Few Questions

Hello,i'm new on here and i'm building up a Raleigh 531 framed bike in the old TI Team colours,same old story,always wanted one as a youngster but no matter how much i tried NCB wages didn't allow and there were motorcycles in the way too. My bike will not suit the purists as i'm putting a 600 Arabesque groupset on it because Raleigh and Shimano have'nt let me down thus far in my cycling efforts. I'll put some pics up when the bike is back from being painted and i get started on the rebuild.

My first question is,i have some Cinelli Giro d'Italia bars that i believe are 26.4mm,is there anyone out there that knows if i can get away with a 26mm stem as there are plenty of new 26 but not many 26.4mm stems out there for sale on ebay,i asked at a local shop but they couldn't help me,i think i was going a bit far back to be honest. I would like new and as long as it looks period i'm happy with that.

Second question is what bottom bracket size do i need,as i say i'm using arabesque geartrain with a 126mm rear axle spacing.

Third is does anyone have a Mavic G40 Rim for sale,i'd buy a pair if anyone has some in good condition but could manage with just one.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice,it's much appreciated,Dave.

Welcome, lots of people like yourself who could't afford a Ti bike BITD.

Loads of cinelli stems come up on e-bay, loads go for sale on here too. If all else fails there's Hilary Stone.

http://www.hilarystone.com/stems3.html

Who is doing the respray for you ? presumably they are applying the decals and lacquering over them.

Shaun

Hello Shaun,thanks for the reply. Mercian Cycles are painting it for me,it'll be there for a few weeks as they're quite busy at the moment but looking forward to getting it back and getting on with it. Just need the stem,bottom bracket and wheels sorting and then i'm ready.

Dave.

Mercian, Nice

just out of curiosity, what is the frame?

Are you after a good old "cup and cone" bottom bracket?

Shaun

Hello Shaun,yes cup and cone would be ok,it's an old Raleigh Rapide 531 frame with a worksop frame number from 1980.

Dave.

Just had a look at the price on e-bay.........might be a lot cheaper to buy a more modern sealed JIS BB.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHIMANO-600-A ... 7675.l2557

Shaun

Thanks for that link,i did see that the other day and thought about buying it but as with most things on this bike i'm unsure of all the sizes of stuff and don't want to buy the wrong things and waste money. I'm a total newbie to cycle restoration tbh as i've spent most of my time either riding or restoring old Yamahas or just riding my bikes with a bit of maintenance thrown in.

Thanks for your help Shaun,i do appreciate it.

Dave.

Some people on here do a fair amount of buying / selling. Maybe post in the wanted section for the rims / bottom bracket and stem........

If you haven't any experience with installing bottom brackets I'd ask Mercian to supply and fit a suitable item

Everything else is just ordinary nuts / bolts / screws / cables and taking it slowly, apart from wheel building LOL

Shaun

Hi Dave,

I see you have not been warned about 'the addiction'. It will catch when you least expect and the next thing you know is you need space for bikes, bits of bikes and things you might need. There are a few links here which may help you out -

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=228672

The addiction started last October and i have a few (7) bikes to build - it is a nightmare but a merry one!!!

Good luck with the build,

Richard

wouldn't risk 26.4 bars in a 26.0 stem....(the other way around with a shim is ok)