Bike restoration - Rory O'Brien

chrish0rn
chrish0rn Posts: 3
edited August 2008 in Workshop
Hello. I am looking to restore my fathers bike. I am not really a bike expert, so thought i would come to you guys for advice. I have been to my LBS, but they have said that the cost to restore it would be about £800-900, most of this expense being on labour. I have therefore decided to start working on it in my spare time. I know it wont be done overnight, but I would like to get it road worthy in about ayear or so. I am not the biggest cyling expert, I am mainly a runner, but I just got my own road bike and started riding a few weeks ago.
The main reason to get it restored is to see the big grin on my dads face :).He bought it back in about 1960 for £100, which was quite a lot back then. He used to be quite a keen cyclist, cycling up to Yorkshire and back a few times in his youth. It has been in the loft for over 20 years or so. It is a Rory O'Brien light weight frame, I believe we have most of the bits and bobs to go with it, including the tyres, although I think they will have to be replaced as they seem a bit too rusty and the "glue stuff" seems to be oozing out of them.

I enclose a few pictures, and can take more if you guys want. Any advice on where to get started would be great.

Thanks

http://s525.photobucket.com/albums/cc338/chrish0rn/

Comments

  • chrish0rn
    chrish0rn Posts: 3
    *bump*
  • 16simon
    16simon Posts: 154
    that's a really nice idea, but i don't think that it's really practical. from what i can see of the frame detail and the components, it wasn't a top end bike, and it needs a LOT of work to get it going.

    all the same, £800-900 seems like a lot to restore it. i expect that the shop didn't really want the trouble of cleaning up a rusty frame and sourcing old parts for it. you might be able to get the components working with a clean and good lubing/greasing, fit a new chain, tyres and tubes, and get it working fairly inexpensively, but it'll still look rusty and shabby. You'll probably find that the stem, seatpost, and bottom bracket are seized into the frame, which will make the job even more difficult.

    you should bear in mind that even an entry level £200 hybrid will perform a lot better, and possibly even give your dad a more comfortable upright position that he will prefer. maybe treating the old boy to something like this would be better?
  • Tom753
    Tom753 Posts: 737
    You can have the frame re-painted and the parts re-chromed.

    Unfortunately, current tyres are either all black or in various combinations of blue, red yellow etc except for the Panaracer Pasela, which was black tread with brown sidewalls, but I'm not even sure if it's still available.
  • Tom753
    Tom753 Posts: 737
    This topic might be better placed in the Special Interests section.
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    as long as the parts aren't seized you should find the parts still work, the show stoppers will be bottom bracket and wheels,

    i'd personally try a few other bike shops and see if they are intrested?

    I recently had a old ebay bike from the 80's done up that took some time and effort and that is with a much newer bike,

    it probably is doable but not cheap this said i'd echo that the price quoted sounds like a go away price.
  • cpeachey
    cpeachey Posts: 1,057
    Don't be too sure your dad will be impressed. If it was me (I'm 61) I might be happier seeing the frame resprayed and then built up with new(ish) modern components. What about making it fixed wheel? this would save on gears etc.
    Chris
  • robbarker
    robbarker Posts: 1,367
    First things first - the frame needs to be blasted and re-enammelled. I can recommend Argos in Bristol for this - £100 or so should do it and they will be able to get close to the original colour.

    Decals for Rory O Brien are avaibale here:

    http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepage ... decals.htm

    You then have to decide whether to clean and polish the components or buy new - getting old corroded stuff looking good can be done but you need hours of patience, different grades of wire wool and a buffing kit.

    You'll need to disassemble the wheels, clean the rims, probably replace the hubs unless they happen to have un-pitted races, in which case you can just replace the balls, then rebuild the wheels with stainless spokes. (The nipples will be corroded on the thrads and will just snap if you turn them)

    As someone has said, itmight be fun to restore the frame but turn it into a fixie.

    Here's an old Carlton I restroed for a friend who couldn't find anything modern that she found as comfy. It was in a similar state to yours before:

    http://www.reb.co.uk//DSCN0593.JPG

    Total cost was about £350, including an Argos paint joband a lot of new components.

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