The 5 best bicycle restoration tips you need to know before starting your first project

In this video I will give you the best 5 bicycle restoration tips I wish I knew before I started my first bike restoration project.
I hope it will save you valuable time and money and increase the enjoyment out of riding a bike you’ve restored yourself and the bike restoration process itself.
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I've also written a blog post with more information. If you want to read this article go to www.restoration.bike/bike-res...
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Music is from the KZbin Audio Library
Song is "Stellar Wind" from Unicorn Heads

[@GreenJimll]

All good points. For the bikes I restore I have two different reasons for doing them. The first restorations I did were simply to get old, discarded bikes working again so that I could donate them to refugee groups (who end up in the UK with nothing, and having a bike gives them low carbon, cheap transport to get to medical appointments, government offices and even work). In these cases I wasn't worried about what the bike looked like as long as it worked and was safe to use. Over time, I started to do other restorations that were more for me. Not the bikes themselves - most of those still end up being given to other people (though I did keep a skip find that is now my daily "beater" bike) - but that I enjoy the process and learning new skills and techniques. I've just finished restoring a late 1960s/early 1970s rod braked Triumph step-thru that I pulled out of a skip and that has been great for learning about a whole new braking system and trying out some new paints. And the lovely thing about that is that the shiny restored bike has gone back to the lady who let me pull it out of her skip, so she's now got the bike back that she was given new when she was 12! There's a good feeling when you can do stuff like that.

[@ForrestNH]

Thank you for a great video! I'm looking forward to learning more about your restorations on this channel. I have two bikes to restore, and anticipate that I will learn a lot from you.

[@rangersmith4652]

I've "restored" four bikes. Two were "good enough to provide reliable service" overhauls of inexpensive rigid mountain bikes, one going back to its owner and one bound for an unknown new owner. Great for learning. One was converting a hybrid bike to a drop bar gravel bike and overhauling all the parts that needed it. That one never seems to be really complete as I'm always finding ways to tweak it. The fourth was a vintage steel bike, carefully researched and made as perfect as I can get it with a new finish, all new bearings, and period-appropriate/reproduction parts where needed. In the queue are a 2008 Kestrel Talon SL that's simply going from TT bars to bullhorn bars (using the existing bar-end shifters and brake levers), and my old reliable 2000 Allez M4 Pro that's getting a partial mechanical rebuild but no paint work. Every bike project is different, and every one teaches me something, makes me learn a new skill.

[@inconspicuous-nobody]

I find so many of your clips very very relatable! 😆 A lot of really valuable advice here. I'm not a restorer (perpetually in my "wanting to fix every bike" phase) and have made the mistake of going for quantity over quality after an initial few beauties gathered, and am yet to master the art of letting go of those projects and not reusing every single part that might still have a bit of lifespan left... Maybe once I have a job that can finance the hobby properly. :) What a gem of a bike channel you've built!! Jealous of your patience, skill, and that sweet sweet buffing wheel.

[@restorationdotbike]

Thank you for the generous compliments. Much appreciated.

[@1972hermanoben]

You are not alone! 😂

[@anthonyguerrero4612]

Thank you for this video I've now realized I like riding fixed bikes, not repairing them 😅.

[@robvangemert2737]

Exactly the video I was hoping to find before starting my first restoration. Thanks a lot for posting.

[@restorationdotbike]

Glad I could help

[@ThaiRoosters2019]

Thanks for the video🇹🇭🙏

[@petergiourelas3753]

Buy steel bike

[@waltercodbollocks3175]

Ditch the background music. It's annoying, distracting & totally unnecessary.

[@giuliagalafate96]

I didn’t even pay attention to the music until I read your comment 😩😤😤