Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Petee
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Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Postby Petee » Fri Apr 26, 2013 5:45 pm

So, throughout my cycling life I have been using old rusty mtb's since I had no cash to buy a proper bike. I spent prolly every weekend or every second weekend fixing SOMETHING on them. I got a little cash so I bouht a nice brand new, 28" MTB with disc brakes. Been using it for 2-3 months and its pretty sweet. I was in the process of buying a proper road/racing bike with the thin tyres and all that jazz when I found one on gumtree for free. Needed a bit of work but definitely worth it. There are just some minor things that need doing up:

* Both tyres must be pumped up since it has been sitting in the garage for a long time
* Pad that you rest elbows on needs re-gluing
* Part of frame needs to be welded

The pad is no biggie. Super glue will do the trick. The pumping part I thought would be easy, i was about to do it with the same standard pump I use for all of my other bikes but it turns out that these wheels have a different shaped thingo...
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I am used to the ordinary ones like this one:
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Where do I find a special pump for this? Or can I get just a special connector and keep my old pump to save some money? Does this particularly shaped thingo have a special name so I can look it up?

Also, here are the pics of the frame that needs welding. It is still very stiff, I can only pull it back about 1cm. Sadly I don't have a welder at home so I would have to take it somewhere to get it done. Any idea how much it would cost? Anything i need to keep in mind? Maybe one of yous has a welder at home and can do for me :) ?
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trailgumby
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Re: Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Postby trailgumby » Fri Apr 26, 2013 6:56 pm

The tyre valve phot os a bit hard to pick out, but it's either a French Presta valve, or a very old Dunlop valve.

If the former, most modern bike pumps will deal with it but you may need to reverse the incert in teh chuck.

As for welding the frame, unless it's particulary sought after, I'd not bother. I value my health too much to trust that thing. Bin it.

ironhanglider
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Re: Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Postby ironhanglider » Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:41 pm

I'm a bit less conservative than TG. I've seen frames break in that location whilst in use. It is a bit undignified when the seat tube rubs against the wheel, but it's not particularly dangerous. If you find someone you trust who'll weld it, then ride it.

Changing most of the bits onto a new frame is easy enough too, particularly if you don't have to fit the BB and headset. Keep an eye out for a replacement.

As for the valve, you need one of these. This will effectively make it the same as the valves you are used too.

Cheers,

Cameron

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QuangVuong
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Re: Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Postby QuangVuong » Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:44 pm

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You can get seomthing like this so you can use your pump.

And itll more likely youll need to find a brazer, rather than welder. THis looks like some sort of Repco?
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munga
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Re: Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Postby munga » Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:04 pm

as the other guys have said, go to the bike shop and ask for a presta/schrader adaptor for your presta (standard road bike format) valve so you can use your mtb pump. $5 max. as for the seatstay brazing coming adrift, you need to get it brazed with solder, not welded. just go nuts with the jb weld and find another bike. and if it ends in catastrophe, put the vid on youtube. 8)
ps i dont think its a repco. why do you think its a repco, quang?

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QuangVuong
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Re: Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Postby QuangVuong » Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:15 pm

Lol, wild guess due to colour, sort of a Superlite? And what looks like Exage brakes?
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Petee
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Re: Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Postby Petee » Fri Apr 26, 2013 10:38 pm

Thanks guys youve been very helpful. So it looks like I got the pump thing figured out, will go to bike shop tomorrow and have a look, thanks. Also, I think the frame is fixable, but I need to do more research and get more peoples opinions. I also need to figure out what type of metal the bike is made of. I know absolutely nothing about the bike, since I got it for free from a woman whos son moved overseas or something a long time ago and the bike has been sitting in her garage. She didn't know age, brand, or anything. All I know is that it says "Dodsun" and "triathlon" on the frame. Tomorrow I will take some better pics of the spot that needs to be fixed on the frame, and the bike in its entirety just for your curiosity, when I have natural sunlight. Pictures in the dark with flash don't look good.

Also, the woman was telling me that I should be careful because when his son bought it brand new and went for his first ride on it he fell down, just on an ordinary driveway. It is because of the thin tyres and how they react to bumps. lol is it that bad or was he just a bit of a noob? Also, are these types of bikes wheels/rims delicate? Can I ride off that couple cm ledge off the footpath onto the road? Can I go over some quick, mostly grass/dirt shortcuts? Just generally speaking how different is it from an mtb and what should I expect.

Also, I am not sure yet if the tubes have punctures or not. I won't know until I pump them up but in case they do, is it any different from ordinary mtb's?

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bychosis
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Re: Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Postby bychosis » Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:08 am

I've been riding MTB for years. Had a stint with a roadie for a while and went back to an MTB with slicks for commuting. Just thought it was more fun and didn't have to worry about breaking anything on the commute. More recently I have acquired another (old) roadie for commuting and a bit of training.

Bikes are generally made the same, just a bit different in shapes. The narrow road tyres are the same principle as MTB tyres. They might be narrower and a bit harder to manipulate off a rim, but they work the same, so do the tubes.

As for a little off road you should be fine, but you'll have to be a bit more careful. Ie don't drop off a kerb the same way as on your MTB, go a little slower and try to shift your weight around to unload the wheels where possible. As for a bit of grass etc. should be fine provided there aren't too many big bumps or holes. The older bike you have been given is likely built reasonably strong unless it is really light weight. Although they are really skinny tyres in comparison to your MTB and you will feel way more of the bumps, they are still designed to cope with 'real' roads that aren't perfectly smooth.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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QuangVuong
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Re: Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Postby QuangVuong » Sat Apr 27, 2013 5:40 am

It'll be some sort of steel. Maybe there's a sticker on the seat tube or down tube saying what it is. May be CrMo, Tange, etc. but as Munga and Ive said, find a brazier. That's how these frames were made.

The son may have been noob. When I first rode a road bike, I felt it as too big(upgrade from 24"). Haven't had a stack so far. Biggest dofference would be turning. You need to lean and can't turn the bars much, otherwise you'll flip/stack. I personally do gutter jump and ride over small sections off road on my 25 year old Peugeot. I took it easy at first, but saw that the bike could take it and it tube out alright. But then again, your frame is broken at the seat stay. If you get a quality repair done, I'd still take it easy until you're sure of the frame's integrity. When riding off road, grass is generally fine, and sticker to harder ground. And one more difference would be the drop bars. They're slightly different, but you'll get used to them.
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Petee
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Re: Old (maybe?) road racer repair

Postby Petee » Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:52 pm

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Fixed the pad that came off handle bar. Going to look for the presta valve adapter, since now i know what I am looking for.

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