Puch Promenade Shopper Bike Restoration.

  Today has been the first time since I bought the Promenade a few weeks ago I’ve had time to give it a ride, I pumped up the completely knackered tyres and went for a quick spin down to the church and back. The gears work, the chain is quite new, the ride is smooth, the brakes are horrible and so is the saddle, but the dynamo and lights work! Not bad for a 45 year old bike. Today the work began…but what shall I do with it?  Puch Promenade Puch Promenade Frame Box of Bits.  Read about my Dawes Kingpin here: https://daweskingpinbike.blogspot.com/

More work on the Puch Promenade, in fact it is almost finished. I have been a bit lax with the updates on this blog, which I expect no one reads. No matter it acts as a diary for me. Below are a couple of photos when I received the bike, note the black painted handlebars. Paint had also spilled onto other parts of bike, which was a pain to remove.  Before Refurbishment  Before Refurbishment  Below are some photos of the bike as it stand now after a full nut and bolt refurbishment including some photos of the bike in bits.  All the chrome has been cleaned, de-rusted and polished, including the racks which were time consuming. I swapped over the handlebar and stem from another donor ( the green one mentioned elsewhere on this blog)  Puch which was in better condition. I bought a new Spa Cycles ( NIDD) leather saddle which is very like a Brooks B17.  New tyres are also fitted.  After Refurbishment  Hard to find Puch branded handle bar grips with reflectors.  Spa Cycles Saddle Shiny chrome

  The handlebars on the red Puch Promenade were covered in thick balk paint, probably Hammarite, I was hoping that the chrome underneath would be ok...it was not.  The paint was covering up a lot of rust, it took me over two hours to remove the paint to reveal the mess of the chrome and to realise that I will probably have to replace the handle bars. This is shame because the chrome on the rest of the bike, the wheels, the carriers etc was in much better condition.  The wheels were in much better condition than they ought to be considering the condition of the handlebars and only required a good clean and polish. The front wheel had a bearing service, a clean of the hub, new ball bearings and new grease. The rear wheel Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub is in nice condition, runs smoothly so I left it alone.  Read about my Dawes Kingpin here: https://daweskingpinbike.blogspot.com/

Next on the cleaning agenda was the chain set and cranks and stem, these were in quite nice condition, just little surface rust and only needed a polish.  Before Cleaning After Cleaning Read about my Dawes Kingpin here: https://daweskingpinbike.blogspot.com/

   I had the opportunity to buy another Puch Promenade Just got home from collecting the Puch Promenade that I bought on the bay of e. It’s in pretty good condition, just needs a clean and a service and it’s good to go. The grips have their reflectors intact, the chrome is grubby but sound, the tyres look in good nick too. For some reason the gear lever is on the left, so I’ll swap that over. Hub date is 9/80 if you’re interested. My plans are to swap over any parts from this bike over to the red Promenade if they are in better condition, the handle bars from this green bike will certainly be swapped over. This bike has the rather nice red reflectors in the grips intact. they often get lost or damaged over the years.  For some reason the previous owner has the Sturmey Archer gear lever on the left of the bars. Read about my Dawes Kingpin here: https://daweskingpinbike.blogspot.com/

   I have started to clean, de-rust and polish the Puch Promenade mudguards and carriers. I use wire wool, steel wool, GT85 and Autosol polish and a lot of elbow grease to clean up the parts.  Before and after photo. showing the unique detailing on the mudguards.  The black paint that had dribbled on to the front mudguard when the previous owner had painted the handlebars. It was a fiddle to remove.  These rubber trims from the chrome ESGE / Pletscher carries were filthy, I used hot water and CIF to clean them, and then more hot water to soften them to put them back on the carriers.  Before cleaning After cleaning. Before and after cleaning of carrier nuts and bolts. I clamped them into a vice and cleaned with a brass rotary brush on a drill.