Needless … and Pins :

I’ve spent a fair amount of time and money (but no more than a cheap bike shop model might cost) bringing my old Road King up to speed as a practical commuter – guards, saddle, bars, rack, lights, pedals, etc.

on a multi mode commute

I didn’t mind doing this because the basic bike was in such good condition for an almost 30 year old ride, even though some cycling forum threads cruelly describe Road Kings as low end clunkers fit for the rubbish  tip ! Tsk tsk …

I take the different view, however, that a well set up straight framed and properly maintained bike like this is well worth keeping and improving upon if you can accept its few basic limitations – which are mainly the weight of the steel frame, wheels, and also of other components along with the slightly clunky drive train (mostly things that can be improved).  I even think it has quite a bit of classic style – so there !

Just don’t pay too much for one if you are thinking of buying it – I’ve noticed “buy it now” prices rocketing on ebay lately for this sort of thing :

a repco traveller – a similar low-end ’80s 10speed

I have almost always disliked cotter pins as they can be imprecise and fiddly things that have a tendency to wear out and loosen prematurely, which is a hindrance on a long distance commuter when you’re “pressing on” or pedalling hard. Maybe they are OK on “high end” classic bikes where the components are more accurately machined, but not on this old Woolworths beastie. These steel cranks and chain wheels are quite heavy as well as looking inaccurately made :

cheap pressed and riveted steel crank-set

For the sake of originality on a genuine collectable classic bike I wouldn’t change  the cottered bottom end unless I really had to, but this bike arguably isn’t one of those. Anyway, you can always hold onto the original parts for the future if they are in working condition or repairable.

with mks sylvan alloy pedals

So it wasn’t a difficult decision to replace the cottered crankset with the square tapered one from an old Ricardo 12 speed MTB – a Tracer brand that has also done some brief service on other bikes. It has alloy cranks with steel rings, and surprisingly fitted in and worked without even needing the derailleur stops adjusted !

You may need to adjust the height of the front derailleur to fit the new ring size however. As long as the new crank axle is the right width and you have non-indexed friction shifters this kind of mod. is easy. The down side in my case is a slight reduction of top gear chain wheel teeth from 52 to 48 without a corresponding drop in low gearing – they have the same sized 40T lower chain ring – oh well, it was a freebie I suppose.

old and new (size difference exaggerated by perspective)

It doesn’t look too much different to the old set either, and the alloy cranks seem to visually match the newer pedals as well. Most better quality bikes in ’84 were beginning to have this type of crank/axle set-up anyway.

it’s a gradual process of improvement

Hopefully there will now be no more squeaking and creaking…

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The Suntour Two Prong Freewheel Remover :

This simple little gadget has got me out of trouble twice since I acquired it recently. It’s used when you want to change an old gear cluster or to service the bearings in a derailleur hub from the 70s or thereabouts. Check first that you have this type of freewheel, newer ones (e.g. some 5 and most 6,7,8 speeds ) use splines inside the freewheel body To use it, you remove the quick release wheel from the bike, then the skewer from the wheel axle.

Fit the prongs into the matching slots on the freewheel body and refit the skewer, tightening it onto the tool. Then put the tool into a vice, closing the jaws on the tool flats and turn the wheel rim as if it was a steering wheel ( anti-clockwise, I think ) —- Voila !

The freewheel and cluster come off as a unit – don’t fiddle with the little round holes unless you have watchmaking skills, all the pawls and freewheel bearings are in there.. !

that’s a close ratio cluster !

Just remember to loosen the skewer when the freewheel first lets go or you will snap the skewer.

I know this from my early experience !

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Relief at Last -The Cyclus Bottom Bracket Tool :

If you love working on old bikes you’ll know the feeling of stripping them down for overhaul and finding that the old style fixed cup won’t come out no matter what. These have two flats on a vey narrow flange that needs a large size spanner, and even purpose built spanners alone tend to slip off.   The cup has a tendency to freeze into the threads of the bottom bracket because of water ingress causing rust, and also from the BB generally being neglected for years. Even “PB blaster” fluid has trouble penetrating these threads successfully.

The solution is not brute strength, as this increases the chances of a dangerous slip causing an injury to the hands, damage to the spanner, cup, or even to the bike itself . Instead it is the better grip offered by a tool such as this Cyclus extractor.

a stubborn cup released

The tool clamps the cup from the inside with a heavy clamping bolt, making it impossible for it to slip off.   The adjustable cup needs to come out first, along with the locknut, axle, and all the bearings – in my experience it’s rare that the adjustable cup is badly stuck but quite usual that the fixed one is.  If the fixed cup still doesn’t come out using the tool, the temptation to put a pipe on the handle should be resisted as it may damage the tool. I prefer then to leave the cup where it is and clean it in situ as best I can (assuming that the bearing surface is OK ).

cup removed with tool

My only gripe is that the plastic end caps come off the tool too easily, otherwise it’s a godsend.  The long term solution – once the cup is out – is to use an anti-seize compound on the threads when replacing the cup ( I use Penrite “Copper-Eze” ), and also by servicing the BB more often – famous last words !

all disassembled

And remember, the fixed cup is usually a left hand thread….

This tool was purchased from Wiggle (UK site) and arrived by Australia Post in 7 days, as usual. If you do more than a few resto’s on old bikes, it’s worth getting.

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The Elswick Cosmopolitan Refurbishment – Part 1 :

rust in peace …

My method of refurbishment is to fully disassemble the bike to determine what can be recycled and what is to be replaced, then to hop between the various cleanup and maintenance tasks back and forward until ready for re-assembly, and while sourcing or repairing parts.

I like to work out what the cause of abandonment is, and in this case it relates to the rear wheel, which is buckled and has a spoke broken, as well as a damaged tyre and punctured tube. The bike has been stored unused for quite a while, finally being disposed of as a rusty basket case. The rims are in terrible condition rust-wise and most of the chrome has flaked off or is blistered. There’s nothing for it but to scrape the loose stuff away and hit the rest with rust converter .

wire brush, phosphoric and steel wool – an improvement – some chrome has gone west though

I’ve also done the same with the racks, they’ve come up a little better, and here’s the seat adjuster clamp cleaned up too. Small parts can be soaked in the phosphoric acid ’til all rust and even some metal is eaten away, but converter works best if there is a thin layer of neutralised rust to remain as a blackish protective coat.

maladjusted & de-rusted

With the frame, I neutralise any spots of surface rust and clean out the bottom bracket threads of rust and grease. The BB is the “sump” of the bicycle, and a collection point of water related nasties. I make sure the little pin hole air vents in the forks and some frame stays are open and inject fish oil via a spray can with tube nozzle.

This frame has a myriad of hidden welds where rust has begun, all fish-oiled too.

mmm … chocolate

The paint work is cut back with metal polish paste ( e.g. “mothers” or “autosol” ) which brings back some shine, staying away from any decals or vulnerable surfaces. Sadly, the head badge has lost most of its detail already.

“she is – almost a mirror”

Here are the markings I have found so far, for posterity :

Frame No : E4C00611 on rear of BB shell

Seat tube sticker  : “Hand Built by Elswick Falcon Cycles Ltd.” – conforms to BS6102, blah, blah …

Fork : Akisu 84

Bell : Made in England by C.J. Adie & Nephew Ltd. ( ! )

Quill Stem  : I.T.W.

Hubs : Sturmey Archer, Rear is AW 3-speed dated 84 – 3

Rims : Rigida Superchromix (not any more!) 20 x 1 & 3/8 “

Cranks : marked ” Made in France ” ( no name ).

Pedals : Union U50 white platform.

Grips : White ” Plastiche Cassano”

Kick stand  : Royal – Made in Italy

Levers : Weinmann alloy marked “7 83″

Calipers : Weinmann Type 810 – alloy.

BB races  : “Phillips – Made in England”

Saddle : unbranded moulded white vinyl padded, on rigid metal base.

The saddle is unstitched and has no gashes in the vinyl, so has lasted quite well except for a horrid brown spottiness – looks like it was left under a tree for years !

basic, but it’s lasted

Seat Post – so rusted it’s unreadable !

Tyres : Deli Tyre  Indonesia (off white)   20 x 1 & 3/8 ”  ( as found ). These are actually grey wheelchair tyres, and that may be the only option available now in colours other than black. It seems this size was sometimes used on BMX bikes too, but they are mostly 407 mm now (vs. the 451 size here ).

The head badge has barely readable Elswick Cycles – est. 1880 – Barton on Humber ( I Think ! ).

———- Next !

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Bicycle Wabi-Sabi and the Cecil Walker Refurbishment :

the seat post freed

The imperfection and impermanence of older weathered bicycles has nostalgic appeal for me and so I like to keep some of the markings of use, but at the same time I like bikes to be well maintained and safe , and that can give me tiny dilemmas at times…

the non-adjustable cup — if it ain’t broke, don’t force it …

Having had a chance to look more closely at this bicycle, it’s obvious now that the big stumbling block is the rear wheel. Repair or replacement will be difficult for a few reasons. For a start, I don’t have the two prong “Suntour” freewheel remover and it’s probably not worth buying it for a hub that may be ruined inside anyway, as the axle is visibly slightly bent. I’ve been advised that the tool may break because of possible electrolytic corrosion between the steel cluster and alloy hub. Given the other bits that were “welded” together e.g. the seat post and tube and the headset nut and fork tube I don’t doubt this !

a little preserving clear coating

Also, the bike’s rear dropout spacing is an old 70′s width of 120mm and most recent bikes have 130mm dropouts. Most new road wheels are 130mm width and have wider gear cassettes (more speeds) as well. I’m not that keen on buying old wheels on the web either, sight unseen…

overhauled nice SR pedals, cleaned up straps

Perversely,120mm is the width of most rear track hubs and this bike has semi-horizontal dropouts, suggesting that single speed is an option, although I rather wanted to keep it as a ten speed. Also the downtube shifter bosses will not look good with the shifters removed, but I won’t be grinding them off in case I do find the correct rear wheel and cluster one day.

the story so far …

However, as long as the frame is kept original and I keep all the gear parts together, it wouldn’t be a drama for me to convert to single speed on a temporary basis and the shifter bosses could be neatened up a little with a couple of small bolts and washers.

er, yes boss …

Also, I have since found out that Sturmey Archer make the S2 Duomatic two-speed kickback non-coaster brake version hub in a 120mm O.L.D. ( over the locknut width ). With the right choice of sprocket this would be more flexible than single speed for where I live and also allow the original brakes to be used as designed.This hub could be fitted to a new “plain” 27 inch 36 hole rim, e.g. a Velocity “twin hollow” or even a trad. style 700c rim.

testing —— oh, crap — toe overlap

It’s a good idea to check for toe overlap when inspecting this kind of sporty bike, and sure enough it’s there – this is with a 27 x 1 & 1/4″ tyre (above), but it does the same thing with a 700c x 35 that I tried. It’s an annoying trait that can really catch you out at slow speeds, though becoming irrelevant as speed increases and the front wheel is stabilised.

show stoppers

Going 700c would mean a much better range of tyres and rims available and I know the existing brakes will reach. Incidentally, the Modolo brakes look very well made and have cleaned up nicely.

…and not too shabby

Hmmm – I’m still thinking about all this — should I simply remain in a patient wait for an old 5-speed wheel that may never appear ?

in another life, i could have been…

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Projekt Mongoose Part 3 – Something Stirs, Deep in the Shed :

so much rust …

Well, it’s been some time since I’ve looked at this baby – nicknamed “Dennis the Menace” -  it’s a 2004 “30 Year Anniversary” Mongoose Menace Pro, found last year as hard rubbish in a sad and rusty state.

the colours of rust – yet so much promise

And yet it was complete, with good tyres and saddle, the only thing noticeably broken was the flimsy plastic chain guard.

it’s time to dust off the cobwebs

With this kind of rebuild you may need very little money but also a lot of time to work on the rust and make good cosmetically  ( if you are concerned about cosmetics of course ).  Even if not, the bearings all need cleaning, re-greasing and adjusting.

the rear wheel – as found

If you don’t enjoy this kind of work then buy yourself a new bike and enjoy riding that, the same applies if you are the sort of person that frets about hourly rates and such, as you could probably buy two new bikes for the hours a bike shop would charge to do this super-fiddly job !

rear brake

But if you like tinkering occasionally, are not in a hurry, and find this work relaxing, the cost is little if you have a few bike tools already. For this bike I needed to buy a 17mm cone spanner for the heavy duty wheel axles, that’s all.

fork refitted

Anyway, re-assembling the steering head is just the reverse of Part 2 – except that the holey top nut is tightened down finally to take up any side play before the bar stem is tightened onto the threadless steerer to hold the adjustment. The fork was de-rusted and repainted gloss black, avoiding the decals. The “cane creek” steering bearing seals seem very water and grit entry resistant on this bike, having quite fine gaps.

the bb, with cranks off

and here are all the bits…

The Mongoose bottom bracket is very similar to a one piece crank in that it has large diameter pressed in races with left hand threaded adjusting and lock nuts on the non drive axle side. The difference is that the cranks are on either a splined or hex axle with ends that have retaining screws and the cranks themselves clamp onto the axle with their own bolts.

the re-assembled bottom bracket

The BB can thus be assembled without needing to risk damaging the chain wheel while rebuilding. Cheapo BMXs have one piece ( a.k.a. Ashtabula ) combined crank/axle. The steel cranks on this bike weigh a ton – and I can’t believe how heavy a 20″ bike with alloy wheels can be !

Some time ago, I overhauled the wheel bearings cleaned and tidied up the wheels, de-rusted and painted the spokes and blacked the tyres so they looked new ( Mr Keen ! ). I now only had to adjust the cones and fit them to the bike frame.

a big improvement – but is it right way around ?

The handlebars were a fantastic green/orange/grey colour because of corrosion, and I sometimes wish I had maybe just clear coated as they were, because the efficient rust converter stole this colour and forced me to repaint them – sometimes rust is beautiful…( can’t believe I just wrote that ) ! Then again, it was lumpy and rough, and might not have lasted.

full a-head …

I have left the brakes and cables for later, as these are somewhat complicated compared with a normal bike. Suffice to say that the fancy silvery braiding inside the cables is very prone to rusting and the plastic outers offer very little protection to it from the sun and rain. Can they be re-used ? We shall see.

some more progress

This isn’t a journey back to childhood, as you may be thinking – There were no BMX bikes around when I was a teenager, it was Dragsters and such back then – those used to lift the front wheel dangerously when you pedalled at all hard. I still think they are dicey now, and they definitely were then !

However, it should be fun messing around on an old-school BMX for a while …

P.S. You can tell this is old-school because the rear cog has more than 9 teeth, the front more than 20, and the seat doesn’t point up straight off the seat tube at some lewd and silly angle toward my designer undies – and that’s the way I like it thanks !

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Raleigh Caprice Refurbishment #4 – It’s Only Original Once :

unfinished but not bad, hey ?

Since the last post the bike has been mostly reassembled – the frame has been spot-rust converted and clear coated with no attempt to hide any scratches. The wheels were scraped back and rust converted and the rims trued a little – I was surprised how rust free the hubs and spokes were compared with the dreadfully rusted rims – I can only assume that the original plating was not the highest grade.

They are now rust free at least, and as it’s unlikely I will find a better set of this old redundant size rim any time soon, will have to stay mottled as they are. The front hub was overhauled, and the rear sturmey archer 3-hub speed merely cleaned externally and fed some light oil through the oiler cap.

i had to straighten the little shift chain

The cotter pins were the biggest drama in this overhaul, in desperation I had to drill them out carefully as they would not budge even with much penetrating fluid applied. The fixed BB cup was also locked tight and I decided to clean and grease it in situ, as there was no point risking the whole venture to try and remove it.

that nightmare bottom end …

The bike was given a new 1/8″  single speed chain, and the cranks refitted to the axle with new cotter pins once the wheels and stand were refitted. I used some copper-eze compound on the pins, to aid in any future removal. The chain wheel still has some imperfections in the chrome that are hard to remove.

The plastic cable outers were cleaned with detergent and the hard plastic handgrips with fine steel wool. The “upside down” rear brake cable on step-throughs is vulnerable to water entry because the cable entry faces upward and has no protection from rain running down the cable into the inner. This one will need replacement. I replaced the spring steel cable clips with dia-compe ones that screw together, as these are less likely to mark the ( already sufficiently marked ) paint finish.

head-on

The saddle is not feasible for me to repair as I’m sure it will split at the slightest use after so many years of neglect. A pity Brooks don’t seem to make white leather B66 saddles, the only white leather ones I can find are sporty unsprung “bum-polishers” .

Oh well… So I’m waiting for a honey Brooks B66s on back order from “Pedal and Thread”, and in the meantime I still have some details to go on with. The tyres are Schwalbe Delta Cruiser gumwalls – I dearly wanted creams but they were not available when I ordered from Papillionaire…anyway, the bike did have gumwalls on it before – though I’m not sure if they were original they looked very old.

no cables, no cry

On the subject of cables again, how much nicer do I think the cable free look is ?

the speedwell frame angles are just a little more laid-back

Compare the bike with my old Speedwell popular and see if you agree. Nevertheless I am pleased with the look of this c.1980 Raleigh. Aesthetically a big improvement over my wife’s learner bike  below – an angular roadmaster cheapie refurb. – well, it did a job for a while. I must have had a premonition when I chose green for that one !

a fitting replacement

I’m also happy with the way the bike shows its age while still looking reasonably shiny. I think that was the effect I wanted !

Remember – it’s only original once…..

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Raleigh Caprice Refurbishment 3 – The Steering Head :

sea-green…

After rubbing back for what seemed an eternity I have removed most of the overpaint from the frame, fork and guards. I’ve perversely decided to leave a few tiny bits of this old paint as a reminder of its past life and my time used up – the bike does look better in its mostly original paint though !

… shiny green

 

It’s better to refit the bottom bracket first but I decided to do the steering head as I hadn’t cleaned the BB bearings yet …  so with head races and balls clean here we go :

 

in kero and rags

 

It’s a good idea to count both the ball sets first, as it’s so easy to misplace them. The balls should fill the races up, leaving a gap slightly less than one ball width when settled in and the number of balls should be the same top and bottom. So now I grease the two halves of both races and place the clean balls in the sticky grease of each lower race. These greased half races hold the balls quite securely, and they need to, not having any bearing retaining cage.

 

ready to roll … the lower crown race

I push the steerer stem up through the head, being careful to support the rear dropouts as the frame has a tendency to fall back and lift off the fork at this point. Then I screw down the top threaded race carefully on the steerer tube till the bearings are captive and safe. Then the lamp bracket and locknut go on.

don’t let it fall back out …

to the lower head race …

was it right ? – i had to recheck it upside down

traces of old

 

At this point check for play by pulling the fork up and down and front to back, at the same time turning the forks to check they are smooth and easy. You’ll soon feel it if something is wrong – they should spin freely with no side play. This will need to be re-checked after tightening the locknut and also after a ride when the bike is fully assembled.

 

tighten up …

My Aldi metric head spanner wouldn’t fit – I try to be careful with multi-grips, as they are a last resort tool, easily able to scratch chrome if used carelessly.

The chrome head fittings have cleaned up rust free, and at this point I can start to enjoy seeing things slowly come together – touch wood !

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Suntour Coaster Brake Overhaul :

This is the rear wheel from my Jack Walsh step through – and while coaster hubs are all very similar inside, different brands are not exactly the same. The more of these I overhaul, the quicker and easier they become, and this one seems quite well designed. This hub should also be a sharp stopper, as it’s a Japanese ’80s (?) model. It has three smaller brake shoes unlike some other types that have only two larger ones.

what’s inside … minus the cog dust cover, splined cog and spring – that fit to the drive screw

Here’s  the exploded view, and while the hub disassembles further, I will leave it as is and force clean and grease the brake arm side bearings in situ to save some time – perhaps not best practice, but this hub was quite clean inside. As usual the little outside driver bearing was the driest, with the inner races still being reasonably greasy.

I’m not sure whether teflon grease is the best option for a brake hub, but it seemed OK on previous hubs I’ve done. This grease was purchased at an auto store as you get more for less than at the bike shops, I’m sorry to say.

stuck like glue … then grease over the top

The small shoes stuck to the grease on the expander wedge, then I greased over them and also all over the inner hub surfaces. This made for an easy re-assembly, pushing in from underneath the brake arm side while holding the shoes with one hand, after which the driver screw goes in from the drive side to mate with the screw thread inside the expander drum.

inserting the drive screw

After that, the little outer axle bearing and its cone and locknut go on the drive side axle, followed by a dust cover ring, the splined cog and its snap ring and you’re done – bar the cone adjustment – and that may need re-doing after fitting to the bike and/or riding.

the drive side cone with lock nut adjusts wheel play

Next job is to true the wheel and tighten the loose spokes…

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Raleigh Caprice Refurbishment 2 – Front Wheel Disassembly :

progressing slowly

I find it useful to have a few jobs going at once when restoring/preserving, as I can get tired of monotonous work. So while having a break from the frame sanding I had a look at the wheels. I gave the wheels a spin and looked for warps first, to give me an idea how much truing is needed – the answer in this case is “a little”.

some of the worst affected

The steel front wheel has a Sturmey-Archer hub and a rim stamped “Raleigh England”. The luxurious old gumwall tyre has degraded and has no decipherable lettering. The Thai made Vee Rubber tube has a “94″ stamp on it – so not original.

These cones have a raised flange on the outer that mates with the fork, so the fork must be spread to remove the wheel. There is a “semi-fixed” round cone and an adjustable one with flats for a cone spanner, and generally these wheels should be installed so the adjustable cone is on the left side and will not self-tighten in use, as there are no locknuts.

A tip for hub disassembly – run a stiff wire brush parallel to and over all exposed axle threads – you will find the cones and nuts much easier to remove. The exposed thread ends gather a lot of rust and dirt and possibly thread damage from various knocks over the years. When the cone is off, I brush the whole thread briskly then clean in kerosene to aid reassembly.

front rim scraped back (top), rear rim – hiding nasties (bottom)..

The silver paint on these rims obviously conceals some nasties underneath, so will be removed by hand ( knife, wire brush, rust converter, steel wool used ). They won’t be ultra shiny, that’s for sure …

The chrome is badly damaged, but the rim itself is sound. I like to leave the tyre on initially to protect the rim while working, but at some point it must come off along with the rim tape. Two reasons – to check for corrosion and to allow access to the spoke ends for truing. Corrosion often appears around the valve hole, spoke nipples under the tape and in the little holes on the inner rim (see pic). It needs to be wire brushed and neutralised.

Remember that rust converter may not penetrate thick rust – if you scrape it off and see red rust beneath you may need to repeat the process. Scraping off the converted rust and re-treating can often bring up more shine too.

On sensitive metals you need to be careful and wash it off quickly, but on heavily rusted chrome I let it dry and scrape it off then re-coat  – I once left a brush in rust converter a few days to find that the metal ferrule had completely dissolved !  I think it can remove galvanising quickly too …

removing bearings and axle

With loose ball bearings you need to be careful – support the axle so it doesn’t fall through the hub and lose the opposite bearings when unscrewing the cone.

Ensure that you have containers ready for the balls to fall into as you tip the wheel over – always some balls fall out while others remain stuck – then they gradually let go while you’re not looking and can drop everywhere !!  The remaining stuck balls can be picked out carefully with long nosed pliers.

Clean the hub races, axle and cones in kerosene using an old toothbrush and dry – clean the balls with a cloth after soaking in kero. Check bearing surfaces for pits and cracks which indicates replacement is needed – I store the balls with their original cones for re-assembly, unless they are to be replaced.

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