Some advice

[Cornish Bob]

I've been after a retro road bike for a while but not having much spare cash didn't hold out much hope, untill yesterday. I work at a motorcaravan dealership and whilst working on a customers van I noticed what looked like a half decent bike on the back, "That's a nice bike." says I, "It's for sale." says he, £35 later it's mine. It's a Raleigh Triathlon and seems to be in pretty good shape and after looking on the net is original bar the seat. The only poblems that I can see at the moment are that the braking surfaces on both wheels are scored, the rear also has a dent on one of the braking surfaces and a slight buckle and the rear mech doesn't hang vertically but leans in towards the wheel slightly.
Any advice on these problems would be welcome, I'm not looking for a mint bike just something to enjoy the odd ride on and look original although I may consider changing the wheels for something newer.
Ta.

 

[Johnsqual]

Hey,

A decent bike shop should be able to fix the buckle in the wheel without any trouble. Truing wheels is something you can try yourself but it can be frustrating to get it right.

The scoring sounds more worrying. Light scratches can be polished/buffed out but deeper stuff is more of a problem. You should check the brake pads for wear and to see if there's something stuck in them - they probably need replacing.

Second hand wheels shouldn't be too hard to find. Try placing a wanted ad in the section on here.

The derailleur needs looking at - it could be that the hanger (I the part of the frame the derailleur is bolted onto) is bent. This is (I think) easy to fix on a steel frame - just needs straightening.

Hope that helps,

Johnny

 

[Cornish Bob]

Thanks for the reply, got most off the buckle out of the rear wheel, not perfect but pretty good, the frame looks okay, it seems if the rear mech is maybe worn, I can pull the mech out to the right position, it's not far out, it just doesn't hang verticle. Another problem seems to be that the freewheel mechanism seems to be sticking slightly, I take it that if you remove the rear cluster then I will be able to soak it and re-lube it.

 

[Johnsqual]

Ello,

It should be possible to try relubing without removing the freewheel/freehub from the bike. There's some explanation about doing so here:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html

However, if relubing doesn't work it's usually considered easier to just replace the block altogether.

Hope that helps and good luck with the project,

Johnny

 

[Cornish Bob]

Thanks for that link, I'm looking for a pair of tyres now, the ones fitted have perished, not too sure what to put on, nothing too fancy as they'll be wasted on me.

 

[Johnsqual]

Hey,

Chain reaction cycles has Michelin Dynamic tyres in 23 and 25c
sizes for about £6 each. They are a cheap way to get
some authentic looking vintage tyres.

Johnny

 

[Cornish Bob]

Cheers Johnny, all ordered.

 

[Cornish Bob]

Sorry about this but I have another question. I have already got most of the buckle out of the rear wheel but I'm not happy with the spokes which are rusty. The front has stainless spokes and I want to change the rears for stainless as well. Would I be foolish to tackle this or by changing one at a time am I likely to be succesfull?

 

[mattsccm]

With the price of spokes you will soon end up at the rpice of a cheap new wheel or a decnt used one. Bearing in mind what you say about the scoring etc why not just browse about on here etc. i am guessing you have a freewheel rather than a cassette on the back so you should find some thing chape and shiny.

 

[Cornish Bob]

Thanks, I'll look around and see what's about.