scozim 

I posted earlier this week about a barn find, low end Batavus that a friend's daughter had. I headed over to Spokane WA this morning to meet up with my dad at a car show and then bring the bike home. Definitely been in a barn for a long time. Steel rims weren't in great shape. Brake hoods are rotting, clips are rusty but it's still in decent shape, especially the paint.

The good thing about my wife being out of town for a few more days is I could tear into it for a couple of hours and not feel guilty. I even moved the work stand out of the shop and worked on the driveway enjoying a nice evening. The bike looked essentially stock except for the saddle. Simplex derailleurs and shifters. Weinmann brakes and levers. Belleri bars with Atax stem and Normandy hubs. This will be a parts with the only purchases right now looking to be tires and a chain.

So, a couple of questions:

1) The cotters came out real easy and I've shot the bb cups with PB Blaster. Now, the question, would it be English thread or French thread. This is an early 70's model.

2) I'd like to go with a Laprade style seat post but this post seems to be about 26.0. Is the Laprade style available in that size?

3) Best option for getting the rust off the fork chrome

I was real pleased the paint cleaned up and looks presentable after some Griots Poly Wax.

Before starting clean up:











Before clean up:



After clean up and some wax:

Bianchigirll 

I tyhink there are several threads on cleaning chrome.

Black or silver seat post? https://www.modernbike.com/seatposts+diameteris26.0-

Wildwood 

No French threads on my '78 Batavus.
I cannot confirm earlier models, though.

scozim 

Thanks - I didn't even think about Kalloy or black. Now I'm pondering the color a little

uncle uncle

Are you going to fix up and ride it with steel rims? That's a pretty controversial and contrarian move there... just kidding. I've contemplated the fate of similar bicycles and have anguished about saving the Normandy hubs and lacing them to new alloy rims, but I would probably have to pay someone else to do that (my wheel skills an nonexistent). It's a internal debate between the cost (all new wheels would be cheaper and probably better and probably less of a hassle in the long run) and reusing something that still has life in it (plus that "keeping it original") thing. I salute you for your efforts to put this soldier back in the ranks, and if your wife gives you to much of hassle when she gets back, call me and maybe we can tag team her with the usual excuses for justifying your behavior.

stigson

I live in the Netherlands (where Batavus is from). This looks to be a middle of the line bike judging from the components/ chroming. The brakes look good and I havn't had a problem with steel rims even in the rain (it rains a lot here in NL). The chrome can be cleaned up with vinegar and aluminum foil (use them like you were wet sanding something, just with vinegar instead of water and foil instead of sandpaper). After you should wax the bike with auto wax so that it doesn't rust up again.

In my experience, the worst part of these bikes were the pedals. They were crap on my vintage Batavus and I traded them out for some from a vintage Peugeot. I think the threading was English threading, but I can't remember.

rustystrings61 

My memory of the one I bought new in 1975 is that it took standard English-threaded parts.

The usual routine with steel-rimmed 10-speeds in my part of the woods was to have a bike shop swap out the rims - they would just tape a replacement rim alongside the steel one and move the spokes over one at a time. I've done the same numerous times since and it is pretty easy, really.

scozim 

Going with a set of 27" Araya that came from my neighbors Univega Gran Rally. The Panaracer's Pasela's almost look new. Need to figure out a skewer issue - it tightens all the way on the right side but doesn't tighten when clamped down. Looks like it's got a 6 spd Uniglide cassette so I may need to take it to the lbs to get that off since I have no tools to take that off and repack the bearings.

scozim 

So, update after messing with this bike today. As always for me things aren't always straighforward. But, the bike has cleaned up really well.

The bottom bracket - just my luck - ended up being Swiss thread. Fixed cup left hand thread and adjustable cup right hand thread. I seem to have two options 1) use the existing cups and find a spindle that works. The cottered spindle that came with the bike was stamped 56 between the races. I tried a couple of different spindles that I have that are marked 3S but they were loose. So, it appears I would have to go back to this option I went this option with my Peugeot PL8 back in 2011 and it worked well. You can see the difference in the splindles below.



2) go with a Velo Orange threadless bb. But, since I'm "cheap" I'll probably go with option 1.

The seat post came out easily, the stem on the other hand, was a different issue. It got some PB Blaster and Tri Flow and a lot of effort and finally came out. Unfortunately, the stem bolt for the handle bar clamp was so rusted it's not budging. So, it's getting more PB Blaster. Since the Belleri bars are out for now I went with a SR stem and Sakae Custom Road Champion bars. Suntour Edge levers.

Derailleurs - Shimano Tourney rear and not sure about the front. The only issue right now is tightening up the skewer enough on the rear wheel. It was fine without the derailleur and claw on so a little investigation is needed.

Crankset will be a Shimano Tourney for now.







It will be a fun utility bike when done - just need to learn a little patience.