jafa

I certainly approve. I'm not active here or I would have said something before.

It's good that it will be used now. It's just too bad I didn't experience a late-life growth spurt of an inch or so that would have allowed me to keep it.

To correct the travel, it's actually been this

Ilkeston -> Aberdeen, Scotland -> California > Mendoza, Argentina > Aberdeen, Scotland > Denver > Houston > Dallas -> Germany

I bought it from a store at 458-464 George Street, in Aberdeen.

I never thought about asking them to fix it. That would have been worth trying. I ordered it when living in Aberdeen, then got transferred to California. I didn't see it until it got shipped with my furniture. I did take it back to Aberdeen with me, but that was years later and the shop had changed owners.

realsteel

Hope you enjoyed the build.

RealSteel.

realsteel

Nice to hear from you. I'll take good care of your frame. J.

gaucho777 

That's spectacular! Kudos on a fantastic job. The blue bits really tie in together nicely. Your execution, attention to detail, and extra touches are inspiring.

SkUNkay

Great job! Loved the whole process you documented along with beautiful pictures. Would read through again!

Michael Angelo 

Great looking bike.

TenGrainBread 

Yes!

Ride pics next?

SquidPuppet

So much pretty bluuuuuuueee.

jafa

The color combination was chosen by me. I had a Descente ski suit that I liked in similar colors and had the bike painted accordingly.

If you want the suit to keep the set together, I can probably find it and send it over.

steelbikeguy

wonderfully done!

realsteel

Thanks!

realsteel

Thanks very much. Documenting each step is very useful for me too because I still make lots of mistakes, which are invariably spotted by the forum members.

The trick to getting a good picture is to use subdued lighting and long exposure times (up to ten seconds depending on the time of day).

realsteel

Thanks! I think the colors worked out quite well...

realsteel

Count on it!

realsteel

realsteel

Thanks! I appreciate that.

realsteel

I meant to say that it was a fine color combination and also fairly understated, which I like. You must have spent a fortune on the bike in 1986: Reynolds 753 + SBDU + first-generation C-Record. Did you carry on biking after the mishap? One thing puzzled me: why did you order an Edco Competition headset when everything else was C-Record?

Thanks for the offer of the suit! Are you still in the US? I lived in Scotland for several years but that was before I got hooked on bikes...

Thanks for the correction: that's amazing. We can also add Amsterdam to the list:

Amsterdam -> Ilkeston -> Aberdeen, Scotland -> California > Mendoza, Argentina > Aberdeen, Scotland > Denver > Houston > Dallas -> Germany

... assuming it was built by Jan Legrand.

Bikerider007

That's a great look and color combo. I would have had a hard time not adding more blue anodized due to my love of old BMX stuff, but you did a great job not making it overwhelming. Pics are beautiful and in person it must be quite a sight.

jafa

The bike shop stuffed me on a few components. It was all supposed to be C-Record. They substituted the shift levers and headset, which I never noticed until you mentioned it. Their explanation on the levers was that the C-Record levers looked good, but didn't work well, so they put on something that was more functional. Same could be true for the headset.

I read somewhere that the bottom bracket stamping was rider's initials, frame number, year. So the JL is either Jan Legrand or John Ladd. You probably have it right, but I prefer my version.

It's a long time ago, but I don't think that I paid much more than 1200 pounds for the complete bike. The exchange rate was great for me then, so it was something like $1400. I'd always wanted a 753 from when the US team road them - the orange and blue/black paint. When I found out the price, I couldn't resist.

qcpmsame 

Absolutely beautiful, Realsteel, this one turned out fantastic. It looks like it is fresh from the custom builder's shop.

Thank you for the kind words, I truly appreciate them, and your putting up with my PMs as well. I continue to learn from all of your posts.

About the titanium spindle for the SR bottom bracket, I'd tend to think that Campagnolo had to take what titanium they could get from the Soviets, at that period in time. As said, it was a straight titanium being used then, perhaps they had in inside at Lockheed's Skunk Works shop, with Kelly Johnson, and could get a special allotment through the shell corporation the CIA set up to purchase titanium from the Soviets, to build an airplane that was used to ferret out may of their secrets. Now, we get the well developed alloys, with the aluminum and vanadium components, that make some fantastic frames.

Jafa, please come around more often, anyone that played that big a part in this beautiful frameset would be a great member here, I feel certain. Nice that you popped in to share with us about the history of Realsteel's newest beauty.

Bill

bwilli88 

When you look at the overall bike it looks very good but when you get into the details it really shines. Nice job.

Ed.

NICE!!!! I've a few projects that could do with your touch!

realsteel

That certainly complicates identification of the builder!

Aberdeen, Dallas, etc.? I think I can guess your profession.

realsteel

I took the bike out for a test ride and found that the shifting was fairly poor: it kept auto-shifting, particularly in the middle gears. I checked for the usual suspects like a stiff link but all was well; also the chain was new and the freewheel was in mint condition. Then I remembered that the frame was involved in an accident which had impacted the derailleur:


... so I bought an affordable derailleur straightening tool:


... which indicated that the derailleur had indeed been bent:



This was soon straightened out: it's a bit nerve-racking doing this, but eventually I got it to within a couple of millimeters at the rim. After this, the shifting was improved but still not perfect: I may invest in a 7.1 mm chain which should stop the skipping entirely.

realsteel

At last I took the bike into the country, with an Italian and American as companions:



Here's the Raleigh parked in front of an old church:


... and then on to some rough country tracks: