Is it worth it?

DribblingRobot

Hi,

I bought a bike on gumtree for €50 last December, first time on a bike since I was about 10! I knew nothing about bikes when I bought it but I learned that the sticker on the seat tube that says "Reynolds 531" means the frame is made of pretty good stuff. The brand of the bike is Townsend. I remember loads of these when I was a kid but a google turns up feck all on the brand. There's a bit of rust on the frame but nothing catastrophic. So now I want to re-spray it and convert it to single-speed. Money is tight so what I really want to know is: is it worth it? Does the fact it's 531 straight away mean it's a good frame or could the frame be constructed poorly? If it's just a ****ty make with good steel then I don't think I should really bother but if it is a worthwhile frame to invest time and money into it as a project then I'd like to give it a go.

Opinions?

DR

P.S. Also, I've read a bit about stripping/spraying bikes but one question I have is would it be ok to use a wire brush attachment for a drill to strip the paint or would that be too harsh?

abcdggs

everything you need to know about painting
http://www.dublinfgss.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=77

Harrybelafonte

DribblingRobot wrote: »

Hi,

I bought a bike on gumtree for €50 last December, first time on a bike since I was about 10! I knew nothing about bikes when I bought it but I learned that the sticker on the seat tube that says "Reynolds 531" means the frame is made of pretty good stuff. The brand of the bike is Townsend. I remember loads of these when I was a kid but a google turns up feck all on the brand. There's a bit of rust on the frame but nothing catastrophic. So now I want to re-spray it and convert it to single-speed. Money is tight so what I really want to know is: is it worth it? Does the fact it's 531 straight away mean it's a good frame or could the frame be constructed poorly? If it's just a ****ty make with good steel then I don't think I should really bother but if it is a worthwhile frame to invest time and money into it as a project then I'd like to give it a go.

Opinions?

DR

P.S. Also, I've read a bit about stripping/spraying bikes but one question I have is would it be ok to use a wire brush attachment for a drill to strip the paint or would that be too harsh?

Does this Townsend have cottered cranks? I had one of them, cheap but good bike. Not sure it's worth respraying though. Depends on how attached to it you are.

mercbens

I remember that 531 tubing used to be considered a good thing but I also remember that Townsend used to be inexpensive too. Another thing, I resprayed an old bike once and a Garda accused me of stealing it. Take a note of the serial no, usually underneath the frame a keep it in your wallet. It helps big time.

DribblingRobot

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Does this Townsend have cottered cranks? I had one of them, cheap but good bike. Not sure it's worth respraying though. Depends on how attached to it you are.

It doesn't have cottered cranks. Would that make it more or less desirable?

beans

mercbens wrote: »

I remember that 531 tubing used to be considered a good thing but I also remember that Townsend used to be inexpensive too. Another thing, I resprayed an old bike once and a Garda accused me of stealing it. Take a note of the serial no, usually underneath the frame a keep it in your wallet. It helps big time.

I hope you asked him to back-up his claim, and got his badge-number to report him? That's a serious allegation, whether he meant it or not, and a Garda should know better.

Harrybelafonte

DribblingRobot wrote: »

It doesn't have cottered cranks. Would that make it more or less desirable?

More desirable I would think

seamus

531 used to be the bee's bollox for high-end amateur stuff when Alu was still very expensive. It was the strongest, lightest stuff that most people in the early 1990's Ireland could afford.

Townsend weren't a bad bike at the time - if they went to the effort of using 531 tubing, you can be fairly confident that it was a good bike at the time.

You should hold onto the 531 decal if you can and reapply it after the respray for retro value.

kumate_champ07

you could keep the paint in its current state and use it as a daily single speed rider, that way it wont attract too much attention when you lock it somewhere.