Came across this Gran Sport at least 4 years ago and for $10.00 got the frame, fork, stem and bars with a bunch of crap components... the finish was in really rough shape and the decals were all but gone but she was / is a nice straight Carlton made Raleigh with a 531 frame and fork.

Rocked her as an SS for a good bit...



Ran her as a fixed gear... pic taken before I had the pond.



Ran her as a 12 speed too...

Have always loved the way this bike rides... she is light and fast and very comfortable being that she's a sport class bike and not a full on racing bike.

Last fall I started a little project which is almost done and figure she's showable as no-one will see the little bit of work I have left to do... except me.

65er, thatīs amazing. How did you do it? I have a Meral thatīs crying out for a similar treatment if it isnīt too complex!

It is mostly time you need as I don't think the skill requirement is that high although being able to strip your bike down to the frame and fork makes life easier.

I am probably ten hours into the refinishing and probably have half that again ahead of me although the clear coating is more about waiting for coats of clear shellac to dry than anything else.

Started with a clean frame and about 400 pieces of coffee labels which had an adhesive backing which is cheating a little as a true decoupage would be a process of gluing and overlapping small pieces of paper little by little until the object was covered.

Met a fellow that used postage stamps and said it took him 40 hours to complete the work... he had cut the postage stamps into thirds and quarters and had to apply them with tweezers.

Have seen frames and forks like this for sale and all kinds of materials have been used... newspapers and comics seem like a popular source of materials but I wasn't going to start cutting up my vintage comic collection for this.

Anyways... covered everything but the lugs and the hardest part was cutting very small pieces to fit their rather simple curves and I have a few more little spots to complete like the brake bridge and while that is setting I will take the rear brake apart and polish it to within an inch of it's life. Waited on this as the shellac is also a good adhesive and will help secure the stickers to a few hard to finish areas.

Have polished everything else by hand using Mother's Aluminium polish and this also was a few good hours of work... would have been made easier with a dremel and a poilishing head (which I bought yesterday).

Also chose the stickers as it should make little repairs fairly easy... the shellac forms a pretty tough finish as well.

Off topic: Sixty Fiver, I notice you put a bell on the stem of every bike of yours. I'm looking for decent quality bells at a good price. Do you have a recommended commercial source?

I am partial to Cateye micro bells as they are relatively compact, have a nice tone, and are pretty tough... most of them have been picked up used at the co-op (cheap) although I have bought quite a few of them as well.

I like that position for the bell as it is easy to flick it with my thumb from the flats although this setup pleases me to no end...



If you deal with a US supplier ask them if they stock them... they are not expensive bells.

Thanks for the info!

UO8 redux...

As found...



Fixed...



Added some gears...



All dressed... fenders, kickstand, and an Ideale Professional that I rehabbed that is comfier than the Brooks (which was pretty comfy).



Just have to fit the rack...

Oh we don't get to many of these posted on here so i'll insist on helping. it's got the wrong fenders on it till I de-dent the super deep ones.

HSean - I want to live where you do.

You find some very cool bikes.

Sadly this wasn't where I live, I shipped two of these in and shipping on one of these big fat bikes is a killer. other then the supercruisers every other bikes been found here, some people drop them off because they know I like these types of bikes.

The bike faeries stop at my shop too but usually leave crap... the Peugeot was crap when it arrived but when I discovered the frame and fork were sound and managed to extract the death stem and bars thought my '57 Peugeot (the best catch ever) needed a little sister.

When I find a Huret rod shifter it will run as a double and could very well be used for some day tours as it is really an exceptionally nice riding bicycle as U series Peugeots are.

Some may remember the PX10 I picked up last summer, looking like this:

It now looks like this:I never meant to make it into a new bike; my goal was to make it thoroughly functional. At first I thought I wouldn't mess with anything original, but I recently took off the original Simplex shifters in favor of... Suntour Command!

Thats an awesome shifting way! the first time i've seen that. I like Peugeots.
I offten have a pile of crap bikes dropped off here, I just send them away to another guy I know. every bike gets put back on the road.

rhm - nice work on the PX... I like practical and the command shifters are da bomb.

The Delrin shifters are crap and don't belong on any nice bike... am loving the cheap Huret setup on my Pug which is a nice change from my usual Prestige to Suntour upgrades.

barely qualifies for this forum.

before: 2005 Electra Townie 700c (with Nexus 8)



after: 1993 DiamondBack Overdrive 29er (not in 29er mode though)

Yesterday... still had a stock steel wheel in the back and a low end wheel up front.



But my girl deserves better so I built up a new rear and installed a new front wheel after I serviced and tuned it up... and even cleaned up the bike a little.



36 spoke double walled rear... bombproof.



48 spoke single walled front... should be bombproof.



Will need to touch up that scrape on the fork caused by the light mount... the new wheels really improved what was already pretty decent braking as they are both alloy and have a wider contact area for the brakes.

70's Mercier 300-still needs new tires

more polished parts

My wife and I moved and I left her previous mixtie city bike in storage, so she needed something for our temporary hometown. I started with a cheap Raleigh Tora that was gently used:



Everything was in nice shape, the frame was a good colour and it wasn't sh*t-kicked. But, everything was steel, she prefers indexed shifting, drops are ugly on mixties and impractical for her use so I did a bunch of parts swaps and came out with this:



The wheels (27" alloy rims) are take-offs from a $30 Kijiji find, repacked and cleaned up. The handlebar is a $20 jobbie from a local shop that looks identical to the Soma Noah's Arc bar that I have on my commuter, the grips are the Masi cork wrap ones (I pulled the lock-on assembly and just wrapped the tape to the bar after they failed on the first ride), the basket is a Wald 139 I picked up from Curbside in Toronto (I'll be drilling the supports soon to get it down to the right level) and the seat is a Donza that I got off of someone on eBay - it's quite lovely, and cheaper and more interesting than a Brooks. I pulled the 600 rear d., long-reach Shimano front brake and the 400cx shifter/brake levers from my parts bin. She quite likes it, and I consider the build a success as people started asking her how they could get one like it the first time she rode it! I hope to get some shiny metal fenders for it one day, and possibly a chain guard of some type as well.

Here it is looking all euro on the street of Europe in Canada (Quebec City). The only problem with this bike is that is makes mine look all trashy:

Okay, my project bike is finished, phase one, it's ridable. phase two is a winter project, different rims, longer seat post (some genius in history put the wrong post on it and bent the collar by tightening the bolt until it fit, I either need to get it bent back and use the proper sized post or find a longer one like the one on the bike and different brake levers in order to lose the turkey wings. I do need to true the rear wheel a little better and replace a spoke. Probably take it to a local co-op to do that this week, where they have the freewheel remover and a truing stand.


Before:



After:



I know the bar wrap isn't the greatest job, I'll redo it once I find a different set of brake levers hopefully ones with hoods. I put the reflector and kick stand back on as they came with it.

Hi all

My first post on this thread and also my first tear down and rebuild ever. Here's my 82 Fuji Supreme I picked up at the local GW. She was gritty, gummy, dirty and not ride-able when I got her but the price was right and I have time on my hands. No bar tape yet because I still need to locate a correct stem. The frame is a bit tall for me but I can ride it.

Rides out real smooth. Might mount up the rear rack. The pump needs rebuilt and the front Bluemel fender is busted. Can't tell in the before pics but the whole driveline was so gunked up it would barely move and the FW was almost completely locked up.

Have to add a big THANKS to everyone here on the forums who provided the newbie a.k.a (me) with help and advice during the rebuild.

Have a look.

As found







Current









A few more pics here.

https://s403.photobucket.com/albums/pp119/60bass/done/

Oh and the next project here.

https://s403.photobucket.com/albums/pp119/60bass/sekai/

For anyone with a needy Fuji I came across a very nice looking Fuji branded V Compe (like the one above) front d that I'll send out for the price of shipping.

As purchased, a very cheap ī93 Cannondale R800 frame and accoutrements:



Now as a cross town commuter:

Nishiki Century. Another one back on the road.

BEFORE

AFTER

1950s Hiawatha lady's frame: