Dating the Frame

I'm going to have to change the blog description.

So it turns out that I was very slack and just guessed that I was dealing with a 1970s frame. After visiting cykelhobby it turns out that the frame is really from the 60s! The linked page describes that frames with a serial number starting with a 3 are from the 1960s and a serial number starting with 4 is a 1970s. I have no idea exactly when and would love some help but if the brakes are original then it is most likely mid-late 60s.

Tires Good, brakes bad

I've finished the gluing process and the tires seem fairly well stuck to the rims. I will see how they are tomorrow night but I would be confident riding on them at the moment, I just can't imagine the tires rolling off the rims as the force required to move them with my thumbs is more than I can foresee occurring on a road.

The brakes, however, do not inspire confidence. Only the front brake is connected at the moment and on application the entire bike shudders. I will replace the pads when I can find a good replacement here (Such as the Kool Stop Salmon pads recommended by Sheldon Brown) in Melbourne but I am not convinced that will solve all the problems. The stray bits of tire glue would probably not be helping the braking either.

I've followed Sheldon's advice here and am trying the Shimano RX2000 levers that were already on the bike. Whilst I would like to get some Mafac levers for appearance's sake, if I am going to ride this thing down Mt. Dandenong then I want the best brakes I can get my hands on.

The wheels most certainly need to be trued and I guess the bike shop would need to take the tires off for that. That is a shame.

Anyway, I will head out on the bike for a cruise after work sometime this week when I've installed the rear brake and report back on how it felt.

Edit: I have ordered some Kool Stop Mafac/Campy replacement pads and will report on their usefulness shortly.

Tubular gluing has commenced.

Following Dave Moulton's procedure I have begun gluing my tires.

Major problems I will know about and document by the weekend, minor problems with my technique, however, I will probably only find out about when road starts to eat at my face and sides.

Off to buy some brake cables tomorrow to see if the Shimano levers currently aboard can at least get me out on the road.

Things happen!

Christmas and New Year is a good time to be my old bike.

The rear derailleur purchased from ebay arrived and is in fine condition. The jockey wheels will need replacing sooner or later but the chain spins fine on them at the moment.

Yesterday I purchased a Wipperman Connex 800 chain and its link size of 1/2" x 3/32" seems to fit well. The total chain length is almost spot on too so I've mounted it without removing any links, it will stay this way until this causes an issue.

The headset required a 7mm allen key which is apparently an odd size. Bunnings don't stock these so head straight to Repco if you don't want to waste 30mins wandering the aisles opening every socket and hex head set you come across.

So anyway, with a chain and rear derailleur I'm actually able to ride the bike around. And it is amazing! Quiet and rigid, not too big for me and an entirely different riding position to what I'm used to (a mountain bike). Also it is extremely dangerous as I don't have a brake and have been using my feet on the road to stop it. I guess it is kind of like an even more dangerous fixed gear bike.

Here she is with a front brake I was testing.

To Do
Buy:
-Nuovo Record front derailleur
-Nuovo Record shifters
-Mafac brake levers
-Brake and gear cable
-White bar tape

Do:
-Glue tubular tires on (apparently a long long process)
-bolt everything else on
-RIDE IT. Get it really dirty and covered in sweat.

Dating parts

Dating all of the components will be an ongoing process. Whilst I have no desire to make the bike truly period correct, I do want to make sure I'm within ±5 years with my replacement components. More than that though I'm just curious as to when the parts were made, what parts are original and why ebay replacements cost so much.

What I know so far.
Brakes
Mafac Dual Forge, Centre Pull.
Classic Lightweights suggest they are mid-late-60s as they are stamped "Dual Forge" and not "Racer" as the later models were.

Cranks
Sugino Mighty Competition
Everything I've read suggests these are late 70s to early 80s

...and that is it.

All comments and suggestions are welcome.

This week I have mostly been: cleaning tubular glue

It is not necessary to remove old tubular glue unless it is old, uneven or cracked. I think this ancient adhesive is probably 3/3 there.


Paint thinner is one way to remove the old glue, however, I wouldn't trust myself with paint thinner anywhere near the timber in or around our house so I chose steel wool and 2 episodes of Top Gear instead.


I was pleased with the results and although it isn't a mirror finish my arms were sore and the surface will only be glued anyway.

Where all of my information has come from so far

Cykel Hobby was a great resource when I was looking for a bike back in Sweden. Kjell was also extremely helpful when I emailed asking some questions. Be aware most of the site is in Swedish but there is a great english run down of Swedish bike history that I will most likely plagiarise without shame from now on.