Retro Armstrong. Restore or Cannabalise?
I picked up what was described as "an old racer", from freecycle recently.
A few days later while browsing ebay I saw an auction for a 531 frame and forks made by 'Armstrong of Birmingham' circa 50's or 60's (seller wasn't sure which). The thing is, from the photos, it looked exactly like mine except mine doesn't have any original decals and has obviously been [competently] repainted at some point. This frame and forks on ebay went for œ128 (maybe the original decals and paintwork drove the price up?)
The thing is I have a secondhand 80's Peugot Premiere that is in good nick but the frame is too small for me (took me about a year to admit it [:I]). My initial plan when I first recieved the Armstrong (before knowing what it was), was to swap as many parts possible from the peugot premiere to the armstrong (which I forgot to say is a bigger frame and seems the right size for me) so I'd end up with a decent commuting bike.
I don't know much at all about vintage bikes so I don't know if canabalising an armstrong, just for it's frame, forks, BB & a few other bits is a sacriledge or not.
I don't mind restoring the Armstrong (it came what seem to most of it's original parts) if it's worth it? But it would be a more longterm project and because all the parts are heavy steel I wouldn't ride the end result as an everyday bike.
Any ideas which way I should go from here?
Cheers,
<i><b>Bliz::..</i></b>
http://www.bliz.co.uk
A few days later while browsing ebay I saw an auction for a 531 frame and forks made by 'Armstrong of Birmingham' circa 50's or 60's (seller wasn't sure which). The thing is, from the photos, it looked exactly like mine except mine doesn't have any original decals and has obviously been [competently] repainted at some point. This frame and forks on ebay went for œ128 (maybe the original decals and paintwork drove the price up?)
The thing is I have a secondhand 80's Peugot Premiere that is in good nick but the frame is too small for me (took me about a year to admit it [:I]). My initial plan when I first recieved the Armstrong (before knowing what it was), was to swap as many parts possible from the peugot premiere to the armstrong (which I forgot to say is a bigger frame and seems the right size for me) so I'd end up with a decent commuting bike.
I don't know much at all about vintage bikes so I don't know if canabalising an armstrong, just for it's frame, forks, BB & a few other bits is a sacriledge or not.
I don't mind restoring the Armstrong (it came what seem to most of it's original parts) if it's worth it? But it would be a more longterm project and because all the parts are heavy steel I wouldn't ride the end result as an everyday bike.
Any ideas which way I should go from here?
Cheers,
<i><b>Bliz::..</i></b>
http://www.bliz.co.uk
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Comments
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I guess it depends on what condition the frame is in.
Post some pics ?
Asking about the frame here :-
http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=181
might be helpfull.0
