lotekmod

Amazing how your mood can change in an instant. I was having the worst week, just really stressed out about a large project I'm working on that is behind schedule. I woke up in a bad mood thinking about how little time there has been to ride or work on bikes lately. I was also running late for a vendor meeting in a sketchy part of town in North Philly. I pulled up in front of the building and saw a guy across the street selling stuff out of his garage, including a few bikes. I was really not in a bike mood but something caught my eye so I quickly ran across the street. I saw "Lotus", the remains of a Columbus sticker, and some Campy components and asked how much. Fifty bucks, exactly what I had in my wallet. I didn't even bargain. Paid the guy, threw the bike in my car, and ran into the meeting. The whole process took less than 5 minutes. This is what I grabbed:



A 1984 Lotus Legend Compe, Columbus SL tubing, with a mix of Nuovo Record and Nuovo Gran Sport parts. And...IT'S MY SIZE!!! The wheels are garbage and the stem and seatpost are currently stuck, but I've had the good/bad luck of having bought two other frames this Spring with stuck posts and was able to free both of them. I'm trying 3 for 3. The paint is in decent shape, just some small rust spots here and there.

Now I'm in a GREAT MOOD, the heck with work. This will take me a while to get it cleaned and tuned up but I'm definitely thinking this is a keeper. I used to have a Lotus bike poster hanging in my bedroom when I was teenager. Thirty years later and I finally own one!

rhm

That's pretty neat, a well made Japanese bike with Italian components, eh? Can't beat that price. congratulations!

oddjob2

Very nice score. That seat post should be easy peasy as there can't be more than 6" in the seat tube. I've never had a stem that won't come out with patience.

CycleryNorth81

That is a great looking bike. Congrats on getting the bike.

Trick fall

Really nice bike and score. Should help take your mind off work.

Beach Comber

Wow. One of these just cleared $285 on ebay. Great score!

OldsCOOL

Nice snag! And Campy parts, wow.

PaintItCeleste

Congrats! It is a beautiful bike. I'm glad this came along to uplift you!

lotekmod

Thanks everyone! I had some time tonight to start disassembling and so far so good. The parts are in good shape with no missing bits other than a dust cap on one pedal. Got the bottom bracket out, flipped the frame, and filled the seat tube and steerer tube with Coke to let sit for a day or so. That's what worked on the last frame so I've got my fingers crossed. I also started cleaning and polishing a part of the frame and it has a very pretty gold metallic flake paint that is hard to pick up on in photos.

One question I have- the chrome parts of the frame very obviously have a clear lacquer over them which is half gone making everything look very spotty. My inclination is to very carefully use lacquer thinner to remove what's left so I'm left with just chrome. Anyone have a reason this shouldn't be done?

Lascauxcaveman 

That sounds like a good approach to me; just keep the thinner off any paint you want to keep, of course. Polish and wax the chrome once the clearcoat is gone. And work outside, because the lacquer thinner fumes are pretty bad.

RobbieTunes

Good score, and lucky for you, it was not stolen back while you were in the meeting.
It's Philly, after all.

Jicafold

No one expects a Lotus Legend Compe!...or a Spanish Inquisition!

daf1009

Nice score...had a couple Louti? or Lotuses? Both were pretty nice bikes, just not quite the right size...

lotekmod

Whew, this was my first time dealing with a stuck seat post AND stem on the same bike. I was able to remove the Campy seat post intact using the Coke down the seat tube trick along with putting the seat post in a vice and giving the frame a good twist. The stem, however, would not fall for those tricks. It was really stuck and I was afraid I'd end up damaging the fork with the force needed to free it so I had to go for the hacksaw blade slice instead. A couple of blades, a couple of weekend nights, and a six pack of Lagunitas IPA later:



Victory!!! Take that galvanic corrosion and 30 years of neglect! And I'm only down a $20 SR stem, which are surprising sturdy I might add. What a huge relief when you pick up a VRC bike and manage to fully disassemble it without damaging anything too costly. Now for the cleanup, touch up, polishing, and rebuild. You know, the easy stuff.

KonAaron Snake 

That's among the nicest lotus models, and I'm very fond of their bikes. This area had a ton of lotus dealers back in the 80s, so you see a fair number of them. We need to do a lotus ride (yours is far more practical).

lotekmod

I'd be ready for a Lotus ride in about a month. I wonder how many people we could actually gather.

I did not know until recently that Lotus bikes were popular mainly in these parts. I grew up in Bucks Co and became fascinated with racing bikes through a close friend in high school, this would have been around '83-'85 though I did not buy my first "real" bike until '88 when I was in college. My friend's uncle worked for a bike shop that must have carried the Lotus brand, which is how I got the poster I had in my room. I loved those bikes but there was no way I was going to get several hundred dollars for a bike in high school. I remember marveling at the beauty of the uncle's bikes, and the fact that he would ride 50 miles round trip (!!!!) from his house to my friend's house.

RobbieTunes

Did not Cinelli produce a model for Lotus?
Somewhat the same arrangement as for Centurion?

agustinmingote

Her Japanese sister says hi from Argentina!!!

KonAaron Snake 

Yessir, though less common than the equipe.

They also had several columbus tubed models, including full tourer!

Here's mine:

RobbieTunes

Wow. Time capsule.

KonAaron Snake 

The bars were especially hard to source (I got it with the correct stem). They (Nitto) put them back in production a few years ago, but I wanted an original set. I found a post by someone on the forum talking about the bars and not having a bike for them and sent a hail mary that landed. Outside of the tires everything is 100% correct.

It's a silly, impractical bike...but I think it's very interesting and unique.