Overbury's 531 - Returning it to its former glory

Some of you will remember my horrific annihilation of this lovely bike a few years ago. I'm ashamed to say there were orange tires, saddle and chain.... argh !!

Well, i've seen the error of my ways ! The frame was always too small for me and i now have a Nago for weekend rides which is just being upgraded to new Ulteg and a fixed Peugeot as my daily commuter.

This frame had therefore been sat as a single speed, looking a bit sorry for itself, for a while. The other half expressed some intent to get a new bike and so i thought that would be a good opportunity to build it up geared for her using some of the old 105 from the Nago. The thought of her taking her hands off the handlebars to change gear isn't even worth thinking about so the downtube shifters were a no-no.

In the spirit of it being a girls bike i agreed to pink brake cables on it for her and found some quite cool "laser pink" ones on the bay of E. Thinking about also putting some pink tape on, Fizik do some that isn't too lairy so we'll see.

Anyway, i'm just waiting for a new set of wheels (just bog standard raleigh as they're going to take a beating) and tires (panracers) , then will probably stick a front rack on it for her as well.

This is the progress so far, and i stole the front from my peugeot to see what it'll look like with the Pasela's on.... pretty happy with today's progress !

](https://flic.kr/p/nsY1Dy)[image](https://flic.kr/p/nsY1Dy) by Ajlockwood, on Flickr[/IMG]

](https://flic.kr/p/nsDckP)[image](https://flic.kr/p/nsDckP) by Ajlockwood, on Flickr[/IMG]

](https://flic.kr/p/nbrdS2)[image](https://flic.kr/p/nbrdS2) by Ajlockwood, on Flickr[/IMG]

](https://flic.kr/p/nbrdea)[image](https://flic.kr/p/nbrdea) by Ajlockwood, on Flickr[/IMG]

Picking up the rear wheel this evening and everything else is here so will just be a case of putting things together and then dialing in the rear mech.

I've been having troubles with the rear Canti's though, don't know if anyone can impart some knowledge..... The one's on the front "pop" outwards when you unload them but the one's at the back seem to do nothing, or fall into the rim with gravity if anything. If i put any sort of tension on them they're constantly on the rim.

Any ideas ?

Glad you had a rethink - it's looking good.

Might be the springs on the rear cantis are either too loose, or fitted incorrectly. Are there more than one set of holes for the spring like this:

Heya, yea it's getting there. I'm pretty jealous as it's going to be really nice when all built up.

Nope, it's only got one hole i think. I'll take pics when i get in later and post them on here to confirm though. I'm now annoyed that i took them off in the first place !!

Sack the cantis off i reckon. Get some mini v brakes instead. I just so happen to have a pair of unused silver ones for sale.

Have one almost exactly the same - 531 throughout with 9 speed Ultegra - just about to head off touring on it tomorrow, into the rain.
A top drawer builder in my opinion. Hope all goes well.

Updates. I took the one Canty off that i could remove, and played around with the spring and got it working fine. My only issue now is that the right hand side one is well and truly stuck on....

Pics below of the left and right. Is this a case of getting a steel persuader out to remove it ?

](https://flic.kr/p/nx9zWH)[2](https://flic.kr/p/nx9zWH) by ajlockwood23, on Flickr[/IMG]

](https://flic.kr/p/nfEeGk)[4](https://flic.kr/p/nfEeGk) by ajlockwood23, on Flickr[/IMG]

Root, i would like to stick with them if i can as i just want to try and get it back to the original state if possible, cheers for the heads up though.

Hanford; i'm jealous, i think it's a brilliant little bike, enjoyed riding it around even though it was way too small for me. Good luck with the rain !!

One god awful picture of the full bike as it stands with new wheels, tires and cassette from the nago.

](https://flic.kr/p/nfDPu2)[3](https://flic.kr/p/nfDPu2) by ajlockwood23, on Flickr[/IMG]

If anyone could give me an idea how to get the bloody canty off then i'm nearly there i think. Just need to connect the front derailleur, sort out the rear mech then test ride (and wish i was 4 or 5 inches shorter and not giving it to my girlfriend) !!

Try getting a small hammer and give it a sharp tap....then try to pry it off. Don't smash it too hard though! Plenty of wd40 too....it should come off no worries.

i've the exact same canti's-the spring holds them tight to the frame, so you need to twist and pull quite hard to release the tension. (not euph)

Ended up having to take the thing into Brixton cycles and the chap said they had a bit of a mare getting it off. Anyway, got a new Tektra rear brake, will probably put one on the front at some point as well as it's a hell of a lot better than the original shimano system.

Finished building it up and adjusting the mech on Saturday in time for a ride in the sun on Sunday. Pretty happy with the end result i must say ...

](https://flic.kr/p/nok1NJ)[1](https://flic.kr/p/nok1NJ) by ajlockwood23, on Flickr[/IMG]

Great job, the bike looks right - like the saddle height and bar height.

BTW, I think you need a couple of chain links - that poor derailleur is having a hard time!

Nice!

Where is this wall? ;)