The completed Raleigh Yukon

So here is the completed Vintage Raleigh Yukon ready to go back to its owner. An interesting build with a combination of new and second hand parts in an effort to keep costs down. It rides rather well so I hope the customers happy with results.

Another Mario Vaz paint job!

 The bike shed continues to very busy of late with lots of routine servicing of bikes. We've almost had a que of customers outside wanting work done and thats really excellent for business and building our reputation. One interesting job has been this rebuild of an old Raleigh Yukon mountain bike which I guess although not particularly special in its day could be called vintage now because of its age. Anyway the customer really wanted it returned to its former glory but didn't want it to cost the earth!!! So here at Bobs Bike Shed as we never turn away anyone, we took about stripping it down and transporting it up to Super Mario Vaz of Vaz Finishes  in Hither green (his website is down at the moment) and here it is in original colour with almost original decals (its missing a pink highlight to one edge) ready for the rebuild. There are a couple of pictures of the bottom bracket being re cut using a new Super B tool and a very good job it did of it too. More photos of the build  as it progresses although its a  shame I didn't take any of it before we stripped it down as it was looking very sorry for itself .

Fitting BB30 bearings

So the Bike Shed has been very busy since my return from the USA with a number of pre holiday bookings  being completed and new customers wanting work carried out. We had a nice old school Ladies Raleigh Chiltern in for a service which although a bit rusty in places was still a nice bike to work on and is now running smooth.

I also had a phone call from a customer who had recently returned from the Pyrenees and wanted a full strip down and rebuild to his Cannondale Synapse Save. It was certainly well travelled and below are some photos of press fitting new BB30 bearings into the bottom bracket shell. Interestingly the worn right hand bearing had seized onto the crank and proved problematic to remove  but with a little patience and a little perspiration we had the bearing removed and the new BB30 bearings pressed into place.

BB30 bearings in place with press tool being put together 

All ready to press into place

Both hands were used 

BB30 Bearings fully  pressed into the  bottom bracket shell

Anti sieze applied to BB30 bearing interfaces 

Right hand crank fitted 

Lefthand side prior to fitting crank

The completed rebuild ready to be retuned to the customer

The Sheds Travels

An old french design, very cool indeed

So Bobs bike shed recently took a holiday on the West Coast of America which was a trip of a lifetime,  I couldn't keep away from from Bicycles though and visited a number of shops where  the main theme seemed to be road cycling however there were a considerable amount of these Cruiser Bikes flying around especially along the beach cycle paths. Some really cool hardware which is just beginning to be visible in the UK Would you buy one, ride one?  Check these out from Felt (when your in their website click on the cruiser tab at the top) http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA.aspx/  let me know and lets see if we can start a real wave of laid back cycling in the UK

This new Titus El Guapo frame with a monarch RT3 shock came into the shed so it just had to be built up. Nice!!

This weekend I had the privilege of working on a pair of Colnago bikes for a customer near Sevenoaks who wanted the handlebars replacing on both bikes. As you can see from the photos one of the bikes is a CS9 as used in the Pro Peleton, its probably the sexiest bike on this planet complete with Campagnolo Super record group set and Lightweight carbon wheels, just lovely. Its now fitted with 3T Ergonova LTD bars and they really finish the bike off perfectly. Heres some photos.

Bobs bike shed will service your bike anywhere, even in a private multi storey car park, especially when its raining outside........this was one of 7 bikes serviced for the london to Brighton 2012 ride this weekend. Good luck guys and lets hope the rain stays away.