Tartan Carrier Bag.

New Rear Tartan Carrier Bag.

October 2015

Finally I have found a period style rear bike bag / box for the Kingpin. Very hard to get hold of in good condition and for the right price, some very tatty ones seem to sell on eBay for more money than the bike cost when it was new!

Any way I managed to be the only bidder on the bag pictured below, its a reproduction one from a company called Cycle Chic from a couple of years ago, they don't seem to make them any more either. Not quite the right colour but these new versions are very well made and I'm pleased with it. I will try and source one the right colour if I can but in the mean time this one will do.

New Brooks Saddle and Brooks Challenge Tool Bag.

New Brooks Saddle and Brooks Challenge Tool Bag.

March 2015

This winter I decided to put a Brooks B17 saddle on the Kingpin, as the "new old stock" saddle that was on the bike was uncomfortable and noisy, the new saddle is the exact opposite! I also added a Brooks tool bag, not the most practicable of bags, but it holds a puncture repair kit, an old style "dumbbell" spanner a sort of multi tool, and a couple of metal tyre leavers. It suits the age of the bike. 

This phot was taken March 2020 during the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

Dawes Kingpin Update June 2014

Dawes Kingpin Update June 2014

Since my last post about the Dawes Kingpin I had put the project on hold over the winter months, but when spring and summer arrived I started to some more work and fettling on the bike.

I've adjusted the gears finally and they are working perfectly now, they were giving me some problems and not shifting properly, and when I rode the bike I seemed to be only able to ride it in 3rd gear. I eventually found out that I had the adjuster too tight once loosened off and tweaked they worked fine. I thought at first it was the gear lever at fault, and I searched eBay for a new leaver, I'm pleased I never found one because the fault had nothing to do with the leaver, you live and learn.

I may in the near future take the Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub apart and give it a good service, but its fine for now and works better than I thought it would. Brakes have been adjusted too and various rattles and noises have been banished from the bike forever! UPDATE: I did completely take the hub apart and service the gears in 2020. 

I have ridden it a few times, not that far, I have three other modern bikes to do proper riding on, but I did ride the Dawes to the Bicester Bicycle Day in August (2014), an 11 mile round trip where the bike got a lot of attention.  

It was fun to ride it and it was interesting to ride it just in normal clothing and trainers, no special cycle gear, no helmet, no lycra. I also rode it to a friends house who had expressed an interest in seeing the bike, when I had got to the door the front tyre went flat, a huge pinch flat in the inner tube, very annoying.

I have decide that the "new old stock" white saddle I bought for this bike is horrid, uncomfortable and squeaky, in fact, an instrument of torture! I am going to change it for a Brooks B17 saddle when I get the chance, I'm also going to put on a leather Brooks Challenge tool kit bag on it, which was a birthday gift a while ago, and instead of the white grips I think I might put on some black grips or maybe Brooks black handlebar tape.

I am still looking for a blue tartan rack bag, I think its going to be a long search.

CLICK HERE for the link to the Facebook group.

Memories of Owning a Dawes Kingpin

Memories of Owning a Dawes Kingpin

First published October 2013 

I'm very pleased with the way this bike turned out, I've ridden it a couple of times, it's a strange sensation. I have a lot of memories of the bike, some great and some not so great. I used to go everywhere on it, to school, to my after school job cycling from West Ealing, London to Paddington, London, I played truant using my bike to explore and get lost, and I used to travel from my home in North West London to the edge of Kent during the school holidays to visit my aunt for a holiday.

I was 13/14 and I rode that bike all over and through London, no special equipment or clothes, just got on the bike and went. I even moved home on it once as there was no room in the removal van for the bike, so I had to cycle the 30 miles from my old house to my new home! I kept it until I was nearly 16, for the life of me I can't remember what I did with it! I expect it’s landfill now, at least I saved this one from a similar fate. 

UPDATE. Since this post was first published, I have been on some rides with fellow Dawes Kingpin enthusiasts, Facebook and Facebook groups were not a 'thing' when I started this project. CLICK HERE for the link to the Facebook group.

Dawes Kingpin Finished Restoration 21/10/2013

Dawes Kingpin Finished Restoration 21/10/2013

Here are some photos of the finished bike. Well almost finished, the seat post is jammed at the moment, so I need to get that out because I have better one, but it will have to wait for a bit. 

I also have just realised that I forgot to put on the new old stock white bicycle pump that I bought for the bike when I took the photos. I will up date the pictures again when it stops raining!

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Needs a bag and dynamo

Somehow I managed to get the seat post stuck, I  had to take the Kingpin into my local bike shop, Broadribbs of Bicester to get the stuck seat post out, fortunately they achieved it with out damaging the new paintwork. Broadribbs also trued the wheels for me.  

Weinmann Brakes & Brake Levers

Weinmann Brakes & Brake Levers

As you can see the brake callipers and levers were a bit tatty and corroded, with flaked chrome on the brake lever brackets. The Weinman brake callipers were easy to take apart and clean, one of the easiest jobs to do on the bike, I cleaned the chrome as best I could but it still shows signs of rust but on the underside, so it can not be seen easily. 

The brake blocks were hardened with age, so I purchased some new ones. I did a test ride on the bike before I changed the blocks the difference in stopping was significantly better, but not as good as modern brakes. Probably because of the chrome wheel rims. 

Before Cleaning

After Cleaning

New old stock brake cables and ribbed covers bought on eBay

Kingpin Wheels and White Wall Tyres.

On my original 1970's Dawes Kingpin I specified a Sturmey Archer Dyno-Hub on delivery.  I was hoping to use the Dyno-Hub wheel  that came on one of the two bikes I bought on eBay. When I started to clean up the wheels it became clear that the rims on the DH wheel were not going to clean up very well. I abandoned the idea of using the Dyno-Hub and cleaned up the two best wheels out of the three pairs that I had to choose from.

As you can see they were in a bit of a state but I did manage to get nearly all the rust off with GT85, wire brush, wire wool, Autosol polish and a lot of work. It was so much work I did consider buying modern wheels. In the end I persevered and I am pleased with the results.

Once cleaned I took the wheel to my LBS had them trued, and one spoke replaced. The tyres were perished and cracked, the inner tubes seemed to retain the air but I bought new tyres, tubes and rim tape.