Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hard rubbish week around the area.

Found this sitting on a stroll around the block.

Roadmaster 10 speed, suntour levers, suntour FD, shimano tourney RD, no idea about anything else, i don't know the first thing about old bikes.











It's got the front wheel out in the pics, since it had been removed and was not QR, but i put it back on and standover sized it. one immediate problem is that it may be a size too big for me, admittedly i was only in thongs, but there was slight contact with top tube when i stood over the bike.

Any thoughts?

Looks like it needs a bit of work, at least. If it looks like it's too much work for too little return, it'll just go back out into the hard rubbish collection.

Error. This post can no longer be displayed.

Give the chain and all cables a massive lube job to try and ensure the brakes work and it changes gear etc. The rear tyre looks like it has perished quite a bit, so if you have to get new tyres and tubes etc, have a think about if its worth it. It will probably take 27inch tyres instead of the more modern 700c tyres. Tubes will be the same, but tyres may be a bit more hard to come by (not much call for it around here squire).
Make a list of things to do before you spend any money, and make your mind up then. Good luck.

Slight contact with the groin is okay - I've got definite pressure with the Europa. It's the clearance with your pelvic bone that's the issue and don't forget, once you put 700c wheels on her, she'll drop a bit (smaller overall diameter to 27").

Good find, and you got her at the right price

Richard

okay, i've not had time to work on this new baby yet, (i've got a week of hols coming up, maybe then... need to go buy some bike tools, maybe a bottle of kero and a brush, etc) but one crazy idea came to mind lately...

FIXIE.

... told you it was a crazy idea... now what do you guys think?

I've never restored a bike beofre, heck, I've never DIY'd anything on a bike before, besides cleaning, lubing, tightening, so this will be an adventure...

She'll be dead easy to do up and a great way to learn about bikes.

The cranks are held on with cotter pins which is the old way of doing things, however as long as the pins haven't been damaged (and give a yell before you pull them off) they should serve you well.

My suggestion?

Pull her apart and clean and regrease every bearing.
Then check out the gear shifting - might need some oil on the cables and stuff like that, but see if you can get the gears working nicely. If nothing else, that will give you some practice in setting the limits on derailleurs (and that process is the same as with a modern bike).
Then get the brakes working - you'll need them whether you go fixed or geared.

Basically, you'll then have a nice bike to ride on the road and can either keep her as a hack come vintage bike, or you can start to plan a fixed conversion.

You should be able to make a nice fixie out of her, though you may find yourself having to redish the rear wheel (mess with the spokes to move the hub across to give you a straight chain line - it's more scary than hard).

In other words, give her a birthday but don't break anything ... yet.

Should be fun.

Richard

Ahhh...I see Richards attention was caught on the mention of a fixie.

Keep us all up to date, i reckon it will come up nice with a bit of grease and some chrome paint.

Mitch.