80s Pug 'cheap' rebuild
dynamicbrick
Posts: 460
Had to register a new account as old one had vanished (has the forum changed?). Anyway, an idle Sunday afternoon with eBay and the thought lodged that I needed another roadie to ride to the station. I only need to use the train about once a week, and usually drive - it's a bit too far to walk in a suit with a laptop without getting a serious sweat on.
What I needed was something cheap... yes... a cheap old nail that nobody in their right mind would steal, even round here.
£41 later and I'm the not-so-proud owner of this particular lemon;
I paid about £40 too much for it, but in truth it was straight, free of rust, actually rideable, and the only owner was not too far from here. Like a true champ, I did all my research after winning, and discovered the 86 (I think) Elite was made from lumps of old battleships and steam trains, and the cheapest possible components. But I got it home and reassured HQ that a) I wasn't going to spend loads of money on it, and b) I would actually ride it down the station and leave it there all day.
A thorough inspection of said lemon to establish the 'keep' and 'discard' pile. Easier to say what I kept really - the frame, forks, stem, and bars. Everything else went in the bin as it was either rubbish or bent, or both. (The brakes went in too, but were retrieved later.)
Now at this point I could have done the sensible thing and chucked the remains in the bin, and called it a £41 loss... but being a man, I've got man-maths on my side. So, with the self-imposed £100 budget, I rummaged around in the bits box, then hit eBay again and proceeded to rebuild her.
Thus;
Rubbed it down and rattle-canned it, got my engine port-polishing kit on the stem and brakes. The pedals, saddle, and other odds n ends from the bits box. Bontrager Ditch-Finder Tyres (discarded from my Trek, complete with Trainer-knackered rear for super unpredictable cornering)
eBay gave me the following
£30 - Vuelta Airline Wheels
£40 - Dura-Ace 7410 BB, Cranks, Chainring
£10 - SLR levers
£6 - 105 rear mech
£4 - Campy front mech
£2.50 - Exage shifters
£17 - 400x24mm seatpost
Only new LBS bits were cables, bar tape, chain, and an inner tube. Hit a snag at the weekend trying to get a spare 7spd cassette off an old hub, will need to get my hands on another one to complete. (which is why the rear derailleur cable is long, haven't set it up yet)
Other than the cassette, she's complete... for now. Not a hundred quid either, but if anyone asks...
What I needed was something cheap... yes... a cheap old nail that nobody in their right mind would steal, even round here.
£41 later and I'm the not-so-proud owner of this particular lemon;
I paid about £40 too much for it, but in truth it was straight, free of rust, actually rideable, and the only owner was not too far from here. Like a true champ, I did all my research after winning, and discovered the 86 (I think) Elite was made from lumps of old battleships and steam trains, and the cheapest possible components. But I got it home and reassured HQ that a) I wasn't going to spend loads of money on it, and b) I would actually ride it down the station and leave it there all day.
A thorough inspection of said lemon to establish the 'keep' and 'discard' pile. Easier to say what I kept really - the frame, forks, stem, and bars. Everything else went in the bin as it was either rubbish or bent, or both. (The brakes went in too, but were retrieved later.)
Now at this point I could have done the sensible thing and chucked the remains in the bin, and called it a £41 loss... but being a man, I've got man-maths on my side. So, with the self-imposed £100 budget, I rummaged around in the bits box, then hit eBay again and proceeded to rebuild her.
Thus;
Rubbed it down and rattle-canned it, got my engine port-polishing kit on the stem and brakes. The pedals, saddle, and other odds n ends from the bits box. Bontrager Ditch-Finder Tyres (discarded from my Trek, complete with Trainer-knackered rear for super unpredictable cornering)
eBay gave me the following
£30 - Vuelta Airline Wheels
£40 - Dura-Ace 7410 BB, Cranks, Chainring
£10 - SLR levers
£6 - 105 rear mech
£4 - Campy front mech
£2.50 - Exage shifters
£17 - 400x24mm seatpost
Only new LBS bits were cables, bar tape, chain, and an inner tube. Hit a snag at the weekend trying to get a spare 7spd cassette off an old hub, will need to get my hands on another one to complete. (which is why the rear derailleur cable is long, haven't set it up yet)
Other than the cassette, she's complete... for now. Not a hundred quid either, but if anyone asks...
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Comments
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Can't argue with that for the money. You could do a lot worse!0
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I like it, thinking of doing something similar myself.
Did you get all that stuff from ebay? Seems really good prices, or perhaps I just have no idea what things cost.0 -
wow great job!!!!0
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Now it looks like something worth stealing!0
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Cheers gang.
I didn't include postage in those prices I should admit - I got the SLR levers for a tenner, but ebay shyster charged me a fiver for postage.
However, the trick to it was (or seems to be) just being patient on your bidding, and ploughing through the listings for poorly listed/titled things. What also helps is when people have lumped things together - so the 7410 Dura-ace BB, ring and cranks were £40, but probably would have gone for more individually.
Don't be fussy about what you put on - the Campy front mech was cheap so I grabbed it. Similarly the Exage shifters; they're grey rather than chrome, but a lot cheaper than the chrome Shim or Campy items. I didn't deliberately set out to put SLR or Dura-Ace or 105 on it - just snaffled any bargains I found. The wheels I'm rather pleased with at that price - they just needed a decent clean and polish to the spokes.
And yes, it has suffered from what we in IT euphemistically call 'scope creep', and there's absolutely no way I'm leaving it at the station. Instead, it's reverted to ride-it-to-friend's-houses-bike, purely because I can ride it wearing trainers.
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Dragging my own post up from the depths, but finally managed to get round to going to LBS and buy the remaining piece in the jigsaw - rear cassette.
She lives!
And, to be honest, whilst now being fairly light it still rides in a most awful fashion. I understand now what testers/reviews bang on about with responsiveness and eagerness - compared with the modern stuff in the garage the old girl rides like it's in a coma. Whereas the Trek - for example - feels eager and lively when up on the pedals, this feels exactly the same. The other side to the coin is a complete lack of noise up through the frame - all that low grade Carbolite steel smothers it all - Quite relaxing and mellow ride.
Going to change the pedals out as the ones on there are one-sided things which came with the Trek. Some period metal ones with cages, and a Charge Spoon saddle I think. Brakes also have to go - OEM fit, and they're utter rubbish; you can see the whole thing flexing when the shoes meet the rims.0 -
If I'm correct, the "brakes" are CLB items, which were terrible even then, when brakes were terrible (but we didn't know it)
Looks like modern long-drops would fit, problem is they're non-allen key.
Well done on not spending a fortune, and I think I might actually have the brochure that the original bike was in, back in Blighty - if you want it PM me.
It's just a hill. Get over it.0 -
fantastic, top effort but yes as said before to a nob head its now nickable! great effort wish i could track down my old one i has as a kid and restore it.
Just go to show you cant polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter.....
Top work0 -
Oh dear what have you done?!
1 - Bike should be against a white background, preferable a garage door so the bike shows up properly, or if taken well, a black background with suitable lighting.
Would it really have been too much trouble to rattle-can the garage door?
Does look good.0 -
Oh aye, I've rolled it in glitter all right - Dura-Ace 7410, SLR, and 105; it is literally worth more in bits... but that does mean if I chance across a better frame I can swap all the good stuff onto that.0
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Just a quick question, can you remember where you got your 24mm seat post, I'm also restoring some lumps of battleships and can't find a seat post easily.
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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 1192922376
Very good quality.
Not cheap - did find some place in Germany selling some 24x400 for £3.40, but decided that was just too cheap. There's also some bike shop which sells 24s, but at £50 - which I think says as much about the fixie crowd than anything else.0 -
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/diam-234-25- ... 26402.html
Got one of these for my Carbolite that I've just done. Had to tighten the clamp perhaps a bit more than I'd like but with a thin shim it'll be fine.
Not the most adjustable though, the angle increments are quite big with the single bolt.0 -
Just ordered one from that eBay site. I wanted something that will for perfectly without a shim. Cheers for that.
R0
