Scenic Rim BanYard Rescue Mission

Hi hows it going?

My name is James and I'm a slightly deranged obsessive compulsive bikeaholic. In saying this mechanics and maintenance I feel to be a black art and my station in life is a simple and humble barbarian. I plunder the roads of Brisbane on my bicycle dressed in spandex and I fit the sporting man stereotype, rain hail or shine my guns do the talking at war with congestion. I reminise about a time when the world did not have such problems and riding my bicycle was the greatest thing I could do.

So this story as it is being written is a journey from a back shed in Kalbar (near Boonah) to a modest garage workshop (a toolbox with a few spanners) in Morningside for a locally handcrafted steel frame bicycle. The project presents a number of opportunities and challenges that may or may not mean I get it done for the pushies galore build off but I'll give it crack. So with that in mind and knowing that the cyperspace attention span is probably pretty short, lets get down to business:


I travelled to Kalbar to see a man about a bicycle:

 

 The bicycle in question has obviously been sitting in the shed for sometime but overall its in reasonable condition for its vintage. Complete with parts, bearings etc but for the chain and the bolt on cable guides. The man said he got off a friend who had it in his shed and he didn't want to throw it away. Other than that I don't know much about it's history or palmares. He seemed happy that my intention is to restore it in a way that's in keeping with that era and so forth. So parted with a lazy 25 bucks and thanked the man and departed steel horse in hand.

So in case you are wondering its Rule's 4 and 12 that apply here and its a case of dumb luck that a) I don't have a touring bike and b) I no longer have any steel within my collection except for a Customise Schwinn Super Delux with a Stumey Archer double kick hub but that's another thing all together. 

 

So I checked into the university of google and soon learned this frameset to be a handbuilt example by Guthie under the name Ashby Cycles also a Brisbane bicycle maker that was around the traps back in the day in fact working out of Wickham Terrace on Fortitude Valley. (Thanks Velo Aficinado). So I can therefore confidently time date this specimen at between 1973-1977 and the bottom bracket lug is stamped with the number 6323. If anyone knows what this number is please contact me.  

 

The geometry on this frame appears to be touring as it has the mud guard and rack bosses on it so that's cool and gives me some options for the build.

 

 

Photos:

It looks to have hand painted pinstripes on it which is pretty trick if you ask me and something I haven't seen before

Of course it needs to be weighed as I do with all my bikes and wheels. This one comes in a couple of kilos heavier than my 7 series Madone so I don't think the UCI limits is in danger on this one.

Need to be careful with this old girl as I don't want to damage it but the surface rust brushes off with a bit of steel wool so I'm hopeful a bit of elbow grease will do the trick:

Check this out it seems to be attacted to Campagnolo what screws straight on:

This is a problem, it's taken a hit so the top tube and down tube is slightly bent. Hopefully this can be bent back without resorting to heat from the oxy:

 

So my build plans are as follows:

 

Basically clean it up, bang some new wheels (700cx130mm) and other bits and pieces on it to get it rolling. If the ride quality, fit and comfort are ok for me then maybe I'll throw some real dollars some professional assistance. If anyone has an interest in this type of thing and would like to give me a hand or have a chat about it what's cool about restoring this humble bicycle relic from 70's trash into a flash as you like Ashby flyer that captures the very spirit of bicycle riding: 

 "There's None Better than"