SquireBlack 

This arrived in the mail a few days ago:




I bought it on eBay from the UK. Original paint, and I presume, original ESGE Chromoplastic mudguards, Stronglight BB, Shimano headset, and Galli brakes. Frame number says that it was built in 1981. Unfortunately, it wasn't packed very well, and the dropout adjusters are toast. The fork and rear triangle look OK though, in spite of not having spacers installed.



Here's my first question. There seems to be rust coming through the paint:


Does this mean that the paint shoudl be stripped and the frame media-blasted, or is it possible to salvage the paint? What's the right way to go about this? I don't want to do anything that will make matters worse, unless it needs to be stripped anyway.

Second question: the Galli brakes are single pivot. They seem to be from the right period, but I'm a bit dubious of any single-pivot sidepull. WIll they be reasonable stoppers, or should I look some something else?




Any other information — or opinions (I know that you wouldn't have any of those!) are welcome.

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P!N20

Beautiful.

The rust/paint; there will be waxes and the like that will halt its progress, but the only way to get rid of it is to strip, remove and treat it. Doesn't look too bad to me, if it didn't worry you I'd probably just give it a wax and enjoy it.

I'm sure with some new pads the single pivot brakes will pull you up just fine. Plenty of members here run single pivot brakes without any issues - me included!

merziac

This is one of my biggest pet peeves, it is ridiculous that sellers can't screw them in so they survive, yes some are corroded but still not that hard to deal with.

The seller/shipper should be on the hook for original, correct, replacements and labor to deal with them IMO.

jdawginsc 

Beautiful bike. I would try a rubbing compound to see if you can remove the spots and save the paint.

I like patina, though.

As for the brakes, Koolstop pads often makes them better, but older side pulls are tough to attain the dual pivot power if you are used to it.

Superbe side pulls and 600ex are the best of the pre DP brakes in my humble opinion. Modolo Speedo’s are surprisingly good with KS pads.

Whit51 

It looks like surface rust to me. Don't do anything drastic yet.
If you can find some Barkeepers Friend in liquid or powder form, I bet you could get rid of it. If you can find a good match in touch up paint or nail polish, then use only a tiny ammount to touch up the rust spots. Or just apply clear nail polish after the rust is removed.

obrentharris 

That looks to me like a prime candidate for evaporust or an oxalic acid bath. This rust looks minor enough that a scrub with "Barkeeper's Friend" might even do the job. Follow up with rubbing compound, then wax. You'll be surprised how the rust stains disappear. Plenty of rust removal threads on this forum.
Brent

edit: @Whit51 beat me to it!

VRJAKE 

Dropout screws may be salvaged, or they may snap. Worth trying to straighten. And keep those little brass caps on the ends no matter what happens. Worst case is they snap and you screw them out from the inside of the dropouts and find replacements.

Have read successful testimonials on an Evaporust bath, I'd be leary of dipping the head tube with decal, but evaporust will not harm the paint. That should fully treat the rust, and then follow with suggested polishing compound and wax. With care, think the paint will look great, retaining vintage patina.

Brakes: Not a fan of Galli calipers but suspect they will work and do look period. Yet you need mostly all other parts, so what's the theme? If period the HS/BB/Calipers represent a start. In any case, with old side pull calipers, suggest using modern TRP or Tektro brake levers. Have a bike with TRP levers and vintage Campagnolo brakes with Kool Stop pads. Amazingly better stopping than with Campagnolo levers - engineers can weigh in on leverage...

bikingshearer 

Lots of wisdom here. Especially about using modern Tektro/TRO or other aero brake levers to improve braking performance. I am not an engineer, but my 255 lb. bulk can tell the difference, and almost all my rides involve significant descents where braking is important. Besides, old Campy brake levers are hand hatchets.

I agree that you don't need to do anything drastic with the paint. I advise that you (1) clean it up and wax it as advised above and then (2) build it up and ride it - a lot - for several months before making any paint/repaint decisions. If it turns out the ride doesn't do it for you, you haven't incurred the cost of a repaint, which you will never recoup unless you do it yourself. If you like the ride and think the bike is a keeper, then you can make the decision.

If and when you get to the paint/don't paint stage, I have repainted frames with paint in better shape than your Mercian and have not painted frames with paint in worse shape. I had at least two frames resprayed because I liked the frames but not the color (I still have both). To my eye, yours is in the grey area. As long as you do a little up-front work as others have described, I don't think you can wrong either way.

Chombi1 

Any time I have a frameset shipped to me, I always ask the seller to take off the dropout adjuster screws and tape it inside the shipping box. They had been always glad to do it.

RB1-luvr

beautiful bike, great color.

davester

Having just restored an entire car with numerous rusty bits, I am also a big fan of Evaporust. When restoring finishes, you should always start off with the gentlest method and gradually increase the severity of the methods. Evaporust is about the gentlest way to do it. They have a gel product but it's pricey and reviews of it are generally poor so I'd stick with the liquid. For large parts (like a bicycle frame), the best method is to soak paper towels in the Evaporust, wrap them around the frame parts, then wrap saran wrap or plastic wrap around the towels to stop it from evaporating. Follow that up with good rinse and then try using an automotive polishing compound (Meguiar's makes good products) then wax.

As far as single pivot brakes are concerned, IMHO most people who complain about them have never tried lubricating the pivots and springs, or installing new lined cables (or in some cases are still using old hardened pads). I have single pivots on all my bikes and I can stop with the best of them (I recently proved this when a fellow BF member crashed right in front of me and I braked hard enough to stop the front wheel and endo over the top of him). Getting rid of old, binding cables, cleaning up and lubricating dry and oxidized pivots and using fresh pads will generally vastly improve braking power. That said, due to the different arm geometry, they don't have quite the leverage of dual pivots or center pulls, and so will require higher effort for panic stopping. On the plus side, you can run them with higher pad to rim clearances which can come in handy when you bend a rim.

merziac

I'm about 50/50 on this, several have ignored the ask after saying they would.

I don't understand how often it happens, sure the screws snap off but then screwing them out can ream the threads and you still have to replace the screws and originals can be spendy as well as hard to find.

Andy_K 

I've had some luck wrapping a rusty frame in paper towels soaked in EvapoRust and then wrapping that in plastic wrap. I've also got a bottle of Barkeepers Friend I could pass your way if you want to try that.