TSR in bits

I’ve been meaning to have the TSR resprayed for years, since the factory ivory powdercoat is (a) not shiny (b) shows the dirt, especially where black grease leaks from the pivot and (c) it’s flaking off wherever there’s a sharp edge, like at the dropouts. To be fair, it’s not the worst powdercoat I’ve seen (that was on a 2008 Brompton, where most of the paint flaked off after a year of dry rides), but it’s nowhere near as good as the one I had done round the corner on an F-frame.

Dismantling one of these is pretty straightforward. The pivot bolt was very tight (as it should be) due to my liberal use of threadlock after I took it apart to check it in 2019. The pivot itself was in very good condition with no play; it hasn’t done a vast mileage, and I have kept it well pumped with grease. It will get a new pivot kit anyway, since the bushes have to be drifted out and get a bit dented in the process.

The bottom bracket only just came out and it pulled apart in the process. I therefore don’t recommend Token cartridge BBs any more. As the threads are obviously a bit tight and/or rough, I ran the BB tap through both sides and also faced the shell, which really needed it on the RH side. Moulton obviously don’t prep them perfectly.

The fork and stirrup are in horrible rusty condition where the friction discs have been rubbing. This is unavoidable unless you keep the area soaked in GT85, which you’re not supposed to do. The SST has stainless fork ends to avoid this.

I’d forgotten how short a TSR spring is. Mine has the “race” spring with progressive winding. It makes very little difference.

I took off the head badge with dental floss and a sharp knife. I’m going to fit the older style AM head badge because the bright blue of the current type will clash horribly with British Racing Green.

And here it is in bits. When you have it like this, two things are apparent: the individual pieces are very lightweight, and the complexity of the construction shows you why these cost about £2000 new. And this is the cheap not-really-a-spaceframe model!

Interesting trivia: apparently TSR frame parts are made as a “bike set” on the Stratford-upon-Avon production line, and the front end from one will not properly attach to the rear end of another. So you can’t swap frame parts with a friend to get a two-tone TSR. The fork and (probably) the rear triangle can be swapped but the two main frame halves are matched. The F-frame has similar foibles, with rear suspension blocks not generally being interchangeable due to the rivet holes being hand-drilled.