Dawes Milk Race racer 1980's

Allabaah

Would anyone have the original specs for a Dawes Milk Race bike from the 1980's. Starting to restore it so trying to keep as much of the original as possible. It belonged to my dad who had a penchant for hacks and modifications! Its a Reynolds 500 frame so nothing rare but big sentimental value.

The frame for certain needs a respray so any suggestions there would be appreciated as well

Eamonnator

I can't help, but my first road bike was a Dawes Milk Race, Reynolds 500 tubing.
I did my first Maracycle on it. As I remember, It was as heavy as an iron gate, but I loved it. I thought it was the same as the Team edition.
It had a very basic Shimano group set and I can't remember what other components it had.
Best of luck with restoration.

P.S.
On reflection, I think it may have had Weinman brakes.

P.P.S.
Here is a link to Decals on EBay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dawes-Milk-Race-Bicycle-Decals-Transfers-Stickers-n-50-/252174421189

PaddyFagan

Is this the right bike - http://veterancycleclublibrary.org.uk/ncl/pics/Dawes%20Milk%20Race%201987%20Europa%20%20leaflet%20(V-CC%20Library).pdf

Google found it via this page: http://veterancycleclublibrary.org.uk/library/index.php?action=asearch&searchtext=D&items=80

Paddy

hesker

Best of luck. It can be a lot of fun but will cost a bit. Much more than you will ever recoup from any future sale.

Check out the inside of the frame for rust and corrosion. It might not be worth restoring if corrosion has gone too far. You can dip it in an oxalic acid bath to remove rust and there is a product called framesaver that you can treat it with. Hard to get but I managed to get my hands on some a few years back.

Re: respray

Only do it if you really have to. You can get rid of rust spots with oxalic acid and protect with a lacquer. However beware there could be rust beneath paint work that looks perfectly OK from the outside. I have seen this myself.

If you do respray don't try diy with a rattle can. You can put a lot of effort in and get a seemingly perfect finish but it won't be durable. The finish lacks the hardeners present in professional sprays.

Either get it powder coated or find someone who has experience spraying bike frames. It apparently requires a slightly different approach to car body work. Powder coat finish can be good or bad and on a cheaper frame might not be a bad approach.

If you can't find the decals on ebay you can use tracing paper to trace the outline and do up the art work on a computer. There are decal makers on ebay but again this could run to 50-100 euro for a custom job.

Allabaah

Eamonnator wrote: »

I can't help, but my first road bike was a Dawes Milk Race, Reynolds 500 tubing.
I did my first Maracycle on it. As I remember, It was as heavy as an iron gate, but I loved it. I thought it was the same as the Team edition.
It had a very basic Shimano group set and I can't remember what other components it had.
Best of luck with restoration.

P.S.
On reflection, I think it may have had Weinman brakes.

P.P.S.
Here is a link to Decals on EBay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dawes-Milk-Race-Bicycle-Decals-Transfers-Stickers-n-50-/252174421189

Hi Eamonnator,

yes indeed thats the best description of it, an iron gate! My dad did the Maracycle a few times on it as well! The Weinman brakes are still on it and in good nick.

I spotted those decals on eBay as well and if I go ahead with the complete respray, I'll get them.

Thanks!

Allabaah

PaddyFagan wrote: »

Is this the right bike - http://veterancycleclublibrary.org.uk/ncl/pics/Dawes%20Milk%20Race%201987%20Europa%20%20leaflet%20(V-CC%20Library).pdf

Google found it via this page: http://veterancycleclublibrary.org.uk/library/index.php?action=asearch&searchtext=D&items=80

Paddy

Paddy,

that is spot on with a great photo as well to boot. Perfect and exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks a million.

Allabaah

hesker wrote: »

Best of luck. It can be a lot of fun but will cost a bit. Much more than you will ever recoup from any future sale.

Check out the inside of the frame for rust and corrosion. It might not be worth restoring if corrosion has gone too far. You can dip it in an oxalic acid bath to remove rust and there is a product called framesaver that you can treat it with. Hard to get but I managed to get my hands on some a few years back.

Re: respray

Only do it if you really have to. You can get rid of rust spots with oxalic acid and protect with a lacquer. However beware there could be rust beneath paint work that looks perfectly OK from the outside. I have seen this myself.

If you do respray don't try diy with a rattle can. You can put a lot of effort in and get a seemingly perfect finish but it won't be durable. The finish lacks the hardeners present in professional sprays.

Either get it powder coated or find someone who has experience spraying bike frames. It apparently requires a slightly different approach to car body work. Powder coat finish can be good or bad and on a cheaper frame might not be a bad approach.

If you can't find the decals on ebay you can use tracing paper to trace the outline and do up the art work on a computer. There are decal makers on ebay but again this could run to 50-100 euro for a custom job.

Thanks hesker.

I plan to strip it and almost certainly respray it as the paint work is terrible. The rust is on inspection surface only as it was kept indoors but I will get a second opinion of sure.

I won't attempt the respray myself and look to get a pro to do it.

Thanks again for the insights.