If you have any questions, please use the BikeGremlin forum (I try to respond to every comment, but RUclips sucks at notifications, especially when it comes to any follow-up questions): www.bikegremlin.net/ Relja
I have made many tools to save money and the tools for the rear drop-outs are priceless. I have had a need to adjust the rear drop-outs but your perfectly clear and precise explanation would allow me to attempt it. The person(s) who had a stem bolt snap in two must have never had any preventative maintenance in that area. People ride on dangerous roads, trails, in traffic it's a no-brained to keep your bike frequently maintained. If you hit a car while driving another car you might survive but if you hit the car while on a bike good chances you are dead or best scenario you get to ride around in one of those electric carts eating your food through a straw.
I've had a quill stem bolt fail as a kid. And I've spent a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how one can prevent that with some regular checks or preventive maintenance. My conclusion is that the fact it's all held via one bolt, one point of failure, makes it practically not possible to be 100% sure and I stronly prefer the 2-bolt system of "threadless" (a-head) stems.
Thanks BikeGremlin. A fantastic and comprehensive summary of the issues with modernising a retro frame. I've encountered all of them. Best summary on YT, including RJtheBG.
Nice work 👏. Good to see. Both knowledgeable and informative. Would add on visual inspection check for seized quill stem and seat post, seat tube pinch / past over tightening, and if so think carefully about walking away or prepare for a gamble, often high degree of hassle and ultimate risk that you cannot rescue the frame. Just saying, nothing's impossible (except sometimes when it is 😢).
Agree. :) I talked about those in this video - will add a link to it: ruclips.net/video/HaHNLxz-IF0/видео.html EDIT: I had completely forgotten to note the stuck quill stems! Thanks for noting that. Aluminium quill stems can get stuck very badly inside steel frames. Sometimes they can be "persuaded" to move - and sometimes it's very, very, very time consuming to get them going.
@@BikeGremlinUS Yep always a concern. Bet we've both spent hours with the component in the vice and the frame inverted for maximum leverage. The last throw of the dice after hot / cold treatment , easing fluid etc. I've also seen aluminium oxidisation expand and split the carbon seat stay tubes from the inside at the drop outs in early alloy / carbon mix rear triangles (before they learned to protective coat the insert poles on the drop outs). Love the channel 👍
Very informative and helpful advice 👍 I have a vintage road bike from the 1970's with a Reynolds 531 frame with a mixture of Sachs - Solida and Shimano 500 DX components......still the most wonderful work of art and craftsmanship I have come across in my 65 years of riding.
Sir, you got yourself another subscriber. I'm following a course to become a bike mechanic within a year (hopefully) and your videos are fantastic. In love with retro bikes, got a project coming and these are the vids I need! Best of luck and thank you!
Thanks - will do. :) I'll make a brief "digression" with a short series of computer-related videos (what it took to make my website - shown & demonstrated), but plan to get back to wrenching after that. :)
Hi, to replace a quill stem with an ahead stem, if the existing fork steerer tube isn't high enough (to give the desired stack height for comfortable riding position), it would be necessary to replace the whole fork, correct?
Yes, that is correct. However, there are adapters that you can mount in a threaded fork, that allow you to mount an ahead stem on a theraded fork. You will still be relying on only the one bolt and the quill to keep the handlebars fixed to the fork (which is a safety concern IMO), but you can make it work. What I mean - the adapter (Amazon affiliate link - the first result I got when searching): amzn.to/4e3AG5E Relja
Did you manage to stick a modern groupset to that old frame? I am looking to upgrade an 80s Motobecane into the present day, and I don't know if the derailleur would directly bolt to the old drop-out.
I was hoping to see some buil parts. I have a old vitus bike and strugling to know what i will do with it. Don't know if i am leaving it a single speed or upgrading the huret parts and maillard cassete for a new group. Do you have some info of how modern we can update an old frame? The bottom bracket can be replaced with one squared tapered with no threads.
RUclips didn't show me this comment until now. Not sure how it handles these, but it's far from perfect. I either spread the dropouts, or "edit" the rear hub to fit narrower dropouts (depending on the particular frame, the parts availability, and the budget). But in any case, I make sure the rear wheel can take either cassettes, or freewheels. As for the BB - if the right hand side has left-hand thread, it's very probably a British standard which is good: Shimano BB can be installed. Relatively cheap and durable.
@@BikeGremlinUS Shimano hubs or similars didn't fit. Had to install a 2 parts hub with no need for threads. EBay took 4 months to send me the rear cog. Had to build it single speed but how i Will Change to fixed. It is always a learning process. Thanks for the video and knowledge.
Definitely a good choice when it's possible or practical. Having said that, priorities, budget and market situation can be different for different people. That's why I've explained the most common problems and how they can be overcome. Hoping it helps people by letting them know what to expect, so they can make an educated choice of what the best course of action is for them.
@@BikeGremlinUS Thanks for sharing. That's a pity, when you have such a nice frame, but it's too big. I have no idea about the brand of this bike, but I just noticed, because I come from Appenzell. Zürich is also where I study, so I even know where this bike was bought. Actually many, if not most, students here have an old bike to commute through the city, it is considered cool and is cheap I guess. That's also why I found your video of course, to check how I could upgrade my 1982 Koga Miyata. You would probably find a bike enthusiast who collects this old brand. www.speedbicycles.ch/velo/194/del_po_professional_1963.html www.speedbicycles.ch/velo/246/del_po_1953.html
If you have any questions, please use the BikeGremlin forum (I try to respond to every comment, but RUclips sucks at notifications, especially when it comes to any follow-up questions):
www.bikegremlin.net/
Relja
No need to apologize for your English! You speak it very well. Thank you for the video, this is exactly what I was looking for.
I have made many tools to save money and the tools for the rear drop-outs are priceless. I have had a need to adjust the rear drop-outs but your perfectly clear and precise explanation would allow me to attempt it. The person(s) who had a stem bolt snap in two must have never had any preventative maintenance in that area. People ride on dangerous roads, trails, in traffic it's a no-brained to keep your bike frequently maintained. If you hit a car while driving another car you might survive but if you hit the car while on a bike good chances you are dead or best scenario you get to ride around in one of those electric carts eating your food through a straw.
I've had a quill stem bolt fail as a kid. And I've spent a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how one can prevent that with some regular checks or preventive maintenance. My conclusion is that the fact it's all held via one bolt, one point of failure, makes it practically not possible to be 100% sure and I stronly prefer the 2-bolt system of "threadless" (a-head) stems.
Love this! Informative, comprehensive and thorough. Inspiring too. Your English is great!
Your language and pronunciation is just fine brother. Keep up the good videos.
You have resumed all i have learned this month after buying an old steel frame. Perfect!
Thanks BikeGremlin. A fantastic and comprehensive summary of the issues with modernising a retro frame. I've encountered all of them. Best summary on YT, including RJtheBG.
For those with a french thread bottom bracket, Velo Orange sells a square taper bottom bracket for that thread type.
Nice work 👏. Good to see. Both knowledgeable and informative. Would add on visual inspection check for seized quill stem and seat post, seat tube pinch / past over tightening, and if so think carefully about walking away or prepare for a gamble, often high degree of hassle and ultimate risk that you cannot rescue the frame. Just saying, nothing's impossible (except sometimes when it is 😢).
Agree. :)
I talked about those in this video - will add a link to it:
ruclips.net/video/HaHNLxz-IF0/видео.html
EDIT:
I had completely forgotten to note the stuck quill stems! Thanks for noting that.
Aluminium quill stems can get stuck very badly inside steel frames. Sometimes they can be "persuaded" to move - and sometimes it's very, very, very time consuming to get them going.
@@BikeGremlinUS Yep always a concern. Bet we've both spent hours with the component in the vice and the frame inverted for maximum leverage. The last throw of the dice after hot / cold treatment , easing fluid etc. I've also seen aluminium oxidisation expand and split the carbon seat stay tubes from the inside at the drop outs in early alloy / carbon mix rear triangles (before they learned to protective coat the insert poles on the drop outs). Love the channel 👍
Very informative and helpful advice 👍 I have a vintage road bike from the 1970's with a Reynolds 531 frame with a mixture of Sachs - Solida and Shimano 500 DX components......still the most wonderful work of art and craftsmanship I have come across in my 65 years of riding.
Sir, you got yourself another subscriber. I'm following a course to become a bike mechanic within a year (hopefully) and your videos are fantastic. In love with retro bikes, got a project coming and these are the vids I need! Best of luck and thank you!
How is training going. I'm looking to follow the same path
Thank you for answering all those questions I didn't even yet think of to ask. Exactly the information I needed!
Thank you very much, especially for "How to fix the dropout", Regards from Germany
Fork dropout width can also be a problem - a new video on that (90 vs 100 mm fork dropout width):
ruclips.net/video/N05aZu6HND0/видео.html
Your videos are so underrated! Great stuff and thanks for the info!
You can buy a stem adapter/shim if you buy a 1" inch fork with normal/non threaded steerer! Greetings from Croatia from Kris 😊
That's a good point - shims are a good idea for such situations and use-cases.
@@BikeGremlinUS pozdrav iz Hrvatske!🙂
Pozdrav iz Novog Sada za brata Hrvata. :)
@@BikeGremlinUS hehe
Puno ti hvala!☺️
Amazing video! Love the detailed and informative naturen of the production! Love and respect from Sweden 🇸🇪
Thank you for posting your videos. They are very detailed. I love watching them.
Keep up the videos! Subscribed! -from a beginner home bike mechanic
Thanks - will do. :)
I'll make a brief "digression" with a short series of computer-related videos (what it took to make my website - shown & demonstrated), but plan to get back to wrenching after that. :)
Awesome video!
Very Nice
Charming chap
Thank you 💖. I learnt many thing from you sir.
Thank you, great video!
Hi, to replace a quill stem with an ahead stem, if the existing fork steerer tube isn't high enough (to give the desired stack height for comfortable riding position), it would be necessary to replace the whole fork, correct?
Yes, that is correct.
However, there are adapters that you can mount in a threaded fork, that allow you to mount an ahead stem on a theraded fork. You will still be relying on only the one bolt and the quill to keep the handlebars fixed to the fork (which is a safety concern IMO), but you can make it work.
What I mean - the adapter (Amazon affiliate link - the first result I got when searching):
amzn.to/4e3AG5E
Relja
Thanks! Very good video!
great video, thank you.
👏🏻 bravo complimenti ciao da Milano italy 🧡👏🏻👋🏻
Viva Verdi, viva Italia! :)
Did you manage to stick a modern groupset to that old frame? I am looking to upgrade an 80s Motobecane into the present day, and I don't know if the derailleur would directly bolt to the old drop-out.
@@BikeGremlinUS Nice to know! Thank you!
Awesome!
keep it up love the vids
I was hoping to see some buil parts. I have a old vitus bike and strugling to know what i will do with it. Don't know if i am leaving it a single speed or upgrading the huret parts and maillard cassete for a new group. Do you have some info of how modern we can update an old frame? The bottom bracket can be replaced with one squared tapered with no threads.
@@BikeGremlinUS i was trying to get a sensah empire on that vitus, but this french frame has the threads of the bottom bracket anti clock wise...
RUclips didn't show me this comment until now. Not sure how it handles these, but it's far from perfect.
I either spread the dropouts, or "edit" the rear hub to fit narrower dropouts (depending on the particular frame, the parts availability, and the budget). But in any case, I make sure the rear wheel can take either cassettes, or freewheels.
As for the BB - if the right hand side has left-hand thread, it's very probably a British standard which is good: Shimano BB can be installed. Relatively cheap and durable.
@@BikeGremlinUS Shimano hubs or similars didn't fit. Had to install a 2 parts hub with no need for threads. EBay took 4 months to send me the rear cog. Had to build it single speed but how i Will Change to fixed. It is always a learning process. Thanks for the video and knowledge.
The big problem is rear spacing for modern rear hub. It's not worth it at all. Buy a steel frame from mid 90s which has the correct rear spacing.
Definitely a good choice when it's possible or practical.
Having said that, priorities, budget and market situation can be different for different people.
That's why I've explained the most common problems and how they can be overcome. Hoping it helps people by letting them know what to expect, so they can make an educated choice of what the best course of action is for them.
Steel frames can be expanded quite safely.
@@reinismartinsons l think would place tremendous stresses on rear triangle. I wouldn't take a chance.
whats the actual tire size
Tyre sizing standards explained:
bike.bikegremlin.com/285/bicycle-tyre-dimensions/
High end old steel frames, nice ride quality. and is more durable and will last a very long time.
it says "HS J. Appenzeller", did you steal it from Switzerland?
@@BikeGremlinUS Thanks for sharing. That's a pity, when you have such a nice frame, but it's too big.
I have no idea about the brand of this bike, but I just noticed, because I come from Appenzell. Zürich is also where I study, so I even know where this bike was bought.
Actually many, if not most, students here have an old bike to commute through the city, it is considered cool and is cheap I guess. That's also why I found your video of course, to check how I could upgrade my 1982 Koga Miyata.
You would probably find a bike enthusiast who collects this old brand.
www.speedbicycles.ch/velo/194/del_po_professional_1963.html
www.speedbicycles.ch/velo/246/del_po_1953.html
Ha! I’m the 667 subscriber!!!! Just because I wanted to get you out of that ugly number!