Classic & Vintage - Meile Canadian Made?

Well there seems to be a wealth of knowledge in here so here it goes. I just got my wife's brothers Meile 56mm ten speed back on the road and the bike is in fantastic shape. My question is does anybody know about this bike I have been told that in its day it was top notch and I know he paid a pretty penny (mid eighties) it is the road tour model 700-25.

Yes they were Canadian made for Jim Miele's shop
in Toronto.
One of our past forum mods worked in the shop before
Miele died and he said there were alot of them in the
basement. IIRC they were quite the bang for the buck
bikes when they first came out.
As there were different models of Miele
its hard to say where yours fits in.
More detail would help.

Marty

I will get #;s tonight and repost them check back tomorrow.

yo, marty! you mean Miele didn't torch the frames himself?

I'm not sure who did the brazing. All sorts of legend,
rumors, innuendo about Miele, Italian made (false),
Marinoni did em. . . hell I don't know who brazed em.

Marty

all of the ones that I have seen are nice bikes...I just assumed that he was a Canadian frame builder.

well here is what I can give for specifics, approx year 88 - 90, Miele Doral, Road Issue Pearl white hand painted pearl white "SIKKENS" frame is 56mm Infinity CR-MO Tapered double butted tubing Tange, 12 speed with EXAGE SPORT front and rear deraillers, EXAGE brakes. so lets have it how would this bike rate in these times. i have done a complete tune up on the bike and have rode three times and it performs great. i am six foot and 255lbs and this bike will be my road to 215lbs or less.

I actually have a Canadian made Miele as well, its an early mountainbike though. Very odd bike... pump peg on the head tube, top tube slopes up slightly to the seat tube like a road bike, etc. Pretty nice frame though.

Right now, they are manufactured by Pro Cycles in Saint-Georges-de-Beauce (Québec). Like a few other brands like Mikado (RIP 2004), Vélo Sport and a few Canadian store brands.

well here is what I can give for specifics, approx year 88 - 90, Miele Doral, Road Issue Pearl white hand painted pearl white "SIKKENS" frame is 56mm Infinity CR-MO Tapered double butted tubing Tange, 12 speed with EXAGE SPORT front and rear deraillers, EXAGE brakes. so lets have it how would this bike rate in these times.

It sounds like 1988 or 1989. The 1988 specs are a pretty good match, except the only listed colors are blue and black. There is no Doral listed in my literature for 1987 or 1990. I don't have thew 1989 specs, so that might be your year, unless they made a spec (colour) change during 1988.

For 1988, the Doral was 3rd from the bottom in a line-up of 7 "sports racing bicycles". There was another group of 7 "racing" models above these, in addition to 7 "City, Commuter and Mountain" models. I don't have the 1988 prices, but the 1990 Volta, which appears to have been its replacement was listed at $460 CDN. It would proably be considered as a upper, entry level or lower, mid range model. All the ones I have experience with were well made and good value for their respective price range.


yo, marty! you mean Miele didn't torch the frames himself?

Pictures I've seen of Miele's shop show what appears to be a conveyor line process. The picture clearly shows 3 different people brazing frames, though there are at least 5 brazing stations visible, with the possibility that two brazers are just out of the picture. The jigs and frames appear to have the capability to move from station to station, so it's not clear if each brazer manufactured an entire frame, or if he handled only one operation before forwarding it to the next brazer.

I don't know if Jim did any brazing himself, but I do know that his previous industry experience was in distribution for his father's company and most Miele models were mass produced, so I doubt it. Most early Mieles were manufactured in Japan and Taiwan, though I've also seen one that, if I recall correctly, was manufactured by Rossin. In 1985 he enticed Guiseppe Ferrara, a reknowed designer and framebuilder, to come to Canada. the following year they opened a new, state of the art Canadian facility with capacity for 30,000 bicycles annually. The company eventually folded in the early 1990s, with Procyle resurrecting the brand name in 2002. Jim passed away, early in 2003.

There's definitely an Italian connection. Jim was born and grew up in Italy, until he emmigrated to Canada at age 14. His father's distributorship handled Italian bicycles. He apparently had a business relationship with Rossin and he employed an Italian as his head designer.

Well iwould say you know about the Meile Cycle, very interesting and my wife will love the tid bits. I am excited that I get to use this somewhat nestalgic bike to make a come back into cycling, each day i ride further and feel better about it. I am also looking forward to getting a new bike that fits me better this is a 54 - 56 cm and i have been looking at 60 - 63cm I am looking for a little more comfort while riding. I have been scouring pawn and thrift stores and will hit the garage sale seen soon don't know if I want new or used, I know i want a deal!!! Thanks a million for the information.
Have a great ride.

Azle,

RBM has some very nice bike in the used/consignment section in the
back of the store (richardson branch). Not the cheapest
option, but there are some really good deals (saw a full campy
8 speed Serotta for less than $500) if you look for them.

Marty

well here is what I can give for specifics, approx year 88 - 90, Miele Doral, Road Issue Pearl white hand painted pearl white "SIKKENS" frame is 56mm Infinity CR-MO Tapered double butted tubing Tange, 12 speed with EXAGE SPORT front and rear deraillers, EXAGE brakes. so lets have it how would this bike rate in these times. i have done a complete tune up on the bike and have rode three times and it performs great. i am six foot and 255lbs and this bike will be my road to 215lbs or less.


Hi There,

I know your message was posted a while ago but I've just come across it now.

I just wanted to share that I have the exact same Miele Doral Road Issue bike that you are discribing! Mine is also Pearl White.

I've bee searching the web for a long time to find more info on this bike and your forum message is the only thing I've found.

I bought this bike when I was 13 years old, I'm now 29, so I guess that would make it 1989. I remember it costing at the time just over $500 canadian, a lot for a kid working in corn fields to pay for it. I've taken this bike on many, many long journeys - used it for racing one summer, but mainly rode to keep my legs in shape for the winter hockey seasons. In other words it got a lot of use but I've maintained it very well. I even still have the original tubes in the tires. Last year I took the bike to several cycle shops around Toronto, and the average appraisal I got was a worth of about $900 canadian - after cleaning it thoroughly the bike looks brand new, it's unbelievable.

Have a look at the serial number of your bike (underneath the frame where the crank is attached). Mine is a 3 digit number, I don't think many of this model were made....I've never, ever seen anyone on the road riding the same bike as me.

Good luck in your search for a new bike. If you're selling this one, be sure to get what it's worth....I don't think there exists a better bike in the $500-$1000 price range (but of course, I'm very biased).

Cheers.

I happen to have a Miele bike aswelll. Mine is gold with a chrome fork and I think it's from 1980-83 judging by the components. I just started a minor restoration by buying a new stem, new bar tape, new brake lever hoods and new cables. I might also get the bike repainted and get some new wheels and tires. I've never gotten mine apraised but a week after I bought it (for 40$ from a friend), I saw an identical one for 250$CDN at a bike shop. Another one of my friends also has a Miele and I will hopefully be acquiring it soon. Mieles definitely are solid bikes and I love mine.

I had the good fortune to pick up this nice piece yesterday:

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g307/mikanally/003.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g307/mikanally/002.jpg

There are a lot of them floating around here in town and they still command respect as well as a premium price. Lugged frame, great lines..the tube set is very light too.

The fork seems to be out of alignment due to the front wheel not matching the centreline, but it isn't too bad really. I'm going to instal some nos 105 brakes and it will be getting a "new" quill stem and wider drops, and an actual "new" Thomson zero setback seatpost (chrome of course).

I'll post pics...

I'm in love with it and can't wait 'til she's all dressed up. :)