Restoration etiquette

[eg2]

So I'm thinking of tidying up the look of my bike, she's a tatty Falcon Olympic but all fully functional, I use her every day for my 20 mile round trip commute and it's about time i showed her a little love...

When it comes to doing so, is it poor form to paint the frame anything other than the original colour? is it totally outrageous to switch to sti gears? should i stick to the original spec components or is it allowable to upgrade the groupset? :/

Any advice is appreciated (and no I don't want to make it a fixie as the guys on the car forum keep telling me to, before anyone suggests it on here)

 

[Johnsqual]

Hey,

Sheldon Brown has a very nice article about upgrading older bikes here:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/upgrade.html

The stuff about spacing the rear triangle to fit modern gears is an important consideration.

Changing colours, decals etc is a bit of a can of worms so maybe I'll not
get into that...

I have a cheap single speed conversion that I use for commuting (admittedly along a flat Belgian canal) and the advantages of simplicity, not having to worry about some idiot tangling the derailleur in his spokes when you lock it up etc are worth considering.

Johnny

 

[eg2]

thanks Johnny, that link is really useful.

I dont really like the idea of a fixed gear bike as I have a few hills en-route so it'd be impractical, so I won't be going down that route.

 

[lastpubrunner]

A few years ago, I had a totally original bike (c.1955) which was in a rather shabby condition. I considered getting it powder-coated and fitting more modern (and better) parts.

I was told by an 'expert' that it would be a shame to alter an original bike. I sold it to him whereupon, he stripped it down and sold off all the component parts - so much for originality.

I reckon that you should do exactly as you like - it is only yourself that you need to please. After all, you are going to be the one who is riding it.

 

[jimo746]

I don't know about etiquette, but if it is a fairly run-of-the-mill bike (like my Carrera for example) then I consider it acceptable to do whatever the hell you like with it, after all it's your bike, and being from lower down the chain I don't think too many people would be up in arms about it.
If however it was a valuable/rare/iconic bike then I'd probably think twice before letting loose with the nitromors and blowtorch






ps: you should make it a fixie

 

[hamster]

I agree, in the end this is a mass-produced machine not a craftsman work of art. Do it the honour of making it usable and riding it again. It breaks my heart to see racing machines owned by anally-retentive collectors and never ridden.

 

[eg2]

Yea I guess it was never a rare or interesting bike (though I see very little info is available on them)

I definately need to replace the back wheel as most of the spokes seem pretty bent/loose/rusted and the cassette seems to wobble around a bit! so that's my 1st job, but I guess that means changing the rear mech at the same time and therefore it makes sense to do the sti shifters as well - any ideas on what sort of thing i should look at? What problems will I face moving from 6 speed to 8/9/10?

(I'm totally new to modifying bikes as I'm into cars, so treat me like a n00b)

ps. jimo - bugger off lol

 

[alanf1968]

Good restorations can cost more than buying a decent original secondhand, opinion is divided although going towards favouring a very good original over a perfect restoration as any fool with money to waste can have a perfect restoration, but many years of cherishing and caring for a classic original bike is a different matter, a nice quality hand built bike is always special, its a very personal decision

 

[zotty]

s favouring a very good original over a perfect restoration as any fool with money to waste can have a perfect restoration

and prob be to scared to use it for fear of a scratch etc..

good words of wisdom Alanf

i chose the good original route with my clements and i get to use it daily .. didnt cost me a fortune to make 'ernie' more presentable.. i did stay 'period' (the saddle has now been changed!! lol its now got its 'wrights' leather saddle back on) and found everything i needed on fleabay or here at sensible money,..

clicky my clements link i my sig .. give you a fair idea of what i did .. mainly spit n polish to be fair

 

[alanf1968]

just had a look at the pics of your Clements Zotty, I had a 753 Clements in pale blue which would have been built in 85 as I built it myself to race in 86, my final race on it was just a minute behind Chris Boardman, my best ever racing season. Agree with you on the fear of scratching, I came off one of my Record Aces last summer on a railway crossing, gutted at the scratch it left in the seat stay, luckily I had a modern tape over the original which was damaged, but it protected the nice original tape I had covered