Old Holdsworth touring bike - worth restoring or converting?

biondino

Hi chaps,

I really don't have the knowledge or the skills right now to actually renovate an old bike, but I wanted to show potentially interested and knowledgeable parties some photos so that I could get some feedback on what I should do with this bike, which I rode for about 12 years on and off from 1993-2005 or so. I never really knew how to look after it, and was only an occasional rider in that time, and it's been in my shed for three years (very, very occasionally ridden by my 6 foot ex-gf, hence the girl's saddle) since, gathering rust and spiderwebs.

Here are a couple of pics, but if you're interested in seeing a few more (13 in all I think) please do check out the flickr link at the bottom, where you can also see them in larger size if that'd be helpful.





Thanks loads in advance to anyone who'd like to educate me!

http://flickr.com/photos/21373331@N00/s ... 923361354/

robbarker

It's not in too bad a condition - I've seen a lot worse! It's certainly well worth restoring.

I did something similar to a friend's Carlton recently - see this thread:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... highlight=

Suggested job list:

strip down frame, get it sand blasted and repainted or powder coated. New Stronglight headset.

New Shimano square taper bottom bracket, Alivio triple chainsetand front and rear mechs, new SRAM 3/32 chain. New rear block - replace like-for-like.

New cables all round.

Tektro very deep drop calliper brakes to replace the centre-pulls.

Rebuild wheels with stainless spokes, strip and rebuild hubs.

New Panaracer Pasela tyres, new 'guards.

Polish stem, bars and setpost, new tape. New seatpost binder bolt.

New saddle.

Alternatively have the frame cold set to 130mm between the rear dropouts and fit a modern road touring transmission, maybe a 105 triple with STIs.

biondino

Thank you Rob! As far as you know, would this bike have been low, mid or high quality in its time? How old do you think the bulk of it is - the Suntour VX GT came out in 1977 but I don't know how long it was manufactured for - quite a while I expect. Are there other clues I'm likely to find as to its provenance?

It's bloody heavy

iga

So long as its not terminally corroded or bent I'd have thought it was certainly worth saving. According to Sheldon Brown the later Holdsworth's were fairly standard mass produced fare but still decent. It has good tubing and quite nice lugs. I'm no expert on old bikes but I suspect it isn't worth doing a full on restoration to original spec but there are plenty of people looking for straight steel frames for fixed conversion or get it resprayed and build up with bits and pieces yourself as and when time and money allow. Stem, bars, seatpost, shifters, brakes, front and rear mechs could probably be all retained or refurbished.

robbarker

Converting it to a fixie would certainly be a much cheaper and fun alternative. It looks like a nice frame - 531 tubes and nice lugs like those were as good as mass produced bikes got back then - I'd guess about mid eighties. If it's a 120mm OLN 5 speed then track hubs will fit perfectly.

biondino

Fixie is definitely something I'd consider - and boy could it stand to have all extraneous weight lopped off! I suspect mid 80s is right - that 531 typeface doesn't seem like it could have been much earlier!

secretsam

Hmmmm

I'd say older than mid 80s, as it's got a horizontal fork crown, which were passe by the end of the 80s (when I got into bikes)

Also the type used for the Holdsworth is olde worlde as well, so am putting it early 80s

Have you tried checking with (say) the company? Claud Butler took over Holdsworth so ring them and give them the frame no.

Anyhoo, am doing something similar myself, have just procured second hand Mavic on 105 hubs avec cassette, and was told by the guru Josh at condor to just "pull the back end apart, the wheel will fit OK" so that's what I shall do.

I may treat the machine to a little paint once I've sorted out my cycling future.

May also invest in a new drivetrain, eg new rear gear to replace my bent 105 friction job.

in short, my frame's about the same state as yours, wash it down, tidy it up, paint over the worst bits temporarily and save up for a respray (£100+)

robbarker - how much did the Argos work cost, BTW?