11
votes
Accepted
Is gasoline an effective restoration material to use?
Gasoline aka petrol, is a volatile fluid that will dissolve grease and oils. It will penetrate, soften, and loosen impacted and congealed dirt and dust.
Petrol / Gasoline will NOT fix your rust, nor ...
- 114k
11
votes
Accepted
How can I remove rust from a bicycle?
Presuming you intend to ride this bike - start by checking the bike over closely. You do not want to get part-way through a restore and find some part is broken/missing and is hard to find. Old ...
- 114k
9
votes
Accepted
When to add decals
I would put them on before the clear coat. That way the clear coat helps to protect the decals as well as the paint.
- 2,795
9
votes
How to improve/restore vintage Peugeot bike, or is it even worth it?
This is often called "the slippery slope of knock-on upgrades" which can get expensive quickly.
There are two simple and relatively cheap upgrades to try.
Replace the brake pad inserts with modern ...
- 114k
9
votes
How to improve/restore vintage Peugeot bike, or is it even worth it?
If you are planning to ride the bike, replace the handlebar stem
- 21.2k
8
votes
Restoration project, help needed
The first question you should ask yourself is are you going to do this project is for fun and experience or for money? There is surely money to be made, otherwise the workshops like Steel Vintage ...
- 4,241
8
votes
How to improve/restore vintage Peugeot bike, or is it even worth it?
If you just want a reliable, more comfortable, more efficient and safer bike - just buy a new one.
Upgrading older bikes (or even new bikes) requires and investment in time and money: learning about ...
- 75.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Glycogen depletion, post-brief-ride recovery, and diet adjustment
This is most likely a mixture of fuelling and trying to do too much too soon.
It sounds like you routinely eat a fairly low carb diet, which is not in itself a bad thing, but will mean that it's ...
- 17.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Could you please help me identify my father's bike?
Rico was a bicycle manufacturer from Switzerland (Wallisellen, a town near Zurich). Rico PF means "Rico - Paul Fries".
You can check some badges on the swiss auction sites, to try to ...
- 3,401
7
votes
Accepted
Will this modern road bike hub fit in my 1990's MTB (130mm restoration)
Yes, it will work without issue.
To make it work with 7-speed you'll just use a 4.5mm spacer that's made for the purpose behind the cassette.
- 77k
6
votes
Is it possible to combine rod brakes with a coaster brake?
You won't be able to simply bolt on a coaster brake. Coaster brakes are typically built into a single speed or 2 or 3 speed internally geared hub.
To fit a coaster brake you will have to replace the ...
- 75.1k
6
votes
Glycogen depletion, post-brief-ride recovery, and diet adjustment
It's been a while since I researched this, so don't take it as gospel, but ...
There are several stages in the sequence toward metabolic exhaustion:
When you first start to exercise, the muscles (...
- 53k
6
votes
Old Motobecane pedals without bolt on axle - How to remove?
Near as I can tell from the posted pictures you have Maillard CXC pedals.
My guess is that you have the 500 model that can't be repaired.
"Baldy" has an account on his blog of working on the ...
- 19.4k
6
votes
Acquired an old bike with a house purchase; does it have value worthy of restoration?
I can tell you a little about the saddle and the coaster brake.
It's a Brooks Hammock Saddle.
I found a collection of Brooks Saddle catalogs. The oldest catalog with that saddle type was 1912.
The ...
- 19.4k
6
votes
Restoring an old Trek 820 with a modern groupset
The main consideration is you need to avoid boost cranks, which only work with boost rear ends. Most or all of the cranks still come in a chainline version compatible with 135 QR (same as 142x12 thru-...
- 77k
5
votes
Is gasoline an effective restoration material to use?
Gasoline does work for cleaning parts. But it's also extremely toxic and flammable, and may damage rubber or plastic parts (depending on the parts). So don't bother, just use degreaser. (If you want ...
- 4,262
5
votes
Accepted
What are a 'coach lines'
Coach lines (stripes) are a type of thin stripes you saw on (typically British) cars. They were a hallmark on high end cars like Rolls Royces.
See this image from from this article:
The coach ...
- 45.8k
5
votes
Accepted
Difference between a professional bike restoration place respraying and power coat company?
A really good question and one that a pro in the bike painting/PC business would be best suited to answer, but this is what I know about it:
Bikes need special care, or at least an operator that ...
- 77k
5
votes
Glycogen depletion, post-brief-ride recovery, and diet adjustment
I run on carbs, so my diet is very different to yours. But plenty of people do ride low carb, even keto. It's a conscious lifestyle decision for them though, and others only have carbs at all towards ...
- 53k
5
votes
New DIY project: restoring this bike from the bins. How can I service this back wheel?
As there are balls missing and bent components, you should completely refurbish the hub.
It looks like a freewheel type hub rather than a freehub/cassette type. First thing to do is get the freewheel ...
- 75.1k
5
votes
How can I remove rust from a bicycle?
Yes. Use rust converter inside the frame. It's quite runny. Remove everything from frame, block the bottom bracket, head tube, and add copious amount of it thru seat tube, and shake.
Removing surface ...
- 815
4
votes
Front drum (was disc) brake only works when going backwards (!)
There are two possibilities:
1.) The roller brake mechanism and internals are completely seized. Based on the level of rust on the outside of the brake, there is a strong possibility that there is ...
- 581
4
votes
Is gasoline an effective restoration material to use?
Gasoline may work as a degreaser, meaning it may improve the looks of your metal by removing the superficial coat of oil/grease.
I would not recommend the use of gasoline, because it will have ...
- 343
4
votes
Accepted
Removing a tire
If the tyre's safe to ride on, removing and replacing it shouldn't damage it, as long as you use the correct tools. These are tyre levers, which can be bought for literally a couple of dollars/euros/...
- 16.8k
4
votes
Can I use fiberglass cloth and resin to fix tiny holes in fenders?
Since it is no load carrying part and if you keep enough clearance between the repaired spot and the tyre there should be no problem. Take care to sand away any rust beforehand and treat the rusted ...
- 8,231
4
votes
Restoration project, help needed
The first thing to do to determine what you need is to make a comprehensive list of everything that you have. With that, you'll be able to get a reliable answer on what will be compatible.
First ...
- 4,135
4
votes
Restoration project, help needed
The bike kinda looks like a inexpensive model. Don't spend any real money (i.e. buying wheels) until you ascertain that the bike isn't a basket case, i.e. brakes and shifting can be made to work, ...
- 75.1k
4
votes
Converting my gear jump bike to a single speed
One fairly simple way to convert a derailleur bike to a single speed is to fit a replacement cassette with only one cog.
Notice this is little more than a stack of spacers, one special cog, and more ...
- 114k
4
votes
Accepted
Help identifying bike model and worth
That's an awesome bike - would be called a MTB back in the day, but now we'd call it a rigid MTB.
You probably have to replace the brake pads (the rubber blocks, 4 in total) because they go hard with ...
- 114k
4
votes
Could you please help me identify my father's bike?
Paolo, I don't know the make/model of your bike, but it seems clearly to be a standard design using standard components from perhaps the mid 20th century. For example Sturmy-Archer was famous for its ...
- 2,825
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible