MBK Super Mistral project

[sparkybhp]

I recently did up a ratty looking Coventry Eagle road bike and I’m in the process of turning that into a true ‘fixie’. I really enjoyed doing that bike and wanted to do something similar again, just a tad more modern but still steel.
This MBK came up on eBay locally and I went for it. I know it’s nothing all that special but I like the chrome forks with the grey/yellow paint scheme. It has a nice set of vittoria tyres so that’s the purchase price of the bike pretty much covered!
This will get stripped down, overhauled and rebuilt in an urban single speed style.

I tried on the wheels I’ll be using before I start breaking the bike down, I have a random carbon rear and a spinergy spox front to use. Should be a nice Christmas project, I’ll keep updates coming as I go.

 

[KermitGKona88]

So glad you put the seatclamp right...

 

[sjcprojects]

I've always thought these sort of bikes are best for single speed/fixie conversions - as a pure 'road' bike, nothing special, but make a nice enough ride for urban use, and you don't care too much if it gets bit beaten up along the way. I always wince a bit when I see some lovely road frame used for the same thing.

 

[novocaine]

I have a cringe every time I see a cinelli used for this.
less so when I see something like this. crack on, at least it's the right size for you (in comparison the PO who was obviously to short for it judging by the seat height).

 

[sparkybhp]

Yeah cheers, making good progress on this. Size wise it’s a little unusual as it’s 52cm seat tube and 55cm top tube c/c - I thought it might be a touch small but with the proportionally longer top tube seems good to me.

Was hoping to use these flipped and chopped road bars but the levers I have won’t fit, bars are a touch too fat for the 22mm clamps.

I have these ally flat bars and the brakes fit no problem here, quite like the flat bars anyway. I used a slightly longer stem which I had off an old Raleigh Winner.
I haven’t cabled up the brakes yet but with the chain fitted I took it for a quick spin and it rides good, gearing is 50/15 so not too tall.
My scales say 9.3kg which is impressive considering the frame tubing isn’t Reynolds or anything - suppose the smaller size helps keep the weight down.

 

[sparkybhp]

All done. Found these bars which actually came off an old MBK mtb I bought for parts. They’re narrower than the other ones and suit the bike better. I reused the charge bar tape it came with, just cleaned it up. Fresh brake blocks and cabled up - ready for a spin in to town this morning.