VintageSteelEU

I've read somewhere on these forums this model tends to develop a fault in the axles. I haven't had any problem with mine in the past two years (and they were not new when I got them) but now I'm examining them very closely when regreasing every few months. I think this is my favourite pedal model of all times. Which someone in France started making replicas...

Dylansbob 

MAJOR BUMMER. Just picked this up from original owner, it took me a while to realize that the seller's email address matched the initials on the TT. When I see bikes photo'd in front of storage closet doors, I just usually expect "flipper". Got it home and found a stuck seatpost, no problem, sprayed some penetrant and waited an hour..... Not long enough, I placed the head of the post in my 12" vise and gave the frame a twist. *pop* goes the bonded-on head off the post. Looks like this is going to be a parts harvest and long term frame project.

VintageSteelEU

Caustic soda solution through the BB shell and funnel (after blocking off the seat post)? Probably protecting the paint somehow might be prudent.
Looks like quite a decent steel frame in good condition, would be a shame not to restore it.

MieleCall

The matching pump and bottle holders are a nice touch! Great build

curbtender

I saw someone use a lag bolt with an impact gun. Looks like there is enough extended tube to do that.

xiaoman1 

Too bad, that's a nice looking bike....Perhaps you should have waited a little longer before using a lot of force on the seat post.

To All those in a hurry, follow Master Po's wise advice!
"Patience Grasshopper"........
Best, Ben

Mad Honk 

I would not give up on removing the post section, and would use a bit of the Acetone/ATF solution in the seat tube after using a cork to cap the remaining post section. If you have it apart already this is just a bit of time consumption to get the right removal process. I would not attempt any chemical methods to remove the post. The frame is much too nice to potentially harm the finish. As Ben says patience. Smiles, MH

52telecaster

I'm guessing that is a really long seatpost. When I use those I cut them off so you don't have a foot buried in the frame. Could take a while but it's worth the effort.

streetsurfer

Wintergreen oil. Thank me later.

VintageSteelEU

From my own limited experience, I wish I never tried any brute force methods of removing a stuck seat post or stem. Now I have one nice frame which will have to go to a frame builder for repairs at some point, so that lesson didn't come cheap. This particular frame you have looks like it was stored in good conditions and the bicycle was treated well, so maybe you'll have some luck. But for any frame that's not been protected from the elements and had decades of galvanic corrosion, no penetrating oil is going to help and no amount of brute force is going to solve the issue Not that I'm planning on working on too many bicycles in the future, maintaining the ones I have is enough, but if I ever come across another stubborn seatpost I can't remove gently, I will be going straight for caustic soda.

merziac

Really, do tell.

steelbikeguy

not exactly wrenching, unless tire levers somehow count as a "tire wrench".

My story involves wanting to put some 25mm tires on my Raleigh International. I needed some other stuff too, so went to BikeTiresDirect. They usually do pretty well.
When I sorted on their 700C road tires, just a few popped up that were available in 25mm. One was the Continental GP5000, so I thought I'd give that a shot. I've used the Conti Grand Prix Classic in 25mm on another bike, so thought these should be fine.

I got the tires and mounted them on the International's Mavic MA-2 rims. They looked pretty skinny, and when I measured them, they were under 23mm!




This is basically the same width as the 23mm Veloflex Master tires that I just pulled off, so this wasn't good.

I checked the bike with the 25mm Grand Prix Classic tires mounted on Mavic MA-2 rims.
They were a bit more than the advertised 25mm....




I contacted BikeTiresDirect about this, hoping that they could check with Continental and find out what version of the GP5000 was actually 25mm.
They replied with a general disclaimer: Apparently they don't know how big tires really are and don't care. I don't recall them telling me this when I was selecting the 700 x 25 version of the GP5000 either.

They did provide a link to Conti's web page that allows folks to ask questions. I left a question with Conti, and will wait and see what comes out of that.

The tires are on their way back to BikeTiresDirect, no doubt destined to frustrate someone else.
I'll see if I can't find a set of the Grand Prix Classics in 25mm somewhere. Hopefully Conti hasn't changed their tire molds yet, and it'll be the same as the ones I've got.
I'm still scratching my head as to how Conti can produce road tires in the Grand Prix series that have completely different standards for what 25mm is. How do they stay in business?

Steve in Peoria

merziac

Did you call BTD or email? I think they are on the rivet most of the time but in person they are pretty committed so I would call in if you didn't. I know they deal with a lot of this and are quick to default to the disclaimers. Quite awhile back I decided to "step" way up for me and bought some HED wheels, they were on a good sale and were still $500? so when I got the "hand built" wheels out of the box and saw more scratched black paint than I liked, I took them back and asked if we could try some others. They weren't interested in that and said "some scratching is normal", not at this price I said, you can have them back, Tx. They also needed a $60 Campy freehub that should have been discounted on a piggyback deal but wasn't, again, no Tx.

All that being said, they're prices and general service are pretty darn good, sales can be smokin, got another pair of $80 PI winter gloves for $20 last week so....

Certainly helps to be within riding distance and they always make it right in the end.

merziac

BFH, brute force, hot wrench, ham fist rarely go well with bikes, especially if its your default, when it does go well it usually means far less aggressive methods would have worked and you got lucky.

Not saying they don't have their place but the patience that holds them off as a very last resort will usually yield results without resorting to them.

steelbikeguy

I was in contact via email, and there were at least a half dozen exchanges as I gradually figured out that they were not going to do anything beyond either exchange the tires or take them back.

I asked if they would exchange them for some GP5000's that they knew were 25mm, assuming that they could contact Continental and get the straight dope. Nope. They just gave me a link to Conti and said I could ask them myself.
When I asked whether they considered such a big difference in size between two Grand Prix models a problem, they said "please refer back to the sizing info we provided". I responded with "are you talking about that statement about tire sizes varying within one manufacturer's offerings?", they said "yes".
Obviously, that statement is a CYA and not actual info on sizing.

After a number of back and forths, I admitted that I made a mistake by thinking that they knew or cared about the products they sold, and would just return the tires.

I don't understand why they accept that level of sloppiness from Continental. They had wasted a bunch of their time and mine, and lost money for shipping, etc. Knowing how inconsistent Conti is, they must be losing a lot of money like this. They sell a ton of Conti tires and should have some influence. By comparison, Conti isn't going to care if I'm unhappy... I'm just one individual.

Interestingly... when I was still working at the Big Yellow Machine company, Conti was a supplier to us, and I dealt with them in various roles. I dealt with a group that designed electronics, but it was the same corporation. I know from experience that when you buy hundreds of thousands of dollars of product, they will listen to your complaints!

Steve in Peoria

merziac

Yep, I get it and you're not wrong.

However I do truly believe they are on the rivet. I ordered some 32mm Black GP 4 Seasons months ago and they have been updated probably a dozen times, supposed to be here on 10/27 now. Every update they say they will be happy to cancel, no way in H**L, they are $45 instead of $80 and they are for stock anyway. There are probably dozens of people freaking out. If a giant like Conti can't keep up then no one in retail will have any sway no matter how much they sell.

Unfortunately this "new normal" is probably here to stay and be used as a permanent CYA/BS backstop from here on out.

Tom who works the front is always concerned about things being right but you can tell when he's out of his depth, when he can help he does, when he can't....
he doesn't like it.

Buy early and often and hope for the best.

VintageSteelEU

If I remember correctly, Pirelli P Zero Velo are below specified width. So, 28 would be more like 26. Also, Michelin Litheon 3 are on spec. 25mm is 25mm. And they are actually quite good. At least to me, I prefer 25mm Litheon 3 than LifeLine Prime Race 28mm (which, arguably, are cheap road commuting tyres, so there's no point in expecting miracles). Have no idea how they stack against Continental tyres, got no experience with those (other than removing crumbling ones from a wheelset I got some time ago).

steelbikeguy

I've had good results with Michelins being the advertised size, and being good tires in general.

The Veloflex Corsa tires that are on the Raleigh International are quite nice tires, so I've ordered a pair of 25mm Corsa's to replace the current 23mm Corsa's. My hope and expectation is that the 25's will be 2mm wider than the 23's. The 23's are a bit under 23mm when measured on the Mavic MA-2 rims.

I'm still bewildered at how Continental can be a prominent manufacturer and not be able to have a consistent process for measuring tires in general, much less within one category (road tires), and especially within one family of road tires (the Grand Prix family).

I've had this sizing problem with some of their heavier touring tires too. Good tires and very useful in the winter, but their 28mm tire ended up being 25mm (when measured on a Sun CR-18 rim, which is not a narrow rim).

Steve in Peoria

Mr. 66

Looks really close to the 1999 Arrow

mkeller234

Nearly done fixing up my Miyata Nine-Twelve. Really looking forward to getting this one on the road again. My few rides on it felt great. Very stiff frame.

streetsurfer

The best penetrant for
corroded/seized fasteners or assemblies that I know of.

jamesdak 

Tonight I'm just focusing on the Count. Touching up the black paint a bit and then on to the Cyclone parts I got that I may use on this. Need to just give the parts a deep cleaning and then relube.

eom 

New tires for our tandem. Replacing 38x622 Paselas that measured 36 mm. After 24 hours the SpeedRIDEs measure 40 mm at 60/65 psi.
Extra width required replacing the stock cable fixing bolt and washer with a hex head bolt, inserted the bolt from the front, stock 5 mm flat washer and nut. Used a Dremel to to trim the bolt flush with the nut. Installing the bolt "backwards" allowed me to cut away from the seat tube.

Measured weight of tires is 470 grams and 490 grams.

steelbikeguy

boy, that raises a basic question... "how close is too close?"

i.e. when selecting a "large" tire, how close should you let it get to the bike and components? Do you need to account for expansion due to changes in temperature, age, and the random worm or dog poo sticking to the tire??

My only experience with this was putting some Continental Grand Prix Classic tires, size 25mm, on the Hetchins. The Hetchins was built in 1987 when close clearances were popular and 20mm tires were the hot thing. 23mm tires were no problem, and I hadn't even considered how tight the 25mm tires might be. Well, this was closer than I had anticipated...



No problems with it yet, so fingers crossed.

Steve in Peoria

merziac

So, food grade, aromatic, pure scientific?

OR