Question about bike restoration

Quoted message said:

My mom has a Teledyne Titan that has sat in the garage for the past
20 years. Can anyone point me to resources on restoring this?

Cyclart of San Diego / Vista California is perhaps one of the only
places that specializes in "Turnkey restorations" of bicycles,
incluing parts repair / replacement. They will do everything,
including repainting the bike and getting ride of rust, usually by
polishing. This is very labor intensive work and takes a lot of time
and is therefore expensive:

http://www.cyclart.com

If you are interested in doing it yourself, there are at least two
resources that are good. The first is the classic rendezvous bicycle
mailing list, at www.bikelist.org. The manager of this list is a bike
shop owner in north carolina named dale brown. Discussion is confined
to restoring old bikes up through 1983, i believe (when campagnolo
came out with its first really ugly grouppo.) There are 1000 members
on this list and the searchable archives has lots of useful info :

http://www.bikelist.org

The second is various enthusiast web sits. One that I like a lot is
from Steve Maas of Los Angeles, who restores bikes in his free time.
He takes lots of pictures before & after and chronicles his work on
his web site at :

http://www.nonlintec.com/BikePages

It's very fun to read. You may surprised that all of your Teledyne's
parts are actualy in good condition, with just a little bit of surface
rust in need of removel with a kmart dremel ($20), or light replating
with a brush plating set ($30).

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Quoted message said:

Hi,
Not sure if this is the right newsgroup to post this. My mom has a
Teledyne Titan that has sat in the garage for the past 20 years. Can
anyone point me to resources on restoring this? I'm thinking of either
a place I can send it to get restored or somewhere I can buy the parts.
The only good part that is good seems to be the frame. Everything
else is rusted or cracked.

1. Yes, this is a pretty good place for the post.

2. I guess you don't really want to "restore" it in the sense of DG's
reply, to get the bicycle as a whole returned to exactly its original
state, with all the original parts- that can get expensive, if someone
else does it for you. Likely you just want to get it ridable again.
Since the frame is titanium, it doesn't need paint and as I remember
the Teledyne's, didn't have any to begin with.

Any local bike shop can disassemble the bike and any good one will be
able to supply new parts to fit, with the possible exception of the
rear hub or rear wheel, which may require a better shop. Tell us where
you live and people here will be able to recommend a good shop. Then
again, you might want to learn how to do some or all of it yourself.

By the way, if your frame has the original titanium forks, I seem to
remember that there may have been some safety issue with them. Search
the archives of this newsgroup to find out, if no one who knows better
replies..

Noah said:

Not sure if this is the right newsgroup to post this. My mom has a
Teledyne Titan that has sat in the garage for the past 20 years. Can
anyone point me to resources on restoring this? I'm thinking of either
a place I can send it to get restored or somewhere I can buy the parts.
The only good part that is good seems to be the frame. Everything
else is rusted or cracked.

Unless there is a strong sentimental attachment to this bike and/or you can
do the work yourself, it may not be cost effective to replace everything but
the frame.

If your mom just wants a bike to ride, it probably makes more sense to sell
the Titan "as is" and buy a modern used or new bike. A 20-year-old bike
probably has a 6-speed freewheel, downtube friction shifters, single-pivot
brakes, etc.

But I don't see how "everything" would rust up from sitting in a garage.
Most parts are aluminum. Perhaps a good cleaning and overhaul would cure
most of the problems. I'd repack all the bearings, replace the chain, brake
pads, and all the cables/housings. Just make sure the seat post and stem
aren't frozen in place. New dual-pivot brakes and aero levers would be a
good upgrade.

Bring it in to your LBS and get their opinion on what it would take to make
this bike roadworthy again. But be aware that many shops will be all too
eager to sell you a new bike. If you go in with the attitude that you think
this is a lost cause, they won't argue with you.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Art Harris

search bike.tech for "DIY" (no qoutes)
and the subject matter-paint ect various posts are about "saving" the
steel frame from rustout. linseed oil and rusto are tools for the
restorer before the ultimate paint job.
the big deal is when was it serviced last? grease lasts 2-3 years
before it absolves, the cones pits, the headset wears out from no lube
so take it apart (buy tools) and fit new bearings and new grease NOW!
frank berto has a book on compnent adaptability from rodale press
should be available through interlibrary loan.
the japanese aggreed to standardize components so most of what you read
in mailorder like biketoolsect, loosescrews, and nashbar apply to your
frame.
i ride a 20 year frame with all new components-the originals sit half
worn out in storage.

It may have been sitting around for 20 years, but it is probably closer
to 30 years old. They went out of production in 1976. If I were you, I
would sell it on eBay to a collector (there is one now going for over
$600) and then use the proceeds to buy something with modern
components, that is not noodly and that will not crack and fail. A lot
of people loved these bikes, but they were terribly unreliable and
prone to cracking. The fork in particular was a problem, and if you
decide to keep the bike, it should be swapped out with something
stiffer and more reliable, IMO. -- Jay Beattie.

On 24 Jun 2005 21:06:35 -0700, [email hidden] (Donald Gillies)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My mom has a Teledyne Titan that has sat in the garage for the past
20 years. Can anyone point me to resources on restoring this?

Cyclart of San Diego / Vista California is perhaps one of the only
places that specializes in "Turnkey restorations" of bicycles,
incluing parts repair / replacement. They will do everything,
including repainting the bike and getting ride of rust, usually by
polishing. This is very labor intensive work and takes a lot of time
and is therefore expensive:

http://www.cyclart.com

If you are interested in doing it yourself, there are at least two
resources that are good. The first is the classic rendezvous bicycle
mailing list, at www.bikelist.org. The manager of this list is a bike
shop owner in north carolina named dale brown. Discussion is confined
to restoring old bikes up through 1983, i believe (when campagnolo
came out with its first really ugly grouppo.) There are 1000 members
on this list and the searchable archives has lots of useful info :

http://www.bikelist.org

The second is various enthusiast web sits. One that I like a lot is
from Steve Maas of Los Angeles, who restores bikes in his free time.
He takes lots of pictures before & after and chronicles his work on
his web site at :

http://www.nonlintec.com/BikePages

It's very fun to read. You may surprised that all of your Teledyne's
parts are actualy in good condition, with just a little bit of surface
rust in need of removel with a kmart dremel ($20), or light replating
with a brush plating set ($30).

I agree with most of the above, except that I wouldn't attack surface
rust with anything abrasive. I use Naval Jelly instead.

Follow the links on my web site to see my restored 1966 Peugeot PX-10E
that spent over 25 years sitting in a garage. It's also featured on
the Classics Rendezvous web site.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My mom has a Teledyne Titan that has sat in the garage for the past
20 years. Can anyone point me to resources on restoring this?

Quoted message said:

On 24 Jun 2005 21:06:35 -0700, [email hidden] (Donald Gillies)

Quoted message said:

Cyclart of San Diego / Vista California is perhaps one of the only
places that specializes in "Turnkey restorations" of bicycles,
incluing parts repair / replacement. They will do everything,
including repainting the bike and getting ride of rust, usually by
polishing. This is very labor intensive work and takes a lot of time
and is therefore expensive:
http://www.cyclart.com
If you are interested in doing it yourself, there are at least two
resources that are good. The first is the classic rendezvous bicycle
mailing list, at www.bikelist.org. The manager of this list is a bike
shop owner in north carolina named dale brown. Discussion is confined
to restoring old bikes up through 1983, i believe (when campagnolo
came out with its first really ugly grouppo.) There are 1000 members
on this list and the searchable archives has lots of useful info :
http://www.bikelist.org
The second is various enthusiast web sits. One that I like a lot is
from Steve Maas of Los Angeles, who restores bikes in his free time.
He takes lots of pictures before & after and chronicles his work on
his web site at :
http://www.nonlintec.com/BikePages
It's very fun to read. You may surprised that all of your Teledyne's
parts are actualy in good condition, with just a little bit of surface
rust in need of removel with a kmart dremel ($20), or light replating
with a brush plating set ($30).

John Everett said:

I agree with most of the above, except that I wouldn't attack surface
rust with anything abrasive. I use Naval Jelly instead.
Follow the links on my web site to see my restored 1966 Peugeot PX-10E
that spent over 25 years sitting in a garage. It's also featured on
the Classics Rendezvous web site.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

Teledyne Titans are titanuim. All but the very last series
will clean up nicely with 00 steel wool.

The last of the Teledynes were painted bright blue Imron
enamel so, indeed, Cyclart or any of several other
restoration houses can respray if needed.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971