ElliotSF

Show us your Austro Daimler! Here’s a Vent Noir II, circa 1981. I recently sold it to BF member NYCphotography. He’ll ride it more than I did, but I’ll miss it. So here, in tribute, are a post and a picture. Please post your AD. Bonus points if you include a haiku.

AD Vent Noir II
Smoked chrome, Campy, five three one
Did I say smoked chrome?

Bianchigirll 

I wish I had pics of mine. I had what I guess was a early '80s Super Light, the creamy color with brownish decals and lug outlining. it was a bit small and at the time I needed rent money.

ScottRyder 

There was a very recent thread started to catalog A-D serial numbers ..

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...+serial+number

Here's mine, '76 Ultima Superleicht .....



Scott

zandoval 

Rats - I don't have a Austro Daimler - BUT - Austro Daimler/PUCH got a some kind of subcontract to make Sears Ted Williams Free Spirt step throughs in 1974... Its mostly a Franken bike assembled form scavenged parts but she is a real sleeper for speed...

Unofficial Astro
Ted Williams Sears Free Spirit
Surprisingly Fast

3speedslow

Those AD bikes are nice ! Great looking examples shown and I'm sure more are on their way. I got to lay my hands on one at my local bike shop, not for sale just letin' the crowd gawk.

The Puch has their own shared history with AD. They were both from the same family but way different offspring. Those I have several of and love them.

shnibop 

we have a winner!

easily my favorite bike on BF!

ScottRyder 

wow, I'm flattered, thank you Alex.

Scott

robertob

Oh Pretty. My first road bike was a blue AD with gold. I can't remember the model, it was a hand-me-down from my dad. It had a 531 frame but the components were stronglight/Mafac?/Regina, etc. An odd combination of stuff that was really hard to get parts for.

ventnoit

Bought one a while back and never get the chance to ride it. Probably going to sell her I'd post pics but don't know how.

sauze

Here you go

Bikegeek1968

Just did L'erioca on it. A 1976 Superleicht.

These things are RARE in Europe. I felt like I was walking with a supermodel. Twice I was told that they could not believe they were actually seeing one in person. Tons of people came up and asked if they could take a picture of it. I was ignored.

rootboy 

ScottRyder's got another one. Smoky Chrome. Can't wait to see it shown here

jonwvara 

How bummed should I be that I missed an Inter 10 in my size (63-4 cm) priced at $90 on CL? Looked to be in at least average shape. It was close to Boston, I'm up here in Vermont. I still think about that bike. I don't look at CL often, but I guess I should stop altogether. No good can come of it.

Bianchigirll 

thats funny! great looking bike, the frame looks just like the one I had.

ScottRyder 

1976/77 Vent Noir II

I'll post some new photos as soon as I get a chance to shoot some. I did post some in the other thread when I first got it:



I've made some changes since then, I went to back to the original down tube shifters, plus leather bar wrap and a hint of color.

Scott

ScottRyder 

Beautiful .. I'd love to see more photos if you have any. I've got my eye open for one of those.

Scott

Howard

Picked up an AD mixte recently. Rode it around the block once, then took it to the laboratory for a going over. Splurged and ordered a Brooks B-springy something or other for it. Also ditching the Simplex drivetrain for Sturmey.
It isn't a 531 frame, but it's not bad. Intend to use it as a back-up to the commuting bike. Or just when I need some extra joy, you know.

DirtyHarry714

Here's my daimler, thanks to everybody on BF that helped me find info on this one! Really like the style on this specific bicycle, It's a 59 cm i believe, Austro Daimler AD-SL 76 or 78 i forgot what you guys said on my thread. Has a 105 RD in this pic but i replaced it with a suntour 7GT so i can finally reach that 7th gear on my shimano HG freewheel. I also had to replace those sugino pedals with some look carbon pedals. Long Live AD's!

DirtyHarry714

How much is a Daimler worth in the So-Cal area?

Bikegeek1968

I am in SoCAl, and I bought a matching pair of '76 Superleichts, one was a 23" the other was a 25". I needed a 24", so I kept the one that fit best (23") and sold the other. I paid $700 each, and they were unused, but knocked around a bit. They still had original tubular tires, but they were dry rotted. Both Regina freewheels has been replace by wide range Suntour Winners. On the bike I kept, I rebuilt the wheels with Sun M13II rims, the original Fiames are in the attic if I ever want to restore it. If I had know how coveted they are in Europe, I would have kept both and sold one over there.

Here are some photos of the 25", it still had the Ideal saddle (not the Ti rail one), I would have kept that. I sold this bike to a guy in Washington.
The 23" is still in the bike box I used to ship it back from L'eroica. As soon as it is put back together and cleaned I'll take a few pics.

DirtyHarry714

Right on Bikegeek, my austro is not a super leict but it's in pretty decent shape, mine did come with the regina extra freewheel. so maybe $300 is a good price range? mine is alot of mixed match components at the moment but i still have most of the original parts besides the weinmans off it, sold those to my brother but removed the regina before doing so.

Elev12k

Very nice!

Yes, they are rare where I live. Apart from an example I saw advertised on a classified site recently, I do not recall having encountered one. Puchs you do see.

The AD's do looks distinctive and classy in general. I do like them.

Elev12k

Don't regret. I doubt you could make serious money with one in Europe.

ScottRyder 

Updated photos, a hint of color added, Brooks Pro saddle in honey, cable housing and Silca pump. In the sunlight the housing and pump colors nearly match, in the digital photos they don't ...



I'm lucky enough to have a component manufacturer that uses my initials:



Scott

Bogester 

79ish Vent Noir II.