#BicycleMechanic #ClassicBicycleWorkshop #BicycleRepairs #CustomBuilds
Call them vintage or retro, these bikes existed before carbon fibre, press fit BBs, electronic gears and disc brakes.
There is no substitute for experience. Experience cannot be learnt. Experience is gained over time.
Need a repair? Most repairs like this are unique. Click the button below and let me know what you need.
Vintage bikes and parts require a classic workshop and a mechanic with extensive knowledge and experience. The skills, techniques, tools and ‘know-how’ for building and repairing these bikes are disappearing fast as materials, industry standards and technologies change.
Being a mechanic is more than simply fastening new boxed parts to new frames. You often have to think outside the box, use initiative, fall back on experience and take a risk, especially with older bikes. Sometimes things get messy, old parts seize, paint deteriorates, frames might need cold set or ‘straightened’.
Here’s a small portfolio of what I offer. Please get in touch to discuss your requirements.
Removing Seized Parts
This aluminium bottom bracket cup was seized in a steel bottom bracket shell. Dissimilar metals can cause galvanic corrosion which can lead to all sorts of issues. Patience, skill and experience are needed to rescue a situation like this without causing any damage to the frame.
Understanding the way the different parts of a component fit together helps to create a method for removing it if things go wrong.
The next frame came with a stuck and cut-off seatpin. It was a strange combination of plastic and steel insert. To preserve original paint, the only option was to cut the pin out of the frame.
An added complication was that this was Reynolds 753 tubing, so very thin, the use of the hacksaw blade has to be precise.
Once the pin is removed, the seat tube can be reamed, ready for the replacement part.
Restoring Original Paint
Paint fades over time, corrosion takes hold, transfers become fragile, chrome can lose it’s shine. Sympathetic treatment is required to keep things original, or new transfers can breathe new life onto a frame.
Before… years of dirt, fading paint and fragile original transfers.
After… clean, shining, corrosion neutralised. Everything stabilised and original.
This next bike had been stored in a shed and had paint plus some sticky and hardened waxy substances covering the paint and transfers. Originality is key, so care has to be taken to remove everything without damaging the paint and transfers.
Thread Repair, Frame Prep & Facing
Occasionally a thread might fail, over tightening or other damage can cause a thread to strip. Bolts can also seize.
Fitting a helicoil insert into a stripped seat lug. This is also a common repair carried out to crank pedal threads.
Most people never adjust or move a horizontal dropout frame adjuster. They are only 3mm in diameter and can easily snap under any pressure.
Bearings work best when they are fitted to clean and prepared surfaces. It’s really important to cut and face bearing surfaces for the headset and bottom bracket.
Other work offered includes…
- Frame check & alignment
- Fork check & alignment
- Cold set for different hub dimensions
- Frame end alignment
Cleaning and Restoring Parts
Sympathetic treatment of parts for your bike restoration is important and has to be done carefully. These parts aren’t easy to find and are increasing in price, so being able to clean and reuse what you have is important.
Bike Builds
Do you have the frame and the parts but want everything assembled professionally?
