Death of a Record Ace

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cycle tramp
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Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by cycle tramp »

Another way would be to rebuild your rear hub using a 10mm cromo threaded axle, find new bearings and have a machine shop make up a spacer to sit between the wheel bearings inner race to try and stop the axle bending, or go for an outboard bearing on the freewheel side (or both)
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SimonCelsa
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Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by SimonCelsa »

cycle tramp wrote: 23 Oct 2022, 1:28pm ..yeah, but the chances are if you swap axles you're going to damage the existing bearings removing your original axle..
They call me Smith and I'm good with a hammer; Hammersmith!! No damage done to my bearings. I'd go to £20 odd pounds maybe for that axle service kit, but £46...........Jeez, my frugality can't run with that!
cycle tramp
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Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by cycle tramp »

Granted, at this time and place 45 pounds or whatever is alot of money, at this point you'll have to weigh up whether 45 pounds plus the cost of a new frame is equal or less than a frame repair to your old frame...
..personally if you enjoyed riding your old frame, and everything worked okay, then I would have the old frame repaired.
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SimonCelsa
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Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by SimonCelsa »

cycle tramp wrote: 23 Oct 2022, 2:17pm
..personally if you enjoyed riding your old frame, and everything worked okay, then I would have the old frame repaired.
First quote for repair:

'New down tube and head lug would be about £200.
B/B repair £80.
Respray in a single colour about £250.
We would not repaint locally I am afraid.
P+P back to you £25'.


£555. Not very economical. Fair enough if it's of sentimental value, but I'm just looking for a reasonable condition steel frame with space for say 32mm tyres plus mudguards, and spaced at around 126mm at the rear. To be fitted with drum braked wheels and preferably 1" stem. If I can't source a reasonable old-ish used but good frame I'll look at maybe one of the Spa steel framesets and try and fit a longer axle to the rear wheel.

Slowly slowly!

Edit to add: I recently sent an e-mail to Spa to ask whether they would be getting any more of the larger Aubisque frames in stock. Unfortunately the response was negative.
Barrowman
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Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by Barrowman »

Take care with drum brakes on 'old' frames. I am aware of 2 sets of 531 forks which have been broken with hub brakes. One was a mate of mine who is probably 8 stone wringing wet. Good quality frame but broke never the less.
Optimum is a fork designed for the job. If you are replacing the frame in any event might be worth considering this. Some early off the shelf ATB 's came in Reynolds 531 tubing . I have a Dawes Countryman like that ,ok it has Cantilevers not drums . But a pretty robust bit of kit, has proper forged ends with integral gear hanger , solid fork crown, in fact all the bits you want . The broken Raleigh is more of a light tourer or mid range race bike methinks.
Sorry the numbers on my laptop have gone on strike hence spelling the tubing .

PS Have you seen the Raleigh Royal that has just been posted in Complete Bike Section?
Top end Touring Machine in it's day, quality kit (if it's original spec) Think Cantilever Brakes which I have to say I favour if given a choice.
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simonineaston
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Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by simonineaston »

It's a metaphore... we're good at them!
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
cycle tramp
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Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by cycle tramp »

SimonCelsa wrote: 30 Oct 2022, 4:36pm
cycle tramp wrote: 23 Oct 2022, 2:17pm
..personally if you enjoyed riding your old frame, and everything worked okay, then I would have the old frame repaired.
First quote for repair:

'New down tube and head lug would be about £200.
B/B repair £80.
Respray in a single colour about £250.
We would not repaint locally I am afraid.
P+P back to you £25'.


£555. Not very economical
Yeah, I agree with you... have you contacted your local 'recycle a bike' charity with a description of the type of frame your looking for? It could be that they may already have something in stock..
..failing that would you consider a mixte frame, or a frame with a dropped cross bar*? It might give you more choice and should you throw your back out (like I did a few years ago) it's easier to mount...

*And yes as my years advance my next frame will be a mixture frame.... (it's a damn shame that raleigh stopped doing their cross frame/ Irish Lane roadster)
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SimonCelsa
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Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by SimonCelsa »

Found another one on eBay and made a decent offer, so hopefully will be receiving this frameset soon:

RRA mk2.jpg

Looks to be in reasonably good cosmetic condition so hopefully this will last just as long as it's predecessor. At least I've got a spare set of forks in the same colour. I'll try it with the drum brake set up again and if this one cracks then I'll go for something a bit meatier - assuming I don't come a cropper undertaking this experiment!!

It's a very practical frame because it fits the Schwalbe marathon winter studded tyres at 30mm (HS396), plus mudguards.(which will be going on fairly soon in this Northern part of Scotland). I like to have bike ready to roll should I wake up and it's icy. That's my Chrissy present sorted then. Hope it doesn't get crushed in the post :(

I'm still looking to repair the other frame with some 'thistlebond' type resin and glass tape, with a couple of half tube 'shells' to squeeze the resin and provide extra strength. We used to use this resin repair on LPG / LNG ships when welding wasn't prudent due to the proximity of lots of gas. Very strong repairs can be effected if the resin solutions are mixed and prepared properly.

Cheers.
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SimonCelsa
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Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by SimonCelsa »

Here we go, another Record Ace built up ready for winter commuting duties with Mick F's Suntour rear derailleur being put to good use. Pity it's a little smaller than the last frame (56cm vs 58cm) but hopefully this may mean it's stronger. I did notice quite a hefty dent in the front rim when putting the studded tyres on, so maybe I did hit something pretty hard (when half asleep) which could have initiated the crack in the previous frames downtube. Anyhow, sticking with the drum brakes for now, see how long this frame lasts!

RRA rt.jpg
RRA Lf.jpg
IMG_20221125_134001430.jpg
drossall
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Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 10:01pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by drossall »

My son-in-law was dumped in the road when his forks failed from rust. Embarrassingly, he'd complained a mile or two earlier of funny handling, and I'd failed to spot that the (steel) forks were giving way. Luckily, we were riding to a cycle jumble at the time; we had to get the train home with the remnants of his bike, and then go out by car, but it was the ideal place to replace the frame!
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SimonCelsa
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Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by SimonCelsa »

Hopefully these forks will be strong enough. The reaction arm for the brake is fixed a good way up the fork so it's not so long a lever. They feel pretty substantial and it's only the 70mm drum with quite a squishy cable outer so I'd be pretty unlucky if I bent them even during severe braking........famous last words!!
Dingdong
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Joined: 22 Apr 2022, 4:59pm

Re: Death of a Record Ace

Post by Dingdong »

Although I'm never a fan of retro fitting parts to a build that was not originally designed for them, these old Raleigh frames are very well made and rarely fail. Maybe you just for a Friday afternoon job!?

My favourite Raleigh frames from there era were the Reynolds 653 built framesets, they were very light and AFAIK used Reynolds 753 chain stays and fork blades.

I picked one up last year for £90 and it rides like a dream :lol:
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