1984 Holdsworth Elan rebuild

Thought this might be of interest to some plus i've always wanted to do a project build thread…

So as i've got a new daily and this has been sitting in various boxes for the last few months i thought it was about time to rebuild my 84 Holdsworth Elan.

I've owned it for about 6 years now and it's been my commuting bike for most of that. It's by no means a rare or sought after bike but none the less i've never had a bike that received so much attention and as i may sell it, i want to build it to a standard that someone else will take proper care of her.

The bad stuff first.

The frame has it fair signs of use. Scrapes, chips and one dent on the seat down tube.

Unfortunately the original wheel set sat in storage has been "misplaced". This has scuppered my plan to rebuild it to factory spec as it simply isn't worth the effort to source the original parts.

The fork and rear brake hanger have been drilled out to accept a recess nut. The original brakes can still be fitted with the tapered mounting blocks but sticklers of originality may not approve.

The good stuff.

It's painted in metallic ice blue. As i said this bike gets allot of compliments, the colour even with all the scrapes is stunning. 90% of the marks were there when i purchased it and they've showed no signs of worsening in terms of bubbling, peeling or rust.

I have a full Shimano 105 group-set (bar more modern Tiagra brakes and original SR crankset) plus Mavic Open SUP CD rims.

The brake hangers being drilled out mean the use of proper brakes!

I have original bars, stem, seat post, pedals and saddle plus i fitted a new Prolite alloy sealed bearing headset less than a year ago.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking

Ahh, brings back memories. I was given an Elan frame to convert for track racing, still one of the best racers I've ever ridden, even if it was makeshift! Paint was as damaged as yours, if not worse, and basically in exactly the same areas. Unsure if just down to use or the finishes on these things weren't the most robust.

I stripped mine down and went for a Holdsworth Pro replica:

The Brand is wholly under-rated.
Their frames were great = unsung steel bargains to be had.

Nowt tougher, having run one into the ground (and forks still alive).

Yeah it's been bullet proof as well as super comfortable. Not sure about the paint durability as to be fair it's held up well in the time i've had it.

few more pics.

Happy new year all.

Back to work on the Elan, hopefully make some real progress soon…

cool

Well this is turning out to be a riveting thread...

Slow progress unfortunately due to sourcing small irritating bits that i've misplaced.
Thankfully it's coming together now, i just need to locate some shifter bits then i'm there.

First things first, hubs serviced and wheels given a true

All new cables fitted, it's also had new tubes, dropout screws and bar tape.

Looking like a bike again.

So jobs left

• setup gears
  
• setup brakes
  
• tape bars
  
• tighten, lube, thread-lock etc
  
  

Luckily whilst the weather is crap i can stick it on a turbo trainer to finish setting up.

I'm 99% certain i'm going to sell it once it's done due to lack of space, if your interested or know anyone that might be please pm me

cheers

nice.
once you've decided, let us know how much it can go for..

Cheers, will do mate.

Still searching for the last bits...

http://www.lfgss.com/thread121621.html

In the meantime, the modern Tiagra brakes just looked wrong to me and ruined the 80s/90s theme so i've sourced the correct 1055 brakes to match the rest of the group set.

Also arrived in the post were new shiny dropout screws with original campag springs, note campy drop outs

As it's been sitting around longer than expected I've been doing some thinking about the condition of the frame. I looked into most possibilities but i've decided as it's served me so well that for the most part, i'll leave it alone. What i am doing is going carefully going over the frame with some Jenolite rust remover and if bare metal comes through i'll use a little grey zinc primer to keep it descent. Lastly it'll get a wax polish to protect it and get back some shine.

Finally got all the bits i needed so time to put an end to this:

Frame stripped and given a protective coat of wax polish

Pointless build pic

Job done

it needs a little adjusting but i took it for a spin round the block and it was smooth as butter. I've got the original selle Italia saddle and SR Japan track pedals to clean up and fit, once that's done and it's going up for sale

THE END.

Classy, very nice.

really nice, lots of awesome stuff made in '84.

Cheers guys, i thought it would feel properly old school compared to what i've been riding recently but it's a really nice ride.

ham coloured bar tape?

ham coloured bar tape?

Nope, actual ham

looks good, is the chain long enough when you go onto the larger cogs on the rear?

Well spotted. No, not with that chain, a longer one will be fitted

looks good, is the chain long enough when you go onto the larger cogs on the rear?

Now up for sale.

http://www.lfgss.com/thread126109.html

What was the rear spacing? And I assume the frame was originally build for 700C wheels as I see you've used medium reach brakes.

And one little thing I can't see from the pictures, the ELAN decal was only on the right hand side of the top tube or on both sides?

What was the rear spacing? And I assume the frame was originally build for 700C wheels as I see you've used medium reach brakes.

And one little thing I can't see from the pictures, the ELAN decal was only on the right hand side of the top tube or on both sides?

It's 126 OLN, and yes built for 700c rims, more details here

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nkilgariff/HoldsModelPages/Elan.htm

I'll double check tonight if the ELAN detail is on both sides, i know it's the block lettering which delineates it was an 84 model

cheers

yeah, I just got the Mistral ones for my Holdsworth Mistral (which was built for 27"), but looks like H LLoyd Cycles only has the one from the early models :/