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Just got my first bike! It's an old Canadian assembled Boyes & Rosser Cycles(BRC) 10 speed road bike from the 70's or 80's. It's a Japanese lugged frame with a hodgepodge of parts from SR, Shimano Tourney center-pull brakes, Shimano Eagle rear derailleur, Suntour Compe-V front derailleur, Shimano banded friction shifters, and a bunch of big-ole fenders and a Swiss rat trap rear rack. Front crankset gears are 48T/36T, and the rear gears go from 28T to 14T. Wheels are Araya 27"x1-1/4" , looks like it wants wired tires? The bike's geometry fits me perfectly, but it's obviously an old, low to mid range bike. I don't want to throw too much money at this bike, but I am excited for my first beater resto! I'm inclined to put cyclocross/gravel bike tyres on it so I can take it on some gravel trails/roads and dry grassy areas, while still retaining decent on-road efficiency. Given I have ample clearance due to the center pull brakes, is that a reasonable idea? Is the gear ratio alright for mild gravel walking/biking trails? The fenders can be removed if need be for clearance I'm taking it down to the local bike co-op tomorrow to get help tearing it down completely, so I can strip the finish/corrosion and repaint the frame and forks, redo all the bearings, cables, and such as needed, and do any reasonable upgrades with the co-op's big selection of used parts. Is there anywhere I should pay special attention to? Any tips on some parts that will be a big bang:buck improvement? Is this a fool's errand? Should I retain the practically no-name badging, or should I just get some cool custom decals to put on after it's repainted?        
Mederlock fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Jun 7, 2023 |
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Jun 7, 2023 21:29
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SimonSays posted:Change the crank and BB for something square taper, should be straightforward finding parts. Double or triple, won't terribly matter with that transmission. Otherwise I wouldn't try to upgrade parts too much on that. I wouldn't repaint either. Yeah, I'm definitely not planning on throwing too much money at it, mainly just fresh bearings and the like. The brakes and shifters all work well. The faded to white paint is killing me though, I'm definitely planning on repainting it as well as spending some time with polish on the metal bits to bring it back to passably decent cosmetic standards, even just for the sake of improving it's resale value (got it for $50 CAD). I have some experience with painting and understand the headache that the proper prep will take. What's the advantage from going square taper?
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Jun 7, 2023 22:31
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Dog Case posted:I feel like the white paint is an intentional paint job and not faded. I can't even imagine what kind of exposure could fade the paint like that and not absolutely destroy everything else on the bike I'm positive it's not intentional. One half of the bike is more faded than the other, I'm quite sure it's been bleached by year's if not decades of exposure to the sun. All of the aluminum and chrome is in pretty rough shape too. The handle bars had a neoprene foam covering that was absolutely falling apart from UV degradation which I cut off before taking those photos.  Vs  And  vs  E: I should also add all of the groupset/brakes/etc. were pretty well covered in oily/greasy schmoo, which I washed off at a wand wash before I took those pictures. Some of it was on the frame as well so could be that helped protect it against the UV some too. Mederlock fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Jun 7, 2023 |
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Jun 7, 2023 23:05
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Havana Affair posted:you just have to lower the brake pads about 4mm. Edit: you might need new brakes for this looking at the pictures. . I just checked and there's about 5-10 mm of adjustment left on the mounting bracket for the brake pad to lower it further, so that should work! If the co-op has wheels available in that size, I think I will make that swap. There seems to be a limited handful of tires that could probably handle some mild dirt/gravel trails for the 27x1-1/4, but they're older stock and pricy. I also found a much nicer bike for $50 that I'm going to go take a look at today that just needs a rear derailleur, so that may mean I'll have 2 project bikes on the go 
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Jun 8, 2023 17:18
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Thanks for the advice everyone, I appreciate it!  Definitely going to do the square taper BB+crank conversion, better brake levers, and possibly a wheel swap pending used part stock at the co-op, and weighing my options about painting the frame and forks(free time is something I currently have a lot of, and I do intend to preserve/recreate the original markings and badging ). Those Panaracer tires do look good though! So if there aren't any appropriate wheels available I'll just order a set of those instead.
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Jun 8, 2023 20:24
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Just got done disassembling the bike with some help at the co-op, that was fun! They were super helpful there and had all the tools needed. But a question Found a couple decent square taper cranks at the co-op, but ran into the question of going with a cartridge sealed BB, or just putting a square taper shaft with the old bottom bracket cups/cones. What's the best way to go there?
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Jun 9, 2023 03:15
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Mauser posted:so I discarded the bugs because they looked to be in pretty bad shape. Yeah. First off there's something like three different square taper profiles, JIS for a lot of the Japanese ones and ISO for a bunch of the Euro ones, and the other thing you have to worry about is maintaining the right chainline distances. Sheldon Brown has some articles on it https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bbtaper.html https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainline.html
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Jun 14, 2023 14:30
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kimbo305 posted:A digital caliper is well worth it once you get this far in the weeds with parts and standards. The local coop here has a nice mitutoyo caliper and oh my god I've never used anything so perfect before
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Jun 14, 2023 18:13
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Mauser posted:I'm trying to use the original BB and grabbed a new spindle that looked about right for the square taper chainring and forgot to hold this last one up against the original spindle to see if the ridges that fit against the bearings were in the same space and they're not. The others all were and I just forgot to check the last one.Now I gotta wait until the coop is open on Sunday to grab a replacement and try again Yeah it's a crapshoot. I went through a few dozen spindles in the bins last night before I found one at 115mm that gave me a serviceable chainline, and even that one would've been better at 113. The only one that was 113 was too short between the bearing races. The original cottered crank was actually even further than the new one I found so it's still an improvement. My bike overhaul is going great.. other than the 3 small chips I put in the new paint because I banged it up against some metal while the paint was still curing 
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Jun 16, 2023 15:06
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Mauser posted:Follow up question, do you have a co-op with tons of used parts bins that you can fish around in for replacement parts that cost 1-6 dollars? This is the Way
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Jun 18, 2023 01:15
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So, I found a pretty decent Sugino 2x square taper crank, all aluminum or some kind of alloy, at the local bike co-op, but there's a problem. It's got a 52T/42T pair of chainrings, and I'd definitely like to adjust the gearing down to 48/38 or something of that nature. I did find a pair of chainrings with the proper BCD and sufficient life in them, a pair of weird Sugino Cycloid oblong rings that should be a better gearing choice. I can't for the life of me get these drat original chainrings off. It's got the crappy rear nut that has like 1mm of metal to engage against the tool, which obviously sheared right off into a ramp when I tried removing it with one of the proper chainring wrench's and a large Allen key. Have used penetrating oil and love taps from a hammer, but I can't get these last two bolts off. Any tips on getting these out? Or am I best off just drilling the whole thing out and getting replacement nuts, properly anti-seized up for the future? E: Got them out, included some sideways drilling into the edge of the chainring nut, and then tapping out with a punch around the perimeter while the bolt was anchored by an Allen key on a vise. The other two stuck ones I was able to get out with this method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6SCwijgdyQ Mederlock fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Jun 18, 2023 |
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Jun 18, 2023 07:29
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Has anyone tried the Alexrims products before? My wife's bike came with an extra front wheel built with a basic x404 630x20 aluminum rim from them that seems? Relatively decent but I don't know how long it's going to last. I ended up using it as my front wheel as it's certainly better than the rusted and pitted steel wheel my bike came with. I guess my bigger question in general is, what's the best value/deal in wheelset components these days, for something tough and reliable but not necessarily aero/ultralight/etc? We're going to ride this season out on our 27x1-3/8's, but over winter I'd like to get us into 650B's with bigger tires, for comfort just as much for better off road handling. Am I better off just watching local buy and sells/eBay and buying 2 wheelsets as deals come up, and then working on the bearings and trueing them up? Or can I get a lot of bang for my buck by mixing some components and building them from scratch? My wife enjoyed the process of trueing and slightly adjusting the dish on our wheelsets when we fixed up our vintage resto bikes recently, so the labour part of it isn't much of a factor.
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Jul 11, 2023 17:07
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Havana Affair posted:Rim brake 650b is tough. There's only a handful of rims available in the world and even fewer ready wheelsets available. Alexrims make most of those rims at all price points fwiw. Going from 630 to 584 is probably also gonna mean brazing some cantiposts to the frame and fork since you'd be lowering the brake pads 23mm. In short I wouldn't bother unless the frames are super nice and even still I would think about it hard. Oh, that's a really good point that I didn't consider. 700C probably makes much more sense on that front for these frames, given that long reach calipers will make that distance without much fuss, and still will be an improvement in tire selection and rubber between the rim and the ground. I'm not necessarily put off by the idea of doing some braze-ons myself, but the juice probably isn't worth the squeeze. Thanks
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Jul 11, 2023 18:33
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kimbo305 posted:Yeah, gaining 4mm of tire size will be pretty good. 23 to 28mm, 28 to 32. Cool, the 1-3/8 we have is essentially 35mm, so with the excess clearance we have and what we gain from going 700C, we could go to 40's with a little space for mud. That'll be perfect.
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Jul 11, 2023 22:18
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Angryhead posted:
If you have a good local bike co-op community shop they'll walk you through it and have all the specialty tools, bringing down costs. Between doing your research on the Park Tools videos and the guidance from the mechanics at the shop, you can definitely do it  But that being said, it is time consuming and depending on your tolerance for fiddly work with small tolerances can be pretty annoying. It's probably not for everyone. But even if you buy a secondhand wheel you may want to true it up, which the shop can also help you with but will take far less time than building one from scratch.
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Jul 14, 2023 22:40
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On this topic, are there such things as.. better tubes? Like we've just got some basic generic tubes in our tires right now, but are there improvements that can be made in some upgrades? Are like, tubes with sealant a thing? Or some kind of puncture resistant tubes, or any way to augment the tire to reduce the odds of a puncture? I don't see myself going tubeless anytime soon but surely there's some improvements to be had on the tube side of the spectrum.
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Jul 18, 2023 04:59
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VelociBacon posted:I just use whatever 'enduro tubes' are sold at the base of Whistler, I'm not sure what the brand is but they seem fine. I've never flatted one without asking for it by doing something dumb like riding a non-dh casing tire in the bike park. Oh dope, this seems like the best compromise. I don't really care about going an extra 1-3 km/hr, but having something a bit beefier without being $LBS priced or dealing with goo in the tube seems like a good compromise. SimonSays posted:Why go with different tubes rather than get tires with puncture resistance? If you're not bothered about the rolling quality too much, Marathon Plus are damned hard to puncture. For sure that's the best place to start, but as I'm on old 27" rims, my options for offroad-ish 3-season gravel capable tires with puncture resistance are limited. Once we transition to 700C we'll have more options on that front. I ended up with the Kenda K161 Kross Cyclo and they've been flat free for the couple hundred KM's we've collectively put on them on some pretty rough trails so far.
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Jul 18, 2023 22:50
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I don't have any personal experience with rotors but the reasonably well-designed tests I've seen people do on YouTube pretty consistently show something like 15% better braking with the larger rotor. Makes sense, there's more leverage(? I think that'd be the term) relative to the center of the axle with a larger diameter rotor, and the heat generated is spread out over a larger area. Your front brakes are by far the most important ones, it seems a lot of folks are going 160mm front and 140mm rear. Some people even run 180's up front but that seems to be more of a DH mountain bike thing and again I think it's more about the improved heat dissipation mitigating brake fade.
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Jul 24, 2023 16:36
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I'm no expert or anything but DOT brake fluid is just hydraulic fluid with extra stuff added , you're probably fine especially since you cleaned it first
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Aug 3, 2023 16:18
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My wife has been struggling on hills with the 38T small ring on her bike(not exactly easy for me either), and the cranks we have are compatible with a third ring. So, she finally got fed up enough and demanded we go to the co-op and make it work. So... now I'm halfway through converting my wife and I's bikes to a triple touring crankset from a double. Found some fairly decent Suntour touring 3x FD's for the front, and got a Suntour Mountech long cage RD for the better 3/4's bike And a decent old Shimano touring RD for my bike. I'm now reading online that the original Mountech was hot garbage because of its goofy large pulley wheel. It's slightly gritty but seems decent other than that. Should I just pull it apart and grease it well? Or should I bin it and find something more reliable? Also, what's the best value on a new chain? It's an old 5 speed, but would a 7 speed chain work well? Any recommendations on a chain to go with? I was lucky and my wife's spindle was the perfect length for the extra ring with a good chainline. My bike.. not so much. It's definitely going to be a pain sorting through the co-op bins to find a spindle with more length on the drive side, and a set of 3mm matching chainring nut washers. Wish me luck 
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Aug 10, 2023 06:52
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Hyperlynx posted:So, I watched the derailleur videos, and was honestly kind of overwhelmed. I decided to just take my bike in to my local shop and pay someone to do the diagnosis and fixing for me. I just rode there to discover they're closed on Mondays. Nice work! It gets easier and more intuitive the more you work on them. I just finished successfully adding a third chainring to my wife and I's bikes, and it sure is nice having a granny gear on tap . Now we're 48/38/28 Biopace rings up front and 14-28 in the back. I think I'll end up leaving it there.. but maybe I'll think about doing a 5 speed->7 speed cold set and conversion down the line if we want the extra range and inner gears. The rabbit hole of mods never ends 
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Aug 14, 2023 01:17
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Back it up Terry posted:My pedal fell off, and it won’t go back on. Is there an easy way to tell if it’s the crank vs the pedals? New bike, 3rd ride on the pedals. Are you threading it on the right way? The pedal on the left side is threaded in a different direction than the right side pedal to the cranks
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Sep 2, 2023 02:36
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SimonSays posted:Get rim brakes, road disc's only point was a successful op to create value for the shareholders at Shimano and the carbon bike manufacturers 
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Sep 9, 2023 20:30
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Platystemon posted:loving crank bolts. Have you tried heating it with a torch and hitting it with a hammer(after penetrating oil ofc) That's always my last resort before pulling out the drill ,
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Sep 13, 2023 14:12
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If you get friction shifters, make sure to get good ones with a ratcheting function, and big thumb handles. They're much easier to adjust and they're not as prone to slip as basic friction shifters. And they're tactilely satisfying . My wife has a stem friction shifter pair and I run mine on the down tube. They're a little sketchy at first but when you get the hang of it, they're nice. You're going to be looking between your legs a lot more to see what gear you're in, and you'll find you'll want to brace your hand against your frame when you make a shift.
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Nov 3, 2023 20:44
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bicievino posted:I bike commute in Seattle and as dumb as it may sound: I like drip wax. Just out of curiosity, have you tried the melted paraffin wax thing yet, or just drip wax?
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Jan 29, 2024 05:53
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Yeah I'd call around a couple of your LBS's first to see if you can get a bike tech on it, and if that's a bust then call around some machine shops that specialize in automotive work, something like this is easy for them to extract with a drill press
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Apr 23, 2024 14:13
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Have you tried big locking vise grip pliers?
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May 6, 2024 04:20
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webcams for christ posted:Aren't qill stem bolts usually flush with the top? There isn't anything to grip, at least on my stem. Mine's just a basic bolt sitting proud of the stem, my wife's bike's quill stem bolt is recessed with the Allen key like yours, so ymmv based on your particular stem yeah. Glad the machine shop got your issue sorted!
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May 6, 2024 09:02
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