doing up a old bike

dickidy · 20-11-2019 3:34pm #1

Hi,

i am thinking of doing up an old raleigh road bike (1970s) i think.
Is there any forms I could read up on or anywhere i could get some info.

Thanks

8valve · 20-11-2019 3:46pm

retrobike.co.uk is an excellent forum, covering mtb, road bikes and BMX.

I do a lot of bike restoration, mainly road bikes and a few BMX, so feel free to ask for any info you need, or just post in this thread; I'd be happy to help.

Check my instagram account paul.carroll.8valve and you can see some of the bikes I've done over the last few years.

Any questions, feel free to ask!

Great to see another old bike being saved!

lescol · 20-11-2019 3:58pm

Good luck with the bike, I love an old "steelie":D

BikeRadar have a vintage bikes forum:- https://forum.bikeradar.com/categories/vintage-bikes-forum

Youtube have loads of restoration videos, a nice one being:- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_gVGHWkAmy2gPuImt3lWLg

greenspurs · 20-11-2019 4:27pm

You missed a killer thread name …………

Recycling an old Bike …….

magicbastarder · 20-11-2019 4:29pm

lescol wrote: »

Youtube have loads of restoration videos, a nice one being:- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_gVGHWkAmy2gPuImt3lWLg

there's a chap calling himself monkeyshred too, who mainly does up 90s mountain bikes, also worth a follow.

8valve · 20-11-2019 4:43pm

greenspurs wrote: »

You missed a killer thread name …………

Recycling an old Bike …….

Is bike recycling just getting on your bike again???:D

dickidy · 20-11-2019 5:27pm

cheers folks,
I will try posts pic before i start and during.
feel free to throw suggestions at me or tell me if i am making a bollix of it.

fryup · 21-11-2019 12:30am

this video should inspire you, an old raleigh featured in it too.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmVkOlZFF3Y

Macy0161 · 21-11-2019 12:57pm

I've my old 5 speed "racer" that I found clearing out my mam's. I suspect it's more gas pipe than high end steel, but now I can see it is tourer, given the mounting points, dynamo mount.

Anyway, there's lots of info out there depending on how you want to go about it. I'm planning on hand painting, as I'm not convinced it's worth too much investment in stripping/ powder coating. Similarly with the other components, trying to do it with old or old style components isn't cheap.

fwiw, without frame setting, there was enough flex to fit a modern hub in the rear, which has very mixed opinions when you search (some warning against doing it that way, others doing it for years with no issue!).

Plastik · 21-11-2019 1:59pm

Posted these before. Bit of a labour of love. Powdercoat job, most of the parts were salvageable.

dickidy · 21-11-2019 2:29pm

This is it.

mamax · 21-11-2019 3:16pm

This will help you date it
http://www.kurtkaminer.com/TH_raleigh_serials.html

And some info on reynolds frames
http://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/reynolds/reynolds.htm
http://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/reynolds/images/006reynolds80brochure.jpg

8valve · 21-11-2019 3:31pm

Plastik wrote: »

Posted these before. Bit of a labour of love. Powdercoat job, most of the parts were salvageable.

Nice work! Great to see another one saved!

8valve · 21-11-2019 3:36pm

dickidy wrote: »

This is it.

What you have there is a Raleigh Road Ace, if I'm not mistaken.

It was a high-end, off-the-peg bike available from Raleigh dealers in the mid to late 80s.

A nice, hand-built frame, made from Reynolds 531 lightweight steel tubing, equipped with the excellent Shimano 600 groupset of components.

They were/are a great bike and a fantastic project to salvage.

I look forward to seeing progress; don't hesitate to give me a shout if I can be of assistance.
Paul.

2 Wheels Good · 21-11-2019 4:30pm

GCN Tech did a very good 3 video series in the summer on doing up a 90s mtb and converting it to gravel
It inspired me to finally get at my old British Eagle and get it back road worthy.

Retrobikes is good as well

I've it down to the bare frame, weather is the only hold up to get it sprayed and start the rebuild

Wheels €80 and shifters €70 were the biggest expense. I'm recycling what I can

May as well add a before shot

micheal100 · 21-11-2019 9:43pm

greenspurs wrote: »

You missed a killer thread name …………

Recycling an old Bike …….

I might have to rob this for a youtube video I might do on my "90's MTB to gravel" build! (except it's not gravel cos we live in Ireland)

micheal100 · 21-11-2019 9:50pm

I've actually started doing a blog on my build.

Here's the original frame:

And here it is bare metal

I need to get the next post up, have it sprayed and got a custom decal for the downtube, but need to get the pics done. Complete project bike, often think I could just as easy buy a brand new one for the money, but I'm learning as I go, so not a bad way to pass a few hours at night.

saccades · 21-11-2019 11:13pm

I saved my brothers 90's kona mtb from the skip, used during the footie season as a pub bike and in summer it`s the carthorse for trips around the country with the kids (fitted with a rack and panniers).

Bit small for me but will only be another summer until the oldest will use it.

2 Wheels Good · 21-11-2019 11:18pm

I'm using Spray.bike paint
They come well reviewed and while it won't match a custom spray it's not bad for €45. That's for primer, 2 colours and a transparent finish for the top coat

dickidy · 21-11-2019 11:21pm

Thanks a million. I've never tried to fix or service my own bike as I didnt want to damage it. I am using this as a learning curve so I can get to grasps with the mechanics of a bike.
I have striped it down tonight and everything seems to be in working order.
The wheels seemed buckled so will need new ones but that's miles away. Going to start the decreasing and cleaning of the components the weekend
What should I use or more to the point shouldn't use

2 Wheels Good · 21-11-2019 11:30pm

dickidy wrote: »

Thanks a million. I've never tried to fix or service my own bike as I didnt want to damage it. I am using this as a learning curve so I can get to grasps with the mechanics of a bike.
I have striped it down tonight and everything seems to be in working order.
The wheels seemed buckled so will need new ones but that's miles away. Going to start the decreasing and cleaning of the components the weekend
What should I use or more to the point shouldn't use

Have a look at the GCN video, he goes through it all. It'll give you an idea what needs replacing and what will do with a clean
The good thing working on a steel frame is they're a lot tougher
Wheels, mine were shook so i'm going to reasonable newer wheels and going from a 3 x 7 speed to 1 x 10
I'm keeping the seatpost and saddle, I'd a spare road stem/handlebars so I'm adding a quill stem adapter for that
I got a new bottom bracket on ebay for <€10 so that made sense, I'm reusing the cranks and adding a narrow wide chainring

The tax man · 22-11-2019 2:05am

8valve wrote: »

What you have there is a Raleigh Road Ace, if I'm not mistaken.

It was a high-end, off-the-peg bike available from Raleigh dealers in the mid to late 80s.

A nice, hand-built frame, made from Reynolds 531 lightweight steel tubing, equipped with the excellent Shimano 600 groupset of components.

They were/are a great bike and a fantastic project to salvage.

I look forward to seeing progress; don't hesitate to give me a shout if I can be of assistance.
Paul.

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.

http://www.bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Raleigh84/ral84_15.jpg

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=299843&hilit=raleigh+gran+course

Best of luck with the build, I've a collection of Raleighs myself so always nice to see another one coming back to life.
A good bike de-greaser like Fenwicks FS-1 or similar and an old toothbrush will cut through all the old crap stuck on drive train components and bearing races without being too harsh. May need to remove the bottom bracket and headset to see what condition the races and cups are in.

micheal100 · 22-11-2019 7:22am

2 Wheels Good wrote: »

I'm using Spray.bike paint
They come well reviewed and while it won't match a custom spray it's not bad for €45. That's for primer, 2 colours and a transparent finish for the top coat

That's what I used on mine. I was happy with the main one, but if I had to do it again I'd have done more sanding.

Also, I used a different spray for some of the details, and it bled under the masking. I was really, really impressed with the spray.bike stuff.

Another big tip, make sure you pay attention to the temperature: I kept the frame in the house, and used a heater in the garage when spraying/drying, and that seemed to help

micheal100 · 22-11-2019 7:32am

2 Wheels Good wrote: »

Have a look at the GCN video, he goes through it all. It'll give you an idea what needs replacing and what will do with a clean
The good thing working on a steel frame is they're a lot tougher
Wheels, mine were shook so i'm going to reasonable newer wheels and going from a 3 x 7 speed to 1 x 10
I'm keeping the seatpost and saddle, I'd a spare road stem/handlebars so I'm adding a quill stem adapter for that
I got a new bottom bracket on ebay for <€10 so that made sense, I'm reusing the cranks and adding a narrow wide chainring

I went (am going) from a 3 x6 to 1 x9 (could've been a 3 x9 but the front mech is shot, so 1x whether I want it or not!

). I'd a lot of parts already, but changed the seatpost and I should've measured it more accurately. Had to sand it down a lot/freeze it to get it to fit.

I also swapped out brakes as well (like others have said that GCN video was a great help).

I had trouble getting wheels to fit (need to change to get a 9 speed cassette on, and had to saw off some of the axle. Wheel is currently at the LBS to get it redished).

Between wheels (€75), handlebar/stem/adapers (€60), seatpost (€30), cassette & chain (€40), paint (€45) and cross brake levers (€35), I'm in it close to €300 (not to mention a few tools I bought along the way!)

micheal100 · 22-11-2019 7:47am

dickidy wrote: »

I am using this as a learning curve so I can get to grasps with the mechanics of a bike.

Same. Spending a bit on it, but I figure it's about the same cost as doing an evening course, and I'm probably learning more.

dickidy wrote: »

What should I use or more to the point shouldn't use

I'm sure the more experienced guys will have input. Generally if you're happy with things keep as is. Certain things should always be changed anyway if it's been a few years, like cables, chain cassette.

But in my case I had a box of old tiagra parts left-over after I had my winter bike converted from a 9 speed triple to 10 speed double, so used those as a starting point. (I actually wanted to put those on a bike, and then remembered I had the old frame, so cart-before-horse).

I didn't trust the old handlebar/stem setup (25 years of rusty neglect!), and same for seatpost saddle, so decided to change those. In my case I had drop-bar shifters, so it was cheaper get drops than change to a flatbar and get new shifters.

I then needed to change the rear wheel to take a bigger cassette.

A few tips on my part:

Strip the bike and spray it with spray.bike. Makes a massive difference, but time consuming
if stripping, just get a stripping/rust removal head for a drill. Failing that I used rustoleum paint remover. Spend a LOT of time prepping!
If you're changing things measure everything to the milimetre. Turns out I needed a 130mm axle, and not a 135. My seatpost was about 1.5mm narrower than the replacement
SJS.co.uk has a huge amount of parts I couldn't find anywhere else, and pretty reasonable.

Again, back to GCN, there is a playlist where Jon goes through several of the old-to-new builds, lots of good tips and ideas in those . I watched them a few times when I was trying to figure out what parts to get/what might be issues before I started actually building

2 Wheels Good · 22-11-2019 11:19am

micheal100 wrote: »

[*]SJS.co.uk has a huge amount of parts I couldn't find anywhere else, and pretty reasonable.
[/LIST]

Again, back to GCN, there is a playlist where Jon goes through several of the old-to-new builds, lots of good tips and ideas in those . I watched them a few times when I was trying to figure out what parts to get/what might be issues before I started actually building

Second that for SJS, address is sjscycles.co.uk
Also, Wiggles eBay outlet (you need parcelmotel) was great, got the bottom bracket, chain, cassette from them. It's great for picking up random parts.
With the gears, you can mix and match a little with derailleurs and shifters, as Jon said on the video 9 speed derailleurs will work with 10 speed shifters.
Sheldon Brown has a bit on that link
And another useful link
It's the pull ratios that need to match and the shifters dictate how many clicks so it's possible to go from an old 6/7 speed to a 10 speed without too much effort.

hesker · 22-11-2019 3:24pm

The tax man wrote: »

I've a collection of Raleighs myself so always nice to see another one coming back to life.

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.

Does anyone recall the bicycle history exhibit that Arnotts set up way back in the early 80's. I used to go in regularly to stare at the team coloured Raleigh which was probably one of the replica models available at the time.
There was also a competition for one with a bike set up on rollers.

swarlb · 22-11-2019 3:39pm

A 90's bike is old ??? Christ... must be great to be young.

This is mine... it's old, and it doesn't need to be 'restored' as there is no need. It's as it was when I built it... a really long time ago.
I've obviously changed the tyres, and the brake levers (wonder how many spotted they were not original)

One other major component was changed, as I broke the original... any guesses ??

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.

Brian? · 22-11-2019 4:23pm

dickidy wrote: »

This is it.

What are you going to do to it? Is everything working ok?

I have one of these:

https://www.vintagevelo.co.uk/shop/sold-bicycles/raleigh-joop-zoetemelk/

I cycle it to work every day, the groupset is original and all I have changed are the saddle, rear brake caliper and the wheels. I'll post a picture later.

As far as I'm concerned they look better with age appropriate bits on them, so I wouldn't change something unless it breaks.

Brian? · 22-11-2019 4:30pm

dickidy wrote: »

Thanks a million. I've never tried to fix or service my own bike as I didnt want to damage it. I am using this as a learning curve so I can get to grasps with the mechanics of a bike.
I have striped it down tonight and everything seems to be in working order.
The wheels seemed buckled so will need new ones but that's miles away. Going to start the decreasing and cleaning of the components the weekend
What should I use or more to the point shouldn't use

Be aware that new wheels may not fit. I had to cold set my front forks and rear dropouts to make a newer wheels fit.

This is mine:

micheal100 · 22-11-2019 4:31pm

swarlb wrote: »

A 90's bike is old ??? Christ... must be great to be young.

It's all relative, when you're nearly 40 now, but it's the bike you got when you 12...

doing up a old bike

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