Well I am finally back in the shop. I have been busy with some late season masonry work.
Well last night I removed the rear axle, free-wheel and bearings and skewer. first I de greased all the parts. Then I polished the alloy rim with Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish. I had to call it a night after that as it was brutally cold here last night. Also the shop kerosene forced air heater broke and I just replaced it. Another reason I have not been in the shop/garage lately. Back on topic. Today I repacked the bearings and installed the rear axle assembly. I also cleaned up the free wheel with White Lightning Clean Streak and got it "free wheeling" again. It had some drag due to lack of use and lubrication. After the axle and free-wheel were finished, I trued the wheel. Then I water tested the inner-tube. After that installed a new rim strip (rubber) then mounted the new Kenda 27 x 1 1/4 Gum-wall. After getting the rear wheel back on the bike. I had managed to refurbish the front wheel one "not too cold" day off work. Then I decided to hook-up the front brake.
Now the front brake has been up-graded to a vintage Weinmann Center-Pull Caliper Brake that came off a vintage Raleigh. (same with rear) I also tightened up the Micro Adjust Seat Post and mounted a temporary saddle. I wanted to see how this thing rolls before I continue. So with no back brake and no derailleur cables. I took it for a short ride in the drive. And it feels just like I hoped it would. Nice and tight and smooth as silk.
I still have some decisions to make about which derailleurs to use. I have a nice Sun Tour front derailleur that needs a good clean-up. Unfortunately the rear derailleur I planned to use does not fit. It is designed to mount to a hole in the drop-out. And there is no hole in drop-out on the Sportex frame. Maybe I can convert the derailleur to mount on the axle like the original. If not I`m sure I have something better than the massive old Shimano that I have on it now. Also I may change the road brake levers. I have a pair I like better, but they have some nasty "sappy looking" stuff on them. We`ll see how they clean up first. And I am not 100% pleased with the way the center-pull calipers cleaned up (especially the front). So I may be making a change there too. I like my new micro-adjust alloy seat-post although it was supposed to be silver! What are you gonna do? In closing, It is good to be back. And I am going to update the Raleigh Sports restoration. But I am going to try to finish the Sportex first. Ride Safe & always RESCUE-RESTORE&RECYCLE
Cheers,Hugh
There are adapters around that can be used for bikes with no hole in the dropout. I used such a adapter to mount a Nuovo Record derailleur on my Falcon, which came with the adapter from new. I imagine they'd be cheap if you can find one.
ReplyDeleteYou MAY be able to use the mount for the massive old Shimano via taking out the bolt that attaches the derailleur to the mount and using that mount in place of a built-in mount.
Thanks Steve, I did not know that adapters were available. As it turned out, I found a SunTour
ReplyDeletederailleur in a tool sack with some other old parts.And it had the standard drop-out slot mount. It cleaned up nice and shifts fine!