My Dads old Carlton

housemunkey

Right now, my dad bought this Carlton (not sure of the model, but looks similar to a grand prix) way back in the early to mid 80's from his mates brother. He barely used the thing and from what I could tell from the condition when I dragged it out of the shed, it had been rotting away for quite some time.


DSCF2003 by housemunkey, on Flickr

I had pulled it from hibernation some years before in my early teens and actually crit raced on it a little. But that all ended fairly quickly and it had been stashed away ever since. Since graduating uni and getting back into cycling I decided it was too much of a waste to see it in that state.

I asked my dad if I could have it, he agreed and then I set about (with a lot of help from a work mate of mine) to restore it to its former glory. A couple of hundred quid, a powder coat and a good polish later we have the finished article. I love it so much I can hardly bring myself to ride it.


Project Carlton by housemunkey, on Flickr


Project Carlton by housemunkey, on Flickr

housemunkey

Project Carlton by housemunkey, on Flickr


Project Carlton by housemunkey, on Flickr


Project Carlton by housemunkey, on Flickr

housemunkey

Project Carlton by housemunkey, on Flickr


Project Carlton by housemunkey, on Flickr


Project Carlton by housemunkey, on Flickr

It has had the odd change made. The downtube shifters and rear mech were swapped to shimano 600 arabesque, and the brake levers were NOS as the originals were a right state.

I just wish it fitted me better, I think I will be getting a new shorter stem to accommodate my stumpy arms, then I'll be able to ride it some decent distances.

I had contemplated swapping out the old gear for a modern campag group to make it a bit more up to date to ride, but not I have the heart to wreck the originality. Also the brakes are shocking, not sure what to do about that, I guess its the chrome rims.

Anyway guys hope you enjoy the pics

Giraffoto

Looks lovely!

HouseMunkey wrote:

. . . the brakes are shocking, not sure what to do about that, I guess its the chrome rims. . . .

Ah yes, chrome rims. In the wet you have brakes but you don't have braking. Back in the day the racers would sand the chrome off the braking surface so that the resulting fine layer of corrosion provided a bit of grip.

kev77

Very nice

My mate has just built his Carlton Super Corse

I do like these frames

tim_wand

That is gorgeous. I had one just like it but White in the early 80's

Re the brakes and your not going to believe this, When it rained, before a ride my dad used to spray my rims with Silvikrin or Harmony hair spray . Only used to last for about 3 or 4 applications of the brakes but wierdly it did the job.

waughie

Thats really nice!

Is that a simplex rear derailleur?

Camus

Nice job on the restore though I have to say the colour scheme reminds me of a blue smartie! Great that you could give your dad's old ride a new lease of life, maybe he'll be sneakily borrowing it when you're not around now.

rolf_f

Excellent job but....... head tube lug lining appears to be needed and..... I know they are good but Charge saddles are pug ugly whatever colour they are!

What pedals are going on? On my classic Raleigh I have the Shimano SPD cage pedals - clipless on one side, very traditional looking cage flat on the other. I only ever use the clipless side but the appearance is much the better for those pedals!

housemunkey

Thanks for the comments guys.

Yea I've heard all sorts of stories about how to make the brakes work, I think I'll just put up with seen as the bike gets used only very occasionally.

The rear mech is shimano 600 arabesque. Looks really nice, I think it had a suntour mech on it originally.

The colour is a bit of a mystery. I had the frame powder coated to get the best finish and durabilty, I can't remember the colour code off the top of my head but it was a close match to the original paintwork as I found it. In some light it looks quite bright and blue, in daylight it looks darker and greener. It seems to look quite a bit different depending on the light.

I'm not an enormous fan of the lug lining if I'm honest, thats why I haven't bothered and possibly never will. It is a restore but I have changed the odd thing to my own ends, based on what I like. That brings me onto the saddle, I had been and still am strongly considering a brooks; but the restore cost a fair bit at the time and money was tight, hence I went for the charge, it was the best compromise at the time. I can see that it doesn't really fit in with the whole classic look though.

Whenever I've ridden her its been with some modern 105 SPD's, but I did have the original pedals restored.


Carlton pedals by housemunkey, on Flickr


Carlton pedals by housemunkey, on Flickr

They are really really nice, what I need to do now is get some NOS toe clips with leather straps and they should be perfect.

Thanks again for everyones comments

lawrences

If you've heard the story about melting down sugar + some other things and painting it on the rim surface, that one works brilliantly for chrome rims.

Used to use it for chrome rimmed bmx wheels.

rolf_f

Chrome wheels aren't so bad as long as you use the right brake blocks and stay in on rainy days!

These are the pedals I was talking about - best of both worlds! Toe clips and straps really aren't worth the pain!

random man

HouseMunkey wrote:

That brings me onto the saddle, I had been and still am strongly considering a brooks; but the restore cost a fair bit at the time and money was tight, hence I went for the charge, it was the best compromise at the time. I can see that it doesn't really fit in with the whole classic look though.

Have you looked on the Retrobike site? A San Marco Rolls saddle would look good, you should be able to get one at a reasonable price.

jezzasnr

really nice, and kept for fine days, i'll bet it's nice to ride.
I think i get as much pleasure from buggering about with old bikes as i do from riding them!

tim_wand

random man wrote:

HouseMunkey wrote:

That brings me onto the saddle, I had been and still am strongly considering a brooks; but the restore cost a fair bit at the time and money was tight, hence I went for the charge, it was the best compromise at the time. I can see that it doesn't really fit in with the whole classic look though.

Have you looked on the Retrobike site? A San Marco Rolls saddle would look good, you should be able to get one at a reasonable price.

The B17 a like copy you can get from Spa Cycles Harrogate looks really nice at £45.

rolf_f

tim wand wrote:

The B17 a like copy you can get from Spa Cycles Harrogate looks really nice at £45.

They do look good but really there is something wrong about getting Brooks rip offs (no matter how much I like the shop!) - I reckon it would be better to get a second hand genuine item rather than a new copy. The Brooks looks like good value anyway at less than £15 more than the copy.

housemunkey

Thanks for the input guys. I think I'll stick with toe clips idea. But I know I'll end up just putting spd's on it when I want a serious ride, bad I know.

I'd love everyone's ideas on saddles. So far I've heard a b17 and a rolls mentioned. Ill throw a brooks swallow into the mix aswell.

From the few short rides I've had it is a joy to ride. On a fairly flat run I was barely any slower than my all singing and dancing Look. Really smooth too as you'd imagine. Anyways look forward to hearing everyone's saddle ideas. Ill have to pick up a shorter stem soon as well, I'm sure fleabay will have something NOS or used that fits the bill (3T).

rolf_f

It's the Twighlight Zone (over on Retrobikes) - you might be interested

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... sc&start=0