Sir Neil d'Menture
Retro Guru
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I was given a Ribble 531 frameset, as long as I went to Knutsford to collect it, c1990 vintage, and a box of mismatched bits and pieces. The frame had been rattle can sprayed (very badly) lemon yellow, but where scratches and rubbing had occurred some orange paint had been brushed on. Cosmetically awful, but it built up into a bike that I used through the winter on the turbo. I was glad to have been given it.
Once the weather improved and I was back out on the road thoughts turned to a lockdown project. A local firm quoted £60 to shotblast and single colour powdercoat the frame. I snapped his hand off, as you would. The spares box was rifled and several trips to the Bay of Eeees were made.
There was never any attempt to recreate an authentic Ribble from the early 90s. At that time upstairs at the Ribble shop was stacked full of framesets. You chose your size and colour, added a few shiny bits and a couple of hours later you had a completely original new bike. Every bike was different, and they were all more or less the same!
This is more or less Shimano 105, with a Stronglight crankset. Apart from the powdercoating the most expensive purchase was the decals and a can of Max 2k lacquer.
My idea was just to make the bike look smart; it will be used for nothing more than quick trips into the village and turbo duties during bad weather. A lot of work for not a lot of use, but what else can we do stuck at home? I just enjoyed working on an old steel frame once more - I'd forgotten how easy they were to work on. It has been a fun project and I wouldn't mind doing another but SWMBO has completely knocked that idea!!!
Some pictures...
Once the weather improved and I was back out on the road thoughts turned to a lockdown project. A local firm quoted £60 to shotblast and single colour powdercoat the frame. I snapped his hand off, as you would. The spares box was rifled and several trips to the Bay of Eeees were made.
There was never any attempt to recreate an authentic Ribble from the early 90s. At that time upstairs at the Ribble shop was stacked full of framesets. You chose your size and colour, added a few shiny bits and a couple of hours later you had a completely original new bike. Every bike was different, and they were all more or less the same!
This is more or less Shimano 105, with a Stronglight crankset. Apart from the powdercoating the most expensive purchase was the decals and a can of Max 2k lacquer.
My idea was just to make the bike look smart; it will be used for nothing more than quick trips into the village and turbo duties during bad weather. A lot of work for not a lot of use, but what else can we do stuck at home? I just enjoyed working on an old steel frame once more - I'd forgotten how easy they were to work on. It has been a fun project and I wouldn't mind doing another but SWMBO has completely knocked that idea!!!
Some pictures...
