Uni Bike One:
My daughter's £8 Raleigh Cameo, hub date 1987, has already featured in some threads on here:
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The bike is now in daily use to and from uni and work, it was serviced and improved with alloy rims (fitted to original spokes with new nipples), new brake levers and BMX linear brake cables. I had to replace the broken indicator chain, hub cones and a couple of pawl pins in the SA AW, but it now works just fine after a strip down and re-lube with Penrite semi-fluid grease, plus Morris K99 water resistant grease in the dust shield labrynths. I also replaced the original cup & cone BB and cottered chainset with a sealed Sunrace square taper BB and Suntour alloy chainset (ex Carrera Subway 8 ) with FSA single speed 32T chainring, as the original BB was rusted out with pitted bearing surfaces on the axle and cups. This was matched to a 16T sprocket and getting a good chainline was easy with the range of adjustability on the SA, with two spacer washers to play with and options of sprocket dishing and orientation.
The 41"-73" gearing range is reported to be spot on, she stays in 3rd for most of her regular journeys which are relatively flat, so she has the two lower ratios available for if she goes elsewhere up the steeper streets etc., of which there are plenty in Brighton. She is quite happy to walk if necessary to avoid getting too sweaty etc. before arriving at a social destination. She is also quite happy to lock the bike up with a nice solid D lock to one of the many bike racks in town, amongst the many other bikes hers looks well below average in terms of value. It is similar at home where she locks it on the pavement to some very solid cast iron railings outside, in direct sight of her bedroom and on a street where there are several other bikes including much more valuable ones locked up to the railings with mostly flimsier looking cable locks, plus a bike rack with another dozen or so similar round the corner. Bike theft is common in Brighton but OTOH she has safety in numbers as well as the low theft attraction of her bike working in her favour.
The original OEM Raleigh whitewall tyres were disintegrating so were replaced with Ebay cheapo 'Vandorms': I would not recommend these, they are skinny and stiff so not a great ride quality, though they do roll reasonably well and look like they should last a while. I have since noticed Spa cycles are selling Schwalbe Delta Cruisers in the appropriate 26 x 1 3/8" size for £8.50 each, in black or cream- in hindsight I think a pair of these would have been well worth an extra few £s.
Here is the Raleigh complete except for the MInoura black steel rack and rear BS approved Eurolight with built in BS reflector, which were fitted later:
I will get around to totaling up the cost of sorting out the Raleigh soon, but I suspect it will add up to more than the total cost will be for
Uni bike 2:
that I picked up for my stepdaughter, even though it cost £85. This is a rather lovely Dawes Diploma, hub dated 1992:
Highlights:
Weinmann alloy levers and brakes, alloy stem and bars, alloy square taper chainset, Rigida alloy 700c rims, new rear Vredestein Classic cream tyre. Rides superbly and feels lighter than the Raleigh.
Negatives: the front tyre is an ancient unsightly Vredestein Sport, with crumbly looking sidewalls, probably OEM, probably ought to be replaced (I do have a large stock of Vittoria Voyager Hypers in the right size but they are possibly not that suitable for city use by someone not practiced in puncture fixing). The Nimbus shifter is not as nice to use as the classic trigger IMO. The front brake is not all that good- new cable and pads needed? Don't like the brake cable being routed through the frame like that. The rear mudguard bracket at the brake bridge is broken. Rims need truing.
Concerns: It is far too attractive for it's own good- likely thief magnet in Liverpool, where at home it can only be kept outside in the back yard. This has high walls and locked wooden gate but still not very secure IMO- a solid ring set into a wall or concreted in the ground would be better but not sure the landlord will cooperate with this. In town fewer other bikes around and fewer bike racks from what I recall.
Uni Bike 3:
I had already built a bike for my son some years ago, based around a 1990s Barracuda A2E Tange chromoly steel 14" MTB frame, like this:
but with matching rigid steel forks. This was a gift from a friend who's daughter had out grown it. It was built up with parts from my own 8 spd low end hardtail GT MTB that had been abandoned due to me simply not liking it and the front fork being knackered. (I sold the alloy GT frame on for a few £s, it was too big for my son anyway.) The GT drive train needed a new cassette and chain and the frame was missing the required threaded 1 1/8" headset. The GT front mech band was too large, but the frame had come with a suitable STX mech which worked fine, despite a fair amount of slop.
The seat post was an unusual diameter, can't remember what but we had to get a moderately expensive one from SJS, which then had to be cut down. The V-brakes, STI levers and wheels all came from the GT and were just fine and I fitted new Clarks stainless cables all round. The frame was quite long despite the 14" seat tube, so straight bars were a bit of a stretch, therefore fitted some Zoom brand swept back 'comfort' bars that I already had 'in stock', which did the trick.
The frame was originally pinky-purple and silver as pictured above but very tatty with lots of surface rust. Son demanded removal of all pinkness so I stripped it with Nitromors and wire brushed and sanded all the rust off, primed with several coats of an anti-rust primer and finished with black Plasticote. This was not the best choice as it turned out as not nearly as tough as the manufacturer promises, until a few months old when it does harden up, so it quickly acquired quite a few battle scars, though the primer seems to be doing a good job of keeping rust at bay.
My son got a place at Sussex University this year and requested that I gave the Barracuda a 'once over'. He has only grown a couple of inches since we built it and is still only 5' tall, so the bike is still a good fit, the seat only needed raising a couple of cms. Most things are still fine, but the front rim has worn to 1mm thickness at the brake track and new brake pads needed all round- Jagwire brand brake blocks and single wall 26" rim bought cheaply from Ebay.
We did plan to fit a hub dynamo lighting set-up, but were let down by the spoke supplier for the wheel build so cheap Ebay Novatech EDH-2 dynamo hub, Union Hilux front light and expensive but good Spanninga Lineo rear light not fitted, son has taken my Axa 15 lux USB rechargeable front light and Spanninga battery rear rack light for now- he will back in December when he can bring front wheel with him by train if we decide he is going to move to dynamo lighting, though I have pinched back the Novatech and lights for my own use
I had removed the wobbly and rather short black plastic mudguards and 1.6" Conti Sport Contacts and put them back on the Carrera Subway * that they came from before I sold the Carrera, so the tyres and guards that I had been using on that went on the Barrcuda: GB stainless guards and 1.5" Vittoria Rubino Pro slicks. The latter are super supple and quick but maybe a bit slick for greasy urban roads in the wet- have warned son about this, but maybe some Randonneur Pros might be a good replacement.
(Pictures to follow)
), so again repeated the first year, but she is back on track now in 2nd year, grades picking up again. Her part time job at a fancy kitchen and homeware shop in The Lanes (upmarket shopping area) is also going well, which is a good sign IMO.