Members' bikes

[LEE]

The story of my British Eagle Touristique (BET) rennovation (for Fab Foodie, started on another thread and linked to this)

Bought, Harry Hall cycles in 1986 (by me) £285.

Used as a commuter, short runs, a few 50 mile charity rides and, eventualy, in 2002 on a LEJoG trip.

LEJoG got me interested in Long Distance and, after a few social rides I decided that it was worn out and invested in a Thorn Raven Tour in 2006.

The BET was hung up for 2 years and never ridden.

The Thorn got me around several Audax rides including my Super Randonneur last year but I started hankering for something a bit more sprightly.  After looking long and hard at the Thorn Audax and their MK3 I figured that I may have the perfect bike hanging up in the garage.

I stripped the bike, put the bits in a bucket of white spirit and sent the frame to Mercian Cycles with a design suggestion I did on Photoshop (and was vetted by members of the forum, ACF forum possibly).  The scheme was influenced by Richard Wareham's bike I saw on a few Audaxes.

Mercian fitted new braze-ons for cantis (that would fit 700c wheels), did the respray, lug-lined it (beautifully), new 531 transfers, lettering and stencilling plus a new headset.

When it came back after a few weeks I took the mechs out of the white spirit and rebuilt it.

I can't be happier with the re-spray, it's nicer than I imagined and much redder than any photo can recreate I think.

It's quicker than the Raven and quite lively.  It's not going to win any TTs but I think it should get me another Super Randonneur this year and I hope to use it on PBP.

Here it is in 2002 LEJoG guise.  Loch Lomond (I mistakenly thought that, because I was now in Scotland, I must be nearly there)


Here is is just before I stripped it and sent it to Mercian.  I think it looked tired after 22 years.


Here's my Photoshop design for the respray


Here's what I sent them (wheels removed)


Here's what they sent back


And here's the finished article (it now has black bar tape as per original design)


I had them immortalise it's 1986 birthday



I'm not even going to discuss what it cost me to rennovate but it wasn't so different to the original cost of the bike (I took a lot of Mercian options and £20 here, £15 there soon adds up to a lot).  It certainly didn't cost me as much as an equivalent new bike and part of the pleasure is keeping my old bike going and using it for it's intended purpose, covering lots of miles in comfort and at a decent speed.

Probably more info than Fab Foodie wanted but he has one hanging in his shed and I think the BET frameset has a reputation good enough to warrant keeping them going.

All good things come to an end I suppose.  I just wish it had done this before I spent all that money on it.

[mike]

 

[clarion]

OMGWTF!  How did that happen?  And, more importantly, are you OK?

[Moloko]

Now that's torn asunder!   

[clarion]

Broken through the lug?  Hmmm...  Maybe that's a laminate instead.

[Moloko]

Broken through the lug?  Hmmm...  Maybe that's a laminate instead.

Maybe it got all confused and thought it was carbon fibre.

[LEE]

OMGWTF!  How did that happen?  And, more importantly, are you OK?

During the Isle of Wight/New Forest 200 with 5km to go.

I'd been complaining about my (what I thought was) bottom-bracket creaking and groaning.  Then, climbing around a slow corner, I felt I had a rear wheel puncture as my bike started to 'shimmy'.  Pulled over to reveal tyres in perfect condition.  I asked a fellow rider to follow me and see if he could spot what was wrong.  I set off slowly and it was definitely a puncture.  Stopped, no puncture.

I checked around the bike and then spotted a hairline crack around the headtube lug.

I decided to nurse it slowly back to HQ and walk down and hills, avoiding the use of my front brake. I managed about 500 metres before "bang", my bike died.

The fact that it chose that moment, at about 4km/hr, to die is a major positive in a sad story.  For the previous 9 hours I'd been descending IoW hills (some very close to sheer cliffs) at 55-60 km/hr.  

It doesn't bear thinking about what could have happened.

PS.  Yes I'm fine and now even more desperate for my Condor Fratello to arrive.

[clarion]

Relieved you are safe.  Very unlucky failure.

[Tom B]

Many sympathies, Lee. Glad you're ok.
What an awful thing to have happen to a wonderful bike!
Am I right in thinking this is a most unusual occurrence on a lugged steel frame?

[David Martin]

I am surprised that the lug cracked. Usually it is the tube.

Anyhow, as it is just the lug, you may be able to get that easily repaired if you want to keep the bike. Cost prubably around 100 plus respray.

..d

[woollypigs]

All good things come to an end I suppose.  I just wish it had done this before I spent all that money on it.

that is sad

[LEE]

I am surprised that the lug cracked. Usually it is the tube.

Anyhow, as it is just the lug, you may be able to get that easily repaired if you want to keep the bike. Cost prubably around 100 plus respray.

..d

I thought about it but I'm not going to have it repaired.  It's 23 years old and I've had lots of fun and adventures on it.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for a similar frame on Ebay that I can transfer the parts to or maybe just buy a new, reasonably priced frame.

I'm thinking of a Thorn Audax Mk3 frame.  There's no rush, I'll see what turns up.

[TOBY]

Finally got round to building up my Ebay Frame on friday:


(I know "sunflower's a bit slack")

Took her out for a ride, with the mudguards added, just trim the guard stays and I'm all done



She's lovely.

Frame was 4 years old and done about 500miles in mint condition, I got her papers too if we want to go to crufts.

[Chris N]

She's lovely.

Sure is.  Beautiful colour.

[clarion]

Oh that is a nice bike.

[Sergeant Pluck]

All good things come to an end I suppose.  I just wish it had done this before I spent all that money on it

Sorry to read about that LEE and glad it didn't happen suddenly or at speed. I wonder if the brazing did not penetrate well around the lower part of the junction between lug and head tube. No matter. Just as well you have a Condor en route.

[matthew]

All good things come to an end I suppose.  I just wish it had done this before I spent all that money on it

That doesn't look good, glad it happened at low speed.

I shall have to inspect my Touristique closely. It had a respray in 2003 when I realised the braising on the seat stays had failed on one side and the cracking indicated the other side was going.

Unfortunately as I was still at Uni I required a stealth paint job so I asked Mercian for plain Gunmetal Grey. I wrote of the forks in 2005 during my big accident however the rest of the frame is now set up as my fixie for commuting and other general riding.

Matthew

[Gaseous Clay]

That's a damned shame LEE, it was a fantastic looking machine.

As you said though, the positive in the sad story was a MAJOR positive.

Good luck with the frame hunting.

[Zoidburg]

I have an abiding principle that it becomes counter productive to twiddle the cranks like mad at a pace that is moving the bike more slowly than I can push it.

In my experience it is infinitely harder to push a fully loaded cycle up a chevronned hill than ride it, however slowly your lowest gear enables you to go.  I was once forced onto the verge by a passing car three quarters of the way up the hill at Cock Bridge near Tomintoul, and had to finish off pushing (my old Orbit packed for cyclecamping in a Scottish autumn).  I've never done anything so hard.  I love my Roberts Roughstuff with its 22 34 low gear- never had to do that yet on the road, anyway. 

I don't struggle grunting up hills with heavy loads on foot, you have to be used to it though I suppose. It comes in handy when unloaded as well, off road or slightly rougher stuff can be fun and quick if you learn to shoulder the bike for a quick dash over an obstacle and then remount quickly on the other side.

[hubner]

Assuming that no brass has fallen off, it looks like there's a big gap between the end of the down tube and the head tube, and the brazing hasn't penetrated and filled the gap. It looks like bad workmanship to me, the joint seems to be held together purely by the lug, there's no direct contact between the DT and HT. As already mentioned, the brazing doesn't seem to have penetrated the bottom part of the lug either.

[Frenchie]

Oh dear! Sorry LEE. I knew it when I saw the colour scheme but had a slight hope I was wrong before I scrolled all the way to your message...

[LEE]

Assuming that no brass has fallen off, it looks like there's a big gap between the end of the down tube and the head tube, and the brazing hasn't penetrated and filled the gap. It looks like bad workmanship to me, the joint seems to be held together purely by the lug, there's no direct contact between the DT and HT. As already mentioned, the brazing doesn't seem to have penetrated the bottom part of the lug either.

I agree, as a complete layman in these issues I would have expected to see more brass in there.  Maybe the DT has been hanging off the top of the lug for 23 years rather than being supported evenly all over by a better braze.

It could also be just "one of those things".

I'm over it now, I'm glad to have walked away from it unharmed and glad that I found a probable reason behind the major 'Shimmy' I had on the Bryan Chapman 600.

The more I think about the high-speed shimmy on BCM the more I don't want to think about it, having felt what happened when the downtube snapped at walking speed on Sunday.

So, thanks for all the kind words, yes it was a lovely bike (if I say so myself) but I still have all my teeth, I'm not lying in hospital encased in plaster, it's just metal when all said and done and I just received confirmation that my Cyclescheme voucher has been approved.

Next post in this thread will hopefully be the Condor Fratello, a bike I ordered as a direct modern equivalent to the Touristique and, gorgeous in its own right.

Funny how things turn out.

[bumper]

The monster peregrine. I just need to add Brooks honey grips. lots more close ups on my blog link below. Currently running 2.35 nevegals .

[tom_e]

That's a fantastic solid-looking beast.  Makes you just feel like setting off and riding wherever the hell you feel like. 

[rogerzilla]

The monster peregrine. I just need to add Brooks honey grips. lots more close ups on my blog link below. Currently running 2.35 nevegals .

What on earth are you doing on that?  Iditabike?