Show me your: "Older" road bikes

Thinking about getting hold of an old Reynolds, lugged road frame, stripping it, and doing it up,

not thinking of "keeping it original" would be a bit of an ongoing project, and be used as a commuter, not a show bike.

anyone else brought an old frame back to life (or by the look of some of the dayglo lugged wonders in the shop ive found, better than they have ever had chance to be)

I've got a similar kind of frame done up as a full bike on classifieds actually. Only 16 years old though.

This went Friday just gone.
The frame was lovely, it looked great…..but.
Old kit isn't a patch on modern equipment. If you're happy to run backwards technology for the sake of running a beautiful bike then fine, but if you are used to STIs and brakes that work you'll be in for a shock.
That said I raced that bike above during the nineties and it was the dogs.

Now a fixie!

Christ I had forgotten how much of a gate it looks, that's what you get I suppose when your 6'3"+

MrOvershoot – Member
Now a fixie!

(Or "Burn him!" of course)

what size you after? – I have an old Argos 853 steel frame and 753 forms awaiting such a project.. 58cm.

Here's my 91 Allez Transition, Which is also for sale! 56cm

what size you after?

actually don't know. i'm 6'4" and a bit, and a lanky streak of piss with it.
any suggestions as to sizing?

how does one size a road bike>? totally differently to a MTB frame i'm sure

Not that old, road bikes seem to age quicker than MTBs these days.

That's a 63cm btw and I'm 6'6

Also have an old steel Concorde which has been fixie'd

Ooh ooh, can I join in?

It was my Dad's, bought new in the late 50's or early 60's.

I've not had much chance to ride it yet, the seat position needs a bit of work as my father was a bit shorter than me.

Bar the extra weight, a nice 531 frame is a nice ride. You'd pay a lot to get the same ride elsewhere. My geared road bike is from 1987 – I just don't ride it enough to justify replacing. Still works 🙂

Here,s my 1983 Raleigh clubman 531 frame, was my dads he rode it to work for 15 years now im riding it to work but without the gears,All I did to it was put a new track crank, chain and bmx freewheel. Rides like new now. These old steel bikes ride so nice a little heavy but who cares when it so comfy

CaptainFlashheart – Member

MrOvershoot – Member
Now a fixie!

(Or "Burn him!" of course)
Had one since 1979 I'm not new to this you know 😉

Your quite welcome to visit me in Cheshire with your torches Carlos but you might get sidetracked 😉

Rides better than and cheaper than a Guvnor!

1985/6 Raleigh Pursuit single speeder: 1930's path racer / Guvnor inspired run-about for attaching my 17mth olds bike seat to.

I like that one friendlynorthernbloke!

I gave this one away to someone fab, who's getting a lot more use out of it than I ever did. 1970s Freddie Grubb. 🙂

The Beer Scooter

AKA a circa 1980 Falcon, model unknown, Cromo tubing.

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Ooooo chance to post a pic of my Fondriest SLX 8) its got a Rolls saddle on now though, nice 😛

Hi Mister T,
i'm also looking for an old road frame to put back into daily use.. i'm 6ft and if what you have would suit.. how much and where are you based.
my last project.. an MBK mirage.. now fixed
http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy20/zaskarrider/my%20bikes/DSCF3188.jpg

Here's mine, Ken Bird TT frame which is about 30 years old, resprayed and kitted out with Campag Veloce.

My college bike

The Ken Bird brings back memories 🙂

🙂
love it, might have to pop in to fullcirclecycles on the way home this evening and weigh up whathe actually has at the moment…

You can have this if you want, I need some shed room. 105 groupset, campag seatpost, cinelli bars, etc.

very kind offer rusty trowel?

would it fit me? (i dont know much about road bikes) im 6'4", so i guess around a 60cm frame?

where is it/are you?

I'm 5'10, so i doubt it. I'll check the actual size tonight. It's in Dorset.

My offering…

Not the best of pictures

My current, summer overnight stop light tourer.

1947 Hobbs fixed wheel machine here ,but no pics,and also no ability to post pics if I had any!

this is my old bike,, my dad bought it to do triathlons in the mid 80's it's interesting as it has a quill seat post, hence no seat clamp, i have been riding it in the "f" mode for about 5 years,,

this is another i bought the nice lugged frame at a jumble,, brazed on the track dropouts got a set of gios forks off ebay ,, normaly gets an outing at the bicycle hill climb held at the vscc prescott event

1970s Holdsworth Equipe. Lugged frame, 531 forks.

Was my friend's childhood bike (he's tall, I'm short) which he kindly gave to me to bastardize into a fixed. Also sports mudgruards and did have a rack for winter commuting.

50's Flying Scot

Rusty that bar tape matches the the kids bike, nice Flying Scot, I had a couple before, should never have sold them.

1992 MBK in some kinda Vitus tubing, and now geared on 50/34 f, and 12-30 r (!). MTB SPD's (M647's) Midge bars on a quill-to-aheadset hack, and bar-end shifters (which are great). Dura-Ace/Mavic wheelset, and a mix of Dura-Ace and Ultegra groupset throughout (which seems to annoy/puzzle some people in equal measure). It'll be getting cross-top levers next … 😉

1980's Raleigh in "18-23" (which is a long established basic/functional cro-mo frame steel). Build as a SS, purely to ride into town and be able to be locked up for a bit without attracting attention from none o' them thieving types (hence the mismatched wheels, badly touched up paintwork, nasty bar-tape …). Home-made tensioner, old MTB cranks, (decent long-drop brakes tho', going from 27 x 1 1/4 to 700c), lovely ITM stem and ok bars. CX chainring. About 70 inches gearing I think.

Slight thread from the dead, but I want to show everyone the horror:

Raliegh Banana, £10 from an old bloke. Got a load of freebie bits for it – old Campag cranks, dual pivots (recessed bolts, hence the back one is on back to front) and a Campag / Open 4 front wheel. Stuck some new tyres on it and the wonderful bar tape you see now. And a second hand Campag front mech.

I also have this in the shed:

It's a 1954 Rotrax Shirley, found at the tip with a bent seatstay. 531 with a nice two tone paint job – would originally have been deep metallic blue with a duck egg headtube, but it's all a bit faded. Still has GB Kromo stem, chrome bars, CLB Alp brakes, Alatet headset, cyclo shifter etc. Unfortunately the mechs have gone missing, as have the wheels & cranks. And one of the brake levers is not a CLB one – it's a period lever with a lock barrel, so you can lock one brake on! Hoping to find some money, with which to pay the LBS for a respray, and some 27" wheels and old school (but probably not period correct) mechs.

There's only a braze on for a rear shifter, so I'm unsure as to whether it would have run 1×5 or if there would have been a rod operated front mech.