1955 Maclean Featherweight Restoration

This is my fathers bike, purchased new in 1955 from Macleans at 362-3 Upper St., Angel, Islington.

It hasn't been ridden since the 80s and was going rusty in a leaking shed.

The paintwork is in fairly good condition and will hopefully clean up well.
A rear stay was bent in a house move, I will try bending it back using the 'foot and plank of wood' method.
The rusty chrome parts will be cleaned up with steel wool and brasso.

Lovely. Wonder what that bike shop is now?

It's a fucking estate agent of course, duh.

Or shit bar.

Or estate shit agent bar.

It's a fucking estate agent of course, duh.

Or shit bar.

Or estate shit agent bar.

Sadly this is probably true. Cheer us up with a nice restoration, Ben.

The Maclean is lovely btw.

Amazing how close the chainrings are in size.

looking forward to seeing the progress of this build. nice project.

48 and 50 teeth chainrings. I think this was quite a common set up for racing bikes of the period.
The freewheel and rear derailleur are the only non original parts.

Looks lovely and I'm sure with some very light restoration if will come up a treat. What is that front hub? Great that it's your father's bike too. Good luck with the project.

the maclean is lovely btw.

+1000000

Oh, and its hard to tell from the pics but is the non drive side seat stay bent?

I'm looking forward to following this one. The paint really is in very good condition for a 50 + year old machine.

it would be nice to see the rear mech replaced for something more period. but other than that are you going to keep all other components and just clean them? the paint looks to be in quite amazing shape for its age. as i said above, excited to see this progress. such a beautiful bike............. and yes, the rear stay looks bent, quite easy to sort out though.

A rear stay was bent in a house move, I will try bending it back using the 'foot and plank of wood' method.

...

it would be nice to see the rear mech replaced for something more period. but other than that are you going to keep all other components and just clean them?

Again, +10000000000