Buff's Classic/Vintage/Retro rebuilds

[Hairy]

Buff ... can't find the red bike in the classifieds.

 

I have a friend who was knocked over on her lovely old zini that is looking for a new bike .... the poor zini frame broke in the crash.

 

So size please tchjina .. will forward her the link to this post in any event

[Barry_W]

Onto the little pink Lejeune, built by Gotti Hansen.

Great thread Buff!

 

It must be hard to part with them after putting in so much work.

 

Not to split hairs but the Lejuene was more likely built by Francois du Toit

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Buff ... can't find the red bike in the classifieds.

 

I have a friend who was knocked over on her lovely old zini that is looking for a new bike .... the poor zini frame broke in the crash.

 

So size please tchjina .. will forward her the link to this post in any event

 

I've only advertised it on the Vintage SA bikes on FB but she's more than welcome to drop me a whatsapp message on 0seven2 6owe734double7 Frame size is a little unusual in that it's around 53cm seat tube and 55cm toptube. It belonged to an elderly lady previously and has seen very little use   

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Great thread Buff!

 

It must be hard to part with them after putting in so much work.

 

Not to split hairs but the Lejuene was more likely built by Francois du Toit

 

Apologies, you're quite correct, I'm jumping ahead of myself with the different bikes. Le Jeune was built mostly by FduT under license from France

[Hairy]

shotto ... details sent

 

I've only advertised it on the Vintage SA bikes on FB but she's more than welcome to drop me a whatsapp message on 0seven2 6owe734double7 Frame size is a little unusual in that it's around 53cm seat tube and 55cm toptube. It belonged to an elderly lady previously and has seen very little use 

[BuffsVintageBikes]

I never photographed the full Le Jeune build but here's a few pics of the strip down and polishing of the crank set which was badly corroded.

The brake hoods were also beyond salvage but I was fortunate to find a spare set here on BikeHub.

[BuffsVintageBikes]

The finished Le Jeune in all her 48cm glory New gear & brake cables and fresh white bar tape. I really enjoyed the handle bars on this little bike, they're like the old Cinelli track bars.

[DJR]

Agreed on the great shape handlebars. 

[wildwindfr]

Nice. Will be following!

[HeyYou]

In my spare time I build up old steel bangers that I pick up at a fair price and restore some new life into them. I mostly focus on SA built bikes like Raleigh, Le Jeune, Hansom etc. (because they're cheaper) but won't shy away from an Italian beauty if it comes my way at a good price. In most instances I try and keep the bike as original as possible but that's not always possible due to the scarcity of parts in SA.

Sometimes I might even sell one or two, but that happens rarely as I tend to form emotional bonds with them very quickly

 

I'll use this thread to document and share some of the bikes which I've done and which I'm currently busy with. I try and focus on one bike at a time and generally won't start another project until I've finished the current one.

If you're interested you can also follow me on Instagram as @betarider

 

Welcome to the Bike Rebuilders Society!!!!!

 

There are quite a few of us on the Hub, restoring anything from BMX to older urban bikes. I mostly concentrate on European classic road racing bikes, though I have a good few SA classics and a few 'old' MTBs. Some of the guys have quite big collections, 50 or more bikes, restored over many years (AND UNABLE TO SELL THEM :clap: ) .

 

A lot of the guys post on the Retro thread, but only a few (DJR is one), post a blog type thread of their rebuilds.

 

Keep it up, interesting read.

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Thanks HeyYou. I'd love to focus on old MTBs as well but I just don't have the space available for all the bikes. I've already got a restored Chopper standing in my lounge that the wife gives me grief about every once in a while It might be time to extend the man cave somewhat... or sell a few   

[BuffsVintageBikes]

This old Le Jeune 531 was way too large for me but I picked it up at a good price so decided to breath some fresh life into it.

The bars were hacked, the rear derailleur bent beyond repair (I tried) an the saddle poked. Getting the old BB out was almost mission impossible. After spraying and soaking it for a week without success, I eventually gave up and took it to Mark for help. What followed was something of a hack job involving hammers, hacksaws and lots of foul language. 2 x Shimano BB tools were broken in the process 

We eventually got the internals out i.e. axle and bearings , but the cup remained rusted tight. So it was off to an engineering firm who welded a thick rod onto the internal cup and then managed to remove it with ease. I think the heat of the weld helped. So then it was back to Mark to clean up the threads and fix a new BB.

 

This wasn't a full nut & bolt original restore so I striped the bike and replaced the groupset with an old Exage300EX and RX100 7 speed groupset that I had lying around that was in great nick, replaced the saddle with nice white Silverback saddle and fitted new cables, handle bar and bar tape.

This bike will also go up for sale now as it's too large for me to ride (60cm CT seat tube).

 

Some Before & After shots

[gummibear]

Because the frameset wasn't anything super special I decided against a full respray and new sticker kit and hit it with a light polishing compound to try and get rid of the worst of the surface rust and old paint. It turned out better than expected.

 

Some before and after photos of the paint on the frame and forks:

Nice thread [emoji106]

 

What polishing compound did you use?

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Nice thread [emoji106]

 

What polishing compound did you use?

 

Autosol metal polish, nothing beats it. I even used it on the paint work of the red Raleigh and then just wax polish afterwards   

[BuffsVintageBikes]

The latest bike on my work bench is an old Peugeot Mirage, probably from the late 80's or early 90's. The bike has been neglected but it seems to be all original although I'm not 100% sure. Many of the Peugeot's ran Suntour groupsets but this bike is running a full Shimano 105 6 speed groupset.

 

I’ve got a soft spot for SA built Peugeot’s as my very first racing bike was a pearl white Peugeot Rapport, bought with my first month pay cheque for R850 from Oxford Cycles in EL in the early 90’s. That was then followed by an upgrade to a Peugeot Classique, built with Japanese Tange 1 tubing. It cost close to R2500 but it was running a prototype Suntour bar shifter type setup, the likes of which I never saw on any other bike. I thought I was the bees knees. My sister's father-in-law worked at the Western Flyer factory at Dimbaza outside KWT and he was able to source the Classique for me.  

 

So now I have a bee in my bonnet to restore one of each of the Peugeots:

Mirage

Le Mans

Rapport

Classique.

 

There might be one or two others models I’ve forgotten about?

 

As collected

[gummibear]

 

So now I have a bee in my bonnet to restore one of each of the Peugeots:

Mirage

 

My first racing bike was a blue,1988 Peugeot Mirage with Suntour parts and dia-compe brakes.

 

It was stolen about 5 years back out my parents garage.