We had that old Royce Union 12 speed bike in the corner of the Fab Lab at school:
It was really dirty, and everything had to be taken apart, cleaned and lubricated:
I de-rusted and shined the chromes:
I remounted the original rim on a cool high flange alloy hub with a quick release lever, changed the 6 cogs freewheel for a single speed 20 t. bmx freewheel, re-centered the hub with custom parts, and added a recycled chrome chain guard from another bike, just for looks:
And rebuilt the wheel:
I cut off the small chain wheel and filed it smooth to make it into a single speed crank. It's a 52 t., hence the large freewheel on the back...
And the expanded chain:
Remounted the brakes:
Put some old school levers.
Later, I painted this one yellow in honor of the Syracuse made Yellow fellow:
