If you are trying to determine the genealogy of your bicycle by it's features, go to our Vintage Bicycle Price Guide
which details bicycle features, wheel sizes, brake types, etc., as well as showing a price estimate for your old bicycle.
If you are trying to determine the make and model of your bicycle, go to our Vintage Bicycle Picture Database
which details bicycle features, wheel sizes, etc., as well as showing a price estimate for your vintage bicycle.
| WHERE CAN I GET PAINT, TO REPAINT MY STINGRAY, (IF I DECIDE TO)? APPROX. HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? I'M TRYING TO MAKE IT THE ULTIMATE OLD-SKOOL BIKE. PLEASE HELP ME WTIH TIPS, ON WHAT I SHOULD ALSO GET FOR IT. |
| you can get paint aswell as most of your other stingray needs thru pete aronson, www,hyper-formance.com |
| I WANT TO KEEP THE BIKE, I'M ONLY 13. WHAT I REALLY WANT TO KNOW IS, WHICH WOULD LOOK BETTER? REPAINT, OR CLEANING IT? AND WHERE COULD I GET REPLACEMENT STICKERS FOR MY RAY? P.S. IS IT JUST ME, OR R "MANTA RAYS" REALLY UGLY? GET A STINGRAY, IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO GO. |
| IF I WERE TO REPAINT AN OLD RAY, WOULD IT DECREASE THE VALUE? IF I WERE TO DO THAT, WHERE AND HOW WOULD I? COULD I GET REPLACEMENT STICKERS? ANY INFO/HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED |
| Unless the paint is pure rust, you're better off not re-painting. Just clean it up as best you can. It's kind of like cleaning an old coin - you don't do it because the patina is important. And you've got to be sure the shiny new repaint IS the right color. And the plastic decals (.vs. silk screen) just don't cut it. I know a lot of collectors who not buy a repainted cycle. Vin - Menotomy Vintage Bicycles, Inc. http://OldRoads.com |
| Hi All, As you may or may not know, I am involved in the George A. Wyman Centennial Recreation of 2003. I am to be 'the man in the saddle' (or as Jim W. likes to call me 'the intrepid motonaut'); in which I will be riding a near replica of a 1903 California brand Motor Bicycle from San Francisco to New york City. We are recreating the first crossing of the United States (Coast to Coast) by motor vehicle. All the details can be seen at: http://bikerodnkustom3.homestead.com/wyman1.html Our replica is nearly ready, but we have come upon a major roadblock. We have the wrong length spokes. Our spokes are just slightly too long. We are having a problem finding the proper length spokes in the proper diameter. This wouldn't be an issue if we had a spoke thread roller, as we could roll the threads a bit longer then cut or grind the spokes back to the length we need. Here are the spec.s for the wheels and spokes: We are using 28" X 1 1/2" rims with a 1949 New Departure Model D rear brake hub. Our current spokes are 3mm diameter (.105") and 305 mm length. We need, for the rear hub, a spoke length of 299/300mm and for the front a spoke length of 302mm,. This would be in a 3 cross pattern. We ran the numbers for a 4 cross pattern as well and that won't work either. Basically what I am asking of you is this: Preferably- if someone has a thread rolling tool that we could borrow just for long enough to do the minor adjustments neccessary to these spokes could we pretty please make arrangements for the use of the tool just long enough to correct this problem? if that isn't a possibility- if you know of a supplier where we can get these in short order please let us know. Thank you for your time, Rif Addams |
| Got your cleaning kit oldroads. Thanks. it works great. |
| Hi, ive recently stumbled across an old frame, its still got a "Hanimex" sticker on the frame with a "Sport" sticker on the seat post bar thingy. Any information on theses bikes would be appreciated. Cant find anything on the net about them. Also, and tips on restoring a rear brake drum?? |
| Based upon the Hanimex sticker, I'd say it's probably a Dragstar, and you mis-spelled the name. (notice the A instead of E). It was made by Malvern Star (hence the "A" spelling) Cycles Company of Victoria, Queensland, Australia. There's an example in the Canberra Bicycle Museum. http://canberrabicyclemuseum.info/manuf%201960-1980.htm at the bottom of the page. If you run a search under Dragstar + Malvern Star, you'll find lots of information on it. Malvern Star was the major bike company in Austrlia, in the same way as was CCM in Canada, and Schwinn in the USA. |
| I just bought a women's Ross Eurotour bicycle which is in alright condition.....does anyone know what year this was made in? Aslo is Ross considered to be a good manufacturer I couldn't find any history of the brand. Thank You! |
| I have a male Ross Eurotour. It's a typical example of a Raleigh Sports knockoff, with Shimano 3-speed mechanicals rather than Sturmey-Archer. It's a decent bike for riding around the city-very sturdy and simple to maintain. Ross is/was headquartered in PA. I paid about $40 for mine in clean, lightly used condition a couple of years ago; and it was worth it. |
| I know this is a little out of your guys area but, I am looking for the front decals and pedals to a 1960's Junior Tricycle; where is the best place to find them? Thanks |
| What works best to clean up a really grimy chain. I have many - on practically every bike I have - they need a thorough cleaning - but I would like to know what folks have found works best - the tools, (like a wire brush? brass brush? - what solvent?, etc.) |
| I've had good luck with those foaming engine cleaners, the type sold in auto stores. I get mine at either Walmart or the local grocery store. I think the brand is Engine Brite (or something clever like that). These types of cleaners are designed to strip off every bit of grease/oil, so you MUST lubricate the chain afterwards. |
| I bet they are not as grimy as the chain gets on my motorcycle. And the owners manual for the MC sez to clean it with a kerosene soaked rag. Thinking that a bicycle chain is considerably smaller, if you could remove the chain entirely and just drop it in a coffee can full of Kero, let it soak overnight, the grime would come off easily. Allow the chain to then "dry" completely and most definitely re-lubricate the chain prior to use. Good luck! Later!!! Boneman |
| Put the chain in a peanut butter jar or something similar, fill it half with kerosene, place the lid on securely and shake violently for ten minutes. You can put on some Latin music and shake it in rhythm. Simply soaking the chain will not do it as you need agitation and lots of it to flush out the grime. Pull the chain out with a bike spoke and hang it up to dry. Put a small bucket under it to catch the drippings. All the best George Summers |
| hey, I was wondering what a good way to recover a seat would be. I have a schwinn stingray bananna seat that I dont want to take the vinyl off of, I just really want to make a slip cover type thing, nothing permanent. I was wondering if there was any good or bad way to do this. I am covering the seat in a hawaiin hisbicus shirt my friend gave me, but dont wanna permanently cover the original seat. Thanks for any input. Harry |
| First,make a paper pattern of the seat top.(2)cut sq of material for seat top.(3)spray glue 1/4 foam to material and set aside to dry(3) cut strip of heavy material wider than the seat is wide(4) hem heavy material for draw string(5)cut seat top material using paper pattern--allow 1/2" for hem(6)sew side to top from back side,starting from the rear of seat.(7) turn right side and install draw string.TOP IS FINISHED |
| Hi, does anybody else ever use aluminum foil to remove rust from chrome? I sometimes use this along with petrolium jelly, and brass wool, but when nothing else is available I use aluminum foil. Does anybody else ever use this, and does it damage the chrome? |
| I use it all the time for that purpose, and it doesn't hurt the chrome. Aluminum is softer than chrome. I've never used it with vaseline, but I doubt that would hurt it, either. I also don't know whether it would help. |
| The best part of cleaning with aluminum foil is instant gratification. The second best part is getting your friends and neighbors doing your chrome. Always use a lube between the foil and chrome. WD 40, S-100,Dawn dish soap,Pro tect, Pledge lemon or. The best chrome seems to be from England,it shines more. I demonstrate with a flair and let the audience get their hands into it. They won't stop and soon ... |
| The best part of cleaning with aluminum foil is instant gratification. The second best part is getting your friends and neighbors doing your chrome. Always use a lube between the foil and chrome. WD 40, S-100,Dawn dish soap,Pro tect, Pledge lemon or. The best chrome seems to be from England,it shines more. I demonstrate with a flair and let the audience get their hands into it. They won't stop and soon ... |
| How do u remove decals the easiest. |
| By decals, do you mean vinyl stickers, or traditional water-slide transfers? If vinyl, a hair dryer will help loosen it, and GooGone will remove the residue. If water-slide decals, nail polish remover on a soft cloth should do it. Saturate the cloth, swipe it over the decal area, and repeat every five minutes or so. You don't want to let the polish remover sit on the paint, though, as it would eventually cause it to blister. By briefly moisteneng the decal with it, it will dissolve and wipe away with several brief applications |
| Use finger nail polish remover. It works great. |
| How much does it generally cost to restore a bike without the breaks. This includes replacing all the parts and buying materials. Thank You. XXX |
| For me it runs between $18 to just ovet $800 , but then again I haven't moved into the big league---yet! |
| I recently picked up a bike that a neighbor threw out called Vertical Nitrous Freestyle Series. I was wondering if anyone knew how to restore the paint job on it. It has a lot of rust also. Any proffessiional input would be greatly appreciated. Credentials would be nice. XXX |
| What's required to restore it depends on the type of paint job it originally had. Some are easy, like solid, non-metallic, easily-matched colors, others are hard, like kandy colors and special effects paint combinations, or colors which have to be mixed to match. Assuming that you can duplicate the finish paint, all you have to do is strip off the old paint, sand the whole thing with fine emery cloth to get rid of the rust, give it several coats of primer, using spot putty to fill any deep scratches or pits, wet-sanding as needed. After you have a perfect primer finish, you apply as many coats of finish paint as needed, wet-sanding as needed between coats. Stop when it's perfect. Polish-wax it after about a week My credentials are that people pay me to paint things perfectly, including bicycles, and I've been doing it for a very long time. |
| I have recently (mid-2003) been involved in restoring some very fancy raleigh international bicycles with chrome lugs, and chrome fork tips and seat stays. These are probably the most expensive bicycles to restore and they look similar to a schwinn paramount. Only a cinelli super corsa which adds a chrome seat lug would be more complex. An all-chrome bicycle would be cheaper because no painting is required. Anyway, the process is to strip the paint, then sandblast the tubes and bottom bracket, then sand the areas near the chrome until you get to bare metal. you don't want to blast the chrome because the chrome might start to delaminate, causing serious troubles (not sure what these troubles are, but don't want them nonetheless.) then take it to a plater and have him electrolytically strip the chrome. then polish the chrome areas once again so that they are mirror smooth and can re-plate well. then send the frame back to the plater who will rechome everything. in my case the fork was badly rusted (531 fork) with pits, so we needed full triple chrome (brass, nickel, chrome). after each plating step the plater would buff and smooth the metal so that it is a mirror finish. as you can understand this is getting quite involved, with lots of hand labor on a buffing wheel. up until now we've spend $400 - $500 and most of it is the man-hours of labor. now you want a good quality paint job, as can be seen and described on Joe Bell's web site (http://www.campyonly.com/joebell.html). In my case it involves a single color, masking off the chrome as you paint, and then outlining the lugs in gold trim, and applying somewhere between $50 and $100 worth of decals. Just this basic repainting part can cost another $500. don't forget $50 to repaint a head badge under a microscope. So it can be $1000.00 to do a really good refinishing job on and turn a trashed but classic bicycle back into something that looks brand-new. Actually it will look better than new since these prices are for premium artisans to do the work. |
| what would be cheaper to rechrome my handle bars and fenders or just buy new ones. also where would i look to find a shop who does this?i live in s.f. bay area. |
| Unless it's a very old bike with a very distinctive set of handlebars or whatever, it's cheaper to replace, usually. It's very hard to find plating shops now, compared to the old days when no one worried about disposing of toxic chemicals any old way. Now environmental regulations mean that it costs more to be in the plating business, and the customer pays more as a result. |
| True. Also it is not easy to get hooked up with a shop that will stand over the operator and make sure that the proper amount of polishing and prep work is done.The guy with the buffing wheels can get lazy and that messes everything up. |
| I'M NO PROFESSIONAL. I LIKE TO CUT CORNERS AND TAKE SHORT CUTS. JUST SAND IT DOWN, AND SPRAY SOME "SPRAY PAINT CHROME" ON IT. YOU CAN FIND IT IN HARDWARE STORES. IT'S USUALLY USED FOR PAINTING RUSTED BUMPERS ON TRUCKS ..... IT WOULD WORK GOOD FOUR YOUR BIKE THOUGH. GOOD LUCK |
| *never use "chrome paint". there is chrome, and there is paint - "chrome paint" is paint! |