Chas Roberts White Spider ii build thread - is this the catalogue bike?

[Camelos]

My husband bought this bike around 2005 from a work colleague who had previously raced it but had been in storage for years. In our hands it been used for a couple of years- commuting, a bit of mountain biking but mostly touring - note the rack mounts. We fitted a rack, slick tyres, rolls saddle, whacked in an ahead converter, easton bars and stem. Since then it’s been in the garage for the last 15 years. It was in pretty much pristine condition when bought it had pace suspension forks fitted, xt groupset apart from levers which are dia-compe, syncros bars and stem. It also a bag of bits - most importantly some rigid forks legs, spare stem, thumbies etc.



A couple of months ago I was digging around in the garage looking for some flat handlebars as I was reverting my Surly from a drop bar back to flatbar. Anyway, as I was struggling to find what I needed I started casting a harsh eye over the various bikes piled up - assessing the condition and mentally casting a couple of them straight on the scrap heap…. But at the bottom of the pile was the Roberts mtb - so I dragged it out with a pang of guilt because that’s one bike that really deserves a better life.



Started googling about the bike i came across retrobike and JCS’s thread in particular with some old Roberts catalog images including a picture of a white spider ii that was startling similar - to ours - paint job, groupset - even down to the ridiculously long silver seat post .



Over the next few days I kept on researching the bikes, we looked at it and talked about what a beautiful bike frame it was but the suspension forks were a total mess. I dug around some more in the garage and finally found most of the original parts including the fork legs (1st gen 531 RC30’s) - and other spares including T-bone stem just like in the catalog pic - not the tyres or saddle though.

 

[Camelos]

 

[Camelos]

Should we sell it we thought - clearly the was a lot of love for the bikes, how much was it worth blah-di-bla- but the more we looked at it and reminisced- let’s see if we can fit the rigid legs and build it up.



We had tried to fix the forks years back but given up as the suspension forks had seemed to be seized in. I started looking on EBay for some 1 inch P2’s or similar but in the end thanks to retro bike help managed to get the suspension legs free from the crown and original rc30’s fitted. Back in business!



Anyway over the last few weeks the credit card has taken a hit buying up parts for a period sensitive restoration but ultimately we want it to be practical and rideable. Sadly the original headset and bb were a bit too worn. Got a good condition s/h m735 headset and replaced the original bb with a IRD steel cups sealed cartridge unit. These were fitted at the bike shop as we don’t have all the correct tools.

 

[Camelos]

Starting putting some of the parts on to see how it’s going to look. Going to fit the Tioga stem from the parts bag rather than the syncros. It’s got more of a rise , personally I think it looks better too even if a bit heavier. I’ve just ordered a wider more practical 58cm tioga bar from EBay as the syncros one has been cut down to 50cm. Once that arrives looking forward to fitting the rest of the parts.



During this time I’ve been thinking could this be the actual bike from that Roberts brochure. It strikes me as a bit odd that it had rack mounts - same as the one in the picture- as it was race oriented but turned out useful for us for touring purposes anyway so not complaining. The frame was built in 1991 according to the frame number 910802. Assume that the 1992 brochure perhaps?

 

[Camelos]

 

[PhillB]

Great to see another old Roberts getting back together and used again!! This one is a beauty!!

 

[JCS]

Wonderful!
So glad you are renovating it. It has cleaned up really well - the paint and decals are in very good condition. Love the fades! This style was an inspiration for the repaint of mine.
I think it is good that it has a few nicks here and there, as it means you can use it as intended without worrying about getting it dirty.
A really cool bike and great to see you are using period parts (cantilevers, etc.)
Do you still have the pulley wheel that attaches the the rear of the seat tube, for the front derailleur cable?

 

[27motorhead]

What else do you have hidden away in your garage??? Great story and gorgeous bike. Keeping an eye on this one!

 

[Camelos]

Wonderful!
So glad you are renovating it. It has cleaned up really well - the paint and decals are in very good condition. Love the fades! This style was an inspiration for the repaint of mine.
I think it is good that it has a few nicks here and there, as it means you can use it as intended without worrying about getting it dirty.
A really cool bike and great to see you are using period parts (cantilevers, etc.)
Do you still have the pulley wheel that attaches the the rear of the seat tube, for the front derailleur cable?

Thanks. Well your restoration was an inspiration for us. I even got a set of sim works tyres for the spare wheels we got.
It is what it is with frame - it shows its history I guess but it means we don’t have to be too precious. Yeah I’ve really come to love the fades on this also.
Yes we do have pulley wheel still.

 

[MatBH5]

Lovely example and a great colour scheme. For it to be the catalogue bike, I think the decal placement on the downtube would have to have altered and (probably more indicative) the fade on the drive side chainstay looks different, with the rear mech cable stop yellow in the catalogue and blue on yours? Difficult to say exactly though.