RCMoeur 

Bike-fixing season is in, well, high gear in our area, and I now have 28 donated bikes in various degrees of disarray in the back yard and garage, not counting our own family's bikes. Many of these are going to the Recycle Your Bicycle program for foster kids in the Phoenix area, and some are going to a local church's bike giveaway program. Five nicer bikes went to the Rusty Spoke bike cooperative downtown yesterday morning.

Most of the fixer-upper bikes are from the 1980s to late 1990s - name brands, 6-8 cogs on the freewheel or cassette, etc. Many of the bikes have Rapidfire shifters that have "gummed up" over the years and will no longer shift. I've found that puling the shifter and dunking it in an ultrasonic cleaner for about 30-40 minutes (periodically working the pawls to loosen them up) gets the old Shimano grease out so they can shift again. Short-term fixes like Clean Streak will get them shifting for a short period, but they inevitably freeze up again as the solvent evaporates and the old grease re-solidifies.

As for my own bikes, I took my 1972 Raleigh Pro Mk 4 (that I've owned since 1982) on a steep ride last month, and the bar-end shifter worked loose.
So I looked at the shifter, and the cable was also frayed.
So I pulled the cable, and realized I wanted to swap the handlebars (put the current Scott AT-2s on another bike & install narrower Nitto pusruit bars).
So I try to pull the stem, and discovered it was seized in the Reynolds 531 steerer tube.
And once I pulled the stem (aided by penetrant and copious inappropriate language) I discovered the OMAS headset was shot.
(I think you all know how that goes...)
Progress: I did install a NOS Tange Levin headset on the Pro yesterday, so at least I've made progress on one of my own bikes. Hoping to have it reassembled some time while the weather is nice.

Chombi1 

Finally got to overhaul my pair of Campy Superleggeri pedals with Ti axles. I had been planning to do so for more than a year.
Had a hell of a time chasing after the teeny tiny 1/8" bearings as the light Phil Wood grease I was using won't keep them on their races when I was putting the axles back in.
Worse yet I found out later that I put the wrong axles on the wrong pedals when I could not screw them on to my bike's crank arms so I had to do them all over again......

52telecaster

​​​​​​Looks terrific to me.... And I'm glad I don't have your ocd.

merziac

I would proceed with caution, that stuff is oldschool, can have some very robust results.

Chombi1 

I agree..... I thought Bleche White died off already with white sidewall tires on cars, many years ago. I would go with something more modern and maybe less harsh..... A lot of these hoods are quite delicate and getting to be unobtainium these days.

merziac

I think it has probably been dumbed down by now, no way something strong enough to take black rash off whitewalls will be tolerated now days, especially in CA.

Kabuki12

I feel your pain. I did my third set of Ti Superleggeri pedals just before Eroica and those stinking little balls got to me. I could’ve done two sets of steel spindle in the same amount of time.

ascherer 

Thanks, man. At least I’m not ordering finishing files on Amazon!

merziac

What are you waiting for?

Looks great, glad its you and not me.

stardognine

I finally changed my bottom bracket yesterday, on my Soma Saga. It has an Ultegra 6603 crank, and I put on a Deore MTB BB, using the old inner sleeve. 😎

I also changed the 30t small chainring, for a 28t, which definitely helps on hills. 👍 I might even go smaller, if I can find a proper chainring. 🤔

​​​

DQRider 

SOMA Saga? Ooh... pics please?
*
*
*

repechage

I recently did a set of those. The small bearings and the shallow cone and race shape makes them a buggar to assemble.
the inboard side is easier but the outboard end is a definite challenge.
my solution was a bored hole into a scrap of thick hardwood big enough for the spindle to be freestanding but no more with an upright to hold the pedal body vertical.
that stabilized the parts and loading the bearings was relatively easy after.
tweezers at hand.
I only have one set of Super Record pedals purchased by accident with a bike so fitted.
upon taking them apart noted that one pedal was short 2 bearings. Must have frustrated a mechanic prior.

this set up speeds any Campagnolo pedal assembly but the regular pedals are so much easier.

the bike so fitted, provisional assembly.

dpmoo

I'm in PA, ordered the bleche wite on eBay, never been to California, but I've had nothing but success, and no negative side effects, with bleche wite on 1980's white dia compe and Shimano hoods. I spray some in a plastic container, water it down, soak and toothbrush scrub. It cleans my car tires really well too, they're black.

merziac

Pic of the tool, it work for regular too?

merziac

Guess I should have assumed you were diluting it.

And yes it is for all tires but as the "wite" in the name denotes, it was originally the go to for white walls that were really a thing for a long time.

Glad you get the good results you are getting, its always great to find a good process for things that are a PITA.

repechage

Not a tool, but an assembly fixture I would call it, will get to it.

here is a quick schematic
thin rectangle nests in the pedal frame.
toe strap holds the pedal.
spindle thread indexes with bore.

dpmoo

I think not assuming is appropriate conventional wisdom. Please, keep it up. And thank you for helping me get to my first 10 posts.

Kabuki12

Thanks for the tip!! I have 3 sets , as I said , and a few sets of the steel spindle pedals. It has been a while since I did a couple of the sets so I need to at least check them. I did the set in the pic just before Eroica for my Colnago as I had just bought them and they didn't feel very smooth even though I could see grease on the outboard side. The other two sets are butter smooth and taking the dust cap off shows nice grease but I dunno , I didn't do them so..... I will make a fixture as you did.The first set of them came to me as a gift from a guy who needed his '73 Paramount assembled and HATES traps and straps so he took the Sweet Campy pedals (still in bubble wrap) and handed them to me. I had no idea that they were Ti until a few months later when I decided to put them on one of my bikes and removed the Japanese copy cat pedals and unwrapped the Campy one and....Holy Cow these things are light! The magnet solved the mystery . Joe

Sierra

Just finished building this up.
Bought the frame set years ago and it's just been hanging in the garage since.
Used as much Campagnolo as I could, but with "geezer gearing" for my geezer legs and the southern Wisconsin topography.
Had most of the parts in my stash, but had to pay an arm & leg for the French threaded BB cups for the triple crank set.
I think it looks pretty good from about 10'. Closer than that you can begin to see the wear & tear.

dpmoo

I'm restoring a 1982 Puch Luzern and an '86 Centurion Ironman (aka Loretta); they're my first build and restoration projects, got the Puch as a test case because Loretta's special to me. Are there any particular shift and brake cables and housings that you would recommend for these? Both are running Shimano 600 (6208) groupsets.

Also, the Puch has limited braze ons (I'm going to have down tube posts brazed on and I have to replace one on Loretta). I came across the following front derailleur cable stop on eBay (though the seller won't budge on a ridiculous price for the derailleur and cable stop set). This cable stop is made to fit into the groove on the FD-6207 front derailleur, which I think is pretty awesome (never knew about the stop till I saw it on the eBay listing). Does anyone know where I may be able to get my hands on one of these cable stops?? (I've exhausted all negotiations with the eBay seller, who initially asked for $38 and came down to $29 until finally raising the price $54, I apparently convinced him of the rarity of the item in his possession).

Alternatively, I'm thinking I'd drill and file a slot into the same groove location on the front derailleur to fit the following, more readily accessible cable stop. I'd really appreciate any suggestions or cautions on why this alternative would not work (I think I'm relying on the brake cable housing from the front derailleur cable stop to the clamp-on down tube cable guide to hold the FD cable stop in place within the slot).

Thanks so much for all the input that's bound to come!

shimano_fd_cable_stop_adb16a7ffa884254abbf404bc1e7ae0513060b13.jpg

shimano_fd_and_cable_stop_b5676e011a39134847879109a7aaa0cad6811d2d.jpg



fd_cable_stop_a638c2bfadcb1537a1ff1bff60d437e18999f54d.png

dpmoo

Did those photos come through?

dpmoo

ascherer 

Pretty pleased with the spray.bike experience! Everything others have said about using it is true, it was really pretty easy for me. The color is perhaps a bit darker than Falcon used but it's close enough for me. I tacked the headbadge on for reference. I think the blue is a bit lighter than in the photos and given spray.bike's semi-gloss, semi-matte finish it may appear differently once it's got the 2K top coat(s). I sanded and resprayed the divots on the head tube and lug, and now I wait for the transfers to arrive so I can place them and hit it with gloss.

52telecaster

Falcon Head badge is the coolest!

2wheeljonz 

I posted about this bike in 2019, not really knowing what I had bought except there were Cinelli pantographs on it (See original post here: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...y-cinelli.html ). I finally got around to overhauling and cleaning it and thought I would post it up.
The original paint was in great shape and polished up nicely. I used some acetone and got rid of the shakey lug lining that a previous owner had put on it. The chrome all polished up nicely. The clear coat on the chrome had yellowed so I removed it. Since there were no decals on it when I purchased it I got some new ones from Velocals which I applied. The Shimano RSX levers that were on it when I got it were replaced with Universal levers to match the Universal brakes. I still don’t know what rims are on it as there is no branding that I was able to find. They were true and in good shape so I just went with them. I believe all other parts are original.
I also listed it in the “What is it Worth” thread so if you have thoughts as to it’s worth, please post there.
Thanks.
Mel