daneil
04-13-04, 01:54 PM
I was wondering is anyone knew anything about this bike? I know that the team was a highly ranked Dutch team in the 50's and 60's. Just wondering if anyone knows about their older track bikes. Thanks.
-Dan
-Dan
Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Groene Leeuw Track Bike
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palman
03-22-05, 08:05 AM
Daneil.:
Just saw this post as I was trying to see what info might be on line about the Groene Leeuw bikes. In 1980, I purchased one of their bikes from a bike shop here in the Detorit metro area. The head tube says Croene Leeuw, but it had Plum decals (a bike shop in Ghent which sponsored a 6-Day team). I bought it primarily because my wife's maiden name is Plum, so... It is pretty basic, unamed tubing, but in talking to the shop owner in Ghent a few years ago, it appears that it was a fairly simple, cheap track bike that many British visitors would buy and bring back to England. My frame dates from the early 70s, I have been told, and I still ride it every winter as my fixed gear winter/ealry spring training bike. I had it painted a few years ago, and it still seems to be in fairly good condition. Biggest problem has been mounting a front brake because there is so little clearance under the fork crown, and I can't mount fenders either, so my riding buddies sometimes get a bit of a spray. The fork and chainstays are partially chromed, but that is the only distiguishing feature on the bike. Very basic and sluggish, with more of a stayer/pursuit geometry than a sprinter design.
I understand that a British beer manufacturer (Whattley's I think or something like that) used these bikes as their team bikes in the 60's - 70's, and my bike appears to have been part of that stable - based on the original colors - yellow and green. It was brought over here by the DeVoss or Debaets family (fairly well known Detroit area Belgian families whose kids raced in the 70's) and I picked it up from a shop in East Detrot that was partially owned by Mike Walden's son-in-law. Lots of history...
Paul Alman
Quick Release Event Promotions
Ann Arbor, MI
Just saw this post as I was trying to see what info might be on line about the Groene Leeuw bikes. In 1980, I purchased one of their bikes from a bike shop here in the Detorit metro area. The head tube says Croene Leeuw, but it had Plum decals (a bike shop in Ghent which sponsored a 6-Day team). I bought it primarily because my wife's maiden name is Plum, so... It is pretty basic, unamed tubing, but in talking to the shop owner in Ghent a few years ago, it appears that it was a fairly simple, cheap track bike that many British visitors would buy and bring back to England. My frame dates from the early 70s, I have been told, and I still ride it every winter as my fixed gear winter/ealry spring training bike. I had it painted a few years ago, and it still seems to be in fairly good condition. Biggest problem has been mounting a front brake because there is so little clearance under the fork crown, and I can't mount fenders either, so my riding buddies sometimes get a bit of a spray. The fork and chainstays are partially chromed, but that is the only distiguishing feature on the bike. Very basic and sluggish, with more of a stayer/pursuit geometry than a sprinter design.
I understand that a British beer manufacturer (Whattley's I think or something like that) used these bikes as their team bikes in the 60's - 70's, and my bike appears to have been part of that stable - based on the original colors - yellow and green. It was brought over here by the DeVoss or Debaets family (fairly well known Detroit area Belgian families whose kids raced in the 70's) and I picked it up from a shop in East Detrot that was partially owned by Mike Walden's son-in-law. Lots of history...
Paul Alman
Quick Release Event Promotions
Ann Arbor, MI