Raven Tour face lift.

[Matt2matt2002]

Hi folks,
Opinions and views very welcome.

My black Raven Tour is 15+ years old and in need of a good face lift.
The paint work has been patched over the years and it's had a well used and hard life taking me on several tours abroad.
Due to my health situation I wont be using it for a couple more months.

I have located a nearby company that can sand blast and powder coat the frame.
I've also found a LBS that will strip the frame down and then reassemble the bike after the paint job.

What pit falls should I be aware of?
Also, what finish? Matt, gloss....?

I'm inclined to keep it black. I like the idea of using a local company rather than sending the frame away.

Many thanks in advance for your considered thoughts, opinions and advice,

The company usually looks after oil rig equipment but have done bikes in the past.
£100 flat fee.

Matt

[mickeg]

New cables on rebuild.  If the outer housing on the shifter is not same length for both cables, it would be good if it was the same length.  Meaning the outer housing lengths should match.  You might want a third inner cable cut to the same length as the other cables to carry as a spare.  Is the outer housing in good shape, or should that be replaced?

If that bike uses an internal shift cable instead of EX box, do you want that cable replaced too?  That could involve some costly labor.

A maybe on brake pads?  That could cost more in labor than the cost of pads.

If drop bars, any particular bar tape you would prefer?  Color?

How good are the tires?

I think my Sherpa has a clear coat over the black.  The clear coat is also over the decals so the decals do not get rubbed off.  But the clear coat over the yellow paint on my Nomad Mk II flakes off, not sure if it was poorly prepped or what?  Is that something you would like?

Do a good inspection of the frame after sandblasted to see if there is any rust damage on the insides of the tubes.  I have occasionally seen on this forum photos of rust perforations on frame tubes.

My Nomad Mk II came with a piece of tape inside the headtube that covered the holes in the headtube to the top tube and downtube.  That way any water that got inside the headtube did not run down into the downtube or top tube, instead ran out of the bottom of the head tube.  A piece of tape is a really good idea there.

Make sure the serial number is visible and readable after the work is done.

I put a small drop of paint on my seatpost about a cm above the top of frame so I can easily see if my seatpost is in the right place or not.  If you did that before the work, you could set it up proper when the bike is returned to you without trial and error.

If you are one of the people that makes sure that the inside of the frame is greased where the seatpost is installed, you might plan to do that yourself when the bike is returned.

Take a photo of the stack of spacers on the steerer tube above the headset so you can get it set up the same later, just in case they do not keep records of the stem height on the steerer tube before disassembly.

I like to use blue (removable) threadlocker on rack bolts and fender bolts.  Most people don't do that.  Do you have a preference?

[martinf]

Adding to George's list:

Wheels

I check the wheels every few years for rim wear and spoke tension/wheel truth.

Just done a fairly extensive overhaul on my old 650B utility bike. The rear rim is at just over 14,600 kms and starting to get a bit concave, but I reckon I can still use it for a year or two. Front rim doesn't seem very worn at 9,500 kms, unlike the older rear rim it has a wear indicator. Both rims were still true, so no need for any spoke adjustment. Rims wear relatively quickly on this bike as it is my preferred choice for local riding in bad weather and/or on tracks and paths. I use the front brake more than the rear, but rear rims wear more quickly, probably because the rear wheel picks up more muck than the front.

Front hub is a SON dynohub, so I don't do any maintenance other than cleaning the outside. Rear hub is an old Sturmey Archer S5/2, so I stripped that down, cleaned and relubricated it. It still works well after 56,000 kms.

With a Rohloff, I would just check the flanges, as these can sometimes crack. Not had this happen on any of my hub gear bikes, but in 1978 I did crack a flange on a derailleur hub falling on ice.   

Transmission

The chain hadn't been maintained for two years, so I took the ChainGlider off, wiped clean the chainring and sprocket, swapped the chain for another and cleaned the inside of the ChainGlider before refitting it. The latter had picked up a certain amount of black gunk, probably from a mix of dust and chain lube. The chain I took off was black, but not measurably worn, so I cleaned/relubed it and it will be going back on next time I do an extensive overhaul. 

Pedals and bottom bracket unit didn't need any maintenance. The gear cables and housings had only been on for a few years, and still worked smoothly, so I didn't replace them.

Brakes

I dismantled, cleaned and regreased the cantilever brakes, but I needn't have bothered as the grease on the insides was still good. These brakes had been on the bike for 35,000 kms. The old Deore XT brake levers from the early 1980's (64,500 kms) just needed a squirt of silicone lube and very slight tightening to reduce play. The brake cables and housings had been on the bike for more than twenty years, so I replaced with new, the rear inner cable was a bit rusty so I should probably have done this sooner. I replaced the brake pads, which had been on the bike for about 4 years, they were very worn.

Headset

Dismantled (except for the fixed cups), cleaned and regreased. This is a Stronglight X headset with needle bearings with 51,000 kms of use.

Stem/bars and seat post/saddle

Took the stem out of the fork, seat post out of the frame, put some anti-seize grease on them and refitted them. The Tange straight handlebars (steel) had a bit of rust after 55,500 kms but not too bad so I didn't change them. The Ergon handlebar grips were worn, so I replaced these with ESI Fatty grips, which don't last so long but are a bit more comfortable. The B66 Champion saddle (69,500 kms) just needed its regular treatment - I use Nikwax rather than the recommended Proofide.

[Andyb1]

Hi Matt,
As George and Martin have indicated, a frame repaint may extend itself to a complete bike make-over!

My thoughts:
1.  Blasting the frame - there are different mediums that can be used.  No need to use anything too abrasive.  Obviously the EBB and steering bearings would need to be removed and personally I would make up wooden ‘pegs’ to push into those large holes (and the seat stem).  And put bolts in the M5 threaded holes that go into the frame.  That should help to keep the medium out of the frame, but there are still small drainage holes that might be temporarily filled with epoxy?   (If the blasting medium gets inside the frame it may later retain dampness and could migrate onto bearings…).

2.  Paint or powder coat?
Paint would be more expensive and need primer / base coat / top coat / laqueur.
Powder coat would be applied in one go.
With both processes there are a range of types / qualities.

New Thorn frame are finished by SJS with threads being cleaned out but a frame could be painted with bolts fitted so that threads are not painted (always a danger of damaging threads if they have to be cleaned out).

The danger of having one person blast it and another paint it is that the steel can start to rust before the new paint goes on.   If I get an exhaust blasted and repainted I get the person blasting it to repaint it immediately.

Alternatively…….
You have ridden a lot on that bike, and if you repaint it you will loose the patina that it must have gained from your trips.  Black is an easy colour to touch up if any areas are especially bad.

 


 

[mickeg]

On the topic of threads on the fittings for fender mounts, water bottle cages, etc., it is easy enough to clean those out with a 5mm tap.  I would not bother giving instructions to anyone on that. 

The first new frame I bought, I had to buy a tap to do that.  I do not remember if any of the other frames that I bought new needed a tap to be run through the threads or not, I do not remember because it is such a minor thing to do.

I noted above on rack bolts, fender bolts, I use thread locker.  A lot of bike shops do not even have any thread locker in the shop, that is not as common as you might think.   Water bottle cage bolts, a bunch of other fittings, I grease the threads first.  You do not think of grease as being a good way from keeping a bolt from vibrating loose, but it actually is pretty good at that because grease is very very viscous.

But a lot of this detail is more than any people you hire to do the work want to hear.  That said, in the interview before you hire the work to be done, you could ask them what they do on these topics.  If they are evasive, hire someone else.

I get detail oriented because I do 99 percent of my own work.  Last time I paid a bike shop to do some work on one of my bikes, it was to press the headset into the frame and fork on a new frame I bought, I did not own the tools I needed for that.  That was a decade ago.

If your rims are CSS, make sure that if they replace brake pads, that they know what pads to use.  If they are CSS, if it was me, I would instruct them to not do anything on the pads as most shops would not know what CSS rims are.