SynchroSimon
Retro Newbie
Hi everyone,
New to the forum because I have just completed restoring my dad’s 1955 Hercules Aston Club.
The bike was in a really sorry state; years of not being ridden and left in a garage. I think there was more rust on it than good bodywork/chrome etc.
Anyway, I collected the bike over Christmas 2018 and got it back home. Stripping it down was far easier than I expected. The only thing I had to get my LBS to do was remove the DS BB cup.
I knew that I wanted my rebuild to include as many of the original bike parts as possible, whatever state they were in. However, some parts I knew would have to be replaced – for instance, the wheels, tyres and cables.
Over the course of a few months, I split the bike and its components into 4 groups:
Happy to re-use the part despite its age and condition
Some parts I replaced are not the original specification purely because I could not find exact replacements (eg brake levers, callipers and cables).
One of the biggest obstacles I had was getting the decals for the frame – I (predictably) could not find any anywhere. I photographed the decals and a colleague was able to digitise them into a format that would be suitable for printing. I then managed to find someone online that was able to print waterslide decals and specifically who was able to print the colour white.
The frame is not perfect – years of rust left the frame quite pock-marked and this does show through the new finish. I was lucky though that the colour is identical to the original (flamboyant blue).
Problems… well, there were a few. Not to mention sourcing parts, but the wheel rebuilds were very troublesome. The original rims were 26 x 1 1/4 but the closest I could find to this with the correct number of spoke holes was 26 x 1 3/8 (ETRTO 590-35). I also ordered the correct spoke lengths based on the old ones. Try as I might, this did not work (even with the same lacing pattern) as the spokes were too loose so I eventually ended up getting shorter spokes. I now suspect that the original wheels were the other flavour of 26” (ETRTO 597-32). Well, you live and learn.
And the ride? Very comfortable (way more so than my carbon road bike
) although the braking is woefully inadequate and it does have a tendency to slip out of 2nd gear :shock: .
New to the forum because I have just completed restoring my dad’s 1955 Hercules Aston Club.
The bike was in a really sorry state; years of not being ridden and left in a garage. I think there was more rust on it than good bodywork/chrome etc.
Anyway, I collected the bike over Christmas 2018 and got it back home. Stripping it down was far easier than I expected. The only thing I had to get my LBS to do was remove the DS BB cup.
I knew that I wanted my rebuild to include as many of the original bike parts as possible, whatever state they were in. However, some parts I knew would have to be replaced – for instance, the wheels, tyres and cables.
Over the course of a few months, I split the bike and its components into 4 groups:
Happy to re-use the part despite its age and condition
- Wheel hubs
Cranks/Chainrings
Badge on head tube
Seat post
Gear shifter
BB assembly
- Frame (full respray)
Handlebars (re-chromed)
- Brake and gear cables
Brake levers and callipers
Cable clips and gear cable pulley
Pedals
- Stem
Wheel rims and spokes
Saddle
Brake blocks
Tyres
Headset
Mudguards (still need fitting)
Rear cog (the old one was unbelievably worn)
Chain (old one was so worn it was over an inch longer than it should have been)
Some parts I replaced are not the original specification purely because I could not find exact replacements (eg brake levers, callipers and cables).
One of the biggest obstacles I had was getting the decals for the frame – I (predictably) could not find any anywhere. I photographed the decals and a colleague was able to digitise them into a format that would be suitable for printing. I then managed to find someone online that was able to print waterslide decals and specifically who was able to print the colour white.
The frame is not perfect – years of rust left the frame quite pock-marked and this does show through the new finish. I was lucky though that the colour is identical to the original (flamboyant blue).
Problems… well, there were a few. Not to mention sourcing parts, but the wheel rebuilds were very troublesome. The original rims were 26 x 1 1/4 but the closest I could find to this with the correct number of spoke holes was 26 x 1 3/8 (ETRTO 590-35). I also ordered the correct spoke lengths based on the old ones. Try as I might, this did not work (even with the same lacing pattern) as the spokes were too loose so I eventually ended up getting shorter spokes. I now suspect that the original wheels were the other flavour of 26” (ETRTO 597-32). Well, you live and learn.
And the ride? Very comfortable (way more so than my carbon road bike
) although the braking is woefully inadequate and it does have a tendency to slip out of 2nd gear :shock: .
