Raleigh Road Ace to Fixie Project - colour options...

[S1m0nR]

Thanks for all the replies folks - I've been following them as they've appeared.

I'm not sure if anyone's interested, but I've finished stripping the frame back to bare metal. Actually I got a little carried away and also stripped a Falcon lady's bike at the same time.

There wasn't much rust on the Road Ace, what little there was I've ground away using a wire brush disc on my electric drill. All that's left to do now is wipe it down with some alcohol, mask the Reynolds sticker off and get a few coats of primer on it.

While I've been doing that, I've also been making a start with the decals - I managed to remove the seat tube one relatively intact so I scanned it and a friend has re-drawn it on Illustrator for me. I've also downloaded the correct font for the Raleigh text so I can now get a vinyl cutter to produce some pretty original-looking decals for me.

I'll post a couple of updates when I make more progress, if people are still reading this thread!

One thing didn't go as I planned though - I was trying to save the Reynolds sticker on the down tube but unfortunately the masking tape that I put over it to protect it while I was stripping the frame took the top part of the sticker off when I removed it.

I wonder where I can find another?

 

[rusty bodie]

i owned a road ace frame in the mid 80s - my first proper road frame and built it up to be a road ace bike more or less given my £50 a week cycle shop wages back then!

the frame i had had downtube gear lever bosses brazed on TOP of the down tube (not on either side) and the bottom bracket cable guides went OVER the shell and not under. the end of the chainstay at the drop out end didn't have any sort of cable stop as raleigh kitted the road ace out with shimano 600AX the rear mech had a weird almost "c" shaped cable guide bracket that swept up and round clockwise fashion over the gearside dropout and on to the chainstay itself. hence the reason that the road ace frame had unusual braze on bosses.

cool era tho!

 

[kula]

That's the same as my Road Ace, it's a 1st generation one, the lack of cable guide on the rear stays is a pain, as i've had to put a bolt on guide to run any other rear mech. And how I hate add on cable guides

 

[S1m0nR]

Just a quick little update.

The frame is painted and ready for the decals.

I've got the Reynolds stickers for the 531c tubes and forks and also the one that I was trying to track down above. Turns out the H Lloyd came up trumps for me!

The other Raleigh decals I'm getting made up and cut in vinyl.

They should be ready soon.

 

[S1m0nR]

I picked up the decals today and applied them to the frame. It's now ready for lacquering.

I'm pretty pleased with how it's worked out!

I also now have all the artwork and several RALEIGH decal sets for these Raleigh frames if anyone is interested!

 

[Baz-IRL]

Hi S1m0nR the frame turned out really well.
By any chance would you still have that scan of the seat tube decal.
The Road ace I picked up is missing this decal and I can't find a suitable replacement anywhere.
I've a few questions about how you went about reproducing the decal but don't want to derail your thread.

Cheers.

 

[S1m0nR]

By any chance would you still have that scan of the seat tube decal....

I've a few questions about how you went about reproducing the decal but don't want to derail your thread.

Hi there,

No problem, I don't think anyone's reading this thread anymore anyway ;-)

You're in luck - I had the decal re-drawn in Illustrator! it was then printed on adhesive clear vinyl, which is pretty close to the original finish.

I'm in Italy this week but drop me a PM to remind me and I'll be in touch when I get back...

Cheers for now!

 

[Jonny69]

It looks excellent with the real Raleigh lettering. Really good job!

 

[stevevw]

Nice job. I was expecting to see the chromed ends though, change your mind?

 

[S1m0nR]

Nice job. I was expecting to see the chromed ends though, change your mind?

Hey there,

Yeah - when I stripped one of the seat-stays, the chrome on the inside appeared to be slightly damaged so rather than risking it going rusty I thought I'd paint the whole lot.

In some ways it's a shame, but I actually quite like the simplicity.

I'm currently on an unexpected holiday to the Formula 1 testing at Mugello, Italy (found out about it about 24 hours before leaving!!) so in a way I'm itching to get back and get the bike built. I got three coats of lacquer on the paint so I guess that the week drying in my spare room won't do it any harm at all - and I'll need a good few rides on it to burn off all the wine, cheese and ice cream!!