Mystery Frame 1989 753

Thanks for your comments Matt.

I always felt I was in the right place at the right time to buy it - in fact as I didn't have the money to buy it, I took out a "student loan" to buy it !- my mates thought I was mad.

It rides so well, that I felt it might have a story to tell - the lack of raleigh head tube badge, and the tape for the stripes made me think it could be something other than a "Banana"
 
citrixccea":3te35tsd said:
Thanks for your comments Matt.

I always felt I was in the right place at the right time to buy it - in fact as I didn't have the money to buy it, I took out a "student loan" to buy it !- my mates thought I was mad.

It rides so well, that I felt it might have a story to tell - the lack of raleigh head tube badge, and the tape for the stripes made me think it could be something other than a "Banana"

You made a great decision - now you have to decide if you are going to respray!! If the frame isn't too bad, you can do a lot with elbow grease alone. Just get a top tube sticker and you are there (plus the tape and hoogs as already mentioned.

Nice one!
 
It's also possible that the Simplex gear levers are non-original, since the rest of the groupset is all Campag. Although they could have been swapped out early on.

I'd definitely NOT respray that one. The rust isn't bad and you'll get a good match touch-up paint from a garage or body shop. Take your time treating the rust and touching up, and polish like crazy. I'm sure that Gil_M can sort you a set of decals.

Then all you need to do is decide if you want to get a headbadge on there ...
 
Yes, I think the simplex gears were a preference my friend had - they're very aptly named, they're very simple. The Campag one's look a little more elaborate, and if I happen upon a sensibly priced pair I might consider them.

Looking at this link, a head badge is called for, along with some Raleigh badges on the fork - not sure the budget can run to a Campag disc though...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14202218@N ... hotostream
(thanks Chris Walker for this and many other helpful pics!)
 
a lot of pro's of that era swapped to Simplex as they worked better than Campag friction levers (Sean Kelly being one example, Laurent Fignon etc), might be that they are original.
 
Hi,

Please forgive me if I am telling you some things you already know but I’ll presume your knowledge of bikes is quite basic.

There is a lot of debate with regards to if to re-spray classic bikes. Some argue that a re-sprayed bike loses it’s originality.

I think there is a lot of BS around and bike snobs who think they know what’s best and who state their opinion as fact. I think at the end of the day you have to go for what is right for you and your budget.

If I was in your shoes however I would have the frame re sprayed, clean and polish the components, regrease the bearings and bottom bracket, replace the cables (Inner and outers) new chain, block, new rims, new tires, new saddle, Jockey wheels and Chain Rings.

With regards to your rims and tires they look like tubulars (tubs). Tubs are quite specialist as the inner tubes is sown inside the tire and they have to be glued or taped on to a tubular (sprint) rims. They are popular with competitive cyclists due to a slight weight advantage and also less prone to impact punctures. However they are a bit of a pain to fit and maintain so I would be inclined if replacing your rims to go for clinchers. Clincher rims to for that period would be anodized rims like Mavic MA40’s.

I think you could budget for about £500-£600 for the parts and a re-spray above using genuine period parts as per above suggestion. You might have to be patient and shop around to get the right parts. All of the parts I have suggested replacing are ones that wear out so I would be very cautious about buying used. With the right tools and a bit of mechanical dexterity you could do most the jobs yourself however if your mechanical dexterity or tools are not up to the job I would suggest getting a professional mechanic to and unless your are an expert I would defiantly leave the wheel building and re-spray (If you were to go down this root) to the professionals.

It might seem a lot of money and work but I think your bike would be worth considerable more. C record group sets in their own right are very valuable and sort after and coupled to a genuine 753-banana frame this would be a very rare beast.

My bike as undergone a full restoration (respray rebuild NOS parts) and is the bike in the link posted above. My thinking is that a professional paint job will preserve your bike as well as making it look great.

You may want to try and talk to Nick 1968 on this web sight (my Bike’s previous owner and who restored my bike) about whom he used for the re-spray because they did a great job. All the decals are available on line however you might have some trouble finding the correct ones because the cheaper bikes had different decals and I think most ones on line are for the cheaper bikes. You are correct about the black and blue transfers, that is all they are, I think the bikes were sprayed yellow and black and the transfers then put on.

Please see photos of the decals on my bike. Yours be the same as mine apart from Campagnolo sticker replacing the Shimano ones. You can also get replacement metal Raleigh (Heron) badges but again you need to ensure you have the correct one for the period.
My bike as mostly NOS Shimano Dura Ace this route would very very expensive with C record components. New old stock C Record components are seriously expensive you would be looking at silly money and you would get little change fro 2 grand.

Hope this is of some help. Good Luck and let me know what you decide to do.
Kind Regards
Tim
 
Campagnolo's Synchro indexed levers were widely used by then and for a younger rider like Rayner my guess would be that his bike would have been provided with them fitted. Unless somebody knows different for sure of course!
 
I spotted that Chris Walker ran with all sort of different configs around that time - some times running standard calipers rather than deltas - but on this pic (and again thanks Chris for an amazing archive) he appears to be running the same Simplex shifters as 'my' bike.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14202218@N ... /lightbox/


Tim - thanks for taking so much time, to write such a detailed response.

I don't see me switching to clinchers, because if there's one part of the bike that (aside from the delta's) told me it was something special - it's that' the Campag Sigma tubular rims - they're keepers, because you see them on so many pictures of LeMond :)

I'm thinking I'm going to do what I can with elbow grease, and then some subtle touch-up paint, a respray can happen at any point in the future.

My father used to keep classic cars, and it was always a challenge in ensuring they were period correct, reliable (ish), and safe - I think I'll follow the same principles, but intend to keep riding it occasionally.
 
Best of luck I can't wait to see the results. Sorry if i was at all patronising was not sure of your knowledge so thought it best to state the basics rather than just presume. The delta's are great looking piece of kit but I think that was about it! I remember they were heavier than conventional side pulls and established a bit of a reputation for fragility (not good for safety critical equipment). Many of the pro teams at the time, who used C record, would use either Chorus brakes or C Record side pulls which I think are called cobalto. I recall PDM (Sean Kelly's Team) used Chorus and Carrera (Stephen Roaches team) used the Cobalto's.
There is a web sight called London Fixed Gear and Single Speed (Goggle LFGSS) which is useful source of knowledge if you have not come already seen it. Also check out the Dave Rayner fund. I am sure they would be delighted to have some photos of your bike. I sent some of my bike and they asked me if I would be willing to display it at their fund raising dinner!
 
As others have said you've got a great piece of British racing history there. Apart from the tape and hoods the stem also looks like a change from the original, it seems very short for a frame that size unless Dave Rayner had short arms.

I sit on the other side of the fence from TimColnago and personally wouldn't go through the wholesale changes he outlined. Definitely keep those tubs especially if the rims are in good condition, it's a racing bike after all. Replace bits as they wear out and touch up the rust.

Mark.
 

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