Ashby Cycles project and a little bit of help needed.

[b_hoves]

HI all, long time lerker here. I just started on a project; an Ashby Tour de France model. I've had the frame in my possession for about 2 years now and have recently got the drive to get it rideable again.

I don't know a lot about Ashby, I know they were made up until 1979 and this is one of the later bikes as far I can tell. It was either creamy or off white in colour, I think and it has some really nice pin striping. I am inclined, at this stage, to leave the paint as is.
I am planning of piecing this together with bits I have sitting around, although not the best quality stuff my main goal is to get it on the road and not costing my back pocket too much. This is only the second bike I have fixed up and was hoping to get some tip, hints and a bit of help.

here are a few teaser photos:






So here is the issue I'm having at the moment; I'm trying to get the front breaks working. They are a little old and at the moment are a bit sticky, they squeeze in ok, but don't spring back. There seems to be a part missing and I was wondering if this could be the cause of the stickiness.

here's the breaks I'm working with:



and here is the part that may be missing, it looks to either black plastic or rubber, and you can see it's missing from the side closest to the bottom:


p.s. I will be getting new pads


Any help that can be provided is much appreciated.

Bobby.

[ldrcycles]

Definitely keep the paint as is, even if you could get it replicated (doubtful as that pin striping was clearly done by hand, and done very well) the cost would be absolutely enormous.

I have an Ashby that was made around 1974, it has the same little silver cap on the fork crown as yours. Ashby were based in Fortitude Valley, there's some info in this thread http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewt ... by#p263735" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

As for the plastic guide thing, i'm not sure it's necessary, and the first thing i noticed was the spring is not hooked behind it's pin on the side that does have the plastic thing (you can see on the side without the guide where the spring should be sitting). The other issue is the arm that holds the cable stop looks bent, that won't help things either. Tourney sidepulls are relatively common so it shouldn't be too difficult to find a replacement, or if originality isn't a concern then anything would do, Dia-Compe are very easy to find.

I'm keen to see a pic of the whole thing, i'm curious about it, Tourney brakes are at the lower end of the scale and it has the same lugs as my Ashby, but then it has that nice pinstriping?

[b_hoves]

Definitely keep the paint as is, even if you could get it replicated (doubtful as that pin striping was clearly done by hand, and done very well) the cost would be absolutely enormous.

I have an Ashby that was made around 1974, it has the same little silver cap on the fork crown as yours. Ashby were based in Fortitude Valley, there's some info in this thread http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewt ... by#p263735" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

As for the plastic guide thing, i'm not sure it's necessary, and the first thing i noticed was the spring is not hooked behind it's pin on the side that does have the plastic thing (you can see on the side without the guide where the spring should be sitting). The other issue is the arm that holds the cable stop looks bent, that won't help things either. Tourney sidepulls are relatively common so it shouldn't be too difficult to find a replacement, or if originality isn't a concern then anything would do, Dia-Compe are very easy to find.

I'm keen to see a pic of the whole thing, i'm curious about it, Tourney brakes are at the lower end of the scale and it has the same lugs as my Ashby, but then it has that nice pinstriping?

Haha, I didn't even notice the spring was out of place!! Nice spotting.

As for the Tourneys, I got them from a Malvern Star Moscow 80 a while ago, I took them off as they were bent up (again well spotted, the bolt that goes through the forks is also bent) and I was only putting them on to get the bike up and running. I am planning on getting the bike rideable first, then slowly building her into the bike she aught to be.
I'd love to see pictures of your Ashby as well. You show me your's and I'll show you mine . Not much too her at the moment, as i got it as just the frame. It had the head set and forks, but, nothing else. So, I'd love to see what components she had originally.

[ldrcycles]

There's some blurry pics of my ashby in the thread i linked, I reckon SunTour gears and Dia-Compe brakes would be a good way to go, i'm a big fan of SunTour stuff.

[b_hoves]

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on ebay and the for sale section for what comes up. I'll have to wait till tomorrow to get some more pictures. Thanks for the information

[b_hoves]

Firstly, apologies to ldrcycles for taking a while to get new photos up, had a busy week and have only just had enough time to take some more shots. Secondly, a HUGE thank you to Clydesdale Scot for helping with the brakes by sending some my way once I had figured that the ones I had weren't working so well (even after I fixed the spring )

Been a very busy day for me, but I was able to spend a few mins to take some extra photos:

[ldrcycles]

Ha, i'm restoring a Viscount atm and that's been crawling along for months .
The frame looks pretty good, it's a pity the paint isn't in better shape but like i said to replicate it exactly would be very expensive.
I notice there's a shim for the seatpost, it would be interesting to see what size it is with and without the shim, then you could just get whichever of the 2 is cheaper/more readily available.

[pug/city]

Here is my Ashby, the rear hub has a manufacture date of 1937.
It came to me as a rubbish tip find.



All I have done to it is a grease and polish and air in the tyres, rides very nicely.
Rear wheel only braking sure changes your riding style.
Neil

[Wazza]

Hi people, I aquired a one owner Ashby last week.

(after a quick wash)
Tubing is very heavy,
6 sp Suntour Honour FD, RD & Shifters
Dia Compe brakes
Arayi 27" Rims
22 1/2" sq frame
This bike was bought new in March 1975 by a young Engineering student from the Uni Bicycle Shop at the University of Queensland. It has been hanging up in his garage for the last ten+ years gathering dust and dirt. We were talking about general stuff and I mentioned bikes etc and he said he had this bike and didnt know what to do with it. I mentioned about our trading and restoration addictions (???) and he said pass it around and get it used again. Now we also talked about other things and I mentioned a charity ride I try to do every year to raise money for Kids Cancer research. He then mentioned selling it and donating the proceeds to my charity So it will go up in the Marketplace shortly. In the meantime have a look and see what you think.

Waz

[ldrcycles]

Looks and sounds similar to mine, no fancy racer but it gets the job done alright. I like the paint scheme on that one though.