Dkirk

Hello. I am about to embark on a rebuild of a poyner 531 bike. Poyner were a bike shop in Wolverhampton in the English West Midlands. Which is where I am from. It is commonly known as the Black Country. This is because it was a very heavy industrial area during the industrial revolution. “Black by day, red by night” was the saying.
I was bought up next to the Brookes saddle factory, in fact my auntie worked there.
Anyway. I rescued the bike, two bikes in fact, from a chap who was about to skip them and I am properly pleased with them. I have stripped both bikes down and am now cleaning up the peripherals. There was a set of well used but fully working campagnolo cobalto brakes and various other campagnolo gear. I also managed to get 7 wheels, tubs and clinchers. The spokes were all gone and so i have stripped these to the hubs and rims. Most of the hubs are large flange Nuevo tipo and one super record. The rims are various magic and fiamme. When I’ve cleaned them i will build them up into wheels.
The frame i am keeping has been stripped to bare metal and is now with the painters.
I shall post some pictures when i start the build in case anyone is interested and i shall also be asking for some advice please along the way.
Dave

thinktubes 

unworthy1

gugie 

"I was bought up next to the Brookes saddle factory, in fact my auntie worked there."

Many of us would love to buy her a pint and listen to stories about that!

Dkirk

Wheels seem ok

A lovely block I have definitely not got the legs for

Cobalto brakes. Missing one stone sadly

7 speed synchro. Might convert these to just friction

niliraga 

holy cow, that's a classy skip (dumpster) you've got parked in your streets!!

black country + bikes always makes me think of that yellow pages ad (from the mid 80s?). "I were right abou' that saddle"

Dkirk

to be fair. I rescued them before the skip but that’s where they were headed. Chap at work just wanted rid of it all. Gives me something to do in lockdown times. Cant wait to get the frame back and then build it up. I’m looking out for a strong light or TA chainset with smaller touring rings.
yes, growing up in the Black Country we were surrounded by small factories producing all manner of bikes and components. My school was next door to Major Nichols bike shop. He was a locally famous top end frame maker. I used to look in the window for ages on the way home from school.

KenNC

This is a really interesting post, looking forward to seeing more as this project unfolds! What are the the inserts over the bottom bracket threads? Are they just there to protect the threads?

Dkirk

they’re the remains of a plastic campagnolo bottom bracket. I had to burn them out in the end. Bit of heat and they fell out.

Dkirk

Dkirk

Hello. Does anyone have any idea how long the outer cable should be for the rear derailleur. It’s a Shia no crane. First generation dura ace. I could just cut some that looks ok. But was wondering if there was an optimal length.
cheers
Dave

Dkirk

SurferRosa

With the derailleur mounted, I pull it all the way forward with one hand and note the position of the cable entry. Then cut the housing to its shortest length to accommodate a perfectly rounded arc:

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Dkirk

Aah. Thank you. That’s sounds right. Cheers

Dkirk

Dkirk

So. More or less finished. It’s not a purist dream in that it’s eroica ready. The chainset is new but looks traditional. When I was a kid all of our bikes had old stuff and the latest stuff in a mish mash of what we could afford and what we liked. So it’s a bit like that. I like it anyway. I’ve enjoyed putting it all together