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@Goyt
Really pleased to have won this Argos Racing Cycles frame & fork on eBay earlier this week. I used to live in Bristol and I've wanted an Argos ever since I left. Haven't had the opportunity previously but finally managed to get one:
It's made of Columbus Gara, which I don't believe is particularly high end and so I think a budget friendly build is in order. I already have a set of 105 5800 cranks going spare along with some black Tektro calipers so I'm thinking of completing the build with modern budget groupset in black rather than matching the silver logos and risking period components sourced from eBay. Currently thinking 9sp Sora R3000 would be a good idea. Hopefully the 'ferrari' red and black should make for a nice combination but could this be a mistake?
According to the seller it's a 'NOS' but has been stored in a damp barn for some years and the paint therefore is quite tatty up close. If true, it looks like it's quite had a rough old life, no dings or obvious signs of use but plenty of paint chips and rust spots. I've given it a clean for the photos but is it worth using T-Cut or other similar paint renovator/cutter and touching it up with enamel paint?
I've never renovated a frame before, and haven't had a steel bike since from around when this would have been built in the mid 90s. I'd be quite happy to live with it as it is but if it's fixable or advisable to treat the rust then it's probably going to be worth me doing.
The frame is 73º parallel and the forks look to me to have quite a bit of rake but measure about 53mm which I think works out as less trail than any of my other bikes. I'm quite interested to see how it will handle, hopefully Argos knew what they where doing when they built it. Looking forward to getting this built up and ridden!