Carlton Corsair rebuild

BigFoz

Retro Guru
I'm in the process of building a Carlton Corsair bought off ebay into my new commuting bike. The frame had been sprayed a lovely pearlescant grey, but unfortunately, then stickered as a Colnago. Rear end has been set to 130mm, which means I can run 9speed Campag off my prev commuter bike - a Trek I couldn't get on with at all. So final build will be a Centaur / Veloce mix, 9 speed ergo, Khamsin wheels in Gold.

main.php


First order of business was to remove the lacquered in Colnago stickers, which left of bands of matte paint where the stickers had been. Solution was to overspray bands of contrasting colour. I've never sprayed anything before, so this was a bit nerve wracking. Seems to have come out ok though, not a professional job, but workable.
main.php


I'll post more photos as it progresses.
 
Next order of business is long drop brakes (for old school nutted fitting) and some Carlton transfers. eBay here I come!
 
That will be the final step - trying to track down some proper Corsair decals, but nothing has come up on fleabay as yet. Plenty of Carlton ones, but not Corsair.
 
Are you sure it's a Corsair?

I have a Corsair and it has different lugs, rack mounts on the seatstays and cable-stops for centrepull brakes. Also the slugs on the top of the seatstays are flat rather than scalloped. And there are cable-stops on the underside of the toptube rather than cable guides on the top. It also has pressed dropouts rather than the better-quality forged ones on your bike. And no derailer hanger either!

Either way, I wouldn't worry about what bike it actually is (although not knowing is frustrating) - it looks nice and it'll make a great commuter.
 
I bought it as a Corsair from eBay - it looks very similar to later models being sold on eBay currently, but I'm happy to be corrected - if anyone (like the Carlton guru) has an alternative opinion, post it!

It has built up nice and light, and rides beautifully. Rack going on this weekend and by Monday should be on full commuting duties. Which means it will likely snow...
 
And now it's dead.

Dropped chain and snapped derailleur and bent dropout. Once at frame builders for dropout replacement we discovered that whoever cold set the frame bent every tube in the rear triangle. Repair is uneconomical (About £400 to straighten everything, replace dropouts, and repaint the frame afterwards.
 
Thats a nightmare after all that work, just shows theres a few hidden dangers in ebay bikes. You might be able to sell the frame on to somebody who can fix it diy?
 
Back
Top