Bicycle Renovation by Retro Ride

From our base in Ascot, in Berkshire we undertake the renovation of all bicycles, including rare vintage models requiring the most fastidious attention to detail.

To lovingly restore your bicycle we will first strip it back to the bare frame. We will then bead blast the frame to expose the bare metal before repainting it, using the highest quality materials and methods.

In rebuilding the bicycle it will be fitted with new bearings in the both the bottom bracket and the head set, and it will be fitted with new inner and outer gear and brake cables and new brake blocks.

The cost for the basic renovation package begins from £120.00.

Defective parts can be replaced and every effort will be made to source original parts. These will be costed separately before work on the renovation begins.

The supply of a completely renovated and customised sit-up bicycle in either a gent's or lady's style single-speed model starts from £350.00. Prices for a three-speed model start from £400.00.

Expensive? Not really when you consider that each bicycle that we supply is unique.

Another service that we can offer is a re-chroming service. Contact us for prices. The lead time for this is approx 4 weeks.

 

- News -

Tony Houben Saves Bicycle Bacon

Tony Houben of Retro Ride came to the rescue of local cycling team The Bacon Run as they prepared for a famous cycle race in Italy called L'Eroica. The race through the hills of Tuscany is one of the biggest in the world, with more than 2,300 participants this year. Not for the faint hearted. Apart from the hills, the full distance is 206 km (129 miles) in one day and about 80% of the ride is on rough dirt tracks or strada bianchi (white roads) as the Italians call them. The white roads are part of the reason for L'Eroica. The race was started by the locals to stop landowners taking them over and incorporating them into their land. They are also part of the reason that bicycles have a habit of falling apart on L'Eroica.

To make it even harder this year, only week before the race, the organisers changed the rules to limit numbers. Only racing bicycles manufactured before 1987 would be eligible and that's where Tony came in. Tony Houben is one of the foremost experts on retro and vintage bicycles in this country. He's not a mechanic, he's a trained engineer who really knows how to build a bicycle from scratch and he was also a member of England's racing team in the 1970s. As Roddy Kemp one of the members of the Bacon Run said: "We had been planning for this for months and this rule change just took the wind out of our sails. We then started talking to Tony." In adversity the Baconneers, as they call themselves, pulled together and found old bicycles that met the new rules and Tony rebuilt them to withstand the punishment of L'Eroica. As Roddy said: "There were several weeks when you could call Tony anytime of the day or night and he would be working on one of the bikes for us."

Tony worked right up to the last moment before the van left with fifteen vintage bicycles carefully packed inside for the long trip to Italy. The race itself was as punishing as anticipated starting in the pitch dark of a very early freezing morning before the temperatures soared towards lunch time. It was all worth it though, because only one Bacon Run bike and rider didn't complete L'Eroica, and that was the bicycle that hadn't been through Tony's loving hands.

The Bacon Run is an amateur cycling club that meets every Sunday morning. They go cycling and then eat bacon - perhaps sometimes you need an excuse. As Tim Wright another of the Baconneers said: "We certainly entertained the Italians with our shirts. Corsa della Pancetta either means 'Bacon Run' in Italian or it could mean 'Round Belly', highly appropriate for some of our team."

 

For more information contact:

Tony Houben 07778 123 615
Roddy Kemp 07824 348 717

One of our bicycle renovations

Below are some before and after photos of what you can get for £150.00 if you supply me your bicycle for renovation.

This 1950s B.S.A. has been totally stripped down.The frame has been sand blasted back to bare metal and re-enamelled in its original black colour. The chain set has been re-chromed as have the rims, which have been rebuilt with new spokes, a new front hub and a renovated 3-speed Sturmey Archer gear. The rod brakes have been completely re-furbished with new brake blocks and the wheels have been fitted with new tyres and tubes. Also new are the pedals, seat pin, sadde, bell, leather handle bar grips, headset, ball bearings. Some original style B.S.A. transfers were located and a gold coloured chain helps to add a little bling.

This bicycle is approx 50 years old and now has another 50 years plus of enjoyable cycling left if it is serviced and maintained properly.