@Cyclist asks:
I have a Raleigh Randonneur from the early 90s. It's been well looked after, with many years of regular use, often heavily loaded. The frame was slightly dented at the back of the seat tube by a bike shop many years ago. All components apart from front & back rack have been replaced over time.
Q2. What should I check to help decide if I need to replace this much loved old bike?
(When is it time to retire a bike?)
@Cyclist @bikenite A2. My partner retired a bike when a crack in the head tube developed on an old aluminum frame. Cost/willingness to repair was too high.
Not sure if it's much better on a steel bike with a dent in it? I guess it depends on how much sentimental value it has for you! We didn't even bother getting a quote because my partner was ready for a new bike.
We chose to pay for repair for a similar issue on another bike. Aluminum head tube repair cost about $250 including shipping back to the manufacturer.
Some dents can be "rolled out" but generally it's not worth repairing unless the dent is huge because they don't affect the strength. Filling and painting is a cosmetic option.
@lopta @ascentale @Cyclist @bikenite
I've never heard of a BB standard by Dunlop, so no idea.
BSA was the de facto threaded standard until push fit BBs triggered a million new standards.
A good Reynolds steel frame will probably outlast any of us if well treated.
Rust is an obvious problem once you get water and contaminants on bare metal. But it's fairly clear and easily prevented and or removed.
Fatigue cracking is much less of a problem on steel frames - but a quick check over each tube, especially at and near joints will alert you to that. If you have ridden for a while you would probably notice when riding(creaks and different feel)
@MatthewNewell @ascentale @Cyclist @bikenite
I concur. Obvious signs of rust should be checked, and look closely around the lugs.
I found this on my 1988 Raleigh Corsa a few years ago which relegated it to the turbo.
(dent in the down tube is from a crash in 1989, which I remember was on the day of the Pau stage because I was gutted I had to get a broken wrist put in plaster and missed Martin Earley winning it!)
@MatthewNewell @ascentale @bikenite
That's really helpful - thanks!
#BikeNite A2: I've retired three bikes because I got new ones.
My childhood bike was retired because I outgrew it.
The next one was retired because I'd done too much modifying -- replaced the coaster hub with a three-speed, but never got the caliper brakes installed. My neighbour took pity and gave me her husband's bike (with permission).
That bike was retired when my son outgrew his childhood bike, and we both got new ones. 20 years ago, and the best one yet!
@ascentale @Cyclist @bikenite if it fits, ride it! No reason to retire a bike that isn't broken (and a small dent won't do anything to steel). I'd probably only replace a bike if a component wasn't available one day or my health and strength required that I get a lighter bike or something.
@lopta I'm not sure that Raleigh necessarily used proprietary parts so much as they adhered to older British standards that bicycle companies outside the UK did not use. Many French brands had their own standards which were equally incompatible.
But, by the 1990s, the global market had pretty much done away with competing standards, probably because so much production moved to Taiwan and China.
@ascentale @Cyclist @bikenite #BikeNite A2 depends a lot on where the dent is - get one (or more) opinions from. Replacing parts for years can end up being an expensive proposition, esp. if standards change
Sentiment and familiarity vs cost to repair is a very personal balancing act. Some people buy a new one every couple of years as the latest and greatest comes out -- these people are an excellent source of good second hand bikes! Others keep an old faithful (or sometimes unfaithful) for years past any sensible person's idea of a bike's life
here's looking at you semi-retired 1996 aluminium hardtail, going on 30yrs old and being a daily rider for a teenager to school
A2. When it's lost the essence if being that bike. It could be a "Bike of Theseus" if you replace the frame and keep all the other parts you've already replaced. But by then it might be better to turn it into an outside tomato trellis or inside bicycle sculpture.
@cainmark @ascentale @Cyclist @bikenite
A2. Dionysus was my Bike of Theseus: reconstructed from Ol' Paint, a c. 2008 Marin Muirwoods that had suffered innumerable scrapes and dents over the years. In 2019, my son and I tore the bike down, sanded it down to (mostly) bare metal and resprayed it.
I replaced the original 3x8 drivetrain with a SRAM Apex 1 and built new wheels on Alexrims and Shimano M6000 hubs. When I was done, the original bits were the frame, fork, and some of the handlebar stem spacers. And the headset, which was fine.
@cainmark @ascentale @Cyclist @bikenite
A2 (cont'd). Fast forward to 2025. Dionysus's gorgeous Battersea blue-green paint was showing signs of wear, with rust bubbling through from underneath in spots. I had the option of stripping it down again and repainting it again, or moving on. I chose to move on for several reasons, among them that the chainring clearance wasn't great as the bike had been designed for a triple. I bought a Surly Straggler frame, rebuilt the wheels again with 650B rims, and added some sparkly bits. At first I moved most of the drivetrain over, but I've just replaced that with Shimano Deore.
@ascentale @Cyclist @bikenite A3. I think the answer is personal, i.e. check your heart and wallet. Anything on a bike can be fixed. If a steel tube has failed, it can be replaced.
However, the intersection between cost and is it worth it is an answer only you can find (and it is probably in a fuzzy grey area).
I’m currently collecting the bits to rebuild a frame from ‘91. I will spend way moe than I paid for it, most likely more than an equivalent new bike, but sentimentally I don’t want to let it go. I’ve ridden this bike on three continents. We have a history together.
Good luck! #BikeNight
@ascentale @Cyclist @bikenite A2. I will second all the answers like this: You will know if the need or cost makes sense to you.
I spent years trying to source used parts to make my 3x6 81 Schwinn Traveler into a gravel bike only to crash it and bend the head tube so it was unrecoverable. LThat decided it for me and I replaced it with a 15 year newer Trek MTB that is more of a gravel bike in use than a MTB.
#BikeNite A2: dents *can* compromise steel tubing, but the risk is generally crumpling/buckling in thin sections under compression, plus some chance of fracture in higher-strength alloys with cyclic loading (crack formation, growth and then catastrophic spread). Both cases would be sudden and severe failures, eventually. But steel is fairly tough and dents are mostly cosmetic other than cracking the paint and allowing rust to start forming cracks or spread to a weld.
@ascentale @Cyclist @bikenite A2. Good steel frame bike? Never retire it!
The only reason not to ride it would be if you have a part that breaks that is truly irreplaceable or if one of *your* parts breaks. #BikeNite
Haha. I do sometimes wonder how much longer I'll be able to swing my leg over the crossbar!
@Cyclist @ascentale @bikenite Honestly, that is the major reason I had to retire from riding my Bridgestone MB-3 Xtracycle. Even then, I lived in hope of rehabililtating myself right up to when I had to move and couldn't take it with me...
Great longbike and they don't make 'em like that anymore. #BikeNite
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