capnjonny 

I have been rehabbing a lot of bikes lately for the Bike Exchange. This saucy little French chanteuse showed up a couple weeks ago and under the tattered and dirty exterior I sensed there was a real beauty.

A micro cleaning and rub down with polishing compound got all of the grease and oxidised paint off . Wiping the chrome socks with Acetone removed the yellowing clear lacquer revealing great legs and a coat of Rustoleum clear acrylic lacquer over everything made her glow with renewed youth. Finally all her jewelry was cleaned , dipped in vinegar to loosen old rust, and finally polished on the buffing wheel. The front derailleur was deleted leaving plenty of gearing for anything this little lady is likely to get up to. The chrome rims were replaced with some lighter aluminum hoops. finally, the cycle pro mattress saddle was disassembled, the chrome polished, and the vinyl restored using acetone carefully rubbed to remove staining and dirt followed by some vinyl restorer cream.

Oh, and I replaced the Dural forge center pulls for some side pull brakes for a more modern appearance.

capnjonny 

I brought back another bike from the Bike Exchange for a little attention. This time it is a:

Model – 1987 Shogun Alpine GT
infinity main tubes Cromaloy double butted
Magnaloy forks and stays
Shimano light action sis down tube shifters
Shimano Canti brakes
Weight as delivered As seen in picture plus cranks and seat. 25.7 lbs
Serial number S7E 5395

I had the cranks in a box.

The biggest problem with the bike was the bottom bracket adjustable cup which refused to come off. As I discussed elsewhere, I tried a number of tactics to free it up starting with Kroil then adding heat, and finally building a special fixture that clamped to the cup . Even using a breaker bar and socket I could not get the sucker to move. ( the other side had come off fairly easily . )

Finally, as a last resort I inserted a diamond chip hack saw blade through the shell and re attached it to the saw handle. I had tried to cut it with a Sawzall and metal blade but got almost nowhere, dulling 2 blades and only barely cutting into the surface.

The hack saw eventually worked, and I cut completely through with only slightly hitting the shell. I tapped around the exposed outside edge with a drift punch, then put the clamp fixture back on, and this time it unscrewed. I replaced the old axle and cups with a sealed universal fit unit.

There were a lot of scrapes and bare areas with surface rust on the frame. After disassembly I deep cleaned everything then using Rustoleum primer sprayed into a cup and brushed on the primer where ever there had been rust . This was followed with a coat of Rustoleum clear acrylic lacquer. I wanted the new owner to know his bike was a Shogun so I clear coated over the remaining decals . With the dark grey original paint the gray primer doesn’t stand out from a distance.

Figuring this was probably going to be a city bike I built it with upright bars and thumb shifters. This will suit the owners needs well. It has 21 speeds, shifts easily, and at least to my ageing bones, is more comfortable to ride.

As much as I like toe straps, the shop won’t put them on a bike we sell. Thus the black plastic flat pedals.

I have a large box of pedals and straps and toe clips in the garage that I will probably never

Lascauxcaveman 

Have just begun mocking up this '83 Trek 600 gifted to me by @jjames1452. So far I've repacked and adjusted headset and BB, and they check out A-OK.

Shown sitting on a ridiculously minty pair of Helicomatic/Matrix Titan wheels of same vintage (check out those fresh, sparkly, enormous reflectors!) which I bought approximately a thousand years ago from @inkandsilver. 1983 Trek Catalog says this bike came equipped with Blue Line stuff. Got a full set of that in both long and short cage, so I can use that. Also got a crazy huge Sachs Huret Duopar Eco set w/Retrofrictions, so that's another possibility. Got matched sets of SunTour Vx, V-GT (both regular and luxe) AR , ARx, Cyclone (gen 1 long and short; gen 2, mid), Sachs NewSuccess, Campy NR, Campy NGS, Shimano Crane (long) Shimano 600 Arabesque (long and short cage) the 600 EX 6207 (long) and post-indexing; Shimano Light touch (first two generations) and of course 600/Ultegra Tricolor.

What I'm saying is I don't know which group to try first, I guess. Thankfully my brake levers and calipers are in shorter supply so on that I'll go with whatever fits.

markwesti

After several builds in the last 8-9 yrs. I finally bought a stand . I was all ready to get a Park-9 and then I ran across this https://www.ebay.com/itm/PRO-Portabl...72.m2749.l2649
At $52.00 my hands were tied .


IMG_0113 by mark westi, on Flickr

Dave Cutter

Just got a start on a road bike for my granddaughter. OK... she's still a little young to ride yet. But I hope to start her out right.

Lascauxcaveman 

Needs moar aerobars

delbiker1 

I wouldn't really call this wrenching, but it is working on my bike. I received a pair of SKS Velo 42 urban fenders yesterday. I started to mount them on my bike, but as some of the reviewers stated, I had to stop and take a look at things because I am missing a couple of pieces and was not sure how they were going to fit on my bike, 2006 Schwinn SS DBX. I did figure out how I am going to mount them, using some zip ties and a couple of nuts and bolts I already had. I decided to wait until I have more free time tomorrow morning. Hopefully, it will all go well and I can post a couple of pictures.

long john

2cam16

Cool! I have a pair of those Tomac grips too.

Dave Cutter

It seems like most of my wrenching "projects" involve cleaning up old... less than wonderful... bikes. This project (kids road bike) is all for fun (or evidence at my competency hearing), but I think my granddaughter will enjoy it. Meanwhile.... I have a question:
How can I get those sticker/decals off. The are made out of what appears to be a heavy vinyl tape on printed a Mylar film. No top-coat paint or anything. They sorta peal off a little here and there. I got one small one off with a strong detergent-degreaser and a scrubby. Even tried a little steam. Any suggestion? Ideas?

tyler_fred

For my partially completed Bottecchia SL build, I serviced a Shimano hubset last night and replaced the freehub. I ordered spokes and nipples today, and hope to be lacing and truing sometime over the holidays.

canklecat

I'm sorta piecemeal tackling both my '89 Centurion Ironman and '92 Univega Via Carisma, a little at a time over the winter.

A couple of days ago I redid my Univega's BB while semi-watching TV.

Only reason I bothered was to track down a persistent creaking noise. I'd already snugged down the lock rings, which seemed to help... for awhile. Then I tightened the crank arm nuts, which seemed to help... for awhile.

Then I thought, ah, must be the old SSK Bluemel fenders I just re-installed. They'd been in the closet for a couple of years. Snugged down all the nuts and bolts again, checked contact points where the fender was rubbing the frame, slipped paper between contact points to eliminated variables... nope.

Maybe the cassette lockring was loose again? Nope.

Oh, wait a dang minute... that stupid dork disc I meant to remove a couple of months ago.

It was the plastic dork disc.

But, hey. that BB needed regreasing after, what... it was made in 1992? The spindle was pitted on one raceway so I just reinstalled the original captive bearings for now since they were good. Eventually I'll need to replace the whole BB but it's fine for now as a commuter and casual ride bike.

It was all done before the movie was over and I was mostly loafing around.

As soon as a new headset cable hanger arrives I'll swap stems to lower the albatross bar on the Univega and see if it's a reasonable compromise between aero and comfort. Right now it's comfortable but not quite as aero as I'd like for some windy rides.

noglider 

Now that I'm out of a job, I think I'll do something I've been meaning to do which is to investigate the creak in the crank of my commuter bike. Maybe the cups just need tightening. I hope I haven't damaged anything by riding on it.

long john

The_Joe

I've had good luck with a heat gun. A blow dryer might do the trick .

eom 

I think a build thread is needed for this project.

velomateo

Dave Cutter

LOL that's very kind. But I am taking lots of pics.... and documenting my progress.

My wife helped out. Lent me the use of her spray bottle of Goo Gone. And more importantly her finger nails. So now the frame is de-badged and decal free. I found a nice old rusty set of caliper brakes in one of my parts bins... and polished them shiny using a Brillo pad. And have mounted the hand brakes with cables and housings. I also found a white bottle holder. And since the wheels (tires) and chain guard are white.... have decided the bike is purple and white. The white saddle I ordered from Amazon should arrive today. But the white handlebar tape I ordered is taking a slow boat from China (heck it's only $2.63) and won't arrive till after the holidays.

I might have an extra saddle bag... or I might need to order me a cheap one of those too. I am mulling over new tires (thinking about using black ones to boot). But I could likely buy a parts bike for less if I wait till yard sale season. The nice part is this motivates me to sort through my old/extra parts. I think.... I have a set of road bike clipless pedals somewhere......

Dave Cutter

Thank you for the suggestion and confirmation. I had searched the Interweb and concluded that a heat gun is the way to go. My wife is the painter in our household so I asked to borrow her heat gun. But she not only suggested Goo Gone and painstakingly picking at the decals.... she did it for me. Her method was completely effortless (for me). And the bike does look great. So much more grown-up and road bike-like without the kiddie decals. Thanks again!

Dave Cutter

Still lots of work needs to be done. Besides waiting for the handlebar tape to arrive from China... I've ordered a set of training wheels (it is a 12" bike). But I think it's recognizable as to what I am attempting to make here. Adding both a B4 and "not-yet-done" pic.

billnuke1 

eom 

1986 Fuji Sagres. Every Fuji I have worked on has been nice.
Headed to Craigslist. Hope Santa needs one for his list.

tyler_fred

Vonruden

merziac

Holy c**p, that is awesome! Looks like a bit of a challenge with the cabling, is the FD direct mount, something special?

This frame is lucky it found you.