1978 BSA ‘Tour of Britain’ – Part 2 :

the beezer, pretty much completed

This has been a bit of an exercise in ‘period’ upgrading, without unnecessarily over-capitalising the bike. The way I mostly save on expenses is to do all the work myself, to avoid labour costs.  Not only that, but it’s more satisfying, especially when building up your own wheels.

Apart from consumables – chains, cables, tyres, bar tape, bearings, brake pads – I also try and use as many recycled components as I reasonably can.

the drive-line

The new bottom bracket cartridge turns in easily on the re-tapped threads, but it tightens up well. A Genetic brand 110.5 mm axle was about right for chain line.

I’ve chosen a set of Sugino Mighty cranks in the unusual 171mm length – the original (?) drillium inner ring was worn, but I salvaged a pair of rings in 144bcd from my Ofmega CX cranks as I can no longer use these without a good Ofmega or Avocet spindle. Apparently they ( Ofmega ) are incompatible with JIS or ISO tapered spindles..

144 b.c.d. is an old ‘bolt circle diameter’, and these rings can be hard to find in 3/16″ derailleur versions, though there are plenty still being made for 1/4″ track chains. Their down-side, in the modern world, is a minimum useable chainwheel size of around 42T.

1979 b17 narrow

The fork was refitted with new 5/32″ bearings in the original headset. For lightness and reliability I’m using a Shimano 500 rear derailleur, salvaged from a hard rubbish bike and a Shimano 600 front derailleur – with the Shimano band on down tube shifters from an old Bennett. The original 25.4mm seat pin was a bit short so I fitted a longer version of the same. The saddle is a 1979 Brooks B17 narrow.

The stem is a Soma Sutro 80mm with 25.4 bar clamp and a set of Charge classic drop bars.

Brake levers are 1st generation Dura-Ace, which look similar to my drilled 600 ‘Arabesque levers’ ( these, and those, are the nicest shaped non-aero levers I’ve used ).

The Weinmann centre pull brakes would have both been retained, with new pads fitted – except that the front one wasn’t long enough to reach the new 700C wheel and so had to be replaced with a period Dia-Compe.

The rear brake had longer reach so was re-used. These centre pull brakes have a slightly spongey feel to them compared with modern dual pivot brakes – steady does it.

weinmann/alesa concave 700c – they are tough !

The original Sturmey Archer hubs have been re-laced into Weinmann / Alesa concave 700C rims to allow a decent choice of tyres, and the freewheel is a Shimano Z-series 14-24T,  5-speed cluster. The bike’s reduced weight will hopefully compensate for the 52/42T chain set and should work pretty well for me, although it is a bit higher than the original 49/40T. I couldn’t get a 28T freewheel to clear the derailleur for some reason.

The tyres are Tufo ‘tubular clinchers’ in 700 x 25C – a tight fit on these rims. I’ve grown fond of Tufos, they are well made, light, and they also ride, corner and grip quite well. Removable presta valves allow the use of sealant if punctured.

Now it’s a matter of refitting the original stainless steel mudguards, fitting the chain, cables and bar tape, and a lot of adjusting and tweaking … woohoo — I can’t wait to take it for a spin !

 

P.S.  Here’s a list of the original parts – if any one happens to be restoring one back to original ( most are not in these photos ) :

Bars : Steel drops 25.4mm unbranded

Stem : Steel quill 1″- no branding.

Headset : 1″ loose ball 5/32″ 26t.p.i threading.

Chainset : Raleigh 49x40T cottered, steel. 26t.p.i. bottom bracket threading.

Freewheel : Atom 77,  14-25T 5-speed cluster

Derailleurs : Raleigh branded – made by Huret  rear with 26 & 28T options.

Brakes : Centrepull alloy —- Front : Raleigh/Weinmann 610 — Rear : Raleigh/Weinmann 750, Weinmann alloy levers with Dia-Compe ‘safeties’

Rims : Rigida Chrolux 27x 1 & 1/4″ HP steel 36H 3-cross spoking

Hubs : Sturmey Archer high flange steel 36H

Shifters : Raleigh, down-tube, band-on ( Huret again )

Stainless steel mud guards fitted – as in these photos.

Pedals : Raleigh 717, rat-trap steel as in these photos

Saddle and bar tape ( ? ) – non-original…steel seat pin 25.4mm.

 

 

Until next time – happy re-cycling !

Adventures in 26 t.p.i. – A 1978 BSA ( Raleigh era ) Tour of Britain :

after some masking, lining, retouching

The BSA team had won the Tour of Britain in 1952, and to commemorate this, the “Tour of Britain” model was released.  It wasn’t a high-end bike even then, but it seems at least the main tubes were Reynolds 531 and it had reasonable BSA and GB components and a Brooks saddle. Raleigh took over BSA in 1957 as the ‘golden age of bicycles’ was drawing to a close. Fast forward to 1978, and this model has become a pretty basic heavy steel ‘sports bike’ .

heavy metal ? – strewth !

Yet it’s still a classic of sorts, even if a heavy steel double chain set and chromed steel rims do not a racer make. The main brake and ‘suicide’ levers and the Weinmann centre pull callipers were the only alloy components to be found.   It certainly isn’t worth spending a fortune on,  yet it has appeal, I suppose, because of the BSA legend – and is fairly rare, at least here in Oz.  If it had been a genuine pre-Raleigh era BSA I would want to keep it more original, however, as it is, I think some lightening is needed. The original parts can be stored away together, just in case. I know there’s only so much one can do with a relatively heavy frame but the weight of it as standard is a bit ridiculous !

The bike was purchased complete, and mostly original, with a straight frame, some surface rust and tatty paint. It’s a 55cm seat tube and 57cm top tube.

Sorry Anglophiles, but it’s going to be wearing some lighter period Japanese clothing soon. Most of the original gear train was made by Huret ( France ) anyway, and the derailleurs are in rough shape.  The band-on down tube steel Huret/Raleigh shifters are unbelievably heavy too.

sturmey archer high flange steelies overhauled – wing nuts weren’t standard

The hubs are also heavy, but do look pretty – and being Sturmey-Archers, they are well worth keeping, while the Rigida rims are a bit out of shape – and alloys would be nicer. All the cones were pitted and the 5/16 ” front axle was slightly bent, so replacements were needed for these. The main things to deal with here were the greater width of the new cones and the different sized dust seals. This is where having a box of salvaged seals and lock-washers of differing width comes in handy. The front bearings are loose 3/16″ with a 5/16″ axle and the rear 1/4″ bearings on a 3/8″ nutted axle – fairly standard stuff for lower end bikes. Spacing for the hubs is 95mm front and 120mm rear ( 5-speed ).

pedals overhauled

When you hand test an old pedal it isn’t always a good sign that it spins for a long time – this usually means that the grease has dried up or washed away. After overhaul you can feel that the grease viscosity has slowed the spin, but they also feel much smoother. These are Raleigh 717 steel rat-traps.

raleigh type fixed cup and park HCW-11. the bolt & washers are a necessity

This model’s  bottom bracket cups were Raleigh 26t.p.i. – the type that has a very low profile 16mm spanner flat, and they proved stubborn – so I bought a Park Tool HCW-11 spanner. Though this looks thin, it is quite strong in the direction of rotation, and works very well as long as it’s held in place with a large bolt and washers, and thick gloves are used, to prevent sore hands from the spanner edge. This type of cup is also used on some lower end 1980s bikes that have the standard English 24t.p.i. threading, so this spanner will definitely get more than one use.

The steering head has loose 5/32″ ball bearings and removable cups – also with the same 26t.p.i. threading on the adjustable top race.

I was pleased to be able to research all this on the Sheldon Brown web site – god bless that man !

bring out the big guns – the lifeline bb tap & face kit

I looked at the options on the site and after some fiddling with combinations of cups, bearings and spindles concluded that 26t.p.i. was not for me. So out with the BB tap and face set, and it’s now going to have a 24t.p.i. square taper cartridge bb.  This is the most drastic ( and the most versatile ) way of solving the problem but I’m determined not to use the clunky cottered Raleigh chain set. 

 The BB is a Raleigh 71mm, not the standard English 68mm. I did remove a small amount of metal to face it, and the cartridge mount fits flush on the non-drive side – that’s O.K., thanks to it not needing a lock ring. It would take an awful lot of elbow grease to get it down to 68mm to take a standard cup and lock ring !

The steering cups will remain as is – note : as the fork threads are, of course, 26t.p.i. as well, a new fork would be required should the adjustable cup be changed to a standard 24t.p.i.  Interestingly, the fork crown lugs have a similar shape to some 1980s Tange lugs.

This bike will take some time to complete because of the attention needed by the paintwork and the BSA logos.

To Be Continued…