doing up a old bike

dickidy

Have most of the components off.
First problems I've come across , I can't get the crank set, pedals or chain off.
I'll try again over the weekend .
Think I will order new cables for the gears and breaks. Is there a particular size I need or can I just get some from chain reaction

Brian?

dickidy wrote: »

Have most of the components off.
First problems I've come across , I can't get the crank set, pedals or chain off.
I'll try again over the weekend .
Think I will order new cables for the gears and breaks. Is there a particular size I need or can I just get some from chain reaction

You need a special tool to take the crank arms off. Funnily enough it came in Lidl tool kit I bought about 10 years ago.

One of the pedals will be opposite threaded so it's actually righty loosey.

How are you trying to get the chain off?

Brian?

Have a look at this:

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/crank-removal-and-installation-three-piece

You're going to need a lot of new tools. But I wouldn't buy park tools, they're great for pro's but i don't think they're worth the expense for occasional usage.

8valve

some of the online retailers do basic toolkits for about 40 quid that will include a chainbreaker and crank remover.

top tip - replace the old loose bearing bottom bracket with a modern sealed bearing one with the same spindle length.

fit it and forget it.

OP - you mentioned the wheels were buckled - any local bike shop with a proper old school mechanic will be able to sort these for you and get them true (running straight)again.

8valve

The tax man wrote: »

Certainly not a colour scheme used on a Road Ace. Looked familiar as a lower end bike, a Raleigh Quasar but that was made with 501 tubing and didn't have the shot in seat stays.
The only other 531 frame that had the same paint scheme and shot in stays was the Raleigh Gran Course frame set.

TTM, I bow to your superior Raleigh knowledge


I have a fondness for old Raleighs and have lined up some 70s and 80s frames to repaint and rebuild as team replicas; TI, Panasonic and Banana. Feckit I might even do a Castorama as well. I did a 531 frame in the Panasonic colours with decals from H Lloyd's a couple of years back and foolishly sold it on a whim. Have regretted it since.

dickidy

Brian? wrote: »

You need a special tool to take the crank arms off. Funnily enough it came in Lidl tool kit I bought about 10 years ago.

One of the pedals will be opposite threaded so it's actually righty loosey.

How are you trying to get the chain off?

I checked the chain for a quick release link bit there wasn't any so that's knowledge with then.
I will see is I can borrow a tool for the cranks
Yeh the pedal wasmr budging. I sprayed stuff on it so hopefully when I go back it might be alright.
Cheers

The tax man

hesker wrote: »

What model of Raleighs do you have. I've been on the lookout for a 753 in team colours for a while. Would love to have a look at one in the flesh.

Sadly I don't have any 753 framed bikes. Have an '83 Road Ace with the funky 600ax groupset, a Panasonic team with 531 frame with shot in stays and one Panasonic 531 frame with standard seat stays. Also have an '87 Raleigh 653 Race(Type 8801) it's an off the peg frame which the original owner had built up with Dura Ace 7400 groupset, Campagnolo hubs\Mavic rims and then NEVER used it. Just replaced two perished tubs and had a practically mint 30yr old bike.

The tax man

8valve wrote: »

TTM, I bow to your superior Raleigh knowledge


I have a fondness for old Raleighs and have lined up some 70s and 80s frames to repaint and rebuild as team replicas; TI, Panasonic and Banana. Feckit I might even do a Castorama as well. I did a 531 frame in the Panasonic colours with decals from H Lloyd's a couple of years back and foolishly sold it on a whim. Have regretted it since.

LOL, the Raleigh catalogues from the mid 80's were my bibles when I was getting into cycling. I knew each page word for word. I wouldn't know much about the 70's stuff apart from late TI models. Always wanted the Team Replica 12 but had to settle with the Team Cadet.:D
I recognised the paint scheme on the bike but not one I recall having those seat stays. Had to check online to find the Gran Course had the same colours. One sweet frame to have at the centre of any build.


I sold my Road Ace that I raced on back in the 80's, likewise I regretted selling it but with enough searching I found a clean complete replacement over 30 years later.

8valve

dickidy wrote: »

I checked the chain for a quick release link bit there wasn't any so that's knowledge with then.
I will see is I can borrow a tool for the cranks
Yeh the pedal wasmr budging. I sprayed stuff on it so hopefully when I go back it might be alright.
Cheers

The best way, in my experience, to get pedals off is with the cranks and wheels still on the bike.


put your foot on the pedal with your weight on it, then use a long pedal spanner to get as much leverage as possible...when I worked in a bike shop this was sometimes a two man job, for particularly stubborn pedals where someone hadn't bothered greasing the threads before fitting them.


as someone already mentioned, left side pedals are left threaded, so bear that in mind when removing.

Brian?

dickidy wrote: »

I checked the chain for a quick release link bit there wasn't any so that's knowledge with then.
I will see is I can borrow a tool for the cranks
Yeh the pedal wasmr budging. I sprayed stuff on it so hopefully when I go back it might be alright.
Cheers

You need a chain breaking tool. If I was you I'd buy a toolkit from chain reaction or somewhere. It's a good investment for the future .

hesker

The tax man wrote: »

LOL, the Raleigh catalogues from the mid 80's were my bibles when I was getting into cycling. I knew each page word for word.

Likewise but maybe a bit earlier than you. My heart sank when the panasonic scheme came out and a year or so later my interest turned to motorbikes.

I held onto those catalogues for years but after I left home someone decided to turf them. Fair enough. You can still buy them online but not that keen to pay good money for stuff that used to be free.

There’s mad interest in the Ilkeston stuff (a lot of it down to Mr McGowrans catalogue efforts) which is jacking up asking prices hugely and having knock on affects on lesser models such as Rapide etc

hesker

8valve wrote: »

The best way, in my experience, to get pedals off is with the cranks and wheels still on the bike.
put your foot on the pedal with your weight on it, then use a long pedal spanner to get as much leverage as possible.

There are a few different techniques but leverage is one of the best ones.

I had a pedal that hadn’t been removed in over 30 years. Felt like it was welded on. Took the crank off, put it in a vice. Slipped a pedal spanner into a 20 foot length of box iron and it turned like it was moving though butter.

8valve

hesker wrote: »

There are a few different techniques but leverage is one of the best ones.

I had a pedal that hadn’t been removed in over 30 years. Felt like it was welded on. Took the crank off, put it in a vice. Slipped a pedal spanner into a 20 foot length of box iron and it turned like it was moving though butter.

20foot? Now THAT is the ultimate lever!:)

hesker

8valve wrote: »

20foot? Now THAT is the ultimate lever!:)

Not quite up to Archimedes level but great for bikes

tigerboon

hesker wrote: »

There are a few different techniques but leverage is one of the best ones.

I had a pedal that hadn’t been removed in over 30 years. Felt like it was welded on. Took the crank off, put it in a vice. Slipped a pedal spanner into a 20 foot length of box iron and it turned like it was moving though butter.

If you have access to a vice just strip the pedal down until it's just it's axel left. Put the hexagonal bit in the vice and use the crank as a lever. I did this with a 25 year old pedal which seemed like it was welded on as well. Saves on the box iron

2 Wheels Good

swarlb wrote: »

My advice to you would be to take the bike apart, clean everything, and put it back together. Paint it and you lose it's 'originality'.
I restore cars for a living, and originality is king.

As I've it stripped to the bare frame a bit late asking, but what would you have done when the frame/decals were in this state?
I felt a basic rebuild would not have done it justice and the rust would have kept going if i didn't strip it.

swarlb

2 Wheels Good wrote: »

As I've it stripped to the bare frame a bit late asking, but what would you have done when the frame/decals were in this state?
I felt a basic rebuild would not have done it justice and the rust would have kept going if i didn't strip it.

OK, I'll give you an example. If you take a old car, for example, and strip off all the paint, it's not that difficult to match the original paint colour, even down to the original type of paint used.
If you strip your frame down to the metal, it's going to be difficult for a DIY'er to paint it the original colour, and without the original decals, the finished job is going to look like any other bike frame from that era, and not the Raleigh you originally had.
I's simply strip the frame, and give it a good wash and polish. Maybe spray over with a decent clear lacquer, making sure you don't damage the decals.
The result while not perfect, will retain a 'patina'.
My bike I pictured earlier, has plenty of scrapes and scratches from use.

tigerboon

swarlb wrote: »

OK, I'll give you an example. If you take a old cart, for example, and strip off all the paint, it's not that difficult to match the original paint colour, even down to the original type of paint used.
If you strip your frame down to the metal, it's going to be difficult for a DIY'er to paint it the original colour, and without the original decals, the finished job is going to look like any other bike frame from that era, and not the Raleigh you originally had.
I's simply strip the frame, and give it a good wash and polish. Maybe spray over with a decent clear lacquer, making sure you don't damage the decals.
The result while not perfect, will retain a 'patina'.
My bike I pictured earlier, has plenty of scrapes and scratches from use.

I agree with this and glad I kept the original. Some of the decals were only about 40% remaining people familiar with the brands will recognise them anyway. I took off the ragged edges with a very sharp blade, cleaned around the decals thoroughly and a small bit of fine sanding. Went over any rough patches of paintwork with a fine sanding and clay bar. I didn't patch anything. After a thorough washing and every spec of dirt removed I went over it a number of times with Turtle Wax. What do you think about clear coating in such a situation and would off the shelf cans be ok?

saccades

Had a few modifications since but all period correct drive chain (but upgraded to 8 spd xt/rtc) and xt auxiliary stuff (padals, seatpost etc).

Tyres are the only real change, the original "break and enter" had perished so some cheap big apples for messing have been fitted.

2 Wheels Good

swarlb wrote: »

OK, I'll give you an example. If you take a old cart, for example, and strip off all the paint, it's not that difficult to match the original paint colour, even down to the original type of paint used.
If you strip your frame down to the metal, it's going to be difficult for a DIY'er to paint it the original colour, and without the original decals, the finished job is going to look like any other bike frame from that era, and not the Raleigh you originally had.
I's simply strip the frame, and give it a good wash and polish. Maybe spray over with a decent clear lacquer, making sure you don't damage the decals.
The result while not perfect, will retain a 'patina'.
My bike I pictured earlier, has plenty of scrapes and scratches from use.

A lot of the decals were damaged or worn off, I've gotten the main decal reprinted, found a near original front decal and got a genuine Reynolds 531 frame decal so it'll be some bit closer to the original, and at least with the respray I'm hoping it'll last me another ~25 years.

If it were a classic like the Kona above I might have done things differently but British Eagle were never an icon of 90s mountain biking.

saccades

Kin 'ell.

Some things (rare, expensive) are worth restoring "sympathetically" others, like my cheap, nearly bottom of the range kona have been done on the cheap 'cos I'm skint and it's only worth 100 or so.

S'all bikes, s'all good.


Any nerds notice the radial lacing on the front of the Kona?

Kona didn't do oem radial, anyone know which firm did?

Doctors room ghost

I’m looking for an old yeti classic the green and yellow one.have any of ye one from the 90,s

Idleater

saccades wrote: »

Any nerds notice the radial lacing on the front of the Kona?

Kona didn't do oem radial, anyone know which firm did?

Hand builts? Most wheels back then would have been handbuilt.

hesker

tigerboon wrote: »

If you have access to a vice just strip the pedal down until it's just it's axel left. Put the hexagonal bit in the vice and use the crank as a lever. I did this with a 25 year old pedal which seemed like it was welded on as well. Saves on the box iron

Not sure using the crank as a lever is a great idea. Cranks have been known to shear, usually at the pedal eye

saccades

Handbuilt, but oem factory.

monkeysnapper

While my bike wasnt really anything sexy I was still quite chuffed ...

I saw bike on donedeal for 20 euro and couldn't stop myself ringing and spinning the wheels as car left drive ....

I spent alot of time degreasing and cleaning bike as it was in a sorry state ....

I had bar tape in shed I got free with pedals a few years ago and other than that I didnt spend any more money as I'm going to use for turbo training ...

I took off decals and I think it looks really nice...

My 8 year old helped me with a few things and we did bar tape together ...

saccades

That's a bargain - great spot.







Oem radial was trek bitd.

monkeysnapper

saccades wrote: »

That's a bargain - great spot.




Really chuffed with it , I used it this week for turbo training on my tacx vortex and it worked a treat ....

I bought some cheap 6 euro merida decals because my two bikes are merida ,

So only 26 euro all in ..... I did spend roughly 4 hours cleaning up but was fun ...

dickidy

Well I finally finished. From only ever changing a flat to rebuilding a bike this was an experience. A lot of mistakes were made. Some stupid but I never imagined how difficult it could be .
The help I got from someone on here was a life saver and if he had not of been so kind this bike would of ended up in launched out my back garden to die a miser death such was the pain and grief of caused.
This bike could fall apart and the paint could run off in the rain but it's done and I have learnt so much.

Brian?

dickidy wrote: »

Well I finally finished. From only ever changing a flat to rebuilding a bike this was an experience. A lot of mistakes were made. Some stupid but I never imagined how difficult it could be .
The help I got from someone on here was a life saver and if he had not of been so kind this bike would of ended up in launched out my back garden to die a miser death such was the pain and grief of caused.
This bike could fall apart and the paint could run off in the rain but it's done and I have learnt so much.

Good job. Looks great.