I found a 198? Raleigh Competition at the Dump a short while ago. The bike is a mishmash of components, which is no big deal. The problem is, one of the top tube brake cable guides is broken.

I hope I can find another one but my concern is this...

Are these guides pinned and then brazed or are they just brazed onto the top tube? Put another way, are holes drilled into the top tube to accept the brazed on guides?

Thanks and these are the best pictures I have at the moment. The front guide is broken, the rear is OK...

I'd imagine they're just brazed on as they aren't intended to bear any stress, but that's a wag. You might inquire at the framebuilder sf.

If your good with a torch and brazing rod, you could protect the area around the guide and braze a bridge over the top of the guide. It's pretty easy to do, and you can then grind it to the correct shape and touch it up with black paint.

Boy, what kind of dump do you have where you find all these vintage bikes? I can't find a bike worth loading on my truck at our dump.

Are you sure that frame's not older? Looks like this the type that acted as a housing stop, with bare cable running between the two on the top tube. Typical of a much older frame. Anyway, I think if it were me I'd cut those guides off and file them down carefully, touch up and blend paint, then use chrome clips. Unless you're into restoring and re-brazing. If you're good with a torch you might be able to just restore the top of that ring with braze, then file and shape.

Well, today is Dump day. Actually, this Fall I have been going three times a week and taking about eight bikes out each time...


Not many old road bicycles, but some pretty decent mountain bike, like this Specialized Roch Hopper and Miyata Evolution 200, scored last time I was there...

I've noticed you have capitalized the word "Dump", Randy. Twice. May I ask, what kind of place is this? Is this place what most of us think of when we hear the word dump? You know, where people dispose of their unwanted flotsam, jetsam and trash? Not trying to pry, mind you, or get you to spill any trade secrets, just very curious. It's very hard to imagine so many seemingly ridable, nice bikes being tossed out as ....trash. No offense meant but, are Canadians that, dare I say it .... wasteful?

Absolutely none of my business, I know. Forgive me. Just curious.

I had to replace all the cable guide on my Ciocc project. You don't even need an oxy/act torch setup to do simple braze ons like that. That's a diver's helmet style braze on you can get from Nova for less then $2. Just use a Mapp/Air torch and some silver as you won't make a brass brazing rod even flinch at melting with Mapp.
https://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-...-S-HELMET.html

...or you could just unbraze them and just use cable guide clamps instead.

^
I'm beginning to think so.


No one here in the D is throwing out Raleighs, Peugeots, Moto's, etc.

Yup, it does my heart proud to know that OUR dump is full of used pampers, coffee grounds, cigarette butts, egg shells and medical waste.

I don't see this at my dump either.... I mean your find ing Moto's, Miyata's, Raleigh's, Miele's, specialized, Trek's and Peugeot's, did I forget any? Geez, I just find it absolutly amazing that anyone in one local Dump could find so many quality vintage bikes......

We are allowed to drop off bulky garbage six Saturdays per summer. Last time I went, I plucked out a 70's Raleigh Grand Prix in excellent, but not original, condition. It has nutted-on wheels rather than QR.

Depending on the employees and the phase of the moon, I am sometimes not allowed to pick through on drop-off day.

Once, when we were allowed, the staff designated a special place to put A/C units that still worked. The guy told us, and my wife and I pulled two such units. We then gave them away on Freecycle.

Rather than call the place by its proper name, The John Street Waste Management and Recycling Facility, I call it the Dump, and like The Old Shed, I try and give the place a bit of a personality. To me the Dump is a magical place, filled with rainbows, some complete with a prize at the end of.

The Old Shed can be magical also, and I have seen lots of guys, both local and some who have journeyed far to enter, mesmerized by its spell. I get mesmerized in there sometimes, myself, but that is a different story;-)

Are Canadians wasteful? You bet and so are most first world people, in my opinion. But why does it appear that so many bikes are tossed away where I live. Mostly because of me. I write about it. I hunt for bikes a lot. And I tend to find a lot. However, my guess is that my dump is not all that different from many others.

And there is this issue, also. Thunder Bay winters! We have a very short riding season, about three months for most people, seven for die hards like me, and ten and a half for those who are absurdly dedicated. I used to ride all year round, but not much anymore. The point is...

With such a short season, lots of bikes just didn't get used enough to use them up. Hence, they end up, by the hundreds and hundreds, each year, at the John Street Waste Management and Recycling Facility, commonly referred to as the Dump.

As for spilling my trade secrets. Too Late!

+1 We have a recycling center here as well. Steel scrap is put in a separate location than other debris (note, I guess they assume the bikes are steel, whether they are or not). They really discourage picking, last time I was there, I saw a handful of BSO in the metal heap: typically names like Magna, Roadmaster, NEXT, etc.

To make matters worse here, they will pick up just about anything on the curb, including bikes. So most discarded bikes end up in the garbage truck, where they are ruined long before they make it to the dump.

I wonder how active C/L is in Thunder Bay? Around here, it is very active, and more and more people are selling their surplus stuff, rather than dumping it.
I just took a load of frames to the Co-Op, and someone had already grabbed one of them and had it on the work stand before I left. Recycling at its finest.

I see Randy, and that makes sense now, thank you. I consider some guys on here very lucky. Our "transfer station", a somewhat elegant name for our dump and recycling center, won't let anyone pick up anything. We Americans are, of course, very wasteful, but I don't see anything like the bikes you find up there, and couldn't snatch them from the metal pile even if I wanted to. Seems sad, but I suspect someone at our "dump" is "recycling" them for their own profit. Not sure, but I hope the bikes are being rescued by someone at least. At any rate, you sure find some nice rides up there.

Heh heh. Yeah. As to trade secrets, I forgot you have a whole website devoted to sharing. A great resource. Thanks. RB.