While Adam has been putting the finishing touches to the Charge Plug single speed that he bought, I have been looking for a similar project. Adam found a completely unloved Charge going for a decent price and set to work turning it into a fully fledged, drop bar, single speed commuter machine.
It’s come out looking great and it set me off down a part of looking for a bike to do up. I thought I’d had a very short and successful search when I spied a blue Charge Plug with bullhorn bars for £50 but upon messaging the seller it transpired that he ‘had to take it down because it needed a couple of things doing to it before he sold it’. That, to me, sounded like code for wasn’t allowed to sell it or he’d realised what a silly price he’d put it on at.
After a few days of looking I couldn’t find anything near what I wanted or what I wanted to pay so my mind started to turn to other ideas. I had originally planned to do up my old Felt bike that had served me so admirably on our journey to France and I had done that, to a certain degree. There wasn’t much to upgrade in truth, it already packed a solid 105 chainset so fresh bar tape and a good old clean was all that it seemed to need.
However, a couple of things were bothering me about the bike and it’s continued use for anything other than a turbo trainer bike.
The bike is in good nick and would make a brilliant commuter with a few things doing to it. With a potential September return to the office looming, now appears to be the right time to consider making some changes.
The first thing I am going to do (another first in my list) is to swap out the TRP Spyre cable disc brakes for Shimano 105 hydraulic brakes. I think this is the one thing that is holding me back from using this bike more as I don’t have the trust in the current brakes compared to the Tarmac. It’s a pricey move but I think it will give me confidence and a bike that I will ride not only to and from work.
The second thing I am going to do, possibly at a much later date, is to get some Hunt 4 Season Disc Wheels for it. I have been so impressed with the CAD30s that I bought for my Tarmac that I doubt I will buy wheels from any other company in the future. The 4 Season Disc wheels weigh in at 1,588g which, considering they are alloy wheels, is amazing. The carbon aero disc wheels that I have weigh 1,367g as a comparison, but are £460 more expensive. The 4 Seasons, dressed with a set of tubeless Schwalbe Pro One Evo tyres will make a hard wearing team for the winter months.
The last thing I have been looking into is mudguards. My only option here is clip on guards as the bike doesn’t have the pre-drilled mudguard bolt holes and it isn’t a product that I know a lot about so if anyone does, please let me know in the comments!
Oh……and a bell. Gonna get a bell!
IAIN