help with old bike

[Egon]

I think you been holding back on us Robert. You got the expertise required with no help.

There was a time I did a lot of cycling both on road and Mountain Biking. There are some really nice trails around Jasper and Banff and there were quite a few in the local area where we lived.

I used to cycle Jasper to Banff every summer with my camping gear.

Since moving to Nova Scotia the biking has stopped. Mainly due to the narrow roads with no shoulders. But, ohh, would the roads make for nice cycling. Windy, scenic and hilly. Set the gearing up properly and one could easily hit 60 MPH on the downhills and a minute later be in the granny gear. Just like Saltspring Island.

And oh, did I mention I did not start serious cycling till I was about 40. In 1987 the whole family went on a bicycle tour of Southeast Alaska utilizing the Alaska Marine Highway. It's a trip I would surely like to do again. But first on the wish list would be a ride down The Danube River.

 

[RobertN]

I think you been holding back on us Robert. You got the expertise required with no help.

I have not done much lately, and most of what I have done has been on older used bikes. I have never personally worked with higher end stuff(ie. Campy). And, I have never worked with sew-ups.

When I was a kid, I used to help my Uncle work on bikes. In the mid 60's till early 80's, when he had a garage, he used to get used bikes, and rebuild/refurbish them. He would sell some, to keep his hobby going, but many of them he donated to local needy kids and charities. Some were simple 20" Stingray type bikes, up to nice 10 speeds.

My first road bike was a Schwinn Continental that we rebuilt from the ground up with nicer components, but nor Campy nice... All I have left from that bike is great memories and my leather saddle That is the bike I rode on the 250 miler when I was 12.

I have been to Banff, Kootenay, and Jasper; that would be a BEAUTIFUL place to ride

I just found out that REI locally has some nice road/touring sew-ups.

 

[Lloyd_E]

Hi Robert,

I have a Peugoet (Reynolds double butted tubing) of the same vintage - Motobecane is french., My Peugeot has tubulars and a set of clinchers. It also has all campy record and super record gear along with the brooks pro saddle. Double butted stainless spokes too. I grew up in a cycling/racing family. I have two other bikes whole and a bunch of frames and parts.

Zeus was made in Spain and looked like a campy copy. Ok stuff - not great. I have a bunch of their stuff kicking around - pedals etc.

Rubber cement thinner (or gas) will remove the glue from the rims. I think continental tires are still cheap - around $25 a pop... We always carried a lot of spares on the bike and with the support vehicle. We usually set aside a couple of days a month to repair the tubulars. The repair is a lot of work but you get better/quicker at it with experience.

If the saddle is dry. Place it in the oven - low temp for 15-30 minutes. This opens up the pores in the leather. Apply a lot of saddle soap. Brooks used to sell their own but any horse saddle soap will do. The leather will suck it in.

Keep applying as much as you can. We usually did this a couple of times a year as well as monthly applications with a cloth.

Campy requires mircro adjustments for perfection. Use a good grease - Phil Wood or Campagnola.

I would look at building a set of clinchers rims, cross 4 for strength. You can find alot of vintage hubs on line cheap.

The rims are probably metric 700c - correct?

Man this brings back memories... great find/present!

Keep us posted.
Lloyd

PS: other bikes are Peugoet mountain bike - one of the first ones made;
Torpado racing frame, Italia Touring bike - all campy and lots of odd parts.

 

[RobertN]

And you should know by now, posting something like this without pictures is punishable by loss of seat time, either bike or tractor!

This will start it... This is a picture of the group of Scouts I went on the 250 miler with in 1975. I am second from left, on a customized Schwinn that my Uncle and built. My uncle is wearing the helmet...

Note the bike gear for the day. Jeans. Sneakers. Collared shirt. Ball caps. We did 46 miles that day; the longest leg of the trip. In jeans

The second one is just me, somewhere near Sierraville.

This trip was from Truckee, Ca to Mt Lassen National Park, and half way back.

 

[RobertN]

And you should know by now, posting something like this without pictures is punishable by loss of seat time, either bike or tractor!

Some bike pictures.

I took the rims to a performance bike shop today. They pulled the rear gearset for me, so I can get to the bearing(clean and repack).

The gearset is with what is left of an old tire...

The shot of the rim has a small spot I have been able to clean, compared to the rest which is, well, old caked on glue.

The bike shop had a higher end Continental tire for $80. It was ready to run; the tube was sewn in already. I'm looking at other tire options... I'm just not ready for $160 to $200 for tires. Found some online(thanks Egon!) for a lot less; nice road tires instead of race tires.

You can see the fingertip shifters. I think this is the only bike I have seen with those.

The rubber covers on the brake handles are shot.

Overall though, it is in great shape. Mostly dusty from being in the attic the last few years.

Tomorrow I'll work on cleaning the glue some more. I tried acetone. That seemed to work ok. Tried "Goo Gone". It did nt seem to work as well.

 

[RobertN]

This will start it... This is a picture of the group of Scouts I went on the 250 miler with in 1975. I am second from left, on a customized Schwinn that my Uncle and built. My uncle is wearing the helmet...

The kid all the way to the left, he had a rear derailler come loose. Ate the spokes on his back rim He wound up finishing half the ride on a spare bike.

 

[Lloyd_E]

Hi Robert,

Are the Brakes Universal or Wienmann? I think Universal.
Looks like a French Stronglight crank as well. You are going to have fun rebuilding it. I love the "Nervex" lugs on the frames. They don't make them like that anymore - hand cut and filed lugs.

Post your progress -will be fun.

Lloyd

 

[RobertN]

Yes, you are right. Universal's and Stronglight crank.

Universals are, well, Universal's. Do you know if there is any story behing the Stronglight crankset?

Hi Robert,

Are the Brakes Universal or Wienmann? I think Universal.
Looks like a French Stronglight crank as well. You are going to have fun rebuilding it. I love the "Nervex" lugs on the frames. They don't make them like that anymore - hand cut and filed lugs.

Post your progress -will be fun.

Lloyd

 

[RobertN]

Do you know if there is any story behind the Stronglight crankset?

A little web research indicates that Stronglight really was an innovator, and made very nice cranksets, even now. It seems they are pretty highly regarded, although parts for earlier versions, and tools, are getting scarce...

 

[Lloyd_E]

Yes, Robert, SL was advanced in it's day - long history. I found they flexed a lot compared to Campy and later Suntour/asian stuff - although Dura-Ace was very fine. They made single, track bike, cranks as well as double and triple sets. The British fashioned their TA set after SL.

I have a bunch of old stuff kicking around as well as access to older stuff.
Probably have some old Universal brakes shoes, although I replaced most of my shoes with later high tech stuff. In fact today I was cleaning my workshop and came across a bunch of stuff, BB and axles etc. I love the lug work on your frame. They where hand cut and filed. I knew a frame builder in the past and the more curly-cues on the lug meant more weldable surface area using silver solder = more strength.

Lloyd