What should i do with this?

hello!! i got this ages ago, but lack of money stopped me doing anything to it. Want to start doing some road riding to get the fitness up.

Its an Elswick Mistral in manky condition, needs respraying and tidying up. The frame is a bit small for me, and is a wee bit on the heavy side, so my question is, should i respray it and add nice components to it, or but another 531 frame that fits me and add the components to it?

The wheels are 27 1/4 is it worth upgrading to 700c?

Also i snapped 3 spokes, where can i buy some singularly?

Oh yea, and i got it for £26 delivered, wanting to do it as cheap as poss.
cheers
dave

That looks nice, albeit not super quality. Perfect for getting the miles in.
Most shops that have been around for a long time should have spokes for that somewhere. 27 x 1 1/4 was a very popular size. Online, perhaps Spa Cycles, or maybe Freemans?
It's a shame, I gave away some 700c wheels that would have played a blinder on that. Those ones look to be steel, which is not as bad as it sounds although they're buggers when you go through a puddle - you can't stop! You just need to anticipate.
700c wheels may or may not be compatable with your brakes, there has to be enough drop on the calipers. If you can't get enough drop, you will have to replace the brakes as well as wheels if you switch to 700c, which TBH that doesn't make financial sense on a bike like that.
If I were you, I'd just put new spokes in and ride it as is. It looks comfy.

I wouldn't respray, good clean should suffice and the size could be helped by turning the seatpost fixture round(its the wrong way) and a slightly bigger stem. Also sjs sell single spokes

Cheers for replies guys, Chris if u seen the bike u would change ur mind about the respray, its rusty and scratched to buggery, very tatty. The wheels are aluminium tho, Weinmann rims on Normandy hubs. I have modern 700c brakes, so if i got 700c wheels would these work with them?

I,ll check out those sites.

dave

bigdavevw":9ah8h0fk said:

The wheels are aluminium tho, Weinmann rims on Normandy hubs. I have modern 700c brakes, so if i got 700c wheels would these work with them?

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They aren't bad sounding wheels, unless they're worn out I wouldn't bother changing them. Just fit three new spokes and go.
Your new brakes are unlikely to fit on your old frame, modern brakes normally have an allen key fitting, whereas the brakes on that will probably have a nutted fitting. You will probably also have problems finding calipers that have enough drop (distance the pads can be adjusted down) to let you set the brakes up with 700c wheels.
Honestly, if you can fix the bike, it's better to ride it as is. It's not a bad bike, but it isn't worth buying lots of parts for it.

If it feels too small sell it. Plenty of cheap 531 frames on eBay.

£26 isn't a bad price, but I wouldn't spend any money on it beyond what you need to do to get it rideable.

It's a heavy gas pipe frame with heavy wheels and low end components. It'll be very unrewarding to ride, because it's so heavy. I don't want to burst your bubble, but it is what it is... ride it, enjoy it, and put your money towards a better bike.

take it outside and shoot it.

then buy something your size and light, you wont regret it - thats an LGF 3am garuntee

I concur with LGF. A bike that's the wrong size will never feel right no matter what you do. Sell it on and use the funds to get something the right size.