Discussion: Would you rather restore or recondition?

[shadaboot27]

I want to hear peoples opinions on what do do with vintage bicycles. And im more specifically speaking about pre 1950's bicycles. Would you rather restore them (totally re-paint, chrome the works) or would you rather recondition them and keep them as original as possible? Or do you think it depends on the bicycle?

 

[arch684]

Depends on the bike,at that age some are in very poor condition and restoring them is the only option I would rather keep them as original as possible

 

[vernon]

It's all down to personal taste with no definitive answer.

 

[mjr]

It's all down to personal taste with no definitive answer.

Your opinion is down to our personal taste? Cool

I've restored one and reconditioned one. I think I prefer to recondition, but only if there's not much damage.

 

[shadaboot27]

I would only restore if the bike is in a very very poor condition, if there is no original paint left and there is parts missing. But too often i see people restoring bikes that are actually in very good original condition, they see a tiny bit of surface rust and think it's f***ed. This saddens me greatly because it only take a wire brush, some wire wool and a bit of WD-40 to clean them up a treat!

 

[shadaboot27]

Some people would see this for instance and think it's in terrible condition, but after a good clean it can look like this:

 

[shadaboot27]

where as this would be a perfect example of a bike that needs restoring:

 

[raleighnut]

where as this would be a perfect example of a bike that needs restoring:

Looks like you just answered your own question there.

 

[biggs682]

recondition for me

 

[mjr]

This saddens me greatly because it only take a wire brush, some wire wool and a bit of WD-40 to clean them up a treat!

Doesn't that leave patches of bare metal which will just rust again?

 

[shadaboot27]

Looks like you just answered your own question there.

I know what i think on the matter I just wanted to know other peoples opinions on it.

Doesn't that leave patches of bare metal which will just rust again?

That's where the WD-40 comes in, rub some in and it protects it from rusting further, when it rains the water just rolls right off it rather than soaking into the metal

 

[gavroche]

It depends on:
- do you have the technical expertise.
- can you spare the time
I have the second but not the first so I'm out.

 

[shadaboot27]

It depends on:
- do you have the technical expertise.
- can you spare the time
I have the second but not the first so I'm out.

Working on these really old bikes is a piece of piss. Everything I know about restoring and reconditioning vintage bikes is all self taught. Give it a go mate! I'd be happy to give you any advice! It's really fun and satiating.

 

[mikeymustard]

Satiating eh? Sounds somewhat salacious!
If I restored something to showroom condition I'd be frightened to ride it! Admittedly I'm not looking for really rare machines

 

[shadaboot27]

Satiating eh? Sounds somewhat salacious!
If I restored something to showroom condition I'd be frightened to ride it! Admittedly I'm not looking for really rare machines

The kind of restoration you do all depends on what bike it is and what you want to do with it. If you fully restore a very rare and valuable bike to showroom condition then yes, you shouldn't ride it, but you can do what i would call "a half arsed" restoration, where you just remove all the rust, brush paint it with hammerite and get it ridable and clean looking, then you can ride it all you like without having to worry.