End of Week 1

It's been a busy week working on the bike. The first thing I had to do was get the paint off. This has taken up nearly the whole week. I removed the paint using paint stripper, a scrapper, sand paper and a power sander. I basically switched back and forward between methods until it was off. I started with the paint stripper which seemed very effective in some spots and in other spots totally useless. I applied 3 coats, scrapping in between then I hosed it off with a pressure hose and took to it with sand paper. I found the sand paper did a good job but was so time consuming. After a few hours sanding I went back to the paint stripper and found it worked better on the areas I had roughed up with the sand paper. In the end I borrowed my Dads power sander and ended up using about 5 coats of the stripper, 5 sheets of 80 grade sand paper and a few of the sanding discs before I got it to a stage I could move on from. I didn't get 100% of the paint off, there were a few little spots in the underneath of the bottom bracket where it was just so tough to remove and super fiddly where the stand screws in I just smoothed it out and hopefully it doesn't peel or anything like that.

The rear fender post 4 coats of stripper - still needing the sanding to finish the job

Next job was priming and painting. I used 2 cans of White Knight Primer to apply 4 thin coats of primer to the frame, fork and fenders. I let this dry overnight then moved onto the colour, White Knight Squirts in Magenta. So far I have 2 coats on and it needs at least 1 more, probably 2 just to get the finish I want.

Just hanging out

Sprayed too thick here and it has run, will be sanding it down with some 1200 grade tomorrow before the 3rd and 4th coats go on

The frame in all its magenta glory

Forks looking quite schmick

I have ordered some custom decals off of ebay as well. I decided against putting the brand name back on the bike, I want it really put my own design into it. I ordered the decals from this store, I'm hoping their feedback is accurate and they turn out well. The final design will be revealed in time :)

Also I have started on the wheels now that my tyres have arrived. The front wheel is done and ready to ride (minus the tube - kinda important I guess :P ) and the rear wheel I will finish tonight.

Before and after

 You can see in the close up pics a real difference after I used steel wool and aluminium foil to clean up the front rim. Its still not perfect but its a 30 year old wheel, can't expect miracles!

Front

Rear

 Finally I picked up some degreaser on the weekend and have started soaking the parts which were super greasy. I will be applying all new grease before reassembling the bike, hopefully in the next fortnight!

Shiny ball bearings

Something New

As I mentioned in my last post the first part casualty of the restoration were the tyres. They were never going back on after the state they were in.

Sad old tyres :(

As you can see they were all cracked and bits around the inside just broke off when I removed them. So into the bin they went.

I had been considering getting some cream colours tyres I had seen around the place, but a quick Google search showed me sellers in the UK and including postage I would've been forking out $50+ per tyre - a bit more than I wanted to spend on a cheap run around bike!  

Shiny new tyres!

So instead I decided to go for these white wall tyres off eBay for $49.50 for the pair including postage which is more in my price range. I haven't received them yet so can't speak for the quality but once they are here I will.

I also decided on the main colour for my new paint job. Those who know me will not be surprised by my choice of a pink bike :P My road bike is black and pink as well and though I did consider the very 'now' colour mint green I figured I would just go with what I like and that way it won't just be a fad. I have pick a dark magenta pink with while accents. I'm thinking white rack and front basket, pedals, saddle and hand grips but I'm open to suggestions :)

Step 1 - Breaking it Down

I wouldn't say I am an avid cyclist. I have a lovely road bike my partner got me for Christmas last year and I really appreciate how light and fast it is. I enjoy riding it, its just all the extra bits that riding it involves that put me off sometimes. Like the special pants and shoes, I can't really tolerate the seat for more than a couple of km's without my knicks on. The shoes really make it an issue to use the road bike to convenient short trips to do anything other than ride. I do like to use it for a longer commute where I can get changed at the end but just to pop up to the local shop, its not really suited.

My new old bike!

Hence my idea to get myself a cheap little run around bike. Something comfy and practical but not too expensive so I can leave it chained up somewhere and not be too worried about theft. I looked into new bikes but I knew all too well from when we picked out my road bike you get far more bang for your buck going second hand and there are loads of second hand bikes on the market. I spotted a 1970/1980's Speedwell Classique 10 on eBay for a good price, looked to be in decent condition so I put a bid in and won it. After reading up a bit on 'vintage' bikes (apparently the 80's are vintage now - very disturbing for someone born then!) I decided I would make this bike into a project for myself, giving it a custom overhaul so it could be everything I wanted and I would learn more about bikes and their mechanics etc.

View from the front

First things first, white is not a colour that excites me so I decided I would pull the bike totally apart, give every component a good look and clean and while I'm at it give her a shiny new coat of paint.

More rust on the break callipers and the tyres which would soon loose all structural intergrity

While pulling the tyres off the rims they pretty much disintegrated so that pretty much made up my mind about getting new tyres as well.

Rusty chrome, old school friction gear shifters

I took everything apart right down to the frame, making sure I took photos of how things were put together and I bagged each set of bolts/nuts etc. together into ziplock bags with labels for easy reference. I didn't throw out anything even if I figured I would be replacing it in case I needed it for sizing/reference purposes.

10 speed with front and rear derailleurs

A few parts in particular were quite tricking getting off. Namely the rear bracket. I watched about 10 different YouTube videos before getting enough info to get it all apart. Not looking forward to put it back together thats for sure! 

Now she's all broken down and ready for her new paint job!