Now for sale! Argos fillet brazed space rocket audax bike of my (broken) dreams

following - looks a lot of bike for 250. Have you got a pic of the bike as you collected it?

Honestly I was so excited to get a better look at the frame I never took a photo of it built - it was pretty much as in the first post. Rear mech is an early Deore one that’ll get reused, same for the 105 triple front mech (even though I’m going double), brakes and pedals are old 105 too in that odd grey they did for a a while.

Bonus detail of this absurd Cinelli A1 it was fitted with

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This week is going to be build week, so I finally got round to cleaning the frame up. The details are just lovely - stainless dropouts and smooth fillets are my favourite parts. There is an unpleasant spot of rust under the top tube, but it’s solid and probably only cosmetic. The rest of the paintwork is fine but is showing its age, so will hopefully be able to afford an identical respray from Argos in a year or two.

Oh, and the frame is from 1992 - possibly the 47th they built that year?

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I also got round to cleaning up the sweet late 80s Deore rear mech and later 105 front mech - both will be going back on the bike.

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looks lovely. Are you going to rub down and treat that rust until it might get resprayed? you'd be able to get a good match of paint i'm sure without a respray. Argos might even know the code/colour.

What is the plan for the drivechain?

Cheers! No plans to touch the rust as yet, but open to reconsidering - bike will be kept indoors and it’ll have mudguards, so hopefully it won’t get much worse over the next year ish. Never quite sure if it’s best to cover these things up or leave them open to be kept an eye on. I do have some clear Dinitrol kicking around so might just spray a little of that over the patch.

Build wise, it’s going to be quite simple - 2x9, friction bar end shifters, mudguards, and eventually a dynamo. Focus is on using what I already have, and then failing that secondhand stuff wherever sensible - only new parts are the chainset, saddle, couple of bits of finishing kit and then the consumables. I’ll have a rough version of the build together tomorrow so will post pics then

If I was planning on a respray I’d rub down the area and clear coat it. I’d never leave rust on a tin walled frame

Looks really beautiful

Re: touching up the rust, the notes on the steerer suggest that the silver is ‘Astral Silver’ which Argos still offers - will maybe give them a ring next week to see if I can pop in and grab some touch up paint: https://argoscycles.com/colour-chart/

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Further update: just taken a bit of copper wool and carefully scrubbed the patch down - rust was very thin and metal underneath looks decent. Will spray a bit of Dinitrol on it and then touch it up in silver if Argos obliges, or clear if not. Cheers y’all!

If you’re wondering, it’s specifically Dinitrol 1000 as recommended by Starling again here in Bristol: https://www.starlingcycles.com/frame-care/

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Quick bit of garage time this morning has got this in the shape of something resembling a bike! Rear wheel is a placeholder for now, hence the lack of tyre, and just waiting on a chain and cassette to get this together

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Looking great

Solid start there.

Looks good! I like the cranks.
Did you ever use bar end shifters before? Why no road shifters?

Great question! I first started using them because I like the option to go friction but also have access to shifting close to the hoods, plus they’re mechanically way simpler and more durable than STI shifters.

They proved their worth about a month into a tour a few years ago, when I dropped my heavily loaded bike somewhere in Kentucky and one snapped. A nice man in a metal shop worked out a fix using a giant drill, and it kept working perfectly for another two months on the road without fuss.

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Looking good. Your bars could do with rotating up a little if you’re going for a horizontal drop? I’ve got spa cranks on my roberts, they’re silly good for the price.

Good catch! Should’ve said, cockpit is still loosey goosey and not set up yet - ran out of time today to sort it out properly.

You’re right re: the cranks - worked out as cheap as buying rings alone!

Bar end shifters are the bee's knees.

I wasn't a fan of the bar end shifters on my touring bike, too easy to unintentionally touch them or hit them with your knees when dismounting or parking the bike, causing many times of surprise shifting when you start riding again

Ah bugger - the Tiagra brakes aren’t long enough reach, and Shimano seems to have stopped doing the nice R650 long reach ones. Temple Cycles has Tektro R359s in stock so may have to call them - unless anyone has anything kicking around?

Edit: just realised I can use the original grey 105 ones for now - crisis averted.

Planet X have Tektro R539 calipers for £32.
Like the build so far, seeing those cranks makes me think I should put silver ones on my bike (currently have them in black).

Oh great shout, will chuck an order in now - the 105 ones are pretty rusty on closer inspection

Brief update with a rubbish progress shot: finally got all the bits in one place, and rear hub serviced as necessary. Turns out the frame was specced for max 23mm tyres with mudguards, in that most delightfully 90s way. Rats. 28s are coming off, to be replaced with some 23s (hopefully) rustled up locally.

First ride provisionally booked in for what’s looking like a not as rainy Sunday - fingers crossed.

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shame about the tyres but it's looking great. As is that iPod!

Hah cheers! It’s a 4th gen (Photo) that I’ve replaced the battery on, and I’ve got a flash conversion waiting in the wings for when the hard drive eventually dies