Old bike: upgrade or not?

secretsam

I have an old but serviceable mount which I use in London

Am wondering what's best to do as bits wear out: replace or just buy a new hack bike?

It's an unknown 531 frame with old but tough 27" wheels, would like to move to 700c but wheels at £70+tyres+new cassette seems extravagant, plus would probably need new calipers for brakes (am running old Weinemann CPs, totally hopeless in the wet, could get some cheap long reach dual pivot I suppose, £25 a pair)

Frame very tatty but keeping going, would love to re-paint it to get rid of surface rust but not really worth it at £100+

Thoughts please...

el_presidente

I'll give you £50 for it

WyS

old, good cond. racer/fixie off ebay will cost about £100-200.

ash68

Be tempted to keep the bike you've got until it needs major repairs, or at least until the winters over.The thought of a new bike is very apealing though, depends how safe and secure it is where you have to leave it. Think it's a tough call either way mate.

dondare

Upgrade as bits wear out. The brakes can be improved with the right combination of rims and pads, but replace with dual-pivots when you've got a few quid and a couple of hours to do the work. Any bike needs decent wheels and putting them onto a 531 frame beats buying a cheap new bike. I've been upgrading for 30 years, my old 10-speed is now a fully customized 27-speed.

John the Monkey

dondare wrote:

Upgrade as bits wear out. The brakes can be improved with the right combination of rims and pads, but replace with dual-pivots when you've got a few quid and a couple of hours to do the work. Any bike needs decent wheels and putting them onto a 531 frame beats buying a cheap new bike. I've been upgrading for 30 years, my old 10-speed is now a fully customized 27-speed.

Interesting - I have a bike I bought recently (2nd hand) that was probably built in the '80s -I love it to bits, but do keep wondering about modernising it (not to top notch components as such, but to indexed gears, better brakes, and possibly shifters that aren't on the downtube).

Would you mind expanding a bit on how you went about it, dondare? (Which bits were easy/difficult, any particular pitfalls to watch out for &c).

Gussio

Rare to see a bike with shiters on the downtube these days. I passed one the other week and memories of reaching down to change gear and rarely being on the best cog came flooding back.

dondare

I've kept the downtube shifters, in fact they are now the only original part left. This has allowed me to go from 6 - 10 cogs at the back, and use Shimano, Campag and Sachs components without any indexing or shifting problems.
The bottom bracket is probably the trickiest part, and if you're replacing adjustable bearings with a cartridge then take it to a good bike shop that can deal with obsolete parts and re-cut the thread if necessary.
Everything else is do-able with basic tools. (Except the headset, I've never had to replace that.) Learning to replace any component by yourself will hold you in good stead if you ever have to carry out a running repair just to get yourself home.

Rykard

Can I ask a slightly related question? I have an old 500 training frame that I am thinking of updating. There is a threaded hole at the back of the chain stay near the rear axle. Can these be used for rack & panniers or will this be for a mudguard? There aren't any holes up near the brakes so I will need P clips, which makes me wonder whether the lower holes are capable of taking a rack?

dondare

Is that in the actual stay (in which case I've no idea) or in the dropout (in which case it's for a rack and/or mudguards)?

John the Monkey

Dondare wrote:

I've kept the downtube shifters, in fact they are now the only original part left. This has allowed me to go from 6 - 10 cogs at the back, and use Shimano, Campag and Sachs components without any indexing or shifting problems.

I'm considering indexing because I find the rear derailleur quite difficult on my bike - it changes up smoothly, but on the way down rattles about without doing anything until hitting the very lowest gear. I'm not sure if that's my technique, the levers, or the mech, but going one gear lower than where I am invariably involves changing down to the lowest possible gear then up again.

The bottom bracket is probably the trickiest part, and if you're replacing adjustable bearings with a cartridge then take it to a good bike shop that can deal with obsolete parts and re-cut the thread if necessary.

I'm lucky to have a few in reach of my commuting destination, so that should be possible if changing it out becomes necessary.

Everything else is do-able with basic tools. (Except the headset, I've never had to replace that.) Learning to replace any component by yourself will hold you in good stead if you ever have to carry out a running repair just to get yourself home

Thanks for the advice - I'm learning, but slowly

Rykard wrote:

Can I ask a slightly related question? I have an old 500 training frame that I am thinking of updating. There is a threaded hole at the back of the chain stay near the rear axle. Can these be used for rack & panniers or will this be for a mudguard?

I'm sure someone more knowledgable will be along to correct me shortly, but I think the hole you've found does double duty - to fit a rack and mudguards, you'd just use a longer bolt if necessary.

Rykard

Is that in the actual stay (in which case I've no idea) or in the dropout (in which case it's for a rack and/or mudguards)?

It's on the top of the dropout

PaulJHart

I've an old claud butler that i think is probably late 70's /early 80's that I've had for 12 years though not often used. That came with a rack and mudguards sharing the holes you;ve mentioned. I too am consider upgrading it - I'm sure I've seen posts here that say you can get a frame powder coated for about 35 quid which is tempting.
ps i just upgraded the old bottom bracket (after it disintegrated) with a shimano cartridge - problem is though the overall length is the same as the old spindle the chainset is a good 3mm further out than it used to be so i guess the taper is different.

el_presidente

John the Monkey wrote:

I'm considering indexing because I find the rear derailleur quite difficult on my bike - it changes up smoothly, but on the way down rattles about without doing anything until hitting the very lowest gear. I'm not sure if that's my technique, the levers, or the mech, but going one gear lower than where I am invariably involves changing down to the lowest possible gear then up again.

Sounds like there is too much friction in the system for the mech spring to pull against. Likely to be the cable, give it a good clean & lube & consider a new cable. check the pivot points on the mech as well, may need a clean & lube also

John the Monkey

el_presidente wrote:

Sounds like there is too much friction in the system for the mech spring to pull against. Likely to be the cable, give it a good clean & lube & consider a new cable. check the pivot points on the mech as well, may need a clean & lube also

Thanks for the advice - I've been concentrating my attentions on the freewheel cogs and the shift levers, never thought to look at the bits in between :oops: I'll give this a try.

One other (possibly) silly question, those of you who have upgraded older bikes, how did you tackle the rear wheel and frame spacing, (or was that no problem)?