Restoration projects, wheelbuilding, saddle recovering and other mechanical adventures.
I’m spending this weekend preparing a trio of vintage steel frames that I recently had powdercoated, so thought I’d stop and get a few snaps! The black bruiser is Jim’s unknown European frame with ESGE plates to distinguish it, the ‘chrome’ finished beauty is Ruben’s Peugeot singlespeed, and the yellow (colour code RAL 1083) one’s […]
Latest powdercoating work Read More »
In the middle of overhauling the headset & bottom bracket of this very interesting vintage 531 Professional time trial bike I thought I’d pause and share a few images. As ever, the rug is NOT for sale ;)
E.G. Bates Time Trial – part one Read More »
It’s been over two years since I last had my grubby mitts on a Bomber, Raleigh’s iconic cruiser bike from the early 1980s. Men (and some women… maybe) of a certain age get pretty misty-eyed about these bikes and, despite being slow, heavy and crudely made, it’s really not hard to see why when you
1981 Raleigh Bomber Mk.1 restoration – part one Read More »
New customer Chris brought me his pride & joy earlier today in a pretty sorry state. His rear derailleur pulled into (and wrapped around) the spokes on a climb during his most recent sportiv and left him high & dry! Along with a new mech hanger, replacing a few spokes and truing his awesome carbon
Scott Foil – part one Read More »
I had great pleasure welcoming another new customer to my workshop yesterday evening, when I was visited by Gareth from Chester. Not only did he bring me an old Raleigh frame to fit a headset to, he also brought this lovely 1980s Ian May frameset which I’ve been hired to work on and here’s a
Vintage Ian May project Read More »
Along with fades and smoky patterns, splatter paintwork is IMO one of the key visual elements of the UK’s first mountain biking boom era of the late ’80s to early ’90s. It’s how I remember my first proper MTB (an ’89 Ridgeback) and defines the early Kona range too. So it’s a treat to have
1991 Diamondback Axis XT – part one Read More »
… in the DRC workshop for a little TLC is this lovely 41 year old lady :)
1973 Hercules Balmoral Read More »
We’ve just finished another couple of custom wheel builds! The first has a restored 1991 Sturmey Archer AW hub laced 3X with 28 stainless spokes onto a modern 700c Mavic CXP22 rim. Just need build up a front to ‘match’ it and we’ll have a trick 3 speed wheelset for a future build, likely to
Wheelbuilding projects Read More »
Just arrived today is Cath’s lovely but tired 1960 Coventry Eagle Ambler! Next week she’ll be getting some serious TLC… not a full restoration though, we’ve agreed to just get her running nicely and smartened up! :)
1960 Coventry Eagle Ambler – part one Read More »
Made of humble 18-23 tubing but vintage British steel nonetheless, here’s the progress so far on our latest ’80s Raleigh frameset makeover…
Raleigh frameset makeover Read More »
