SomeBen
Note that Colin is in the trade and knows more than I do.
My limited knowledge comes from your bike being modern by my standards.
Vintage bike help
Re: Vintage bike help
Sorry about my poor attempt at describing things. I have the bike on a stand. I thought it kinda funky how the hanger was attached to the frame. The chain gets jammed against the chainring and front derailleur when pedalling forwards. The wheel slides forward when tightening the nuts. I tried to tighten the nuts while stopping the wheel from sliding forwards but the front of the wheel was rubbing the chain stays. Also the wheel is buckled but not enough to cause it to rub on the chain stays if sitting level in the dropouts.
Re: Vintage bike help
You haven’t mentioned the seat post - does it move ok? they have a habit of seizing.
It looks like a clip-on rear derailleur, so that will limit you on that front as you haven’t got a hanger.
You need an 8” adjustable spanner to tackle the headset. With brake shoes in, apply the front brake and push the bike forward and back - can you feel “play” (movement) in the bearing, do the handlebars turn smoothly?
First Take the chain off at the front - how do the cranks turn and is there any play? For the bottom bracket, you need the removal tool, which will allow you to undo the nut under the dust cap on each side. The tool then screws into the crank and pulls if off the axle. Then you remove the lock ring which will hopefully allow you to remove the bearing cup on the left hand side. It might want a drop of penetrating oil to help it along. There are lots of variants on how you turn the cup.
Have a look here for a decent value set of tools to get you started: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174470451356
It looks like a clip-on rear derailleur, so that will limit you on that front as you haven’t got a hanger.
You need an 8” adjustable spanner to tackle the headset. With brake shoes in, apply the front brake and push the bike forward and back - can you feel “play” (movement) in the bearing, do the handlebars turn smoothly?
First Take the chain off at the front - how do the cranks turn and is there any play? For the bottom bracket, you need the removal tool, which will allow you to undo the nut under the dust cap on each side. The tool then screws into the crank and pulls if off the axle. Then you remove the lock ring which will hopefully allow you to remove the bearing cup on the left hand side. It might want a drop of penetrating oil to help it along. There are lots of variants on how you turn the cup.
Have a look here for a decent value set of tools to get you started: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174470451356
Spa Audax Ti Ultegra; Genesis Equilibrium 853; Raleigh Record Ace 1983; “Raleigh Competition”, “Raleigh Gran Sport 1982”; “Allegro Special”, Bob Jackson tourer, Ridley alu step-through with Swytch front wheel; gravel bike from an MB Dronfield 531 frame.
Re: Vintage bike help
David9694 wrote:You haven’t mentioned the seat post - does it move ok? they have a habit of seizing.
How do the brake calipers seem? They might benefit from new cables - fairly cheap on Ebay.
It sounds like your problems with the wheel nuts and the chain are just you needing a bit of practice and it sounds like it won’t be a great loss if things go wrong with truing the back wheel. If you do shop for new wheels, you want the screw-on freewheel type, not the cassette type. If you want to re-use the freewheel, check what removal tool it needs - there are many types down the years. A new one will go on by hand.
In the absence of a dedicated chain gauge, use a 12” ruler to measure a section - the pins in each plate are 1/2” apart - the chain stretches with wear, so you may find that your segment of chain is slightly longer than it should be. A replacement chain isn’t expensive, is fairly simple to fit and will often improve things - but not if there’s already excessive wear on the rear cogs and chainwheels. Worn drive train is one of the major hazards for the second hand bike buyer as one thing leads to another.
Truing wheels is quite an advanced operation, but we all have to start somewhere. The kit below contains a spoke key to get you started. Spin the wheel and work out where it is the most deformed. (If you are changing the tyre do this before the new one goes on.) You want to tighten the two spokes that lead to the side of the hub in the direction you want that part of the rim to go - do half a turn the nipple with the spoke key anti clockwise and then loosen two spokes leading to the opposite side of the rim, turning them clockwise. Spin and Repeat, eventually reduce to one quarter turn each as the wheel improves. You’ll need to concentrate.
The kit below includes cone spanners for if you want to tackle the wheel hubs - start with the front one - it’s that bit simpler. Same test though as to whether it’s a priority - does it turn freely, is there any play?
You need an 8” adjustable spanner to tackle the headset. With brake shoes in, apply the front brake and rock the bike forward and back - can you feel “play” (movement) in the bearing, do the handlebars turn smoothly? You start on the headset by removing the stem - undo the bolt so you’ve got about 4 mm protruding then give it a tap with a mallet to release it - the bolt should now feel loose.
Take the chain off at the front - how do the cranks turn and is there any play? For the bottom bracket, you need the removal tool in the kit below, which will allow you to undo the nut under the dust cap on each side. The tool then screws into the crank and pulls if off the axle. Then you remove the b/b lock ring (tool provided below) which will hopefully allow you to remove the bearing cup on the left hand side. It might want a drop of penetrating oil to help it along. There are lots of variants on how you turn the cup.
Have a look here for a decent value set of tools to get you started: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174470451356
Spa Audax Ti Ultegra; Genesis Equilibrium 853; Raleigh Record Ace 1983; “Raleigh Competition”, “Raleigh Gran Sport 1982”; “Allegro Special”, Bob Jackson tourer, Ridley alu step-through with Swytch front wheel; gravel bike from an MB Dronfield 531 frame.
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ClappedOut
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Re: Vintage bike help
My comments on this riding a vintage bike on a budget.
Grease is cheaper than parts, old grease goes like a bar of soap and the crank, cone and cup bearings and headset were all horrid on mine so I cleaned and greased and adjusted until silky smooth and no play. The rear gear cassette mounted on wheel of mine was horrible as half the ball bearings missing 38-40 to throw everywhere and time-consuming to fit with grease and 3mm balls.
The cups on my bike are inch thread Austrian, so a cheap headset sloppy in frame, fortunately after looking at Sheldon browns website I wasn't going mad and managed to replace 1 inch threaded crown race & bearings and top race and fix it for £4.99 as original cups pristine and internal size correct.
Good quality rim tape, tubes and I like Jack brown blue as price, comfort and performance
Brake and gear cables ( wiggle / chain reaction) universal kits cheap ( wanted stainless but no stock) I bought extra ferrules as choice of sizes and Universal mtb kit barrel ends. The supplied ferrules too big so glad I chose both.
Rustless Clarkes 7 speed chain halfords £10
Truing rims with cable tie guide (4.5 hours and much Tinkering to get then round and true)
100 miles in broke sun race derailleur £13 halfords job certainly not the best but on a budget it got me mobile for cheap.
You don't want to get big on costs until your sure you want to, mine for fun refurbished maybe £150 - 220 with various accessories, I wouldn't get the money back I doubt. However I know it's reliable and built it with my son as a Project
Things like saddles, bags, lights etc all could have been left off to drop costs
Good luck
Grease is cheaper than parts, old grease goes like a bar of soap and the crank, cone and cup bearings and headset were all horrid on mine so I cleaned and greased and adjusted until silky smooth and no play. The rear gear cassette mounted on wheel of mine was horrible as half the ball bearings missing 38-40 to throw everywhere and time-consuming to fit with grease and 3mm balls.
The cups on my bike are inch thread Austrian, so a cheap headset sloppy in frame, fortunately after looking at Sheldon browns website I wasn't going mad and managed to replace 1 inch threaded crown race & bearings and top race and fix it for £4.99 as original cups pristine and internal size correct.
Good quality rim tape, tubes and I like Jack brown blue as price, comfort and performance
Brake and gear cables ( wiggle / chain reaction) universal kits cheap ( wanted stainless but no stock) I bought extra ferrules as choice of sizes and Universal mtb kit barrel ends. The supplied ferrules too big so glad I chose both.
Rustless Clarkes 7 speed chain halfords £10
Truing rims with cable tie guide (4.5 hours and much Tinkering to get then round and true)
100 miles in broke sun race derailleur £13 halfords job certainly not the best but on a budget it got me mobile for cheap.
You don't want to get big on costs until your sure you want to, mine for fun refurbished maybe £150 - 220 with various accessories, I wouldn't get the money back I doubt. However I know it's reliable and built it with my son as a Project
Things like saddles, bags, lights etc all could have been left off to drop costs
Good luck
Re: Vintage bike help
The Park Tool website has a lot of information, including videos, that you may find useful, e.g. these various articles on derailleurs and troubleshooting:
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help?query=&area%5B%5D=52
Although they mostly assume the use of much more modern components, the basic principles are usually the same, and you can just ignore anything relating to more modern technology, such as setting up and adjusting the indexing.
They do also have good articles on older kit such as is on your bike, e.g. on the bottom bracket:
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/bottom-bracket-service-adjustable-cup-and-cone
I agree with others that it's best to spend the bare minimum for now to get the bike running, and ride it for a while to see how you like it. If you can avoid spending a lot of money at this stage, whether on tools like headset and bottom bracket spanners or on new wheels, it can be the sort of project which is a pleasant way to while away your spare time, and an enjoyable learning curve.
If you find that the bike fits you well and you enjoy riding it, then later on you can think about what your options are and whether you want to spend more money on it, and to what end. As others have said, it is not a bike which would warrant spending lots of money on it to get period correct parts in good quality condition, and if you want to keep it running largely as it is, then it is a good project for hunting down cheap used parts at bike jumbles and on ebay.
Another couple of options which might or might not appeal to you, would be to convert it to a fixed gear or a hub gear. The bike is especially suited to such a conversion because of the 120mm rear spacing and rear horizontal drop outs, i.e. the right spacing for many fixed (and 3 speed hubs) and a drop out which allows the chain to be tensioned by sliding the wheel backwards or forwards in the drop out.
If you were to eventually decide to fit a 3 speed hub, you could get one with a drum brake, and similarly replace the front wheel with a new wheel with a drum brake hub. This would be an expensive option, so only worth doing if you were certain that it was what you wanted. The advantage of drum brakes is that you could have 700C wheels, and the brakes themselves are virtually maintenance free (so perfect for a commuter/winter/hack/pub bike).
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/hubs-internal-hub-gear-brake/sturmey-archer-xrd3-3spd-aluminium-hub-with-70mm-drum-brake-with-gear-control-36-hole/
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help?query=&area%5B%5D=52
Although they mostly assume the use of much more modern components, the basic principles are usually the same, and you can just ignore anything relating to more modern technology, such as setting up and adjusting the indexing.
They do also have good articles on older kit such as is on your bike, e.g. on the bottom bracket:
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/bottom-bracket-service-adjustable-cup-and-cone
I agree with others that it's best to spend the bare minimum for now to get the bike running, and ride it for a while to see how you like it. If you can avoid spending a lot of money at this stage, whether on tools like headset and bottom bracket spanners or on new wheels, it can be the sort of project which is a pleasant way to while away your spare time, and an enjoyable learning curve.
If you find that the bike fits you well and you enjoy riding it, then later on you can think about what your options are and whether you want to spend more money on it, and to what end. As others have said, it is not a bike which would warrant spending lots of money on it to get period correct parts in good quality condition, and if you want to keep it running largely as it is, then it is a good project for hunting down cheap used parts at bike jumbles and on ebay.
Another couple of options which might or might not appeal to you, would be to convert it to a fixed gear or a hub gear. The bike is especially suited to such a conversion because of the 120mm rear spacing and rear horizontal drop outs, i.e. the right spacing for many fixed (and 3 speed hubs) and a drop out which allows the chain to be tensioned by sliding the wheel backwards or forwards in the drop out.
If you were to eventually decide to fit a 3 speed hub, you could get one with a drum brake, and similarly replace the front wheel with a new wheel with a drum brake hub. This would be an expensive option, so only worth doing if you were certain that it was what you wanted. The advantage of drum brakes is that you could have 700C wheels, and the brakes themselves are virtually maintenance free (so perfect for a commuter/winter/hack/pub bike).
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/hubs-internal-hub-gear-brake/sturmey-archer-xrd3-3spd-aluminium-hub-with-70mm-drum-brake-with-gear-control-36-hole/