TOP SWING DOWNPULL FRONT DERAILLEUR

[Midlife]

I'd buy a Suntour VX Mech and use an outer cable between the mech and the cable stop.......plenty on well known websites

What an interesting frame all chrome, fork boss, top tube cable guides, look like pressed dropouts..........

Not sure why but looks like a Carlton to me

Shaun

 

[FINNEY1973]

cheers for your replies - all very useful.

Cheers for the tip Shaun, as previously stated I have limited knowledge of this era so i'm going to have to find parts that do the job whilst adding value to the bike.

I'll look up your suggestion of the suntour and hopefully that will tick one of the many boxes.

frame is N.O.S and maybe 30ish years old?? just needs a polish, small area of pitting is the only thing that needs attention - never been built up so if it is as old the style suggests I think it will make for a pretty interesting bike once completed. hoping it will have some frame markings to give me a clue as to it's origin. Carlton would be happy days given I live in Nottingham.

When it arrives i'll stick up some more pics...

Anyone know anything of 30mm headsets?? Tange?? any others??
What about 27" wheels - any decent options I should lean towards??

Cheers

 

[keithglos]

On the Mercier the outer cable will move up a bit to change gear. The inner cable is terminated. Were we looking to connect without an outer cable stop on the changer?
The frame appears to be a fairly low end tourer, shallow angles, crimped stays and a cheap bridge behind the bottom bracket looks like quantity produced. Could it be dawes?

 

[FINNEY1973]

I haven't yet decided on which way to roll with this one - I thought of throwing about £250 at it inc. price of frame (which wasn't expensive) and that would be to buy everything from market - the cupboards are bare for this build, all my spares are 80's onwards.

original plan was to build a geared bike and I'd prefer that route to get my lad onto the road instead of skate parks :? if he takes to it i'll get him a proper roadie when he's grown a bit more (too big for a junior bike, too small for an adult frame). however, he fancies a single speed - quell surprise - so that could be the way this one goes? one thing it wont have is dayglow wheels and all that lark - he isn't too happy with this!!

frame not having any number or ID certainly suggests mass market as does the weight (3kg) but it's no great outlay cashwise so i'm happy to salvage it from sitting in a stockroom and finding a use for it.

dawes, carlton - i'll see if there's any markings or numbers when the postman turns up, my guessing is zilch, just a shiny frame.

cheers

 

[rolf f]

Here is how it looks in Suntour form (on a Carlton Corsair I renovated). Very nice mechanism - means that forward on both shifters means warp factor seven and backwards on the shifters means whoaahhhh there! Nice and consistent.....

 

[FINNEY1973]

Here is how it looks in Suntour form (on a Carlton Corsair I renovated). Very nice mechanism - means that forward on both shifters means warp factor seven and backwards on the shifters means whoaahhhh there! Nice and consistent.....

liking the positive reviews thus far for this derailleur type - roll on the new year and I can get stuck into this project - think it's got to be a geared bike, despite the protestations of a certain teenage son. I'll try and blend some cool stuff onto it to keep the boy happy.

Nice & consistent - sounds just the job - given the age of this technology, it's still the same requirements for today's versions, and we all know what they can cost!

Think some nice Modolo calipers would suit this, not sure what crankset though - any opinions that tie in to the style of frame??

cheers

 

[FINNEY1973]

Frame arrived this morning Gents, it's in mint condition as NOS should be, so a bit of a spruce up with some polish and it should come up very nicely indeed.

Frame has a number: YF831C50381 - google has no answers - anyone know of this frame numbering that may give me a clue as to its origin?

The only other piece that may give a clue is the boss / stop for retaining the downtube levers - it's in the shape of a heart!

cheers

 

[garethrl]

The frame bears many similarities to a Sun of Worksop. I have one built up into a town bike with hub gears and hub brakes. No pics but the frame is very similar to this one belonging to grumpycommuter

Mine has a slightly different fork (bolt-on lamp bracket and eyelets behind the fork blades) and no top-tube cable guides, but it has the same cable stop and guide around the BB as yours has. Mine's got a wraparound seatstay arrangement that's different to yours, but other than that they're very similar.

As you'll read in gc's description in his thread, this is by no means a lightweight frame! Mine is also rather heavy. I presume yours is as well?

BTW if you're still thinking Modolo for brakes, then I have a pair of NOS silver Corsa calipers lying around that I don't expect to use. They have full length bolts which you'll need as the fork and bridge are not recessed.

Cheers,
Gareth.

 

[FINNEY1973]

Sun of Worksop - interesting, as Midlife intimated that it may be a Carlton earlier in the thread. I haven't managed to get stuck into this yet as my main bike got sick over christmas and has cost me rather a lot to sort out.

Garethrl - your right, the similarities (apart from the chrome) are there for all to see, although the lugwork on GC's fine steed are far fancier than on mine - I suspect mine is absolute entry level as the craftsmanship isn't top notch. My forks sound the same as yours, lamp bracket and eyelets as you described. No wrapover seat stay though - I've never seen a thicker seat lug - it's 3mm thick on my frame!

Having huge problems with the BB on mine - as it's of unknown origin I can't verify the maker - I was advised on sale that it was a standard thread BB, 1.370" x 24TPI - however I have a cartridge type BB and it doesn't fit - gets stuck about 2 turns in - frustration isn't the word!

If anyone has any knowledge of how to work out what BB will work without taking it to be re-threaded i'm all ears...

Garethrl - drop me a PM re: Modolo Calipers and how much you want for them.

Cheers all.

 

[garethrl]

The problem you face with the BB further suggests that the frame is Carlton/Sun/Raleigh in origin. These frames frequently sported Raleigh standard threading BITD, which is 1.370" x 26TPI. Hence your cups will screw in a couple of turns and then bind.

The BB threads in my Sun frame have 26TPI Raleigh threading - as does the headset. I believe that your frame/fork came without headset so if you have a standard 24 TPI lockring to hand then try screwing one down to see if you encounter the same issue. I expect that the fork steerer will also have a 26TPI thread.

Nobody(*) makes 26TPI stuff anymore so you're best off placing a WTD ad here or looking on ebay. Fortunately the headsets and BBs of this era tend to last pretty well so you can fairly safely buy used and replace the bearings. You could ask this guy:

http://oldbiketrader.co.uk/

if he has any NOS parts in stock at the moment. Also bear in mind that no (or at least very few) cotterless BBs were available in 26TPI. You can normally swap out a cottered spindle for a cotterless one, but be prepared for trial and error! Or use a cottered crank, which are cheap and plentiful on ebay.

Cheers,
Gareth.

(*) Phil Wood offers 26TPI cups for his sealed BB, but that's probably a bit beyond your budget.