[CR]Gloria Garibaldini/ another Alcyon/conservation

(Example: Framebuilding:Brazing Technique)

Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:09:51 +0000 (GMT)
From: "alex m" <alexpianos@yahoo.fr>
To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Gloria Garibaldini/ another Alcyon/conservation


Beautiful bike, Kevin...

I would go along with Jan here, full dismantle, soft wire wool, and wax. Th e more corroded parts (headset, pedals) will take a lot of rubbing... It ca n be done a lot quicker with a rotating soft wire brush, but if you're not familar with this technique, you can do a lot of damage this way....

Conservation work on a bike can actually take a lot longer than restoration ... (I know of a high wheeler that was repainted at some point red blue and white like the French flag, it was probably ridden on Bastille day or some thing in a parade. Under the red blue and white the original black with gol d lining is still mostly there. Cutting/chipping back the modern paint inch by inch with a very sharp cutter knife will reveal the original finish, bu t what a job....)

The alloy parts shouldn't be wire brushed of course. On a polishing mop the y will come up to a bright shine that will look slightly out of keeping wit h the rest of bike, but the shine dulls down fairly rapidly on alloy. There again if time is of no object you can reach an intermediary state by hand with a cloth and alloy polish paste.

Here is another Alcyon racer :

http://www.reneherse.com/alcyon2.html

The condition is very different to the other one, and here I think the bike should be done up for occasional riding. Fully dismantled oiled cleaned wa xed. Overpainting removed. But I personally wouldn't touch in the paint, al though there is quite a bit missing.

The rims are non-original, but we have the original wood rims, not rideable . So the original rims would be fitted, the alloy rims on the bike at the m oment (fitted by the original owner) used to build up a second pair of whee ls with some early suitable hubs. One pair of wheels for show the other for riding.

One important point hasn't been mentionned I think : no restoration or clea ning/polishing should be envisaged without first taking a load of photos of the bike (Ray Dobbins site gives great advice on how to set up a cheap pho to studio).

It's all part of the history of the bike, and future owners can then see ex actly what has been done. This is basic procedure in any other field of res toration.

I personally would never buy a recently restored bike without seeing photos of the bike before the work was done. You just don't know what is under ne w paint, what parts are non-original, etc.

Alexander March Bordeaux France

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