iab

So a lot of you have seen me write "Its only original once". Well, now is the time to say I told you so. This is my new commuter (13 miles round trip), a gaspipe Torpado frame built with extra stuff I had or just thought was interesting to buy. It is the farthest thing to original as one can get. Even the Torpado headbadge is not original, I thought it was just cool instead of a decal that was probably there in the first place.
































More high res photos here, https://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/...pado+Commuter/

nlerner

Hah! Great build! What kind of tires are those?

Neal

iab

Tufo Diamond Pros, 30 mm. A nice big cushy tubular ride compared to the 22s and 23s on my other bikes. I got them from World Class Cycles for $33 each.

divineAndbright

Very nice! I think you should put some drops on it instead though, but hey!

I think I woulda went with blue instead of all the red, since it works nice with all the chrome, plus if you're riding with blue skies above the reflections match nicely (hows that for going to far?)


I really needs me a new commuter... won't be able to get a "new" frame of some sorta until spring cleaning time comes around (thats in May!) when everyones bringing their stuff to the dump!

YoKev

Love those bars!

I took a old Bianchi with those bars for a spin around the block once. Very nice

Hocam

Cool! I'd worry the chrome would make it more likely to be stolen, but ya never know.

How do you get those bars on the stem?

iab

Part of my motivation to build the bike was because of those bars. I whined in thread a while back about a Bianchi I lost on ebay with those bars. I bought those bars before I bought the frame. The bars and stem are integrated.

The red is do to my UW affiliation and the only cheap, large tubulars were the Tufos and they only come in red.

I forgot to mention the parts run down;

Torpado frame, likely from the 70s
Varese bars with braze-on levers, 60s
Balilla brakes, 60s - and they stop pretty well
Atom hubs and wood-filled Weinmann rims, 50s
Brooks B17, 70s - I'm not sure I like the look, I'd trade for something else, don't know what though
Campagnolo single-sided shift lever, 50s - open C, got a great deal, $12 delivered
Campagnolo Sport RD, 50s - also open C and great deal, $30 delivered
Regina 3-speed freewheel, 60s
Ucco Torino pedals, 30s
Unknown Italian cranks and BB
Tufo Diamond Pro tubular tires, 30 mm

iab

As for it getting stolen, I probably could take it up to my office but I bought one of these.



Also, my work is its own campus so there is little to no crime.

John E

I think that is a very cool bike, and probably very good for your application.

Otis

Nice job and a perfect use for those parts. I do think some alloy fenders (Velo Orange etc) would be a better choice. That bike just should not have any plastic parts on it. And I'm a bit surprised a guy as meticulous as yourself would settle for such an in-elegant seat binder. At least chop off the excess thread and put a dab of red paint on the end (smiley face thing here). Sweet bike!

iab

Yeah, I kind of regret the fenders but I was buying some stuff from Harris and I threw in the fenders to save a couple of bucks on shipping. Now that i have them, I'll use them until they fail. Good idea about the seat bider, I'll get to that tomorrow.

RicardoWellmaro

I would go as far as to say that is a beautiful bike, of many cool parts. Nice pedals.

The lugs on the head tube are very similar to those on the Bottecchia I'm trying to get together.