Wow, lots of great replies. Really appreciate the input from everybody. I'll try and address everything that's been said so far, and sorry for the delay in replying, I'm not feeling too well at the moment!
531colin wrote:Sorry, but it isn't any of those things except old. If your GF has been riding it with the saddle at that height, it isn't even near the right size for her, with the bars much lower than the saddle she is never likely to be comfortable or safe.
You seem to be looking to "rescue" an old bike that you feel attached to, without spending too much.....there are 2 problems with this, firstly I don't see any reference to what your GF might want, and secondly I don't think you have the skills or tools to do the job,,,,what will you do if the stem or bottom bracket are corroded into the frame? If you start paying somebody to do the job, it gets expensive.
If there was even the faintest possibility that my woman might ride with me, I would be searching for the exact bike she needs and wants, not trying to bodge something up just because it happened to be knocking around.
Modern "aero" brake levers have the wrong cable pull for your old centrepulls, they are optimised for dual pivot sidepulls.
What is "slipping" with the gearing? "Friction" gearing requires the rider to put the lever in the right position. If this isn't done, you will get ghost shifting. If the lever is simply being pulled round by the spring, you only need to tighten the friction nut in the middle of the lever.
Edit...most towns have some sort of charitable/volunteer bike repair/recycling thing going on. The sort of place where you might be able to use tools, get help and information.....and maybe a more promising bike to start from.
Fair points but you don't quite have me all worked out. If you'd like to question my motives and the ethics behind the bike I'll happily expand that side of things. We're both students at Oxford where bikes are essential for short every day commutes of no longer than 15 minutes. She has a very good mountain bike at home that she uses off road but didn't want to risk it being stolen here. She was in her first year still last year and hadn't yet got herself a bike for Oxford so I started looking for her birthday. She really liked my old Carlton (which was properly restored) so I decided to try and get her something similar, hence the old style and my eagerness to put new components on it. I personally had no previous attachment to the bike, but I thought (and hoped!) she'd like it. It turns out she absolutely loves it, and her friends often compliment it for being both attractive and unique. Generally speaking the bike is in good condition and had never been stored outside. I also bought it from a contact of mine that restores older bikes in his spare time and had checked it over and performed all basic maintenance that I am not used to dealing with. So to be clear, I am not 'rescuing' an old bike for my own entertainment, this is specifically in reference to what she wants and as an engineering PhD student in a department full of bike nuts and every piece of equipment you could possibly need, as well as a volunteer bike repair place down the road, I think I should be OK getting it sorted. The reason I am trying to do the work without spending too much money is that she would hate it if I spent too much on her, something she tells me off for doing quite often. Yes a new bike might be a little physically better suited to her but in that picture the seat is that high because I had ridden it home, and I am much taller than she is.
Personal stuff aside (and hopefully acceptably explained), if I swap the brake levers I will also swap the centrepulls out for my sidepulls, thanks for letting me know about the cable pull. The gears were initially fine but started to slip after a while. I've had the lever mechanism apart since then and cleaned up/tightened things and it seems to be better. However, if a brand new part was likely to perform better I'd happily get one simply for peace of mind.
Brucey wrote:if you have ~12mm of upwards movement of the brake blocks available then when you change from 597 to 622mm rims then you will be able to re-use the old centre pulls.
Personally I'd try the suicide levers with the new wheels before ditching them; if you change to alloy rims the brakes will instantly work x3 better in the wet or so.
It looks as if you have a Simplex friction lever gear there; this should be assembled bone-dry. The slightest trace of grease or oil will cause the lever to slip, so degrease it before assembling it. Note that if the backplate moves (even slightly) when the lever is moved, or the front plate moves slightly either, then the tension screw will gradually back out as the lever is moved back and forth.
A final comment is that I would suggest a different saddle, chosen by your GF to be comfy; that one looks pretty dreadful to me.
I agree about the saddle, I've asked her about it a few times because I'd like to replace it but she swears it's fine. I guess the short duration of each ride ensures any potential discomfort level is never reached.
There's definitely room to move the brake blocks up 12mm which was my original thought. I think I will try the centrepulls and suicide levers with alloy rims first and only change if they aren't a good fit. I'll check the friction gear lever for movement like you suggested, thanks for the detailed description!
mjr wrote:Are they steel wheels and did you replace the pads with steel-compatible ones? Something like Fibrax Raincheaters? With the rise of aluminium rims, this seems to be a surprisingly common mistake with old bikes.
Probably and I think it could be replaced with any gear levers that have the same cable pull. If you change the derailleur, then that'll determine the cable pull needed. I'm using a Shimano 7-speed switchable shifter in friction mode on one bike and it works fine, even though there's only 6 gears. By "isn't up to the job" do you mean only the slipping (I think some levers get so old and can't be tightened any more) or is there some other problem?
I slightly dislike indexed gearing: firstly, it's an extra small nuisance getting it exactly slick; and secondly, most combined brake/shifters can't be checked by position so I'm forever forgetting what gear I'm in!
Yes they are steel wheels and no, I had no idea there were steel compatible brake pads available, and neither did my local bike shop! They only suggested replacing the wheels altogether. Do the fibrax pads you suggested work as well as alloy wheels and normal pads would?
The gear lever is just slipping, everything else works perfectly. It's a 5 speed system, I'll try and get more detail on them soon but I have a super busy week going on! You make an interesting point about combined shifters, I hadn't considered that. I've not had them before myself!
merseymouth wrote:Hi All, Unless I'm having another Senior Moment I believe that the stirrups will be fine as the bike currently wears 26" x 1.125" rims? So 700c rims will be slightly bigger. Also with the right sort of freewheel, 6 speed, Indexing is certainly possible using a 120mm rear hub. As for "Suicide Levers"? BIN THEM! TTFN MM
Good to know thanks. I may give the current brake set up a chance with alloy wheels but I'm more than happy to swap my Carlton's side-pull brakes and Aero levers over. I really need to find out exactly what I have on the bike before asking you for more specific advice on the 5 speed gears. I'll get back to you soon if that's OK.
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