Mk1 Charge Cooker update

You may remember i picked up this Mk1 steel frame set Charge Cooker minus wheels real cheap at £118.00 `Buy it Now` on EBay a while back, and already having bought a Charge wheel set for £50 i had this bike rolling for under £200, and that was after having to replace a stripped crank arm.
The bike needed a few things to press into regular use, a seized front mech is only still on to keep the chain on and the 32t front chain ring will get replaced with a 30t narrow wide, then there are  the Maxxis tyres on the Weinmann rims, far to slack to set up tubeless properly so did the usual trick of foam from a cheap camp mat and the split tube method...

Some Alpkit mudguards were added along with a pair of Ergon grips off a bike not in use and i took the bike down town and onto the coast as such a nice afternoon...

Time for some wave therapy, song is `Constants are Changing`` by Boards of Canada


Wave Therapy; Broadsands, May 2019 from coastkid71 on Vimeo.


Nice wee chilled cycle,  the bikes going ok also...

Back home and i fitted a 30t narrow wide chain ring and removed the front mech,

Only problem was the width of square taper crank on this  bike is not wide enough, think from memory it is a 142.5mm width, so the ring was dam close to the frame and the chain rubbed the tyre in 1st gear, but there is a way around this...

And that is to fit the ring on the outside, as i have already done on another bike before...

And i fitted the 22t granny ring as a bail out though never be needed for beach riding...

With the ring fitted on the outside it makes for a big gap between the rings but this does not matter when not using a front mech and actually makes it easier to lift across if it is needed to be used...

Good chain line now in the lower gears...

And dam near close chain to tyre on the 22t bail out option inner ring but not going in mud it can be used ok...

That should make more use out this real cheap Fatbike that has still cost under £200 to build inc tyre 2 24" tubes sealant, foam to cut as strips to set up tubeless, and a new chain ring,
That`s a cheap fatbike!

On Saturday it was out with Andrew, home from Australia and wanting to try a Fatbike having seen the posts on Social Media...

Ice cream earned...

More soon...

Fatbike update; 2nd Charge Cooker build...

With the old original Pugsley stripped to repaint and restore to the same spec as i bought it 10 years ago, i now had a load of parts ideal to build up the 2nd Charge Cooker Alloy Fatbike frame i bought new massively reduced online. I would use the Shimano Alfine 8 speed Internal gear hub (IGH) presently on the old Pug and would lace a symmetrical front wheel with a Large Marge rim and shod with the chunky Surly Nate tyres,
With the `Big O Manufacturing` full mudguards and the Shimano 8 speed  IGH with no mechs to clog makes set up a great wet weather bike and the bike to use for towing firewood off the coast with the FatBOB Yak trailer i made, you can read about the trailer Here...
Headset, stem bars, grips, brakes indeed the whole cockpit off the old Pug and saddle/seatpost would be used, another cheap but ideal VP 100mm square taper BB spindle (£18 posted from Italy) along with some retro used Suntour cranks for £15 would get the bike rolling...

9Zero7 alloy forks are 20mm longer than the previous Charge steel forks and should slow the steering - ideal for towing heavy loads on the trailer...

BB installed after i drilled a 8mm drain hole in the BB shell...

Stainless Surly chainring and KMC rustproof chain also transferred over...

A broken spoke needed changing and here is where the split tube `Ghetto tubelesss` set up works well, you can deflate and push the tyre bead off the rim and with it the split tube which has semi bonded onto the tyre, move the rim tape or if gaffa tape cut a hole to remove the old nipple and replace without the worry of breaking an air tight rim tape, as your split tube is effectively your rim tape. I think it`s a good set up for non tubeless specific rims and tyres...

Use another spoke threaded in the rear of the spoke nipple to inset it and and avoid dropping it in the dual wall rims...

With Vertical drop outs need an Alfine chain tensioner to keep the chain tensioned.
Using Vertical drop outs i wont have the problem of the wheel moving in the horizonal drop outs when hauling really heavy loads - something that has happened a few times with the Pugsley, more so an issue when you use the supplied 9mm QR spindle with trailer bobbins than these Bobbin nuts on the Alfine hub. I haul way more weight than the BOB Yak trailer is supposed to take!, it`s an amazing trailer with what loads it can burden...

A lovely mid week with high pressure and after work i took the bike for a quick spin and all is well and it rides nice with a taller fork...

Loads of wood washed up on our coast. Apparently Redwood from Norway washed over board in the recent storms.  Destined for Lieth at Edinburgh the East Lothian coast is littered with it.
Need to try salvage some at work for building stuff!...

Ready for working with the FatBOB Trailer to haul firewood off the coast once i sort the rear rack to carry the cordless chainsaw...

Charge Cooker Maxi 1 Alloy Fatbike build £300 + used parts...

Ok i lied it cost £315 plus used parts i already had but yeah a cool Fatbike built from the cash of selling my old car and using stuff i had to hand plus the following new parts;

Frame; clearance on eBay;   £78
wheelset with tyres;              £145
VP 100mm sq taper BB;       £18
Headset;                                £18
10 speed chain                      £18
Avid BB7 brake callipers     £18
Charge Spoon saddle           £20

What`s this? an alloy frame fatbike?
Yeah i know!, i like steel bikes, but you find me a steel Fatbike frame for this price, you simply cannot. and when i seen these advertised on eBay for this price it was a no brainer...

Used Parts;
Some of the items above  i could have sourced used but time was running out for a winter beach bike to be ready - this bike is replacing my old Pugsley which at 10 years old and Scotland`s 1st fatbike is being retired from the harsh conditions of the east coast to be restored to how i bought it, and the `Charge has been built to also preserve my Surly Wednesday with it`s suspension fork and dropper post,

A 40t 10 speed Sunrace cassette and Shimano 1 x 10 ZEE drive train was used from a previous Surly Krampus 29+  build, everything else in the spec was used at some point in previous  Fatbike builds which if i sold on eBay i would estimate to be worth around say £100?

Cheap Fatbikes buys complete;
There is a complete stock Charge Cooker 1 Maxi for sale this now on a Facebook page for £400 which is about the cheapest you can buy a decent frame set Fatbike for here in the UK,
So i kinda matched that with using used parts i had already payed for but yeah for under £500 you can get a decent built Fatbike,


Swappable stuff;
Despite being a large frame this bike measures up only a half inch longer than a medium Surly Pugsley, and my original 18" Pugsley Medium size frame bag made for my old `non drop tube` Pug Epic Designs frame bag fits this frame nicely (As it also does for my Surly Wednesday)
Ideal for stashing extra winter clothing, to a brew kit...
In case you think the bag looks too small thats a grab rail gap on the top tube for walking in snow conditions for those new to the Fatbike scene ;)

You could add on to the £30 cost of 2 x 24" inner tubes and tubeless sealant to set the wheels up Ghetto tubeless, and a set of Alpkit mudguards, but they are personal upgrades in my book...

Makes for an ideal bike for winter beach riding duties, and saving my Surly Wednesday which is my hardtail MTB in + wheel set up and with its suss forks and dropper post through the winter months...

More soon...