John E

It's hit-and-miss, but "chance favors the prepared mind." (Louis Pasteur) I found the 1959 Capo at a yard sale for $20, and I could have ridden it almost as-was, but then I splurged on the paint job ... .

Dylansbob 

Heres what a $30 Holdsworth looks like on OU.

Pcampeau

Finally took some time off from work and got around to disassembling and cleaning this today. Here are some before cleaning pics of the frame.










It took me about two hours to clean it with a tooth brush and dish soap. I used a little polishing compound in a few choice places. I still need to wax but I’m running out of daylight so next photos will be of the cleaned frame.

Pcampeau

Here are the after cleaning photos. Daylight is fading but I’ve still got good even light for a few more minutes.



Some of the old grease from the headset seemed almost cooked on and has left some staining on the top of the head tube that I don’t think will come out any better

The bottom of the down tube is almost perfect. Much of what I thought may be rust was actually just a stuck on brown and black sticky substance, maybe tar.

Small rub marks on the fork but not bad on this side.


The worst part of the fork.

The stays have some small paint chips but all that grease and dirt is gone. There are rub marks from the chain having fallen and getting stuck between the crankset and stay as well as some tire rub marks on the inside.

The worst part is this feeble attempt at lug lining that thankfully didn’t make it past one side of the seat lug.

Sure wish the other side looked like this.

Kabuki12

Yup, that’s about the only way to do it. There’s a certain amount of reward to removing years of grime and grunge. I think that will be a fine bike.

Pcampeau

Thanks. I think so too, I’m enjoying the process immensely!

Pcampeau

Spent part of last night and early this morning cleaning and polishing parts parts and I’m beginning assembly.

Cracked as usual. I may have another Campagnolo derailleur around here that I can steal a jockey wheel from.

Pcampeau

After some digging I found a patent 72 derailleur with the same problem. I can make a full set of crack free jockey wheels from combining the two but now I need to find some more for the spare.

Pcampeau

All better.


These will make fine additions to my cracked jockey wheel necklace!

Pcampeau

Starting to get somewhere on this build.

rjhammett

Cleaned up quite nicely.

rjhammett

I think that some sellers just want to make sure their bike ends up with someone that will appreciate it. I bought this Falcon San Remo for $30. I rehabbed it (about $20) and sent him a picture when done. He was quite happy about that.

Pcampeau

Managed to keep the Phil script while cleaning the hubs. I can see why the warnings about this, it looks so easy to wipe it away. I just cleaned around it.
Still had a bit more cleaning to do at this point but it’s coming along nicely.

Kabuki12

I just bought a set of Mavic wheels with early Phil hubs and they are very nice and shiny but the script is gone. The PO had used leather cleaning loops that cleaned as the bike was ridden so the script was erased. I see that decals are available on the bay but not sure I want to go that far to get the red script back.

I had to buy a bike to get the wheels but I got a few other fine parts for less than a set of wheels would normally cost.
This is just after getting my donor home and removing the leather loops. I have a set of these hubs on my Windsor Pro but they are not near as nice as these but still spin smoothly . They really are nice hubs. Your frame is beautiful, who could’ve guessed it would come out that nice, good job!

Pcampeau

I think you’re right and I’ll definitely be sending photos to the original owner, he seems like the type of person who would enjoy seeing how this thing is turning out.

Pcampeau

I’ve finished assembling the bike and tuned it. I’m out for a little shake down spin and wow these hubs are great!! I appreciate the compliment, it is indeed a beautiful frame. I managed to get some pics before the sun went down and I’ll post them in a few minutes.

Pcampeau

Okay, here’s some pics of the final product, just before sundown with the sun coming straight over the lake behind me.

I really love how it turned out.

Looks almost gold in such direct light.
A couple of tweaks to make yet, I think I’ll lower the angle of the bars just a little. I may even lower the brake levers slightly. I also still need to remove the freewheel and clean up the rear hub a bit better. I’m at my home and not my shop so I’ve got a limited number of freewheel removal tools at my disposal, none of them are Regina. I was able to clean the gears pretty well by flossing them with a rag but I can do better later.

Minor things wrong:

One of the QR skewers is Campagnolo Tipo and the other Record.

The rear brake pads are not Campy but some blasphemous inferior variety. They work fine but this will soon be rectified.

Things I like: There is quite a lot of room between the stays even with 27 x 1 1/4 tires on it. There is also plenty of room to spare in the brake reach so this is a good candidate for an easy 700c conversion. With the current setup fenders will definitely work but it’s getting tight, 700c would give my some breathing room and put me into better tires.

This is a very comfortable ride. We have some really rough pavement around here, so far it’s handling the bumps as well as any other bike I have and better than most.

This was my first time using Ritchey faux leather bar tape, I’m impressed! Very very easy to work with and quite comfortable. I think it looks great.

The hubs roll wonderfully.

Some more pics