Roberts - circa 1985 rebuild and updates

My first thread on the forum and a few details on one of my bikes.

A family member said they had a bike to get rid of, and knew I used to cycle a lot. It was either I take it home or they took it to the tip. When I saw it I was agog, just the sort of thing I would have loved to own when it was new.

This bike got me back into cycling a bit. Original Specification below:

Frame / Fork: Roberts 531c

Headset: C-Record
Stem: Cinelli
Handlebar: Cinelli
Bar Tape: in bits.

Brake Levers: Dia Compe AGC
Brake Calipers: Campag Victory (not confirmed)

Shifters: C-Record
Front Derailleur: C-Record Gen1
Rear Derailleur: C-Record Gen1
Crank: C-Record Gen1
Bottom Bracket: C-Record
Pedals: Campagnolo with clips / straps

Rims: Mavic MA2?
Hubs: Suntour with oil holes, Suntour 6 speed freewheel.
Tyres: ruined
Tubes: perished

Saddle: Selle San Marco
Seatpost: Chorus

Extras: rust, scratches, but overall working condition after some work.

I got the bike to a local bike shop who serviced it, then I ran the bike for approximately 1 year, there were a few problems, namely that the Bottom Bracket was slowly falling to bits and that whilst the shop had got it running, it still needed a bit of help to sort it out.

On the London to Brighton, the Bottom Bracket made it known it wasn't going to be putting up with this for much longer...

The Bike had spent a fair part of its life going to and from Croydon to London Bridge, before being stored for a decade or more. It had certainly done the miles and lasted but needed a bit of tidying if it was going to last a few years more.

I spoke to Roberts with a view to restoring it 'as was' but they were unable at that time to replace the original Logo's on the bike, which was a shame. I started getting lots of pictures and measured up the originals to see if someone would repro a set for me, and started to take the bike to pieces for a respray and the new BB. Around April 2007 I finally went to Roberts and dropped the frame off.

I also trashed the lounge in pulling the bike to bits, but thats unimportant in the scheme of things

The staff there (at Roberts) are very helpful right up until the point where you have to choose how the bike will look. Then, they go strangely quiet, however, patient, as I think I spent the best part of two hours in there, completely going against the grain of a restore to original. I had a new colour and logo pattern and I put the replacement decals out of my mind.

The problems with the repair were that C-Record BB's were getting a bit thin on the ground and the original crank was actually looking a bit rougher than I would like. So, as a contingency, I got some later cranks and we waited to see what was the outcome with a replacement BB and then the respray.


In the meantime, and I am sure everyone does this as a matter of course, it meant that I was going to take every single part of the bike and clean it up, as best as possible. This was a bit further than I had gone before with bike maintenance but it was OK and took me 2 days.

Elsewhere, I pulled a set of wheels out of the loft that for some reason I had never used, which were bought in a bike shop several years ago and at the time I couldn't really figure why.

I was due to ride the following years L2B and time was getting short, I had a stack of parts and no frame. I think I rang Roberts with 2 weeks to go in rather a panic asking where the bike was.. I was getting a bit nervous but it would be ready 'at the weekend'.

So... the refurbed bike...

I went back to Roberts to see if my chosen colour scheme was going to work, and the status of the BB etc. The original Crank was deemed 'shot to bits' by the shop, even though they had managed to get a BB as required. Instead, we used the later crank and fitted a newer BB to the bike, they fitted it as I didn't have the tools and I didn't want to put a mark on the frame of course.

Another thing that happened, in the meantime, was that I was reunited with a bike I had owned many years before, which meant that I was back with my old and valued pedals (you'll see) and therefore I got all of this ready for the bike.

The Frame: This had been re-sprayed in midnight blue with cream 'logo' sections and black linings, which were all hand done. I decided that they had some more retro logos and went for them, the new ones were just not for me. The paint was a nice colour and in the end I was completely over the moon with it.

It didn't take me all that long to re-assemble the bike, everything was bagged, tagged and ready to go.

As stated, a few choice bits were replaced because I had them to hand and they seemed to make a little more sense than the originals. I replaced the wheels because I had bought these in a bike shop many years before. I replaced the pedals because I think I spent one of my first proper pay-cheque on them - Time 1st edition Titan Mag pedals. They were a ridiculous extravagance in the day, but they were just the thing for the finished article.

I hope you like

The spec of the bike hadn't changed that much, most of the original bike (except wheels, crank, pedals) were still largely as was.

I did the L2b the next week and there was barely a squeak out of place with it, no fiddling with equipment or anything. It just rolled and rolled and rolled along.

A few months later, I swapped the wheels for those from a Pinarello I had bought. these were not a lot different but were tyres instead of cheapo tubs and then I swapped the brakes because I had some Deltas knocking around, although they wouldn't actually stay on for long.

The handlebar tape in these pics is not long for this world, white / cream cork tape just does not stand up to regular use and looks pretty shoddy a few bike rides in.

These are my favourite pics of the Bike however, they seemed to happen one November morning.

So, up to date, I moved the Deltas on, re-did the bar tape, changed the tyres (the Hutchinson's were a real favourite of mine back in the day as they 120 psi no problems on 18mm profile) but they did fall to bits. I reverted to the standard brakes and swapped the Time pedals with the Pinarello.

I swapped the saddle because I got a nice stitched one at a bike jumble and re-did the bar tape. I love this bike to bits and ride it every time its practical.

Is it retro? well, I'm not sure, and its not period correct but it is a 1985 Roberts and I think it will last a few years yet. The handlebars were put into retirement as they were creaking a lot, and so on, but I think it will last well, overall.

As a footnote, I did scratch the bike quite badly a few months back. I rang Roberts and explained the problem, and after a few minutes, they figured I was the bloke standing in the shop for 2 hours figuring what colour to have the bike etc... they sent me a free tub of paint to sort it. They even knew the colour.

Hope you are still awake at the back

Thanks for a nice forum, lots of interesting things on here.

Welcome to the forum, sounds a interesting rebuild. The colour looks cool, my Roberts road bike is on its way to Colour-tech to have a refresh for its 21st Birthday next month.

Very nice bike. It will look good on the road.

Bootiful

I picked up a Roberts over here in Aus a while back.

Anyone have a source for the older style decals?

Andy