zandoval 

Rats!!! Hey man if it's any consolation I have learned allot from and like your posts...

OK... here is one for ya... In the 70's over in Germany I saw an old bicycle outside of the German Army Armory that looked like an old Shwinn. All of the ferrous parts had been treated including the spokes. They were Parkerised. I think back and really it was kinda cool...

Check out the Youtube vid: "Parkerizing phosphate and oil finish auto parts using a roaster oven"

rancho66 

3M Perfect-It EX Machine Polish 06094

If you are not into buffing out cars the cost is a bit prohibitive for bicycle usage.

Road Fan

I think you have misinterpreted a few things. First, the Irish project was terminated by its owner decades ago. Its execution was terrible, but this cannot be blamed on the two Americans who were hired to maintain quality at the plant. They had responsibility without authority and could not have been on-site enough to actually teach and coach, especially during production. If you are saying I have shown poor planning, I resent that, though we did not make sure we got a good assessment of the frame. We requested that in writing from the painter/builder, and he did not provide anything, other than his unilateral decision to rebraze many joints.

Your text suggests I have committed every design and mechanics error you can think of, but it is just not true, and I truly resent being addressed with that tone. As far as leaving problems to a mechanic years later to sort out, that is the situation I am in. I do not benefit from being told what is wrong with these bicycles, I have disassembled them and I KNOW what is wrong. I am as well trying to reassemble the bike. I can rectify many things, but not terrible frame errors, and one of these frames has such, and it will be recycled per owner's agreement. She has bought a new Trek, so I assume she accepts it. I don't know if the frame error was all due to the Irish plant, or due to lack of attention by the painter/builder he contracted brazing the seatstay into the wrong place. One may say we should have addressed the problem with him, but honestly I do not want anyone there applying heat to steel I am associated with. I cannot trust his work based on what I see and the fact I cannot go and live at his site to look over his shoulder. The bike owner may do what he wants, it was his money. We DID NOT ASK the builder/painter to re-braze the rear triangles.

The wheel and other non-frame issues are largely a matter of bearings not overhauled for 45 years. I assumed at the beginning those were all there was, that's why I insisted on refinishing by a real builder. That backfired.

You are wrong about the spokes. You should have asked "are there any rusty ones?" Instead you assume they are all rusty and I am ignoring that fact. I had rubbed down 6 out of 72 rear wheel spokes when I asked my question about foil. I ceased the foil rubbing and have used the spokes as is. They are no worse than they were when I received the bike, and the wheel is greatly improved based on the bearing and rim work. I have improved what is practical to improve. I set aside the ones with any visible rust. I evaluated the hub, rim, and geometry, computed lengths (you suggested I am clueless about lengths) and measured the spokes, to find the spokes on hand are suited for 3x rather than 4x, I must have miscounted. The actuals were 1 mm short of the calculated values, so I laced the wheel. Yesterday it trued up and dished up easily. Today I'll finish it if I have time and trim the drive side axle, final check/pack the bearings, Install tire and we have a rear wheel which fits the bike. This isn't blueprinting. This is repair by adapting available parts to fit this crazy bicycle, since the owner is adamant. Front wheel needs similar attention. I have blueprinted my Mondonico - it's a lot of work but far easier than this has been. I'm glad I did not share that project with you. I do not need further lecturing by someone who has not actually seen.

Headsets are not a problem.

If you have additional constructive comments, my ears are open. If you have additional pejorative comments, I don't want them. Also, please check your assumptions at the door. They are also insulting.

sd5782 

Before I knew the little that I know now, I cleaned bad spokes with 0000 steel wool and mineral spirits. These were old Schwinn double butted on Schwinn approved hubs and Weinmann aluminum rims. I assume they are galvanized. They had decades of crud and roughness. I was trying to clean a bit and get a smoother finish. I wasn’t going for shine. Remember, I didn’t know any better.

Now, a few years later and they still look fine. I’ve done this with several, as I was going to do SOMETHING to clean them up a little and if I needed to address it again later, so be it. I have enough bikes that these aren’t ridden a lot, and they reside in a dry basement and don’t get ridden in the rain. The climate here is also not terribly humid. Indeed, I read lots of the rust stories on the forum and am thankful to mostly avoid these issues. YMMV of course.