Wrecked old bike rescue: restoring a trashed 90s bike for charity £££
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- čas přidán 27. 01. 2022
- A challenge to everyone, bike lover or not: bikes should never be thrown away. Even the worst wreck has bits that can be reused or resold, or even just recycled. This one, a battered Dawes StreetWise from about 1993, had been declared fit for the tip. We knew better - and raised a few quid for charity in the process.
Our charity partner in this project is HUGS (Helping Uganda Schools): helpingugandaschools.org/
This charity changes the lives of children and communities in Uganda and Rwanda through education, and just one bike restoration has raised enough money to buy at least one new bicycle and one tricycle for teachers and pupils. Now who else has a rusty old wreck? - Sport
True true, same here, we hate seeing bikes in the landfill even the cheapest, down the bottom bikes. Majority world treasures
It's heartbreaking isn't it? Glad to see you're doing your thing, one bike at a time.
You are a sight for a sore legs mate! Keep it up!
This is so therapeutic!
I am so excited! For me it is 2.33 AM, just got to bed but there is a new video of an intresting bike! This must be so gooood. Can't wait!
Thank you fine gentleman, for making the internet such a nice place!
I hope this one was worth staying up for!
@@red_dread Oh, very cool! Worth it! As moat of your videos!
I am born in 89 in Romania, but still I feel these bikes.
Modern bikes are just machines. Retro bikes were conpanions and friends.
Just what I would have done, with small exceptions:
- I get the history of that Sram round shifter but still it is bad. Trigger shifter!
- I just hate Shimano Revoshit so I would have just burnt that shifter so no one could use it ever again. Also not symetrical.
- That rear rack job was not finished.... that bike's soul is 100% with the rear rack.
I umnderstand a future video might feature it but nonetheless it should have been there. Racks are cool for practical bikes and bikes the owners love.
Don't worry, the rack will make an appearance soon when I make a film of my sandblasting experiments. I also hate twist-grip style shifters, as do most people, however I thought it was cool that this particular horrible asymmetrical pair were actually still working after years of hammering, so it was appropriate to keep them alive.
@@red_dread I'm still waiting for that sand blasting video :)) For a few days I am checking daily. Any news?
A) The long wait will be worth it and the video will be at least half an hour and amazing
B) You've been really busy and you'll post 5 minutes for the fans.
@@dragostalks7501 I don't think it will be happening any time soon - I still don't have the necessary materials, and with the current winter weather there's few opportunities to do outdoor jobs like this. It will happen eventually though...
Nice resto
Do I spy a Seiko Prospex Diver? Great watch. The bike build was great too. Cheers Oliver.
There is a tiny element within this community with an excellent eye for such details, and those men have my eternal respect. I don't usually like to wear a cherished timepiece while I'm brandishing heavy tools and solvents around the yard, but every now and again something slips in for the connoisseurs!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
You have really cheered an old man up on the day after his rather forgettable 76th birthday. I did the End to End (Land's End to Muckle Flugga in Shetland) back in the mid-90s on a Streetwise when in my 50s and overweight and unfit. It was a cracking bike. I had added a Brooks B17 and some bull bars but otherwise it was standard. I forgot - Pirelli sponsored me and I put some Panaracer tyres on and got no punctures for the entire 1065ml trip. I deeply regret giving the bike away to a colleague who wanted to do (as I had done) some long rides for charity. Seeing another Streetwise being brought back to life is a real tonic - I covet that bike!!!
Re the headset - Oh ye of little faith! The Streetwise was a quality steed of its day - I think my main sponsor paid about £350 back in the mid-90s before cycle prices went ape. Those bearings look dry rather than shot.
My version had quick-shift triggers rather than the grip-shifters.
Chainstay - I seem to recall that mine had a plastic guard on it as standard. What you did was a crude sort of whipping.
Handlebars - I've come across this before. This style is described as 'contemporary' but it was around 60yrs ago as soon as cable brakes were the norm. They were the described as 'Great North Road' bars and were created by turning conventional bars upside down. They were a very popular alternative to drop bars.
You've done a brilliant job. Well done. I applaud you.
A Dawes Streetwise will always be beautiful and you have made it so.
Paul in the Midlands (where they were ONCE made)
I love hearing these type of tales. I knew straight away the Streetwise would be worth saving - there was never any such thing as a bad Dawes. And you're right about those handlebars - I'm sure I have a poster from even more than 60 years ago with those cafe-racer style of bars. They're very fashionable now but they always looked great in my opinion. Anyway, I hope the bike you gave to your colleague is still going strong somewhere - and if not I know it won't be too hard to get it back up and running again!
@@red_dread Glad someone else remembers those bars. GNR bars were so comfortable and of course they were free - they were already on the bike but in the wrong position. when we turned our bars upside down, we thought we were 'Cock of the road'. Instead of one, you had three holding positions which made longer rides more comfortable on the hands and wrists - near the headset, at the curves and on the grips and the 'drop' was easy on the back.
Cheers, buddy, and thanks for getting back.
Great job, 90% of restoration is just lots of time deep cleaning and changing the touch points (saddle, grips, pedals and tyres)
That’s usually my approach, but then it’s a bonus when you find disasters like a flared head tube and a sheared axle! This was a particular treat.
ayyyy nice vid! bike turned out great. also cool work on the chainstay projects good idea !
Paracord chainstay protector is genius isn't it? I'm pretty sure the guy I got the idea from is the only person I've ever seen doing it.
If there was an award for analogies on that there CZcams you would win it. Barnacles off an oil rig being right up there.
A few of my mates do that sort of thing for a living way up there in the North Sea. And when they're on dry land, they're HARD cyclists.
What a fantastic model for bike restoration and charity funding. I like the idea that your 'salary' becomes the donation as well as the ethos of saving bikes of every description. You have found solutions to three of the great problems of our time by my count. Chapeau.
I only wish it was scaleable - unfortunately at my current productivity level I estimate I could only do about two per year!
@@red_dread Well I can do two too, and just like that you've started something!
That was a proper restoration project cheers. Saved another bike from going into the tin
Perhaps I was being overly sentimental when I said no bike should be binned - there are millions of bikes that deserve no better than being melted down. But not this one. A great piece of kit.
Good build for a good cause...was really impressed with how well the frame came up. Would love to see more rare 90s mountain bike bits in future videos, even if you must wear socks and sandals whilst doing it.
That frame is well weathered but black is a very forgiving colour to work with. See also the Saracen I did, which came up stunning despite its age and condition. Definitely more of that in the pipeline.
Top work Sir. Many old European bikes do end up being directly exported by the container load to sub Saharan Africa I think. Ridden a few in The Gambia.
Good to hear, and I hope they get good use out of them.
Fantastic job and such a great cause. Well done.
Thanks, I have another one waiting in my workshop to do the same again, I wish I had more time for such projects.
Awesome channel! Hope to see another video soon. 👍
I miss you and your videos can’t wait for more soon!
Internal cable routing on a bike from the 90s? Amazing!
I’m pretty sure my Saracen Tufftrax Comp I owned in 1991 had internal routing.
It was pretty rare but a cool touch. The only MTBs I can think of from that era would have been Kleins - pretty much the opposite end of the market from this!
Brilliant build, and an even better cause.
Has me thinking,
I'm not sure I've ever seen a Dawes that I didn't like.
The Saab of of the bike world.
I was weirdly uninterested in Dawes as a kid - I guess I was seduced by glamour brands, neon colours and USA influences. But with maturity and hindsight I fully agree - those things are pure class.
had me 5 saabs when I was younger
Those para cord protectors look good but are going to get dirty quick. I just use an old inner tube cut length ways and wrapped, with a zip tie at the end. Or sometimes just a strip of heli tape
I haven't seen this bike for a while but will be soon, and yes I bet the chainstay is in a right state by now! Paracord looks good for social media of course, but for practicality I tend to use neoprene or kevlar.
I am swimming in old Klein frames here in Norther California can still be found for a few hundred or even less, I bet they are a rare bird over there. I have ridden in England in 2004 when bikes from the 90's were still seen on the trail, and remember all these steel frames with magura rim brakes mounted backwards on the fork!!!!
I spent some time in the Bay Area about 20 years ago and was torn between buying a Cannondale and a Santa Cruz. I saw Kleins around, but you're right that they never really made it over here in any numbers - we only knew about them from the magazines and the Tinker Juarez posters. By the late 90s there were suddenly "Kleins" everywhere but they were basically cheap Treks after Trek had bought the Klein brand. Nice paint but otherwise no relation to the beautiful originals. By the time the Mantra came out it was so awful it really damaged the credibility of the Klein brand - which is a shame because the original ones like you have are absolutely stunning - I'd certainly pick one up if I found one in need of a rebuild. As for those bikes you saw in 2004, one of them was no doubt mine! I had exactly that: a Reynolds 653 steel frame, Pace RC-36 carbon fork and Magura HS33s mounted backwards on the fork legs. Worked great.
Great restoration. 👍
Love that chain-stay guard!!!!!! I will be immediately stealing that idea.
The guy I stole it from is somewhere lurking on CZcams but I think he keeps his bike builds to Insta only. He seems happy enough that we're all nicking his idea - it's genius isn't it?
nice vid mate but my wife would have hang me using a used bike chain or brand spanking new brake cable (which ever the closest one she could grab) for cleaning bike parts in the kitchen sink. again nice vid mate.
I am willing to wager that it's a utility room.
I have 3x kids under the age of 5, plus a lively dog. My bike cleaning activities are pretty much the most hygienic thing in this house. Also what the ladies don't see, cannot enrage them.
Great save on the head tube. I have used SteelStik epoxy putty when dealing with a similar problem. It has amazingly held up just fine. Not sure if it’s readily available in the UK or wherever you are located
Yes, those types of putty are available here - I’d probably have gone down that route if this solution hadn’t worked. Haven’t seen this bike for a while now so no idea how it’s held up in use. I’d be interested to find out!
Superb mate.
i definitely agree with you about loose bearing hubs. I really love rebuilding old-timey loose bearing bb's as well
It's so satisfying isn't it? Even pedal bearings - when I'm in the mood.
So good!
I wonder if you could cure a loose head set cup by squashing the tube in a 3 jaw chuck from a metal lathe. They grip on 3 sides and are very powerful. I've never done it but always wondered if it will work. That's if it would fit around the tube to start with.
You absolutely could - it wouldn't be pretty or precise but it would definitely restore the grip between the tube and the headset cup. The challenge would be how hard to squeeze - I reckon it would take some serious force to re-form a Reynolds steel tube, but too much and you'd cause structural damage or squash it beyond repair.
I managed to sort a headset like that on a muddy fox by center punching the frame a few times to bite the cups a bit tighter
It's a sound idea - not sure I'd expect it to be solid enough for serious off-roading but it does the job as a bodge.
Still to this day I detest grip shift, yet the xray 800's were not terrible for the front rings. The rear ones always cracked and I mean always .
I think they had very few fans, if any! I can't think of any reason for their existence other than to spec a bike as cheaply as possible. The ones on this Dawes were worth preserving however, for curiosity and sustainability reasons alike.
@@red_dread oddley enough the Rapidrise rear Der's would have made grip shift take over back in the day. i still have a slew of olf srt 300/400/500 here. you want them?
Excellent work for an excellent charity 👏👏👏
It was one of my most challenging projects, which made it all the more satisfying. My friend calculated how much money he saved by using this instead of a car, and gave the LOT to the charity. I'm addicted now, let me know if you get an idea for the next one.
Awesome rebuild any dawes is worth saving. You must be jealous of your mates shins with the bear trap pedals. Ouch
It was indeed well worth saving, it will live on for decades. You and my friend will both be equally glad that the bear trap pedals got swapped out for some slightly less aggressive ones at the last minute. The bear traps now reside on one of my show pieces, where they will look the business but seldom get used in anger.
@@red_dread that's good news for shins everywhere
That is a beautiful rebuild 👍. Bikes are like cockroaches, you have to try bloody hard to kill one😁
Very hard to kill a Dawes in particular. This one looked like someone had spent years trying.
Brilliant project - very inspiring. What was that tool you said was from the 'Time Before Man'?
I don't know its name, it's basically a crudely made pipe wrench with a different size at each end, which is occasionally effective for grabbing bits of metal and twisting them. Nice and primitive.
The cup for the steerer tube has too much play!For 1 inch there are 2 different types of cones available, 30,0 and 30,2mm.
It did, but it doesn't any more. I fixed it!
You didn't pack the top headset bearings?
I did, just not on camera! The thing is still running smooth as we speak.
Honestly, we do want to see you scrub bolts clean. I'm a bike mechanic and I can't get enough of watching other people scrub bolts in their spare time 😄 czcams.com/video/AWEdWyRnTGc/video.html
Delighted to hear it. Stay tuned, the next video has an entire section of de-rusting and scrubbing. Such a satisfying job.
Pleased to see a Carte d’or ice cream tub/bearing degreaser bath. Standard issue in any real man cave.
My late father was from the Gino Ginelli generation. A tradition that's been passed down the bloodline.
Just saved this to my favorites; I suddenly want to add paracord to my bike.
Excellent save for a great bike! How was the bb? You never mentioned it.
I can't claim credit for the paracord idea, but it's fabulous isn't it? I'm doing different colours on a few of mine, but the tight tyre clearances on vintage MTBs will make some of them difficult. The BB was solid, nothing of note. It may even have been the original - one of those Shimano cartridge type square taper jobs that can last decades.
@@red_dread My hot pink paracord is finer than yours, and I have plenty of clearance.
@@Korina42 I have all sorts of colours and gauges, I'd be interested to see how yours looks with a finer gauge, however I imagine the process of winding it round and round might become extremely tiresome!
@@red_dread Since I'm unempl-- um, a lady of leisure, I've nothing but time. Well, time and podcasts. Okay, time, podcasts, and cats (that is not a plus). :-D
Well done on fixing up that bike and raising money for a good cause! The first restoration I did on video for my channel was a trashed kids MTB that was found abandoned next to a bin - I fixed it up and donated it to charity (COMAC) that supports refugees and asylum seekers in Sheffield, UK.
Nice work. I think all this charitable stuff with bikes is addictive - I really want to source the next one now! I saw a charity online that helps people with addictions to get clean with group activities like long bike rides, I reckon they could use a solid addition to their fleet.
Just spotted your raptors im thinking thin green line
You're the second person that's spotted that! I know those are popular with emergency services and military personnel but I am neither - I'm just a big fan (and collector) of the Leatherman brand. I have pretty much one of every model, and the Raptor is my no.1 choice for workshop shears. Perhaps a rather expensive alternative to kitchen scissors, but one of my most often used tools.
@red_dread I have multiple pairs from when I was a sapper to a ambo tech cut through anything and that warranty built for life I approve 👌
Sprung on that internal cable routing!
Pretty rare for a low-midrange British steel city bike! Nice and easy to work with too - as long as it's grommeted against the rain.
Interesting pair of solutions for the headset. Is there a question of how well the compound will hold up to regular weight shifting/rocking or is a gravity test and snug assembly enough to figure that it will hold?
Yes, that's definitely a question that will see an answer in time. I don't believe it will be solid enough for any serious off-roading or abuse, but it has definitely bought us some more riding time before more costly remedial intervention is required.
@@red_dread I thought you'd clamp something around the tube to push it back into shape. Is that even practical?
@@Korina42 I did look into this - it appears that the amount of force that would be required to re-shape a Reynolds steel tube is immense. Of course you could whack it with hammers - but as for a tool to crush it and reduce its diameter while preserving its roundness, that would require something seriously heavy duty which my workshop doesn't have.
@@red_dread Ah; I was imagining something similar to Paul Brodie's technique to remove dents in tubes. I hope the Lock-Tite does its job.
czcams.com/video/x4D_lLqj37c/video.html
That was an interesting resto build. Good recovery on the head tube repair. The rear rack seemed to disappear without a mention. Did you vaporise it with the DIY sandblasting?!
Stay tuned for that. I almost certainly will vaporise it, but not without a camera present.
Great! Looking forward to seeing it refinished. Great channel 👍👌😎
I'd like to have a turbo flame and a marlin spike
I probably ought not to recommend to total strangers that they buy potentially murderous implements, but I do love using mine. Paracord tinkering is definitely a tranquil hobby.
I have seen worse bikes brought back to life by this CZcamsr in England, his channel is Bikespeeds, see if he does charity work.
I'll check him out, thanks!
You should get a jug of evaporust instead of vinegar
No need - I've got vinegar!
@@red_dread Evaporust works a lot better than vinegar and without any acidic reaction. It's easier on parts and does a much better job clearing off the rust. Try it, I promise you won't be disappointed
@@MrJonas2255 Don't forget it's reusable and nontoxic!
@@Korina42 Both good points!
Great vid but eyes were wondering towards the Porn stash (Ogre) 😜
That Ogre is a firm favourite. So stunning to ride, I also just bestowed XC-Pro pedals onto it! Silly to put so much bling on a DX-level midrange bike, but it's what I would have done as a teenager if I could.
Headset cups, i think that was wrong idea to put it inside frame
By loctite 😒
Why? It worked perfectly! How would you have done it?
Vegan saddle, yeah right.
It's 100% metal and plastic so technically a vegan could eat it.
You belong in the Dull Men’s Club
Yet you watched the entire video and loved it
@@red_dread oh I absolutely did! Thats why I’ve been in the Dull men’s club ;)