Bicycle restoration in Canberra?

Benny Chop! Good dude, Good bikes!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Benny-Chop/224526857575666?sk=wall

Ray-Ray said :

If I got my bike frame sandblasted, would car painters paint a bike frame? and if so, about how much would it cost to be painted?

Let me recommend powder coating as a durable finish that is now available in a fair range of colours. There are two or three places around Fyshwick/Queanbeyan who can do it.

It should probably be said though that unless this bike has significant sentimental value then you are probably throwing good money after bad in reconditioning it. By the time you buy tyres, tubes, sandblasting, painting, new cables, new brake pads, brake hoods etc. etc. you could buy a modern bike which will be lighter, stiffer, change gears better and be more reliable.

I have kept and restored my oldest road bike but it isn’t remotely as good to ride as my modern road bike or touring bike or dualie… gears in particular have come a long way in 30 years.

If I got my bike frame sandblasted, would car painters paint a bike frame? and if so, about how much would it cost to be painted?

Your bike is more modern than I expected! A 7 speed probably has 700c wheels already, so 105 brakes (grey series with green and blue label?) are likely to be fine. Sounds like you’re after a straight-up resto… Check how much meat is left in the rims, there should be a wear indicator. If they’re ok get the hubs and freehub body serviced – new bearings and grease may be all that’s needed, provided the cones are not worn. Service the headset while it’s all disassembled, check the crown race for wear and make sure the cups are pressed in correctly after the paint job. Replace the bottom bracket with a sealed-bearing Shimano UN54 of the correct axle width. Look for replacements NOS chainrings and cassette, they are likely to be worn.

I like the suggestion about RSX shift levers, but also recall an expert opinion about the fragility of early examples. There may be a reason they’re going cheap on the Bay.

With the paint, if you’re leaving chrome on the chain/seatstays you may want some decals to cover the transition. AA Sandblasting – I’m not sure if anyone else in the area even does this work? – and I’ve had better results from Tai’s in Queanbeyan than Canfab, but that’s my own take on it.

A bit of diligence on ebay will find you compatible bits for most of the drivetrain. One thing to ponder though is what to do about wheels. Almost all bikes of that style from the ’80s will be 27″, whereas today it will be the very similar 700C size. Tubes are not a problem, but your choice in rims and tyres will be a lot more limited. Of course you could put 700C wheels on your bike but then you may run into problems with brake reach. If it is primarily a nostalgia thing then stay with 27″ but if you plan to ride it a fair bit then you might consider biting the bullet and moving to 700C sooner rather than later.

On my ’75 vintage road bike I went the whole hog and got the rear brake bridge repositioned so that I could use the original Dura Ace sidepulls with 700C wheels. Any reputable frame builder can do this fairly easily, and before a repaint would be the best time 🙂

mp2615 said :

Thanks for all this. budget is flexible. bike is mid 80’s, frame is reynolds 531 I think. shimano 105 on the front with a 2 x 7 setup which I’m quite happy with. It just needs replacing. I’m not wanting to risk cracking it just to jam a 10 speed in.

Shimano made RSX 7-speed STI levers if you are interested in “upgrading” from down-tube shifters while keeping the rest of the components closer to original spec .. you’ll have to hunt for them though, and they won’t be cheap if you find them in good condition.

http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html#bodycompat You could perhaps do the 8-cogs-of-a-9-speed-cassette thing. Spend some time reading Sheldon Brown. Think about what sort of replacement gear you want on it. Have a chat with a bike store who like “interesting” work – EG Mal Adjusted.

This thread brings back happy memories of my Peugeot 10 speed racer that I bought from the sports store in Weston in the days when the Duke worked there…
Mafac centre pull brakes and the same colour yellow as the comments bar as I type this…

Thanks for all this. budget is flexible. bike is mid 80’s, frame is reynolds 531 I think. shimano 105 on the front with a 2 x 7 setup which I’m quite happy with. It just needs replacing. I’m not wanting to risk cracking it just to jam a 10 speed in. Cinelli bar and stem should polish up nicely but the front forks are chromed I think, not polished. Not sure about the rear, maybe polished to about 3/4 of their length. The brakes have adjustment, thanks for the tip, I’ll check. If I can’t source new hoods to cover the brake assembly, is it kosher to wrap the bar tape around to cover the gap ? I’ve used chromeworld before. nice work too. thanks again

I can’t remember where I found the recommendations, but 18 months ago I had my old road bike frame sandblasted by “AA Sandblasting” in Fyshwick (in the industrial area off Gladstone St, aka at the bottom of a paddock mostly full of scrap metal.) Then powder coated at Canfab Engineering.

I stripped the frames and did all the prep myself. I can’t remember the price, but I was very happy with the whole experience (bike frames are pretty tiny and simple compared to most of what these folks do.)

Hope that’s of use. 🙂

Bosworth said :

Stevens Speed Shop

http://www.facebook.com/StevensSpeedShop#!/StevensSpeedShop?sk=info

Haha thanks for the props, Boz!