Smackhead Express - Raleigh Routier

[Reynard]

Thanks - it's obtaining it that's the issue as the rest of the saddle is tatty and I could probably replace it with a cheapo one for £15 off the 'bay (IIRC the bike it came off only cost £100 new).. need to befrend an upholsterer so I can purloin their offcuts

That might be me, then. Let me know what you want to do - I may have some offcuts knocking around if you're not too fussy when it comes to colour.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

... it's in my nature to try and improve things though! In my defence the saddle may well become a practical issue soon as the fabric beneath the outer covering is wearing and I suspect will get water-logged if it gets wet. Did think of the gaffer tape approach and it might come to that yet.

Generally I also like to tidy up my acquisitions - but I mentally divide my fleet into "good" bikes and hack bikes. The former I do try to make as presentable as the underlying condition allows. The latter I just maintain them so they are safe & functional to ride. Whilst riding something that looks like a shed may cause observers to form a particular impression of me, I don't really care about that and they can think what they want. The fact the bike is still there when I return even in a less than salubrious location means ultimately I have the last laugh.

That looks like a tidy little score - how old do you think it is? Looks like it pre-dates MTBs by a long way tbh! I think a lot of old steel frames probably ride a lot better than many would give them credit for; and likewise many names we now fully associate with crap (such as Apollo) might not have been so shifty back in the day

Funnily enough I saw an abandoned ladies Apollo on the Cowley rd recently - was tempted to snaffle it but it needed a load of work and given what it was figured it was probably unlikely to be worth flogging it on, while I also didn't fancy pushing it 3 miles home and attempting to ride at the same time would probably have ended in disaster

I believe the 3-speed dates to about '73/74. That didn't come from a skip and I was told it was bough in response to the petrol price spike caused by the Six Day War which seemed to set the inflation trend for the rest of the '70's.
I've encountered dumped bikes at times I had no immediate means of transporting them. I try to push them out of sight, and in one case I chained it to a lamp post using the lock off my hack bike then returned later when I was in the vicinity with a van.
Halfords own brand bikes have always been low budget, but they haven't always been crap. I have an 80's Halfords (not Apollo) frame that is really well detailed for a 3-speed gas pipe job. It's much more nicely made than my Puch frame, but unfortunately is an inch smaller.

 

[rogerzilla]

The factory "packing grease" on chains is better than anything you can buy. Just fit and ride.

 

[wafter]

That might be me, then. Let me know what you want to do - I may have some offcuts knocking around if you're not too fussy when it comes to colour.

lol - how convenient, thanks! Unfortunately I'm a bit of a tart but if you've got some going begging I'm always interested to hear what's on offer

Generally I also like to tidy up my acquisitions - but I mentally divide my fleet into "good" bikes and hack bikes. The former I do try to make as presentable as the underlying condition allows. The latter I just maintain them so they are safe & functional to ride. Whilst riding something that looks like a shed may cause observers to form a particular impression of me, I don't really care about that and they can think what they want. The fact the bike is still there when I return even in a less than salubrious location means ultimately I have the last laugh.

I believe the 3-speed dates to about '73/74. That didn't come from a skip and I was told it was bough in response to the petrol price spike caused by the Six Day War which seemed to set the inflation trend for the rest of the '70's.
I've encountered dumped bikes at times I had no immediate means of transporting them. I try to push them out of sight, and in one case I chained it to a lamp post using the lock off my hack bike then returned later when I was in the vicinity with a van.
Halfords own brand bikes have always been low budget, but they haven't always been crap. I have an 80's Halfords (not Apollo) frame that is really well detailed for a 3-speed gas pipe job. It's much more nicely made than my Puch frame, but unfortunately is an inch smaller.

Indeed - I feel the same in principal and generally manage to avoid pouring money into sheds that I'll never get back, but can't help the urge to constantly improve within reason. Of course the fact that keeping the bike looking tatty is, in practical terms a positive thing in this case is somewhat at odds with this..

I'm not really bothered by peoples' perception either - I think the lowest I've stooped so far is riding the ofo round town with no shirt on


Not that I'm in any way educated but I could see the Apollo as '70s.. I love that sylish no-frills utilitiarian look that harks back to a time when bikes were considered a practical necessity by more people than they are now. Sounds like you're more committed / accomplished than I am with your finds - I often feel a bit scally (my moral threshold is "unlocked and unrideable") and haven't yet resorted to locking anything up, but I'm fairly new to this!

A mate of mine has an old Halfords town bike I'd guess from the '70s or '80s; it's far too small for him too but looks alright for what it is; rust notwithstanding..

The factory "packing grease" on chains is better than anything you can buy. Just fit and ride.

I can see why it might appeal although sadly it didn't acquit itself well on my Genesis; retaining a lot of dust and particultates and accumulating on the cassette and chainrings. I imagine it might be better in winter when corrosion is more of a concern and there's less grit in the air..

 

[wafter]

After a good few weeks of stagnation I'm happy to report some more progress!

A while ago on @Gunk's recommendation I popped my head round the door of local shop Warlands on my quest for a replacement bracket for the rear mudguard. After a pitying look toward the bike from the owner (or perhaps he recognised it as having been dumped across the road from his shop before I found it) I was sent on my way with a used one for the princely sum of a quid

Since this job requred a bit of effort and skill while offering plenty of scope for cock-ups it was left for a while, until this morning when I awoke early and uncharactistically motivated; spurred on by a fantastic dawn that promised a day of glorious weather.

Out into the fresh morning air and the back end of the bike was stripped; chain, wheel, panier rack and brake caliper off; leaving the tatty rear mudguard hanging on by a single stubborn bolt at the chainstay bridge. The bolt had a thin slotted head with limited access, and after breaking a chunk out of my finest piece of spare-broken-hacksaw blade trying to hold the bolt steady I cracked out the Dremel and cut some slots across the nut and bolt; which got it all moving with no bother

Once off the sorry state of the guard could be seen in all its glory - half of the plastic covering already torn off, the rest tatty in places and harbouring some light corrosion of the stainless guards where it had been damaged and retained moisture..

The site of the old, broken bracket:

The leading edge of the guard where it bolts to the frame:

The next seeming eternity was spent peeling of the covering f (if I was lucky), or more often than not painstakingly picking it away in areas where the adhesive proved stronger than the material itself. This was helped by a bit of warming over the gas ring; sometimes to the detriment of my fingers

With all the plastic removed the guard was washed, dried and the remaining adhesive residue scrubbed off with an old sock and some degreaser. While it was off I had a crack at knocking out a bit more of the smackhead damage; using a dolly lashed up from a bit of rotten wooden baton and the guard separated from the doorstep beneath by the faithful old sock again..

Finally the guard was waxed; looking a lot better than when I started:

Next I moved onto the frame, which was also a bit grotty:

The back end of the bike got a bit of a wash and scrub with an old toothbrush to get the worst of the crap out of the nooks and crannies before also being waxed to afford a bit of extra protection.

Next I had a crack at the bracket; first straightening it out with pliers and an adjustable spanner before giving a bit of a working-over with a soft-faced mallet and the famous sock on my doorstep anvil to try and knock the tighter kinks out, with some success..

This was offered up to the guard, marked and bent as accurately as possible in successive goes with the adjustable spanner again, until it was a reasonable but loose fit on the guard. It's far from perfect but given my limited facilities and experience with such stuff I don't think I could have done much better:

While the panier rack was off I took the opportunity to strip it and work over the rusted chrome with some 0000 wire wool and oil, with pleasing if not perfect results. Here's the rack bracket after my last effort - cleaned up a lot better than I'd expected although in some areas it's clearly too far gone with the chrome having flaked off in sizeable chunks..

As usual once tidied everything was waxed, with a little thick oil dropped into the joints to try and give some corrosion protection in these areas.

(Ctd. in next post )

 

[wafter]

...

Everything fettled as far as was practicible it was time to sling it all back together, using some of my leftover Ofo-bound stainless socket button cap / Nyloc fixings to replace the fasteners destroyed during removal.

The bolt that came out was about 8mm long but replaced with a 12mm item to accommodate the additional length of the extra washers fitted and T-type Nyloc nut. I was a bit worried that this might cause clearance issues with the tyre during fitting; it wasn't fun but I got it back on and tbh I'm not sure if the bolt caused a problem or whether it was just the tight-fitting guard as usual. The bolt could do with a couple of mil nipping off the end to be sure but I can't be arsed to take it all out again yet so that'll have to wait until next time..

Anyway, here's the bike as it currently stands - cleaner, shinier, hopefully less rattly and now lacking the serpentine coils of the old innertube I'd entwined around the panier and mudguard to stop the guard moving about too much and causing further noise and damage.

Tbh the photos flatter it somewhat and I've spent an obscene amount of time playing with the bike given what it's "worth" in monetary terms, but of course it's not all about that; so far I've found it a really rewarding project that feels all the more worthwhile considering what an excellent value, practical tool it's proven to be so far.

For interest's sake when the bike was in bits I weighed a few parts; the complete rack coming in at around 925g and the stand around 230g. As it stands in pretty much completed form the bike weighs 13.9kg. The bike now owes me all of £31 and probably about 20hrs labour.. since I fitted the speedo it's covered about 150 miles so that works out at around 20p per mile

There's still arguably more to be done but this was the last of the necessary mechanical issues addressed. I find the paper-thin bar tape uncomfortable (plus it looks nasty) so I'm tempted to replace it, likewise the aesthetics of the saddle let the bike down and I don't like the stickers much, but as has been acknowledged many times all these probably make it less attractive to thieves, so will probably stay until I get the opportunity of replacements as appropriate for "you'd be silly not to" money.

Will probably give it a bit of a test ride later; given the hours spent I think I'm subconsciously expecting it to ride like a dream; although rationally the best I can expect is that it no longer sounds like a tin can kicked down the street over the bumps

 

[Reynard]

That really does look a whole lot better

If you do want to re-cover that saddle, give me a yell and I'll have a look for some vinyl for you.

 

[wafter]

That really does look a whole lot better

If you do want to re-cover that saddle, give me a yell and I'll have a look for some vinyl for you.

Thanks on both counts - I might just do that

I need to finish working my way through the thread on your latest project too; although it's somewhat intimidating in its length!

 

[Reynard]

Thanks on both counts - I might just do that

I need to finish working my way through the thread on your latest project too; although it's somewhat intimidating in its length!

That's because we've gone off on the occasional tangent...

And it was very much a learning experience, as it's my first project. Have just ordered the last necessary item (crankset with a decent number of teeth), so hopefully soon, I should have a rideable bike...

 

[Gunk]

Considering it’s your first project you’ve made a really good job of it, I’m only down the road in Botley so give me a shout if you ever need any help/tools etc. Kettle is always on.

 

[Reynard]

Considering it’s your first project you’ve made a really good job of it, I’m only down the road in Botley so give me a shout if you ever need any help/tools etc. Kettle is always on.

I think you've got me and @wafter crossed up!

Mind, I wouldn't say no to cups of tea, even if I've got to hoof it from north of Cambridge...

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Just goes to prove you can have a decent utility runabout for bugger all if you're prepared to get your hands dirty and sort things out by repairing them and using secondhand bits. I would ride that any day in preference to some modern plastic bike with a price tag a hundred times as much.

 

[wafter]

That's because we've gone off on the occasional tangent...

And it was very much a learning experience, as it's my first project. Have just ordered the last necessary item (crankset with a decent number of teeth), so hopefully soon, I should have a rideable bike...

Nice work - hopefully you'll get to put some good miles on it before the weather changes!

Considering it’s your first project you’ve made a really good job of it, I’m only down the road in Botley so give me a shout if you ever need any help/tools etc. Kettle is always on.

Thanks - that's very much appreciated

Just goes to prove you can have a decent utility runabout for bugger all if you're prepared to get your hands dirty and sort things out by repairing them and using secondhand bits. I would ride that any day in preference to some modern plastic bike with a price tag a hundred times as much.

Absolutely - that's one of the things I love so much... feels like I'm gaming the system to get such a practical piece of kit for so little. Almost like it shouldn't be allowed given how there seems to be such a drive in so many aspects of life to keep you on the hook and paying through the nose to some scumbag or another. Not so with bikes; especially old ones


Unfortunately the bike blotted its copybook on the way to the pub last night; letting me get all the way down the hill until the back wheel decided to shift in the dropouts and to the point where the tyre was heavily, consistantly rubbing on the mudguard - so back up the hill it was pushed

Since I fitted the new tyres clearance has always been tight on the back, thanks to knobbly bits on the outside of the tyres and and the single pinch point where the guard necks down to pass between the chainstays. For anyone reading this and considering tyres for the same bike; I'd advise 32c slicks as a maximum...

I adjusted the wheel and it's now useable, but does rub slightly in one place due to the rim not being totally straight; so that needs addressing at some point..

 

[Reynard]

Nice work - hopefully you'll get to put some good miles on it before the weather changes!

Thanks!

Although that will be my bike *FOR* when the weather changes. I envisage it getting rather muddy come the potato and sugar beet lifting seasons.

Hope the Routier was severely admonished for letting you down so badly at the bottom of the hill...

 

[wafter]

Thanks!

Although that will be my bike *FOR* when the weather changes. I envisage it getting rather muddy come the potato and sugar beet lifting seasons.

Hope the Routier was severely admonished for letting you down so badly at the bottom of the hill...

Would be nice to get a few dry miles on it before it sees the horrors of winter though

Choice words were uttered as the wheel was re-aligned, although I suspect tightening the wheel a bit more when originally fitted might have avoided the situation


Today I up-ended the bike to straighten the rear wheel and noticed that since re-aligning the wheel in the frame the only rubbing was at the brakes so I re-centred these with reasonable success

I tweaked the spokes on the back wheel and while the frequency of wobble remains much the same its amplitude / total runout is less. I also tweaked out the edges of the guard but springback in the material means I still have maybe 1mm of clearance with the frame. Not nec. a bad thing I guess since the paint's unsurprisingly worn in other areas of contact.

Here's the situation with tyre clearance at the front of the rear guard; I'd guess 1-2mm at best. Note the tightest spot is near the raised tread at the shoulder; without this the clearance would be a lot more generous. These did come up a bit narrower than the 32mm specified at around 30.5mm across the sidewalls but I suspect you'd get away with 32mm slicks if they weren't excessively over-sized. As long as the wheel stays true I shouldn't have a problem, and so far they've proven pretty robust

New lower fixing; different grades of stainless with anti-seize grease. Thankfully the end of the bolt is nowhere near the tyre so won't require shortening.

After half an hour of mincing in the garden (which quite frankly was a privilege given the fantastic weather) the Raleigh took me into town for a haircut and maybe 15 miles total of just moseying around, which was very nice