Daddles
15th July 2006, 06:42 PM
I have a Europa push bike I bought in the eighties. At the time, she was a pretty good bike ($500 bike from memory) and still has components (such as the wheel hubs) that aren't available today - of course, other bits are, well, twenty years out of date :rolleyes: . Nice old girl. Rides well.
But she's over 20 years old.
And things break :(
So about three years back, I bought another bike ... and hate the thing. I want my old girl back (ahh, the mistiness of fond memory).
The bit broken is the clamp for the centre derailleur. It's an Ofmega changer and made of a hard plastic (now over 20 years old). If you look at the really bad photo I've attached for your confusion, you'll see that the two plastic bits hinge in the middle. One half has a pin, the other used to have two plastic bearings moulded into the bracket - used to because those bearings are now broken.
I could just toss the changer and buy a new one, however, the bike is an old girl now and when trying to find replacement bits, I've had older bike enthusiasts go a little misty eyed when looking at her. So, rather than automatically toss the broken bit and put something else on, I'd like to at least have a go at fixing the broken bit. Keep her original and all that stuff (like all old bikes, she ain't worth nuffin).
Note, unless you actually have an Ofmega derailleur in your posession that you'd like to donate, replacement parts don't seem to be an option :(
The clamp is hard plastic and probably brittle with age. The broken bits, which you can just see in the picture, were moulded with the rest of it. It is a pivot but could probably be clamped together while on the bike. But, it needs to be a solid join because there's a bit of pressure on this part when changing gears. The clamp is a snug fit around the downtube so you can't have anything on the inside of the fitting (which rules out a simple, wire binding).
Any thoughts?
Richard
But she's over 20 years old.
And things break :(
So about three years back, I bought another bike ... and hate the thing. I want my old girl back (ahh, the mistiness of fond memory).
The bit broken is the clamp for the centre derailleur. It's an Ofmega changer and made of a hard plastic (now over 20 years old). If you look at the really bad photo I've attached for your confusion, you'll see that the two plastic bits hinge in the middle. One half has a pin, the other used to have two plastic bearings moulded into the bracket - used to because those bearings are now broken.
I could just toss the changer and buy a new one, however, the bike is an old girl now and when trying to find replacement bits, I've had older bike enthusiasts go a little misty eyed when looking at her. So, rather than automatically toss the broken bit and put something else on, I'd like to at least have a go at fixing the broken bit. Keep her original and all that stuff (like all old bikes, she ain't worth nuffin).
Note, unless you actually have an Ofmega derailleur in your posession that you'd like to donate, replacement parts don't seem to be an option :(
The clamp is hard plastic and probably brittle with age. The broken bits, which you can just see in the picture, were moulded with the rest of it. It is a pivot but could probably be clamped together while on the bike. But, it needs to be a solid join because there's a bit of pressure on this part when changing gears. The clamp is a snug fit around the downtube so you can't have anything on the inside of the fitting (which rules out a simple, wire binding).
Any thoughts?
Richard