I’ve had the Raleigh Arena in various stages of being built up for about 4 months now and at this stage I would like to share some experiences I’ve had with this project.

This was the second bike I had rebuilt, the first being a BMX which a friend and I rebuilt and painted when we were 14. I’ve also built a few new bikes up. Because I have previous experience with bikes I found it pretty easy to take apart ready for painting, with the exception of the bottom bracket – they get pretty stuck in there with 30 years of grime and water.

In preparation for painting the frame, I removed all the cable guides, rack and brake bosses. On the forks I removed the light mount, which stuck awkwardly out the side of the right leg. This resulted in a cleaner look after painting. For the paint I chose to go for a gloss black with some blue flake in it. In the light it looks pretty cool.

While I didn’t build the rear wheel, I built the front. I decided to lace this radially. So far I’ve found it to be rather stiff, especially with the large and pretty strong Velocity B43 rim. No noticeable sideways movement. Building it up with the Soma hub adds to the wheel, resulting in a pretty smooth ride.

Originally I started with a flat bar but soon changed to a Nitto riser bar and stem combo, which feels much nicer.

Since the original build I’ve also changed a few other things; moved from 19t on the back to 16t. Changed the SR cranks out to some Dura Ace with 144BCD sizing.

So far I’ve enjoyed riding the Raleigh but there have been some moments where I haven’t been completely confident in it’s ability. After doing some small drops and some wheelies on it, even though they were pretty smooth the forks have become really bent. I put this partly down to the 1″ headtube, the age of the bike and also the rake on the forks. The steering is really poor now, unfortunately. Frequently the fork and frame will make funny noises.

Twice now the chain has fallen off, which is actually pretty scary, as there is no way of slowing down. I was lent a chain tensioner last ride and can say they are the best addition to a converted road frame. Restores confidence when going downhill, as it stops the wheel coming forward and slackening the chain. I’d recommend one if you don’t already have one installed on your fixie.

Where to next?

I’ve had an offer to upgrade the frame to a new track frame and have decided to transplant the parts over to it. Since the new frame is orange I probably will get rid of most of the blue parts and head more towards a black build. More than likely, it’ll be a constantly evolving project.