gmt13

I am planning a restoration of a 74 Raleigh Competition. The frame did not have bottle cage mounts originally but some had been brazed on to the down tube at some point. I would like to remove them for authenticity. If anyone has done this, I would appreciate some advice.

I had thought about heating and removing. Then I would have something like 1/4" hole to cover for both bosses. I have also thought of brazing in a screw to fill the boss hole and then grinding everything flush. The third option is to just leave them in.

Any recommendations would be welcome.

-G

unterhausen

there is a good chance that if you grind them flush they will not be attached. I have thought about moving some bottle bosses downwards on one of my bikes. The giant water bottles I like bump into my calves and that causes me problems. Probably end up patching them from the inside since I know I used silver.

hueyhoolihan

since you brought up grinding as an option... just grind off the tops of the bosses and fill with brazing material or even epoxy, then grind or sand again and repaint. or heat them up and pull them off, then fill.

but if it were me, i would choose your third option. leave 'em on.

there! fini.

put on water bottle cages and use them. or like me just don't put on the cages at all. you know, there are very, very few people that will EVER notice, or care to notice, that they were not original on that frame, including all of my biking friends and acquaintances that i now or will have, if not yours.

tuz

I had to move a too-low bottle boss on a frame of mine. I brazed a bolt then filed it flush. The filing is a bit tricky since the tube is thin and the boss is uneven. I guess it's the best way since it removes the boss and fills the hole at the same time. But I wouldn't bother if it is not necessary.

unterhausen

a bolt or a bolt-like object is a good idea. The real trick is going to be replicating the crummy Raleigh paint job

hueyhoolihan

i know just the guy...

ksisler

OP; Anytime you put heat back onto an existing frame, there is some risk... but given that I would recommend your idea of just fluxing up the bosses and a couple of plain steel bolts, screwing them in tight, wick in some silve solder at the lowest temp you can, and then file it all smooth. Need to be extra careful to keep the file off the tube itself as you don't want to encourge any stress breaks there. /K

gmt13

Hey, crummy paint jobs are my specialty. Got that covered.

Thanks to all for the advice. I am leaning toward just leaving them alone. I can see filling and filing and then having to look at the likely minor imperfections showing through the paint. Might as well look at the bosses.

-G

calstar 

+1 ......and you might actually use them.