Before and After Pics by all restorers

[ldrcycles]

Just got another one finished, a 1986 Repco Traveller, for a bloke at work (his wife won't let him buy a new bike ).

Ye Olde 105 cranks and 6 speed indexed shifters, 400EX front derailleur, Exage Sport rear derailleur. The wheels are basic 700C items off a hybrid, fitted with the 35c tyres that my Repco Preset came with.

Spinning round the carpark at work it feels great, very smooth (though FAR too small for me). VERY happy with the result, the paintjob came together nicely. Just out of interest too, i had some glue residue left from the masking tape, had no luck with a bunch of different methods til i tried PEANUT BUTTER. Yep just smeared a tiny bit of peanut butter on it and polished like it was autosol, took the glue off and made the paint a bit shinier too!


Before





After

[Joe H]

I promise this will be my last attempt to clog up this thread with non-working image links (I hope)

My beater/rain bike before:



and after:



My daily ride for the last 19 years, looking a bit tired:



After new wheels and a bunch of TLC:



My sunny-day ride in parts (no real "before" picture as it's the first time this frame was ever built up).



After about two years of scrounging odd parts from here and there:



Thanks for your patience!

[singlespeedscott]

Love the Merckx.

[feelthewheel]

Is Merckx. Is good.

[Elsmworth]

Every one a beauty, and a nice selection overall. Love the two-tone bar tape.

[Ferrovelo]

Love the Merckx.

That is just stunning!

[Joe H]

Thanks for all the kind comments. I'll do a post for each as I get a chance. The Malvern Star is currently occupying the position of beater/rain bike but I go through those pretty quickly. In Germany we called them "fest bikes" and they were used pretty much as you'd guess. All were franken-bikes from hard rubbish days. Some got stolen, some crashed, some lost due to too much drinking. Most were given away. The Malvern will go to my neighbor when I leave as he said it looked just like his first proper bike and it looks to fit him.

Just in case the details aren't apparent on the Merckx, it's got a modern(ish) 10 speed Campy Record cassette with indexing down-tube shifting (also Campy Record converted over from bar-end shifters). It weighs just under 8.5 kilos and is just a joy to ride. Springy and comfortable over rough stuff and fast to accelerate, and it climbs really well. But this is supposed to be mostly a picture thread so I'll save the details for later. Thanks again for the comments.

Joe

[munga]

looks about my size. sure it's not too small for you?

[sunho]

Joe, How did you balance that bike on the cobblestones?


Do tell...

[munga]

sunho, look at the shadow.

[jacob_T]

I love this thread!

[sunho]

haha, I see it munga!

[Joe H]

Exactly right, the shadow is a spoke stuck in the hex nut on the far side crank arm. It works well if it's not windy. The cobbles are only a block long but I try to hit them on every ride to remind me of the varied surfaces Open Corsa Evos and latex tubes can handle.

Sorry Munga, the Bianchi's pretty much perfect for me (54 cm). You no doubt noticed the laid back front fork angle. It is a great long distance bike with a fairly stretched-out riding position that's really comfortable to me anyway.

Take care.

[landscapecadmonkey]

Just got another one finished, a 1986 Repco Traveller, for a bloke at work (his wife won't let him buy a new bike ).

Ye Olde 105 cranks and 6 speed indexed shifters, 400EX front derailleur, Exage Sport rear derailleur. The wheels are basic 700C items off a hybrid, fitted with the 35c tyres that my Repco Preset came with.

Spinning round the carpark at work it feels great, very smooth (though FAR too small for me). VERY happy with the result, the paintjob came together nicely. Just out of interest too, i had some glue residue left from the masking tape, had no luck with a bunch of different methods til i tried PEANUT BUTTER. Yep just smeared a tiny bit of peanut butter on it and polished like it was autosol, took the glue off and made the paint a bit shinier too!


Before





After

Super nice outcome idr.... i have a soft spot for low spec bikes (all the bikes i have), but there is nothing low spec about the final result you have achieved.
New owner should be rapted with the outcome, despite his spousal constraints.

[frailer5]

Just got another one finished, a 1986 Repco Traveller, for a bloke at work (his wife won't let him buy a new bike ).

Ye Olde 105 cranks and 6 speed indexed shifters, 400EX front derailleur, Exage Sport rear derailleur. The wheels are basic 700C items off a hybrid, fitted with the 35c tyres that my Repco Preset came with.

Spinning round the carpark at work it feels great, very smooth (though FAR too small for me). VERY happy with the result, the paintjob came together nicely. Just out of interest too, i had some glue residue left from the masking tape, had no luck with a bunch of different methods til i tried PEANUT BUTTER. Yep just smeared a tiny bit of peanut butter on it and polished like it was autosol, took the glue off and made the paint a bit shinier too!


Before





After

That is a Cinderella-style transformation. I bet he still had some explaining to do with SWMBO.

[rollin]

Check out march issue of treadlie as this bike is the centerfold....

[Dan]

A few.

Europa before


After



Viner before


After

[Joe H]

Dan, Rollin and Idrcycles,

Those are all amazing transformations. My humble addition is just a no-name road find with a bunch of cleaning. I'm always amazed at the rebuilds on this thread!

My wife saw this on the road in the Blue Mountains last weekend and tossed it on the car rack. The owner's Dad helped her put it on the car. He didn't remember the make and said his son hasn't used it in decades. It was non-rideable as found but had some good old parts for a rebuild of any low-end bike from the 70s.



I just spent a couple of hours removing unnecessary and heavy bits, adjusting, scrubbing with steel wool and WD-40, and doing some fairly crude touch up with Kermit the frog paint. The result is not bad.



I've got tires, tubes, a seat and tape ordered so it will be ready for another 40 years of riding. The red and white Malvern Star will go to my neighbor and this will be the next stationary trainer/rain bike. Until my wife finds another…

[Dan]

Thanks Joe, however I'd trade every resto for your Merckx

[Joe H]

So my "atomic green" bar tape finally arrived ($5.95 USD) and now my latest beater is completed. I found green pin-stripe 27x1.5 inch rubber at Amazon for $13 each. With the seat and paint it's a pretty cheap bike that's not likely to be stolen (except maybe on St. Patrick's Day). It rides surprisingly well but chrome steel is not a great braking surface! Luckily there is a bit of rust on the rims to help. It was once crashed so the forks are set back a bit. I considered bending them back out but like the handling as is. No wobbles at speed but at well over 30 pounds speed isn't a big problem!

Joe

[ldrcycles]

So my "atomic green" bar tape finally arrived ($5.95 USD) and now my latest beater is completed. I found green pin-stripe 27x1.5 inch rubber at Amazon for $13 each. With the seat and paint it's a pretty cheap bike that's not likely to be stolen (except maybe on St. Patrick's Day). It rides surprisingly well but chrome steel is not a great braking surface! Luckily there is a bit of rust on the rims to help. It was once crashed so the forks are set back a bit. I considered bending them back out but like the handling as is. No wobbles at speed but at well over 30 pounds speed isn't a big problem!

Joe

That is VERY green! I like how you used a slightly different shade for the lugs, it's very subtle.

[img]<a title="Link added by VigLink" class="vglnk" href="http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp124/2073/8aa1cc82-3b51-4e6a-82a1-bca5c330f42b_zps29db5c20.jpg[/img" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span>http</span><span>://</span><span>i404</span><span>.</span><span>photobucket</span><span>.</span><span>com</span><span>/</span><span>albums</span><span>/</span><span>pp124</span><span>/</span><span>2073</span><span>/</span><span>8aa1cc82</span><span>-</span><span>3b51</span><span>-</span><span>4e6a</span><span>-</span><span>82a1</span><span>-</span><span>bca5c330f42b</span><span>_</span><span>zps29db5c20</span><span>.</span><span>jpg</span><span>[/</span><span>img</span></a>]

And that is just incredible.

[gabrielle260]

Some strange definition of the word "subtle" that I have never heard before!
*grin*

[Joe H]

Certainly "subtle" is in the eye of the beholder! I did a pizza run tonight and think I noticed some glances that just might be considered green with envy. The original color was close to the current lug color so I used that as a tip-of-the -hat to the first version. Since the owner sprayed it neon green at some point, it was easiest to keep that as the main color (shake and spray paint from a toy store). All pretty shoddy up close but OK from a few feet. I did all of the paint work without stripping any parts to save time and effort. Some of the cables are tinted green but you'd have to get close to notice. She's up and running and has logged a good few hours on the trainer in the garage so she's a keeper until the next one gets delivered or found. Take care.

Joe

[RobertFrith]

Check out march issue of treadlie as this bike is the centerfold....

Loved this in Treadlie. Looks better in Treadlie's iPad version; it drops a bit far into the gutter of the print version Veerry pretty little bike, I'm curious to know who, if anyone, rides it.
Great "after" photography too. Good location choice, nice autumn leaf placement.

[pentlandexile]

Check out march issue of treadlie as this bike is the centerfold....

Loved this in Treadlie. Looks better in Treadlie's iPad version; it drops a bit far into the gutter of the print version Veerry pretty little bike, I'm curious to know who, if anyone, rides it.
Great "after" photography too. Good location choice, nice autumn leaf placement.

I'm curious about the original saddle, never seen one like that before.