Bikes of Bygone Days, Part 3

    During the early period of writing this blog, I wrote a couple of articles (Part One and Part Two) about the bicycles I had owned during my lifetime. When I considered that I had owned only two road bikes from when I was age 14 until I turned 41, and in the ensuing twelve years I have owned twenty-two different bikes, I was reminded of another early blog entry entitled “No, I don’t need therapy!”, but now I’m thinking perhaps I do.
   Now remember, I have only had at most six bicycles in my “official” collection, and when you take into account the hundreds of bicycles I’ve bought and sold to customers over the past decade, that’s really a very small number. I actually think my exposure to so many different bicycles of various shapes, colors and manufacturers has helped to keep my mania under control.
   Back in my original article, I did neglect to mention a 2000 Giant Boulder SE mountain bike, which we still own, but it has become more of a borrower bike for others to use when visiting. I used to ride more single track out in the woods with my sons when they were growing up, but got thrown off a few times and decided to retire myself from the hardcore stuff before I really got injured. The last time I used this machine was during the final bike trip with my father back in 2014.

   The first carbon fiber bicycle I purchased was a 2010 Pinarello FP2. I absolutely fell in love with the brand after a trip to Rome in May 2011, during which I visited the incredible Lazzaretti bicycle shop (more on this later). I enjoyed this bike immensely, and became a stronger cyclist on it, learning to ride at a higher tempo for longer periods of time. Unfortunately, the FP2 was the odd man out when I purchased my Cannondale SuperSix 5.

   At this time, I had a number of lightweight racing bicycles and really wanted to have something more vintage. I decided to strip the fantastic components from my Colnago Dream Lux, sell that frameset and put the parts on a 1997 Colnago C-97 Competition in the company’s blue and yellow “Decor” paint style. I was a big fan of Johan Museeuw and the Mapei team, and I could envision them riding a very similar bicycle. One more parts swap involving yet another Colnago was eventually in the cards – more on that later.

   A customer who wanted to purchase the Motobécane Mirage I had repainted offered me a collection of bicycles that I could re-sell, among them a gorgeous Saeco-Cannondale replica team bike. Being a Cannondale guy and a big fan of legendary sprinter Mario Cipollini, I couldn’t pass this one up. I modernized the setup of this 2002 R700 Si and enjoyed taking it on some epic club rides Sue and I did with her siblings. There was an extended period of time when I was working on a bunch of red bicycles (including two Cipollini replica projects) and had a couple of red bicycles in my collection (see the next Specialized bike), so I just felt the need for a change.

   This 2011 Specialized Allez might have had the shortest stay of any bicycle in my collection. Influenced by the build of my neighbor’s Specialized Roubaix, I liked the lines of the bike and the killer racing stripe along the length of the top tube. I was looking for something light and fast for the area’s unpaved trails, and remember, this was before today's gravel bike geometry became the norm. The Allez frame lacked clearance for anything over a 28mm tire, and there was otherwise just too much chatter in the aluminum frame when riding on rough surfaces.

   My next trail experiment (on the heels of my collection’s “Red Scare”) was a 1989 Atala Cromor Triomphe, and the noise-dampening steel frame seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. There was also something really cool about the vintage Italian lines and its slick blue and white paint scheme. I was getting into family history at the time and desired to find a French bicycle. My love of Vitus bicycles was about to start, and it led to my next trail experiment. To make room, the Atala was sold to a friend.

   I was hoping the 1986 Vitus 979 Mk I, with its more flexible, bonded-aluminum frame, would be an excellent compromise between lightweight and vibration-dampening materials. This is another bike I really regretted selling, mainly because of its beautiful Mavic parts. The bike had a whippy acceleration that I really appreciated, but it didn’t have sufficient gearing for more hilly terrain. I was also becoming a bit weary of downtube shift levers. This bike went to a buyer in South Korea, and I eventually went with the Bianchi Cross Concept for all my off-road riding.

   I was getting tired of having to lug bicycles to the shore during the summer, along with all of the stuff my family needed to take with us. I wanted to buy an inexpensive bicycle with some vintage style to store down there year-round. I went back to my Cannondale roots and found a 1988 SR700 “Black Lightning”, which came equipped with special black and gold versions of components. This was a great bike, but it became the victim of a reshuffling when I purchased my Vitus 992, and another bike took up the “Cannondale slot” in my collection...
   

...in the form of a CAAD10 5 105 in Liquigas team colors. The Italian squad’s leader, Ivan Basso, had just won the Giro d’Italia and their roster was chock-full of rising stars, such as Peter Sagan, Vincenzo Nibali and Elia Viviani. I really liked the lime green and blue colors, and, at the time, this more affordable model was a good compromise from the elite-level SuperSix that I really coveted. Unfortunately, I found the ride inexplicably sluggish and (unsuccessfully) tried my best to tweak its setup to solve the issue.

   After Sue and I travelled through Europe’s Benelux region during the summer of 2017 and experienced the everyday use of bicycles, I was determined to ride a bike more frequently for short errands around home. I wanted to find something inexpensive with more of a utilitarian setup, perhaps with fenders and a rack. Incredibly, a gentleman in Affigem, Belgium, sold me a 1970s Flandria Randonneur and shipped it here for a total of just a few hundred dollars. The bike was enjoyable, but it was a bit of a beast, and I found that, with a seatpost clamp-on rack and some easy-mount fenders on my Bianchi, the Flandria became unnecessary.

   Another bike I very much regretted seeing leave my shop was one of my original build projects, a mid-1980s Colnago Nuovo Mexico, sold to my friend Brendan. A local craigslist seller had a 2008 Colnago Master X-Light, which had a similar look to the Nuovo Mexico, and I decided to purchase it, swap the parts between it and my C-97 and sell that bike. I enjoyed the ride quality of that bicycle very much, but grew tired of maintaining its chrome, and the paint chipped very easily. I found a carbon fiber Colnago from the same year with an identical paint scheme, and it seemed like a logical solution to eliminate the mentioned frame maintenance issues.

   The second-shortest stay in my personal roster has to be the 1999 Look KG 231 that my friend Jordan brought along during one of his parts swap projects. I’d been searching for a special Look frame for a while, and the cool fish scale pattern in the exposed carbon layup and attractive gold paint really stood out. The bike eventually became another of Brendan’s collection, as I had to make room for my prized Eddy Merckx Hitachi Team bike.

   In my most recent blog entry I explained my reasons for selling the custom-painted 1992 Pinarello Asolo, which leads to my recent purchase, a 2008 Pinarello Prince. I was thinking about some of my dream bikes and how unattainable most were. I happened to be wearing one of my favorite cycling-related garments, a Lazzaretti trainer-jacket, and recalled my visit to that store. I’ve always been a fan of Alejandro Valverde and can envision that sweet “Prince of Spain” bike he rode during the 2008 Tour de France.

Vaverde's wheels alone cost $3000!

   There really isn’t any realistic way I am going to find/afford that bike, but I could certainly find the model the rest of his team used! I’m probably not going to build it up to team spec, as that would still cost several thousand dollars, but I will “trick it out” in my own way to make it a fantastic bike. It already has a wonderful start with a Campagnolo Chorus group, and I’ll probably swap out the Spinergy wheels for something “Campy”. Stay tuned!

I'm not sure why some sellers take photographs from the non-drive side!

   This Saturday is the scheduled Santa Ride, and it seems like the weather is going to cooperate first time around – years past have seen several rain, snow or extreme cold postponements. We’ll be doing a 31-mile loop from Cycle Tech H.Q. out on back roads to Schwenksville, where we’ll meet the Perkiomen Trail and head through Collegeville and Oaks to meet the Schuylkill Trail. We’ll pedal through Phoenixville and Spring City back to our Royersford starting point. A wider-tired bike is recommended to deal with some of the rougher Perk sections. Hope you can join us!

   I’ll be taking a couple weeks off from writing for the holidays. Enjoy yourself and be safe – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

They Are Meant To Be Ridden!

   I have learned many hard lessons during an extended period of time that has involved the moving (and/or disposal of possessions) of several different family members. The most important thing I've learned is not to collect more than you need or, at least, use regularly.

   My sister-in-law's husband Todd helped to reinforce this idea when, in the process of their downsizing into a more maintenance-free property, he brought his old Ciocc frameset to me for restoration. The frame had been set aside after decades of neglect, not because he stopped riding - he had just moved onto some more modern, lightweight bicycles.

   He also helped to hammer home the fact that a steel bicycle needs to be well-wiped-down of sweat and grime before set aside in storage. The chrome on the Ciocc's stays and fork is a disaster, and we will now have to have it sandblasted before painting the entire frame. Re-chroming is very costly, and while Todd would love to see his "World '77" frameset restored to its former glory, he decided an "as close as possible" strategy is more realistic.

   I have always told people that I am not a collector of bicycles, and because I ride 4000-5000 miles a year and rotate through the handful of bikes I own, most of them see a good amount of use, and above all, routine maintenance. Right now I have three vintage bikes in my possession, and because they are outfitted in era-appropriate components, they might not have the gearing and efficiency of my modern bikes which get the bulk of attention, and miles in the saddle.

   The Vitus 992 is a special bike to me and would usually be down at the shore. It is stored indoors, but generally, because it is aluminum, would stand up to the salt air better than the other two throwback machines. The Merckx "Criquielion" is my prized show-off bike, and if someone wants to call me a collector because of that one, I'll gladly take the loss on that argument.

   So that left me with the decision to sell the Pinarello Asolo. I took it on a longish "goodbye ride" a few days ago - it performed perfectly and is absolutely beautiful, which further confirmed my decision that it really needs to see regular use.

   Two gentleman contacted me last week about finding larger-sized bicycles, and I was surprised to find a couple options rather quickly. I had turned to my Netherlands connection to see what he had in stock and found an Eddy Merckx Corsa in the paint of the Domex-Weinmann pro team from 1989.

   The mix of Campagnolo components currently installed need to be cleaned up a bit, and to be honest, we'll probably end up swapping many of them anyway. The frame is in really nice shape, though, and lately it has been hard to find bikes of this quality.

   I came up with an incredible find on eBay, in the form of a new-old-stock Ugo Scanini bicycle, painted to honor Eric Vanderaerden. The Belgian great won the Tour de France green jersey in 1986, and also won several Classics, including the '85 Tour of Flanders and '87 Paris-Roubaix.

   The frame doesn't have a fork included, but I had a carbon fork come my way for the Merckx Alu Team frame I'm having repainted, and the original fork from that frame would go nicely with the Scanini. I ended up purchasing a Mavic group a few weeks ago in order to fill some of the missing pieces in the Vitus 979 KAS bike I'm building, and I'm thinking of doing a bit of a modern twist with the Mavic parts left over. If a customer shows some interest, I'd be looking for some input on the project.

   I finally got around to building up the Fondriest X Status frame that I purchased locally this summer. This project certainly wasn't a priority, and there always seemed to be some customer work or a couple of my own random builds pushing it onto the back burner. I've had nearly all the parts, in the form of a Campagnolo Athena 8-speed group, just sitting on a shelf, ready to be assembled.

   Delivery of the seatpost for Terry's Specialized Tricross had been delayed, but I had the bike all ready to go when that part finally arrived.

      I met a gentleman who used to be a frame builder for Reynolds, and he sold me an Olmo Scatto bicycle that is flawless - I can't find a scratch on the frame! The lugged steel frame is made of Dedacciai Zero Uno tubing and features cool signature and logo "pantografia" (engravings) all over! I currently have it listed at a very reasonable price, mainly because it came equipped with lower level Campagnolo Mirage, but if someone wants to upgrade, I'm open for suggestions.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

   

Terrific Temps, Tremendous Trek

    I was out with some of my regular crew a couple Saturdays ago, and they mentioned looking forward to the Tech Turkey Trek. We haven't had any rain-outs in the handful of years we'd been doing this, though we were caught in an unexpected shower the first time out. We have had some cold, windy days, however, and I commented how great it would be if we ran into one of those freakishly warm spells and ended up riding in shorts and short sleeves. Now my friends wish I was a weatherman full-time!
   Temperatures were expected to climb into the lower seventies when an amazing group of twenty-four people lined up at Betzwood Park for our journey down the Schuylkill River Trail into Philadelphia! It was a bit chilly to start, but everyone was shedding layers as the bright sun warm things up nicely. We worked our way through Manayunk and over to West River Drive (MLK, Jr. Blvd.), weaving our way through the heavy weekend trail traffic.

   I tried to mingle as much as I could among the group, and a few times I got caught up in conversation and let my normal pace string out the line a bit too much! Some of our participants thankfully stepped up as unofficial co-hosts and helped keep tabs on our group so that no one was dropped. We had a couple mechanical issues that had to be worked around, and our leisurely pace required a few more people with time constraints to make the way back on their own.

   From the Philadelphia Art Museum, we headed up the east side of Lemon Hill on Sedgley Drive and worked our way over the Girard Street bridge to the Centennial District and Fairmount Park. We passed behind Exhibition Hall and stopped at the Japanese House.

   Our friend Steve took a photo of the folks who were sticking out the whole 43-mile route:

 

   We weaved through the Fairmount Horticulture Center grounds and then made the sweeping climb up to Belmont Plateau for a great view of the city.

   A short pedal down Belmont Avenue connected us with Conshohocken Avenue, and we eventually reached the trailhead for the Cynwyd Heritage Trail. Many folks commented on how much they enjoyed the 1.5 mile coast down to the Manayunk Bridge!

   From there our group kind of fell apart, as some people wanted to pick up the pace, some wanted to take photos, and my sister-in-law's husband Todd even wanted to try climbing the famous Manayunk Wall. As long as everyone was accounted for and was fine with heading back on their own, I had no problem with the respective plans of the split group.

   There was still a core group of about a dozen people riding together through Norristown, but even that pack became stretched out as the more fit cyclists drifted away from the leisurely pedalers. Although I would normally be "digging for home" at this point, I was enjoying the conversation with folks I hadn't seen for a while and enjoyed the relaxing pace.

   When we finally returned to Betzwood, I found some of the faster gang enjoying an impromptu post-ride party with some tomato pie. Many folks commented about the Santa Ride just being around the corner, but I can't guarantee the weather for that event, no matter what they think!

   While I have a couple projects lingering because of the need to collect parts, I have few new builds that are already progressing nicely. The first came about when I ended up with some stray Mavic parts - I have a love for these parts and a need to put them on a bike, not just sell them off. Seems another KAS Team/Sean Kelly tribute bike is on the way!

   I have a nearly pristine blue Vitus 979 frame on hand and a set of decals ready to go, while I am on the hunt for the few hard-to-find components to complete assembly. The past Sean Kelly bikes I've built were all done specifically for clients, but this one will be available for general re-sale. It is a 55cm frame, so if you are interested, definitely let me know!

   Another bike on which I'm working is another "return to projects past", as I found another Saeco-Cannondale team bicycle. This one came with really inferior components and really needs to be set up properly. I'm going to do something a bit different with this bike, building it up as if the team still existed in present day. All of the decals for the team's component sponsors are on the stays, and I am going to use modern versions of those parts whenever possible.

      The last project is not quite a tribute bike, but it was inspired by the classy Frenchman Charly Mottet, whom I admired during my early years as a cycling fan. In the early '90s he rode for the R.M.O. (a supplier of temp workers) team that wore distinctive jerseys with slashes of green, blue and red.

   The team was sponsored by Mavic (of course!) and rode Liberia bicycles, a company whose doors unfortunately closed shortly after sponsorship with the team ended. Frankly, the R.M.O. bike's bright green doesn't do anything for me, and I was happy to find a bit earlier Liberia frameset with more subtle styling.

   Although the bike will have Mavic wheels, the last thing I need to do is go hunting for more of those rare parts. Instead, I'm doing a slightly more modern build on this late-'70s frameset, but sticking with French (well...technically, Franco-German) Sachs-Huret parts. The company partnered with Campagnolo to develop the famous Ergo shifters, and when Sachs-Huret released their own "New Success" component group, it included a crankset that was an obvious Chorus copy. It even featured Campagnolo chainrings!

   A bunch of other French parts will be included in the Liberia build, such as a Pivo stem/bar combination, Maillard cogs and Michelin tires. There will be all sorts of mods and tweaks to make this retro-to-(sorta)modern project work, and I will detail them in the upcoming weeks.

May the fork(s) be with you!

   A new friend contacted me a few weeks ago about an accident which caused a crushed fork blade, similar to the damage that had occurred to my Cannondale last autumn. Terry had received some misinformation from a couple people, and on a recommendation from a mutual friend, he contacted me to make sure to "get it right".

   He had been told that the fork on his 2012 Fuji Cross 1.0 was a tapered version, but just one look at the part told me something didn't quite match up. Forks with a tapered steerer, as the name implies, start at 1.5" at the crown and narrow to 1.275" for the length of the steerer tube

  Tapered forks were developed to increase the stiffness of the steerer and also to provide more bearing surface at the crown, where most of the downward force occurs between the fork and frame. I could tell Terry had a standard straight steerer, but the crown race did have a strange flare that made me think this must be something unusual. My suspicions were confirmed when I tried to remove the crown race, in case it would be needed on the replacement we hoped to purchase, and found the metal ring was epoxied in place!

The visual difference is obvious between a tapered steerer (left) and straight steerer.

The crown race on the Fuji fork

   Fuji's archive of bike parts really wasn't any help, because it pretty much told me what we had (for which we couldn't find an exact replacement) and gave us no idea what might work in its place. I enlisted the help of my buddies at Bikesport, since they have a much more elaborate search engine for bike parts at their disposal. When they gave me the unfortunate news that the only fork they could find that would work had a price tag over $300, I suggested to Terry that he might as well just buy a new frameset, since he could be positive the frame and fork will function properly together.

   He took me up on the prospect, made an eBay purchase and dropped off a Specialized S-Works Tricross SLX E-5 frameset - what is up with the crazy bicycle model names these days?!! We were a little annoyed to find the Fuji had a different bottom bracket and a larger diameter seatpost, but I intend to sell the frame to make up some of the cost of those replacement parts. Otherwise, swapping the excellent custom components from Terry's Fuji onto the Specialized should be a fairly simple process.

If you or anyone you know is in the market for a 54 cm frame, let me know!

   Down in the shop, I have a bunch of interesting projects planned, and since the semi-official cycling "season" is winding down, I should be able to pace myself to complete them. I will give plenty of details about each of those builds soon, but you can get a taste of what is coming up on my "For Sale and Projects in Progress" page.

   I've finally done some serious work on the Merckx Alu Team frame, stripping the nasty old paint to get it ready for a Belgian flag tri-color scheme. After scraping off the stripper gel, I like to take a wire wheel to steel frames, but I didn't want to scratch up the relatively soft aluminum. I found a really nice product by Dico called Nyalox, a nylon brush wheel that worked really well without damaging the frame.

   I also wrapped up building the Pinarello Treviso, as all the needed parts were at hand, and freeing up some space became a priority. We've been blessed by some terrific weather this fall, and I took the bike outside for some sunny photos:

   It's hard to believe it's almost November, and that means it's time for the Cycle Tech Turkey Trek. Everyone is invited for this ride at a social pace - bring friends and meet new friends! We'll start at the Betzwood Park trailhead and, as usual, ride the Schuylkill Trail into Philadelphia. This time we hope to do something a bit different and circle across to West Fairmount Park, past Exhibition Hall, and see the Japanese Garden, Fairmount Horticulture Center and Belmont Plateau. We'll reconnect to the Schuylkill Trail for the return trip via the Cynwyd Heritage Trail, which crosses the famous Manayunk Bridge.

   Hope you can join us for the 40-ish-mile loop, or ride along with us as long as you would like!