications:
- A belt, not a chain
- A 80’s frame
- Disc brake in front
- Discrete paintjob
- …
As I had this nice Merckx from 83 in the workshop, I just decided to go for this one and started checking for the rest. Very early in the process, I ruled the disc brake out as the frame requires a 1″ headset, which on top of it is also quite long (frame size is 57) , and I have my doubts it would support the load a disc brake would actually require.
For the paintjob, it will be all black with just small ice blue QomKom logos. Simple, efficient and classy.
The next challenge is obviously the belt: you need your frame to be very special as, unless you know the Chinese Rings trick, it has to allow the belt to go through it. Well…the frame I selected does not allow it and we had to be a little bit creative. We came up with the following solution:
The frame has been cut and a small tube inserted. We drilled a hole through this and threaded it. Now we can insert a screw and we have a way to insert and remove the belt in the frame.
ALso notice the chaindrive will be on the left side, hence the name of the project: the Left Side Drive bike.
Pretty cool isn’t it ?
Check this post soon for the progresses 😉