Search results for:

Dibs on raleigh handlebars if still available and ok to post. Pm sent

Yeah the tri bars. They're not the most elegant looking things ever but they are all one piece so I can't remove just them without replacing the whole bar (unless I cut them off!)

I'd quite like to have them on there to be honest but I think they make the bike look front heavy if that makes sense?

I know this isn't the most amazing transformation or the prettiest bike but I've learnt a lot doing this and I'm happy with the way it's turned out. Still got to put the back brake on but it's pretty much finished.

If I were to change anything it would be the handlebar! It's all one piece so I can't remove the horrible middle bit, although. A tempted to hacksaw them off at the joint and stick some end plugs in there!

Thoughts?

Here is the latest update. I have retaped the bars that came with the bike and replaced the brake levers with cannondale bar end levers. I have also refitted the original cranks and 52t chainring after cleaning them up. I have polished up one of the wheels so far and also fitted new tyres.

As you can see this is a cheap build and I think the net cost of it will be about £60. I'm selling all the surplus parts on ebay.

Next step is new brake cables, refit the (now white) brakes, polish the other wheel, 18t sprocket and spacers and then take it out for a spin....

I think you're about right with 'sub £50'. I sold the shifters for £15 which pretty much covered the cost of the bike!

Moving on with this slowly but surely. Just waiting to get some bar end aero brakes and a single speed sprocket and spacers and there won't be much left to get on there for now.

Gave the frame a really good clean and got all the decals off. There are patches where the lacquer has come off the paint though so I'm thinking of getting a can of halfords lacquer and just giving it a once over. To be honest I thought about just painting the thing matt black but then I think that you all might have it right telling me to leave the paint as it is!

What are people's thoughts on the bars that came on the bike? I'm thinking I might use them and install tt style brakes in the ends and retape them. I'm not looking to make a time trial bike but if I could make it more easy for me to get into an aero position on this then at least it's something different to my normal road bike.

I've cleaned up the chainring and cranks and I think they look fine. I'll be using the existing 52t chainring and will probably get an 18t sprocket.

Before

After

Ah, in that case I will probably use the chainring from the existing one. Gives me a good excuse to clean something else up!!

If I use the existing crank/chainring that will be a big saving which I could put towards some better wheels for example.

I reckon I'd get away with £40. Just been having a browse and these caught my eye

http://www.velosolo.co.uk/lasco.html

They're £42.

I'm going to partly fund the build by ebaying the surplus parts such as shifters and the old drivetrain parts so if I can tell her the new parts are 'free' i'll be fine ;)

Don't want to sound cheap but I'm trying to keep costs down without bolting a load of tat onto the bike. May prove tricky!

It's not too much for me but I'm still convincing my wife that I need this third bike in the first place so it may be a problem!

I'll keep checking ebay in case anything comes up on there.

Thanks for all the input guys, I really do appreciate it.

Incidentally, so far I'm loving the project! All I've done is take things apart but it still feels good! God knows what I'll be like when stuff starts going back on!!

Thanks for the ghosting tip. I'll get some of that on it .

I've got it back to the frame now (although fork and bb are still on). Paint is looking alright, few scratches but looks fine from a few feet away!

He is where it's at:

I take it this sort of thing is cheap for a reason? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Single-Speed-Fixie-Steel-Crankset-46T-Teeth-Fixed-Gear-Chrome-Crank-/251278648992?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item3a815fe6a0

The paint is staying. I will get it looking as good as I can though.

Thinking of keeping the bars too and just retaping them. Haven't decided on a colour yet but nothing outrageous.

Thanks for the ebay link. Will check it out.

Sorry if this has been a bit of a non event thread so far. I hope to have some proper progress soon!

So this evening I started taking the bike apart. Got the brakes off, bars/stem, front derailleur, rea derailleur and some of the decals off.

Getting the decals off has revealed a problem though, they were added for a reason! They are hiding some pretty nasty scuffs in the paint. Even the ones that weren't hiding scratches have caused problems as the paint has faded around the lettering so their is still a ghost of the decal on the paint! Other than Respray the bike I'm not sure what can be done. Although I'm not going to be building a show stopping beauty I also don't want it to look rubbish.

After the comments about keeping the original paint this is pretty disappointing but I really think a Respray is the only way to get around this. I'm thinking of using hammerite spray as this should be tougher than halfords car spray. I searched for people who have used it in the past and results seem ok. They do a satin black which might look quite cool.....has anyone used the product before?

No worries. I checked the brochure again and the sticker is shown in there and it's the same. As I say though, it's only the 3 frame tubes which are 531.

Thanks for that, I'm under no illusions about the dura ace decals.

I found a raleigh brochure on line though that said the frame is 531 although not the fork. Can you confirm for sure?

Thanks for all the advice. I think the new plan then will be to get it apart so that I can give the current paint some tlc and then go from there. Decals could do with replacing/removing I think though. Is there a good way to do that?

I will be changing the bars and will be selling the current ones but I'm pretty sure they're all one piece. I'll have a look later.

Thanks for the input guys. I think I could definitely be tempted to leave the paint but I'm not sure how I would fix the parts of the paintwork where things are removed such as shifters and dérailleur attachment points? Some of the marks left could be polished out I guess.

Thanks for the heads up on the v sprint site. Going to have a look there now

I've been road cycling for a while now and have always fancied a fixed gear bike but I'm not keen on the idea of having to always pedal and using legs to brake so I am going to do a single speed to begin with and hopefully progress from there.

I've been reading this forum and Sheldon browns site amongst others to get a good idea of what I'm getting into and today I picked up the bike for my first project. I'd been looking on ebay for a while but then thought I'd take a punt on Facebook and see if anyone I know had anything tucked away in a shed...ten minutes after posting I got a reply from someone who had an 'old road bike' and agreed to take it off their hands without seeing it. I agreed to pay £20 (they didn't want any money at all) and arranged to collect the mystery bike today.

All seems to have turned out very well as I have ended up with a Raleigh vitesse with 531 tubing and some half decent brakes for £20. Have I got a decent deal?

I intend to strip the frame back and paint it myself. Probably in a red and white scheme. A few noob questions if I may:

I'm going to get a single speed specific sprocket and some spacers for the rear but can I utilise one of the chain rings from the current set up?

What is the best way to fill the holes left when I remove gear shifters etc?

Have I missed anything silly that makes this a bad choice?

This is what I have:

Hoping to get started with the disassembly some point this week and will try to post regular updates.

Hi guys. Been reading this forum for a while and today I picked up the bike for my first project. Looking forward to sharing it with you all

That's really excellent. Especially considering what it looked like before!

That's lovely. I'm thinking of a similar paint scheme for my first project