Picked this up off the bay a few months ago as my first ever bike project and the first road bike I have ever ridden for that matter. Late 80's Raleigh Eclipse which came to me covered in rust, seized up and in need of a lot of love.
I was initially worried about the state of the bottom bracket shell and surrounding tubes as pitting had taken hold pretty bad and there was a small hole. Undeterred, but on a pretty strict budget, I decided that after totally disassembling and stripping everything I would get the forks powder coated by a firm in Hull who very Kindly threw them in with a batch of caravan parts and charged a very reasonable price. For the frame itself I thought powder coating wasn't the right option as you would see the pitting through it and it could resemble the texture of lumpy porridge! Eventually I decided to try a method I hadn't seen used on bikes before and protect the frame with several coats of Owatrol, an oil based paint medium usually used for preventing steel parts from rusting in long term storage. The pictures below don't quite do it justice but the finish is lovely, looking almost like liquid metal. The downside is poorer durability compared to paint or powder coating, but it's great in that if I scratch the bike, I sand away any rust and re-coat, good as new!
The rest is a labour of love (ish!), with sanding and polishing any and all alloy parts, including the original engraved drop bars and seat tube. The new (to me) parts are the gear levers, cranks, brakes (NOS Weinmann 500s which I found), seat, wheels, cables, derailleurs and vanity items.
Frame: Original Raleigh Eclipse Reynolds 501
Fork: Original Raleigh Eclipse Reynolds 501
Headset: Original Y.S.T 1" Chromed Headset
Stem: Original SR CUSTOM Alloy
Handlebar: Original Raleigh Engraved Alloy Dropbars
Bar Tape: Newbaum's Yellow and grey wrapped in a harlequin pattern (attempted to)
Brake Levers/Brifters: Drilled Weinmann 500 Levers
Brake Calipers: Weinmann 500 (needed to fit tall wheel sides)
Brake Pads: Weinmann 500
Brake Cables: Grey Weinmann 500
Shifters: Shimano 105, indexed on rear derailleur
Front Derailleur: Shimano 105
Rear Derailleur: Shimano 105
Derailleur Cables: Shimano 105
Cassette: Shimano 105 8 speed (was originally 7)
Chain: Shimano 105
Cranks: Unbranded (potentially off old Peugeot)
Chainrings: Unbranded (potentially off old Peugeot)
Bottom Bracket: Shimano UN55 BB
Pedals: Unbranded alloy pedals
Rims: Rigida DP18
Hubs: Shimano 105
Tyres: Hutchinson Top Speed
Saddle: Motobecane Competition
Seatpost: Original Raleigh
Seatpost Binder: New generic
Extras: New decals, NOS chrome pump
Weight: About 12 Kilos
Just wanted to say a massive thanks to everyone on this forum, It helped immensely during the process and left such an impression that I have bought an MTB project off a user, which I can't imagine my SO will be too happy about. On an unrelated topic, does anyone know a good way of hiding an MTB in a one bed flat!
Thanks for reading!
https://imgur.com/a/iTrNj
I was initially worried about the state of the bottom bracket shell and surrounding tubes as pitting had taken hold pretty bad and there was a small hole. Undeterred, but on a pretty strict budget, I decided that after totally disassembling and stripping everything I would get the forks powder coated by a firm in Hull who very Kindly threw them in with a batch of caravan parts and charged a very reasonable price. For the frame itself I thought powder coating wasn't the right option as you would see the pitting through it and it could resemble the texture of lumpy porridge! Eventually I decided to try a method I hadn't seen used on bikes before and protect the frame with several coats of Owatrol, an oil based paint medium usually used for preventing steel parts from rusting in long term storage. The pictures below don't quite do it justice but the finish is lovely, looking almost like liquid metal. The downside is poorer durability compared to paint or powder coating, but it's great in that if I scratch the bike, I sand away any rust and re-coat, good as new!
The rest is a labour of love (ish!), with sanding and polishing any and all alloy parts, including the original engraved drop bars and seat tube. The new (to me) parts are the gear levers, cranks, brakes (NOS Weinmann 500s which I found), seat, wheels, cables, derailleurs and vanity items.
Frame: Original Raleigh Eclipse Reynolds 501
Fork: Original Raleigh Eclipse Reynolds 501
Headset: Original Y.S.T 1" Chromed Headset
Stem: Original SR CUSTOM Alloy
Handlebar: Original Raleigh Engraved Alloy Dropbars
Bar Tape: Newbaum's Yellow and grey wrapped in a harlequin pattern (attempted to)
Brake Levers/Brifters: Drilled Weinmann 500 Levers
Brake Calipers: Weinmann 500 (needed to fit tall wheel sides)
Brake Pads: Weinmann 500
Brake Cables: Grey Weinmann 500
Shifters: Shimano 105, indexed on rear derailleur
Front Derailleur: Shimano 105
Rear Derailleur: Shimano 105
Derailleur Cables: Shimano 105
Cassette: Shimano 105 8 speed (was originally 7)
Chain: Shimano 105
Cranks: Unbranded (potentially off old Peugeot)
Chainrings: Unbranded (potentially off old Peugeot)
Bottom Bracket: Shimano UN55 BB
Pedals: Unbranded alloy pedals
Rims: Rigida DP18
Hubs: Shimano 105
Tyres: Hutchinson Top Speed
Saddle: Motobecane Competition
Seatpost: Original Raleigh
Seatpost Binder: New generic
Extras: New decals, NOS chrome pump
Weight: About 12 Kilos
Just wanted to say a massive thanks to everyone on this forum, It helped immensely during the process and left such an impression that I have bought an MTB project off a user, which I can't imagine my SO will be too happy about. On an unrelated topic, does anyone know a good way of hiding an MTB in a one bed flat!
Thanks for reading!
https://imgur.com/a/iTrNj
