Thursday, October 22, 2009

1949 BATES BAR RESTORATION




I have just got my '49 Bates Bar back from the repair shop.
I had taken some photos of the bike pre repairs, unfortunately I can't seem to find them at present.
I had been chasing after this frame for quite a while, so even though I was aware that the frame had been well and truly butchered by it's last custodian, I was of the mind that these are rare enough in New Zealand to warrant a full rebuild, and more importantly I have always wanted to ride one and see if those durant forks gave the bike a different feel.
And I also was looking for an excuse to put a bike together with a full British group set.
Firstly we had to get all the added braze on's and other assorted crap off....
1.Remove added shifter braze on's
2. Remove extra brake bridge, added to accommodate 700c wheels.
3. Replace original damaged brake bridge.
4.Repair several holes in the frame.
5. Remake and replace rear drop out's, which had been cut down, and modified to take a campagnolo derailleur.
Repair the multitude of dings and dents on all three main tubes.


Repaired hole where original pump bracket was, has been replaced with a new one, not as fine as the original, but needed to cover the rather large hole left by the previous bracket.
Also just noticeable is the repaired hole where the added braze on shifters where.


Newly fabricated rear drop outs and brake bridge.

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