Restoring old racer - what first?

[padraic]

Hi folks,

I recently got an old racer frame which I want to do up.(See resotred example here: http://www.freshtripe.co.uk/Freshtripe/Bikes/19E59D30-86A7-457C-9A8E-52995A5A842F.html)

Its rusted in places and I'm not sure what the elements I need to check first are - i.e. what 'dealbreakers' would make the bike unfixable.

I've checked the fame and its fine, no cracks.

The seatpost is stuck into the frame - I'll try to use rust remover and see if I can free it.

The pedals turn around ok - should I try to remove the bottom bracket or just overhaul it?

The stem and upper headset seem fine , the fork is a bit rusted, the lower headset more so. Again should I just take it apart and clean it or what?

Thanks in advance for all help!

[xerxes]

With a bike that age I would completely strip it down, clean up and carefully inspect all the components, replace any that are no longer serviceable and then reassemble.

Dawes were pretty much mass produced and weren't as nicely finished or as rare and valuable as some of the bikes made by smaller, low volume frame builders, like Hetchins for example. So if you need to have the frame repainted, I wouldn't spend fortune trying to get it back to showroom condition.

[padraic]

Hi Xerxes,

thanks for the reply. I'll take what you said about getting it repainted on board and strip it down as suggested.

Anyone else got tips?

[DaveM]

Stuck seatpost is the big question. You should probably remove the BB before trying to free that up anyway so you don't get chemicals/rust into it. But if the seatpost is stuck permanently, everything else is irrelevant anyway.

[Surly LHT]

If its the bicycle you like spend what you will on it but that's me I have done it a few time's lol.
As far as the seat post stuck you can get it out lots of ways to do this just take your time and go for it.I would repaint it my self but I have all the tools to do that with too.I think I have to many tools lol but it's fun to rebuild a bicycle you learn so much this way.I never let anyone tell me I going to wast my money I not saying anyone here has said that at all.But I have been told a few time's I wast money on a bicycle and I tell them where to go too. lol

[trevgbb]

Your link does't work, but if the seat post is stuck and there is a lot of rust on the outside, it's probably rusty on the inside, too, and as bike tubing is very thin, the strength of the frame may be suspect, so, unless it's something special, I wouldn't waste money on it, find something better to restore.