Chiorda questions...
 

hey!
i have an old chiorda frame, with some beautiful cranks on it, and a simplex derailer, and i'm not sure what to do... it doesn't fit me (i'm a small guy), so i'm looking to sell it, but i'm not sure how to price it as info on chiordas is hard to come by. i was wondering if anyone here could help me out and give some advice? it'd be greatly appreciated.

thanks so much!
matt.

Always wondered what type of right crankarm went with that particular left arm.

-Kurt

I briefly had a Chiroda Gimondi, I believe Chiordas were generally low end mass market bikes. Given the components, and the stamped dropouts, this one probably isn't worth a lot of money.

I have this very frame, broken down to just a frame... selling it for use as a SS to someone in town likely. Those cottered cranks... ugh. Fun markings tho, and despite the medium grade dropouts, it is light weight

how much are you looking to sell it for, if you don't mind my asking? i'm just trying to get a feel for what i should be doing, so i don't get ripped off, and vice versa.

matt.

There's no chance that you'll get ripped off.

20-30 bucks.

the paint is in similar shape. The crank and BB are off. to be honest (as I noted above) some kid who is doing a SS/FG won't cotton much to the 'barbell' heavy cottered cranks (plus the chain ring is near impossible to mod down to a single). And the Derailleurs are gone to, so it's just a frame with handle bars and seat, seat post... the Simplex changers are more of a curiosity of the time ( I rode a few bikes with Simplex changers and had a few that busted on tour)

So I'd guess your bike, with all the extra parts, is worth about...

20-30 bucks
best of luck!

thanks for the straight answer man! i appreciate it.

matt.

There are exceptions. I found an old Chiorda which was beautifully made, with fancy chrome lugs, campy dropouts, and an the usual mix of parts; campy gran sport derailleurs, shifters, and hubs, nisi sew-up rims, simplex crankset, and universal brakes.

A slightly older version of that exact bike (in white) was my first 10-speed (around 1970 or so). I still have a couple of the pieces too! The decals were essentially the same but the down tube Chiroda sticker was a more vertical block pattern.

They were indeed low end bikes (mass market - otherwise I could not have afforded it!) but mine took me a lot of places! I "upgraded" to a Peugeot AO-8 (used) in 1973-1974 timeframe.....

You'll not get a lot for it but thanks for the memory!

Mark

MattCav- Can you do me a couple of favors? I just bought COMPLETE Chiorda much like yours for $5 off Craigslist. Simplex derailers, cottered crank, same decals even. Mine is kind of a burnt orange colour and came with pull-back bars. Before you sell it, donate it toi a co-op, or scrap it, can you...

A: Take a picture of the fork crown for me? My fork is missing the diamond shaped decals and I'd like to know what they looked like.

B: Can you tell me what the serial number is on that frame, where it is located, and how it is oriented? Mine is located on the seatube, about 2" above the edge of the seatube/BB lug. The funny thing about mine is that the tops of the numbers are pointing towards the BB; so if you have the bike parked on the street and were looking at the serial numbers from a distance, they would appear to be upside down. Now if you are standing next to the bike and bending over at the hips (effectively turning your head upside down), the numbers are properly oriented and easy to read. I hope this deescription makes sense... What is your serial, where is it, and which way are they oriented?

C: Do you have any clue as to the year, model, or original configuration of your bike? The pull-back bars on my bike are old, but I'm not sure they're original. If our frames are in fact 70's-boom bikes, something tells me they probably came with drop bars and not cruiser-style pull-backs.

P.S.- Where are you at? If you are anywhere near Cincinnati I'd be interested in taking the frame of your hands. Chiordas seem to get the red-headed step-child treatment, but so far I'm loving mine. I went out for a ride today- my new-to-me Chiroda pulling a Trek Trail-a-bike which was pulling a baby trailer (three man train). Aside from finding that the seatpost was cut WAY short, I'm pleased. I'm even considering working on a serial number DB and FAQ if I can find enough bikes and details. :)~

I'm guessing you've either got the model above the ones I remember seeing, or there was some varience in bikes made back at that time.

My memory of Chiorda's from Erie in the early 70's was a basic bike selling at the local catalog stores for about $79.00. The frame was very close to yours except that the lugs were painted black, identical crankset, and the derailleurs were Campy Valentino. Cheap, but far and away the best quality bike you could buy out of a big box store back then. Not seen too often. And considering that an absolute garbage Iverson sold for $69.00, and a Raleigh Record went for $100.00, they were a pretty good bargain.

I've always had a bit of a fascination with them, although I've never been quite sure why.

Chiorda was a full range manufacturer. They did everything from city bicycles to pro bicycles. The OPs bicycle appears to be the entry level lightweight. Above that was the Valentino equipped model with chromed fork and stay ends, head lugs and fork crown. The LBS where I worked during the boom carried Chiorda and the entry level models were very problematic but the pro model was very nice.

T-Mar,

The "entry level lightweight"- do you remember what the model name was? $5 just bought me a complete Chiorda much like this one (lugs, Simplex derailers, etc.) except that mine is kind of a burnt orange in colour. Also, I'm guessing it came standard with drop bars? Mine has a set of pull-back bars (kind of cruiser-like) and a set of Dia-Compe brake levers. Not original, or did they also sell a geared townie?

Yes, they sold a derailleur equipped city bicycle but if you've got Dia-Compe levers, you can almost quarantee that they're replacements, along with those handlebars and presumibly a mattress saddle. However, the clincher is whether it has or had a front derailleur. The city bicycle was only a 5 speed.

I don't recall these bicycle in orange. I do remember white, brown, blue and a lime green. They didn't have a model name on them. We used to go by the model number on the shipping cartons. If I recall correctly, it was a model 110.