Kids Road Bike

On Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:11:39 +0100, bob

downiegeon0spam.co.uk@downie#n0sapm#.co.uk said:

There is probably no easy answer to this question but any thoughts
greatly appreciated.

My son, 12 going on 13, is desperate to have a road bike to replace his
outgrown hybrid. He has as yet not yet started to grow fast but it can't
be far off. I have had a look the Islabike Luath 700
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/luath700.html which seems very
nice but the Islabike people warn me that he may not fit it for very
long.

Eh!? The saddle rises to a great height and I, at 6' 1", can quite
comfortably ride one for short distances.

Where are you? If the Islabike workshop is too far and you're in the
south east you'd be welcome to drop by with your son to test ride one
of my Luath 700s. I'm based in Blackheath, SE London, just off the A2
or next to Blackheath Station on the North Kent Line. The height
range for a Luath 700 is about 4'9" to about 5'5" based on the
infomation on the website. Inside leg is given as 70 - 80cm.

Quoted message said:

I was wondering if I should perhaps get him a small adults bike that may
be bit big at the moment but which he would grow into soon. He fits
reasonably on my wife's bike which has a 19.5" frame (in old money).

Is this a reasonable approach? Can anyone suggest a range of road bikes
which have these smaller sizes?

I await the awesome power of the hive mind.

Cheers

bob writtificated

Quoted message said:

My son, 12 going on 13, is desperate to have a road bike

How tall is he? There's a chance that he'd be within the height range for
the smaller mens' bikes. The disadvantages of smaller frames with 700C
wheels are toe overlap, and aesthetics.

The other disadvantage will be tiny hands to work the STI levers, but throw
money at it and you'll get some that can be adjusted.

The gearing will almost certainly be too high for even a strong 13 year
old, but that'd be the case with most adults too :/

In message <[email hidden]>, Tom Crispin
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:11:39 +0100, bob

downiegeon0spam.co.uk@downie#n0sapm#.co.uk said:

There is probably no easy answer to this question but any thoughts
greatly appreciated.

My son, 12 going on 13, is desperate to have a road bike to replace his
outgrown hybrid. He has as yet not yet started to grow fast but it can't
be far off. I have had a look the Islabike Luath 700
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/luath700.html which seems very
nice but the Islabike people warn me that he may not fit it for very
long.

Eh!? The saddle rises to a great height and I, at 6' 1", can quite
comfortably ride one for short distances.

Where are you? If the Islabike workshop is too far and you're in the
south east you'd be welcome to drop by with your son to test ride one
of my Luath 700s. I'm based in Blackheath, SE London, just off the A2
or next to Blackheath Station on the North Kent Line. The height
range for a Luath 700 is about 4'9" to about 5'5" based on the
infomation on the website. Inside leg is given as 70 - 80cm.

Quoted message said:

I was wondering if I should perhaps get him a small adults bike that may
be bit big at the moment but which he would grow into soon. He fits
reasonably on my wife's bike which has a 19.5" frame (in old money).

Is this a reasonable approach? Can anyone suggest a range of road bikes
which have these smaller sizes?

I await the awesome power of the hive mind.

Cheers

A funny coincidence. My wife was with her bike outside a shop when she
was clocked by an old fellow also on a bike (he had noticed her rather
nice old Raleigh Classic). He asked her if she knew anyone who wanted to
buy an Italian racer. As the old chap was only 5'1" my wife immediately
said yes and we went to see it.

Its a lovely old (70's-80's) 19.5" Raleigh 753 frame with Campag
components on new Mavic rims. A perfect fit for my son who immediately
declared it unfit for purpose, ungrateful wretch!.

It does need a bit of TLC but a classy object. I would have it myself if
it twere bigger.

Bah! We'll keep on hunting.

Cheers

--
bob

Quoted message said:

A funny coincidence. My wife was with her bike outside a shop when she
was clocked by an old fellow also on a bike (he had noticed her rather
nice old Raleigh Classic). He asked her if she knew anyone who wanted
to buy an Italian racer. As the old chap was only 5'1" my wife
immediately said yes and we went to see it.

Its a lovely old (70's-80's) 19.5" Raleigh 753 frame with Campag
components on new Mavic rims. A perfect fit for my son who immediately
declared it unfit for purpose, ungrateful wretch!.

It does need a bit of TLC but a classy object. I would have it myself
if it twere bigger.

Bah! We'll keep on hunting.

Cheers

I know its bad form to reply (again) to your own posts but I would be
really grateful for a bit of advise. After going to most of Glasgow's
larger cycle shops it was apparent that we were not going to find
anything very suitable for son so we went back and bough the 753 framed
Raleigh for a reasonable price. As I said a classy bike and If I am not
very much mistaken its the gold 1980 Raleigh Team bike
(http://radpropaganda.org/raleigh-team-pro-timeline/), or close
facsimile. Once son understood this he was much more interested in the
bike. It also happens to fit him perfectly.

Its little used and basically in good nick but needs to be stripped down
and serviced. There is a big but and that it all the Campagnolo stuff on
it. I have never been grand enough to ever dream of owning Campag so I
have no idea as to how to fettle it. Are there any online service
manuals? The gears are Super Record and the hubs are just say Record as
far as I can see.

The only significant problem I can see with the bike is that one of the
jockey wheels is cracked. Are these available? Google isn't too
forthcoming. Also any info on how to service the hubs would be
appreciated. They have funny dust caps. Can anyone tell me how these
come off?

If you are interested here is the before picture
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Raleigh%20753.jpg

Here is the cracked jockey wheel
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Cracked%20Jocky.jpg

Here are the funny dust caps
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Dust%20cap.jpg

Many thanks
--
geomannie

bob said:

Quoted message said:

A funny coincidence. My wife was with her bike outside a shop when she
was clocked by an old fellow also on a bike (he had noticed her rather
nice old Raleigh Classic). He asked her if she knew anyone who wanted
to buy an Italian racer. As the old chap was only 5'1" my wife
immediately said yes and we went to see it.

Its a lovely old (70's-80's) 19.5" Raleigh 753 frame with Campag
components on new Mavic rims. A perfect fit for my son who immediately
declared it unfit for purpose, ungrateful wretch!.

It does need a bit of TLC but a classy object. I would have it myself
if it twere bigger.

Bah! We'll keep on hunting.

Cheers

I know its bad form to reply (again) to your own posts but I would be
really grateful for a bit of advise. After going to most of Glasgow's
larger cycle shops it was apparent that we were not going to find
anything very suitable for son so we went back and bough the 753 framed
Raleigh for a reasonable price. As I said a classy bike and If I am not
very much mistaken its the gold 1980 Raleigh Team bike
(http://radpropaganda.org/raleigh-team-pro-timeline/), or close
facsimile. Once son understood this he was much more interested in the
bike. It also happens to fit him perfectly.

Its little used and basically in good nick but needs to be stripped down
and serviced. There is a big but and that it all the Campagnolo stuff on
it. I have never been grand enough to ever dream of owning Campag so I
have no idea as to how to fettle it. Are there any online service
manuals? The gears are Super Record and the hubs are just say Record as
far as I can see.

The only significant problem I can see with the bike is that one of the
jockey wheels is cracked. Are these available? Google isn't too
forthcoming. Also any info on how to service the hubs would be
appreciated. They have funny dust caps. Can anyone tell me how these
come off?

If you are interested here is the before picture
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Raleigh%20753.jpg

Nice. How reasonable?

Quoted message said:

Here is the cracked jockey wheel
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Cracked%20Jocky.jpg

Common. Ebay.

Quoted message said:

Here are the funny dust caps
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Dust%20cap.jpg

Many thanks

Those are not the original skewers - they look like nasty cheap
look-like-light-but-are-flimsy-and-don't-clamp-well types. Real Campagnolo
skewers are *excellent*.

You don't need to take the dust caps off. They can be pried out with a
suitable tool, but you don'e need to to service the hubs. The teeny-weeny
hole is for oiling the bearings, if you want to use that instead of grease.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If you are interested here is the before picture
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Raleigh%20753.jpg

Nice. How reasonable?

Somewhere between £100-£200

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Here is the cracked jockey wheel
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Cracked%20Jocky.jpg

Common. Ebay.

No sure. The bike has a close ratio 5 speed block. All the Campag jockey
wheels I see on Ebay are for 8,9's and 10's. Are they basically the
same?

http://search.ebay.co.uk/campagnolo-jockey-wheel_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQfromZR4
0

Quoted message said:

Many thanks
--
geomannie

bob said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If you are interested here is the before picture
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Raleigh%20753.jpg

Nice. How reasonable?

Somewhere between £100-£200

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Here is the cracked jockey wheel
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Cracked%20Jocky.jpg

Common. Ebay.

No sure. The bike has a close ratio 5 speed block. All the Campag jockey
wheels I see on Ebay are for 8,9's and 10's. Are they basically the
same?

http://search.ebay.co.uk/campagnolo-jockey-wheel_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQfromZR4
0

Quoted message said:

Many thanks

Unlikely; I don't know - don't like parts that click (except for
freewheels).

Try here (at the bottom):

http://00eda5d.netsolhost.com/derailleur.html

In article <rXx9PdCx6MHIFwnX@downie#n0sapm#.co.uk>, bob
downiegeon0spam.co.uk@downie#n0sapm#.co.uk says...

Quoted message said:

Its little used and basically in good nick but needs to be stripped down
and serviced. There is a big but and that it all the Campagnolo stuff on
it. I have never been grand enough to ever dream of owning Campag so I
have no idea as to how to fettle it. Are there any online service
manuals? The gears are Super Record and the hubs are just say Record as
far as I can see.

There's nothing complicated about old Campag stuff - just clean it and
oil it. ISTR having problems getting the cage spring tension right on
the rear mech after I took mine apart, but you probably don't need to
strip it, and if you do just pay close attention to how the bits fit
together as you strip it - unwind the cage to release the tension before
removing the pivot, and note the relative position of the
spring/cage/body.

Quoted message said:

The only significant problem I can see with the bike is that one of the
jockey wheels is cracked. Are these available? Google isn't too
forthcoming. Also any info on how to service the hubs would be
appreciated. They have funny dust caps. Can anyone tell me how these
come off?

Prise them gently with a big screwdriver, tyre lever etc. When tapping
them back in I like to use a socket that's about the same diameter so as
not to dent the unsupported inner edge.

Quoted message said:

If you are interested here is the before picture
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Raleigh%20753.jpg

Here is the cracked jockey wheel
http://www.downie-geo.demon.co.uk/753/Cracked%20Jocky.jpg

As it's the lower one just use anything that will fit - you can shim the
bolt with thin washers if needed. I don't remember these jockey wheels
being anything special with regard to bearings etc. Note that if you
need to replace the top wheel you'll want to avoid the modern indexed
type that has lateral float in the bearing.