smontanaro 

Saw this listing on eBay just now:

Crescent Varldsmastarcykeln Bicycle Reynolds 531 Campagnolo Suntour Vintage Road | eBay

From the description: Holes drilled in seat tube for a waterbottle holder (see picture).

Sure enough:



What's up with that? I'm guessing that's some form of drewing. How do you work around that, Rivnuts?

fietsbob

the last guy bodged un reinforced holes .. you will make a larger hole to install riv nuts so will cover up their misdeeds .

when you do, either work upside down with the seatpost removed, so chips cut will fall out , or take the BB out

to clean up steel chips from the drilling so they dont contaminate the grease and damage the BB bearings.

SJX426 

.... and make sure the holes are centered on the tube. The lower one looks a bit canted toward the DS. May be just the picture.

The NDS rear DO has really bad workmanship! Or else it is a cold brazing.

Drillium Dude 

Actually, that's typical - it's one of those Suntour DOs that was canted out to allow for a six-speed freewheel. I had the same DOs on my early-80s Raleigh Super Course 12.

DD

smontanaro 

Thanks for the responses. I sent a note to the seller, who replied:

The brazing on the NDS dropout does look a bit blobby, though probably not improved by the paint job. Also, there seems to be a noticeable gap between the head tube and the top of the lower cup.

I might go take a look at the bike. If I can buy it outside of eBay for a reduced price, it might be worth it to add to our stable of "bikes available for AirBnB renters."

gaucho777 

@SJX426, I see what you mean. (You have to look at the seller's pics in the body of the ebay ad.) @Drillium Dude, are you looking at the non-drive-side DO? It does look like sloppy work, and not at all the same as the drive-side dropout. A cool bike overall, but that nds dropout deserves a place in the UGLY thread!

Drillium Dude 

Well, the brazing on the entire frame is nothing to write home about

But, yeah, I see what y'all mean now. I originally reviewed the pics at the top of the auction. I didn't realize there were more embedded and that there was a shot of the NDS dropout. But that kink in the dropout was made in the manufacturing process. I always thought it was an extremely inelegant solution to making room for a sixth cog.

DD

due ruote 

+1 on enlarging the holes for rivnuts. Get a piece of angle iron, drill holes at the angle for a guide, and strap it to the tube. Use a fresh drill bit. It is still going to want to follow the old hole though. I wish you luck. Or just don't buy the bike. Or tape over the holes and get some bottle cage straps; that might be the best/easiest/least risky option.

seedsbelize 

I have a 70 something year old friend, who, with his wife toured all over Europe in his younger years. Enthusiast, mechanic, wheel builder, etc. He doesn't give a second thought to drilling into a frame to screw something on. But then he's also of a mind that straight guage spokes are stronger than double-butted, the heavier guage the better.

Sedgemop 

I was thinking the same. I might go have a look and offer him something significantly lower. Hard to imagine it will sell as it it priced, currently. No sign of the original bars, either.

smontanaro 

Go for it. I decided I wasn't interested enough in it.

CliffordK

What an odd bike. The Nervex Pro headtube lugs (I think) are usually a sign of high quality frames, but nothing else with the frame makes it look that way.

It may be worth the $318 asking price, but I doubt that plus shipping.

smontanaro 

Yeah, it only makes sense if you can deal locally, outside the eBay structure.

MoAlpha

I'd want to know about degree of rust in the BB, with that potential for water entry.

Bad Lag

To me, both holes look to be off the centerline. I bet he couldn't get a drill with a bit directly lined up with the bike's centerline (the pair was too long), so he kludged it and drill it off to the side.

CliffordK

Did you see my Frankenbuild from a Vintage Steyr Clubman?

It had a more than a couple of holes drilled in it before I built it up. And, yes, it is ridable, it is probably going out tomorrow.

seedsbelize 

Is this it?^^

CliffordK

Oh, I see the OP has relisted the bike, and dropped the price by $1.
Time to jump on it while it is HOT!!

Absolutely.

The bike has been on my Avatar for quite some time



The Steyr Clubman, while old, was a pretty cheap frame to begin with.

The Crescent in the OP's post is several steps up from the Clubman. Although, I would be disappointed with several of the details on the Crescent.

The left rear dropout looks either crudely brazed, or perhaps even repaired. Everywhere one looks such as the fork crown just looks crudely done in a mass produced bike, although perhaps it wasn't intended to be blown up as big as a microscope image with modern digital technology.

I do have my eye on restoring my old Colnago frame, and have been debating whether I should add a few braze-ons in the process. I probably won't, but only because it is a very early frame, which would give it some intrinsic collector's value. I still am not beyond mounting whatever components on it that I see fit at the time as the component selection is always reversible.