Dave Russell Remixed

So,
I bought this a while back then got made redundant so it has sat in the lounge staring at me.

I now have a new job and increased funds on the horizon so my thoughts turn back to Dave. Lovely Dave.

I am thinking of building it up as a stealthy road bike, and would get it stripped and sprayed. The paint is a heavy handed blue directly over the previous red (visible at a couple of chip points) and the chrome is in pretty bad nick.

While the idea of the original red is nice I am thinking of going black, with chromed forks and rear triangle.

I have the wheelset on the way, which will be Chris King R45 hubs in pewter laced to DT Swiss R520 rims (28H radial front, 32H 3x rear).

Hoping to match the Chris King pewter hubs, with a CK 1" headset, Cinelli 1A stem. Not really got any preference for the bars.

Then drape the rest of it with an Ultegra 6700 compact groupset.

Thoughts/Opinions/Etc?

I'll be uploading pics as I get on.

from a distance, that colour scheme + type looks lovely

would be ace in black though, with same type in white on

The decals are really low quality stickers and haven't been clearcoated over and I'm struggling to find replacements.

So I'd resigned myself not to have any, but you're right the white on black would look good.

Wow, a lot of bling for an old 531 frame!

Yeah, I know.
It was either break the bank for a custom frame and hang a load of tat off it, or get something solid and go to town.

I opted for option two, and may well pitch it all over to something a bit more worthwhile in the future.

Got the hubs and rims last weekend.

Going to head over to see Arup in Sydenham to get them built up.
Matching the quality of the components with double butted DT Competition spokes, but should I go for black or silver...? I am favouring silver.

It also looks like Chris King doesn't do the 1inch threaded headset in anything but black. Which is a shame. I don't want a black headset, but I do want to match the hubs and headset.

1inch AHead set? Don't really want that either.
Might go for a Dura Ace or similar silver threaded headset.

#ThinkingAloud

Yeah...
Already done mailed them.

I would be a shame to mismatch.

Time is not an issue, I would rather accrue exactly the right parts slowly that make compromise just to get it built.

I'm going to work with a can of coke and some tin foil on the forks and rear stays this eve.

Right...
Problem.

The forks were covered in a wierd tarnish, which when I bought them I was assured would come off with some of the old tin foil and coke method.
Didn't look too bad, and I was relatively confident it would.

The headset felt notched and I bought the frame knowing that it would need replacing (ChrisKing 1" in pewter to match the hubs is waiting).
I removed the headset and forks this eve and set about my task.

This is how it looked before I started.

Just grubby and tarnished right....?

A little bit of elbow grease with some coke and aluminium foil and a bit of barmans friend on the harder rust has revealed a darker reality.
It would appear the headset was not notched, but a section of the crown has broken away leaving a sharp edge. Ontop of this removing much of the tarnishing shows that there is an absence of chrome beneath and raw steel has been revealed. This is definately not down to my buffing it up.
I hope these pictures show what I'm on about, but if not there are a few more here.

Interested to gather some thoughts/opinions/etc on this...?

You're looking for a Pewter 2nut 1" too :)? Me too haha, hope Aspire will get them soon.

I've got mine...
It's sitting in the drawer waiting for me to figure out whether it can go on this fork or not!

If it can't plz pm me (A)

I'm no expert, but if it doesn't work, you could most likely get it machined so that the bearing race sits correctly. Shouldn't be too difficult providing there is enough material there.

edit: in fact they may have to braze material on if there isn't enough.

Hmmm...
Trying to decide whether to absorb the £70 odd quid to get the forks stripped, rechromed and machined or just get them stripped and powder coated when I get the rest of the frame done.

CK hubs + powder coated frame ?

yes

Frame dropped off with James1234 for a respray and chrome polish.
Picking up the wheels this eve.
Groupset waiting.

Not long now.

Muhaha, she's in my hands!

Stuck the inspection camera up the tubes just to see how the inside is. Very dirty but not rust at all. It's all cleaned now and looking lovely.

Frame is being media-blasted today, protecting all the chrome on the frame and just hitting the blue. Once it's out, going in for a quick layer of rust protection so it doesn't suck in moisture.

You're looking for a Pewter 2nut 1" too :)? Me too haha, hope Aspire will get them soon.

If you just wait for Aspire to have stock, it might take some time. However, if you pre-order then it should only take a few weeks. That's how I got my pewter Gripnut headset for the Brompton'o'Bling.

Just email them.
They will get whichever you want in.

The decals are really low quality stickers and haven't been clearcoated over and I'm struggling to find replacements.

So I'd resigned myself not to have any, but you're right the white on black would look good.

hi

re decals, you could have a look at what H Lloyd have to offer. They may even be able to do custom for you. http://www.hlloydcycles.com/page4.htm

http://www.hlloydcycles.com/pdflistlatest.pdf

no affiliation found them when looking for some Raleigh decals. I have not bought from them but they seem to have a good reputation. HTH

Hi Jon.

That's exactly what I did. H Lloyd sorted me out.

James is stripping the frame and painting it a pure jet black with one white "Russell" decal running down the centre of the seat tube, before being laquered over.

Can't wait to see it.

Are you going to put the classic Russell headbadge back on?

If I can find an actual metal badge.
The frame as I received it had that^ logo on a sticker on the head tube, and it looked daft.

I think they only ever were supplied as stickers but I might be wrong.