Ok, this is based on the notes I have and photos I took at the time.
I bought the frame, wheels, and drops from a chap on Facebook. He thought the frame was a Condor, as he bought the bike from someone at Hemel Hempstead Cycling Club, who apparently used it to race for years. For reasons described later, I cannot verify if this is true.
I fitted a 116mm Shimano type sealed cartridge BB and added a 1.5mm spacer to get the chain line correct.
I completely serviced the hubs on the front and rear wheels. They ran true but the grease was pretty grungy.
The groupset I wanted was the Shimano Arabesque. And this was probably the biggest task on the build. As is well known, I think, the plastic part on the rear derailleur perishes. This one was on its way, and rather than wait for it to break I thought I'd replace. Photos below show the process.
Original plastic barrel, showing a crack in the plastic.
Replacement spring holding part made from aluminium, next to original part.
Showing the part in place.
Test assembly.
Aluminium tube installed.
I have the original part, and if anyone who bought the bike would like it, they can have it. Equally, if anyone would like me to do this fix for them, I'd be open to it.
Drop bars that came with the bike were the wrong diameter for arabesque levers, so needed new drops. New bar tape installed.
new seat post. New saddle.
Down tube shifter fitting was also a bit involved. I cannot recall the exact issue, but related to the frame having brazed on shifter mounts, but the arabesque groupset being band on. I got a few bits from a bike co-op to get the arabesque shifters mounted on the braze ons. I can't remember what these bits are called but you can see them in this photo. Again, I have the band on parts and would supply them to a buyer if requested.
So what is the frame?
The frame had this on it when I bought it (came off with t-cut):
The seller had this photo of the bike in the condition he bought it (as it happens the presence of Arabesque on this bike was a fluke, and made me smile):
It shows the words "Hemel" on it.
The BB shell looks like this:
And that, it turns out is a post code, not a frame number.
the fork is Tange.
I emailed Hemel Hempstead to ask if they knew SR Banting, and they drew a blank.
So I gave up trying to work out what the frame was and just enjoyed it for what it is.
Hopefully that gives a bit more info about the build!
