Hello all I need help please
- Thread starter P!LGR!M
- Start date
Dushan Ivekich
Devout Dirtbag
I'd be slightly concerned about the severity of the corrosion in the frame more than anything, there isn't much you can do about that.
Did you get the seat post out?
Did you get the seat post out?
Re:
Interesting "GB made handlebars and stems" I have been looking for bikes made by GB lol, I found Genesis Bikes & Geoffrey Butler but that's it. Unfortunately I do not have huge amounts of time to put in researching the bike especially considering I know nothing at all about them and I wanted to try and have it ridable by the end of the summer, I can see this is going to be a long steep learning curve but hopefully someone can help ID the frame then I can go about getting correct bits for it. I may do a build log aswell for any others interested.
That is a very good idea I will have a go at tracing the badge, I did get the seat post out which came out surprisingly easy, the only thing left to get off is the handle bar stem which I can see being a saga and a half. Are cotter pins and other nuts and bolts and bits like the springs between the brakes hard to come by now for older bikes or is there a well known place I can get them from. This may be a stupid question to those in the know but the 5 digit number is just above the forks on the frame section where the forks and stem go inside, is this an uncommon place for numbers to be put or is there like a certain place where each manufacturer stamped them?, I read that old frame builders could pretty much put them where they liked.
Apologies for all the questions but trying to leverage the knowledge from everybody here who has years of experience as I would like to get it done by summer end but do not have huge amounts of time to sit sorting the wheat from the chaff, and as the old saying goes you don't get if you don't ask
thanks.
Interesting "GB made handlebars and stems" I have been looking for bikes made by GB lol, I found Genesis Bikes & Geoffrey Butler but that's it. Unfortunately I do not have huge amounts of time to put in researching the bike especially considering I know nothing at all about them and I wanted to try and have it ridable by the end of the summer, I can see this is going to be a long steep learning curve but hopefully someone can help ID the frame then I can go about getting correct bits for it. I may do a build log aswell for any others interested.
That is a very good idea I will have a go at tracing the badge, I did get the seat post out which came out surprisingly easy, the only thing left to get off is the handle bar stem which I can see being a saga and a half. Are cotter pins and other nuts and bolts and bits like the springs between the brakes hard to come by now for older bikes or is there a well known place I can get them from. This may be a stupid question to those in the know but the 5 digit number is just above the forks on the frame section where the forks and stem go inside, is this an uncommon place for numbers to be put or is there like a certain place where each manufacturer stamped them?, I read that old frame builders could pretty much put them where they liked.
Apologies for all the questions but trying to leverage the knowledge from everybody here who has years of experience as I would like to get it done by summer end but do not have huge amounts of time to sit sorting the wheat from the chaff, and as the old saying goes you don't get if you don't ask
thanks.
Old Ned
Old School Grand Master
GB was a company started by Gerry Burgess who (I think) was a track rider at one time. They were also a prolific manufacturer of brakes but gradually drifted out of cycle components manufacture as the market became more far eastern driven in the 70's and 80's. Gerry then went into the manufacture of contract furniture such as metal frame chairs and tables. GB brakes were very popular in the 50's and 60's and appeared on many branded 'ready to ride' UK produced bikes.
Thanks for the GB thing Old Ned - I knew it was someone's initials but kept having "Guy Burgess" (the spy) come to mind. Gerry. Of course.
@Pilgrim: I think you are very brave proceeding with this bike. From the pictures it looks that almost every chrome part is rusted like it's been dipped in the sea. If you were to "restore" it by replacing these parts (chainset, rims, hubs, headset, gear mechs etc) you would spend considerably more than it is worth and end up with a comparatively heavy bike. I have great respect for your enthusiasm to work at restoring but alas much of this isn't so much hard labour fixing things as hard work ordering and waiting for countless replacement parts. As I said earlier, unless this has some great sentimental value, put the work into something that is lighter and has more aluminium alloy (that can be cleaned and polished back to near original condition) than chromed steel (that loses its chrome and rusts irreversibly).
Those Mafac brakes are probably the best bit of this bike. Perhaps it's worth putting a load of elbow grease into those then selling them to subsidise something with a future? If I were a vet, I'd be advising you to reflect on what a nice life it had had but now how much kinder it would be to let it go to sleep...
Alternatively, let's hope that I'm wrong and when you trace and post that head badge shape, a wise sage here will identify it as a priceless collectible. (If that happens, sell it to them asap.)
@Pilgrim: I think you are very brave proceeding with this bike. From the pictures it looks that almost every chrome part is rusted like it's been dipped in the sea. If you were to "restore" it by replacing these parts (chainset, rims, hubs, headset, gear mechs etc) you would spend considerably more than it is worth and end up with a comparatively heavy bike. I have great respect for your enthusiasm to work at restoring but alas much of this isn't so much hard labour fixing things as hard work ordering and waiting for countless replacement parts. As I said earlier, unless this has some great sentimental value, put the work into something that is lighter and has more aluminium alloy (that can be cleaned and polished back to near original condition) than chromed steel (that loses its chrome and rusts irreversibly).
Those Mafac brakes are probably the best bit of this bike. Perhaps it's worth putting a load of elbow grease into those then selling them to subsidise something with a future? If I were a vet, I'd be advising you to reflect on what a nice life it had had but now how much kinder it would be to let it go to sleep...
Alternatively, let's hope that I'm wrong and when you trace and post that head badge shape, a wise sage here will identify it as a priceless collectible. (If that happens, sell it to them asap.)
Re:
Hello all,
Well I have traced as good as I can what is left of the badge and took a few closer pics which I will paste below.
ZG862 I hear what you are saying but the bike will probably only come out a handful of times each year for a tootle around my local area plus I love a challenge and cant stand to throw anything away so this little bike will breath again as close to original as I can get it providing I can ID it, anyway doing this up will keep me off the streets lol.
I found an old bike shop not too far from me and took it in for a bit of advice and a few replacement parts, while there the guy had a look at the frame but couldn't be sure what it was, he gave me the following names to look into which he thought it could be so at some point I am going to have a google of it and hopefully one of those may be a gold colour similar to this one.
Raleigh
Carlton
Falcon
Coventry eagle
Hello all,
Well I have traced as good as I can what is left of the badge and took a few closer pics which I will paste below.
ZG862 I hear what you are saying but the bike will probably only come out a handful of times each year for a tootle around my local area plus I love a challenge and cant stand to throw anything away so this little bike will breath again as close to original as I can get it providing I can ID it, anyway doing this up will keep me off the streets lol.
I found an old bike shop not too far from me and took it in for a bit of advice and a few replacement parts, while there the guy had a look at the frame but couldn't be sure what it was, he gave me the following names to look into which he thought it could be so at some point I am going to have a google of it and hopefully one of those may be a gold colour similar to this one.
Raleigh
Carlton
Falcon
Coventry eagle
Attachments
Your local shop's advice seems sound. Looks maybe Falcon-shaped to me??
Only thing is that I'd expect there to have been a couple of holes for rivets.
This crowd do replica chrome plating kits and of course H Lloyds do decals - and actually they have a bunch of head badges on their site that you might be able to compare.
Only thing is that I'd expect there to have been a couple of holes for rivets.
This crowd do replica chrome plating kits and of course H Lloyds do decals - and actually they have a bunch of head badges on their site that you might be able to compare.
Re:
That's brilliant thanks, ill have a look at these see if I can match it. You don't have any links to places that may sell old parts do you like nuts and bolts or a link to somewhere that explains the names to all the parts on an old racer, I found a site that explains all the dimensions etc but not the part names.
That's brilliant thanks, ill have a look at these see if I can match it. You don't have any links to places that may sell old parts do you like nuts and bolts or a link to somewhere that explains the names to all the parts on an old racer, I found a site that explains all the dimensions etc but not the part names.
You could do worse that track down a copy of Richard Ballantine's "Richard's Bicycle Book"/ "New Bicycle Book" / "Ultimate Bicycle Book". Though not perfect, probably well suited to your aspirations (I see you have a TIG welder and a club hammer so you must have a pretty good idea of how things go together).
There actually aren't that many generic nuts and bolts on a bike. For instance, when you find some new cotter pins (specialist bike part, comes in more than one size) they will each include a matching washer and nut. There are a few generic bits and pieces like cable adjusters which you'll find on auction sites or your local (old-fashioned) bike shop - but as you point out, you'll need to know the name of what you're looking for if online. In some cases, you simply won't be able to find individual spare parts as the manufacturers either never sold them separately or have since gone out of business (Weinmann being a great example: used to supply all the spare proprietary washers, bolts etc for all their brakes, now gone) so you end up having to buy a whole new (/2nd hand) unit to cobble for spares or swap out. Exception to this is ball bearings I suppose. Your best bet may be to post pictures here and just ask. It seems that RetroBikers are unusually helpful and generous with their time and contents of their spares tins.
You are pushing it a bit to describe yours as a "racer". "Sports bike" might be about the limit. Nevertheless, determined as you clearly are, I'm sure you'll find all the parts you need, even it the end result is a bit like Trigger's Broom.
There actually aren't that many generic nuts and bolts on a bike. For instance, when you find some new cotter pins (specialist bike part, comes in more than one size) they will each include a matching washer and nut. There are a few generic bits and pieces like cable adjusters which you'll find on auction sites or your local (old-fashioned) bike shop - but as you point out, you'll need to know the name of what you're looking for if online. In some cases, you simply won't be able to find individual spare parts as the manufacturers either never sold them separately or have since gone out of business (Weinmann being a great example: used to supply all the spare proprietary washers, bolts etc for all their brakes, now gone) so you end up having to buy a whole new (/2nd hand) unit to cobble for spares or swap out. Exception to this is ball bearings I suppose. Your best bet may be to post pictures here and just ask. It seems that RetroBikers are unusually helpful and generous with their time and contents of their spares tins.
You are pushing it a bit to describe yours as a "racer". "Sports bike" might be about the limit. Nevertheless, determined as you clearly are, I'm sure you'll find all the parts you need, even it the end result is a bit like Trigger's Broom.
Carlton_gang
Dirt Disciple
Re:
Looks like a serious project you've got there. For the stem if nothing else works I can recommend cutting it off, drilling out as much as possible, then dissolving it with sodium hydroxide. There are quite a few GB stems floating about on the internet so I wouldn't worry about getting a replacement.
Looks like a serious project you've got there. For the stem if nothing else works I can recommend cutting it off, drilling out as much as possible, then dissolving it with sodium hydroxide. There are quite a few GB stems floating about on the internet so I wouldn't worry about getting a replacement.
