Prowler 

Small world. I live near Twin Ponds GC. And I've also been to Shirks. Great old school shop. And as for "cloud maker", yup, I helped build the place. Another century ago. Welcome. Send and email if you like since we cannot PM.

Vovae

Like the mustache bars.

Vovae

Like your mustache bars.

Saddle Up

Miyata Six Fifteen by SaddleUpBike, on Flickr

RobbieTunes

1982 Lotus Classique. Came OEM with SR stem and bars, but I switched to Cinelli. 54cm c-top, 55cm c-c along the top tube. Suntour hubs, FD, RD, Symmetric shifters, Dia Compe 500 brakeset, Sugino RT crankset, Sugino BB, Shimano 600EX headset, pedals are SR, as are the clips and the straps, Suntour dropouts. Tange Champion #1 tubing, brazing by Tsunoda. Regal saddle, Brooks wrap, Ukai rims on stainless spokes, IRC Roadlight tires say 700x25c but measure more like 22-23.

Winter project that got shelved for a while, and I finally found some time, but all I did was overhaul it, replace the decals with repro's, and swap out the bar/stem. Basically, a 1-day project, full overhaul, clean, lube, re-assemble, adjust. Rides pretty nice for a 54cm, which is my "natural" fit, per bike shops. Not sure if I'll keep it or not, very similar to my Centurion Semi Pro. Thought about swapping wheels to the Semi Pro, as the black anodized rims would really snap on the Centurion's gold frame.

Lenton58 

Really?! What a marvellous adventure.

The opposite: I've done everything but hang myself up on a cross on my current build, and it is still some distance off. Even whenever it may be completed, a transmission experiment may scuttle the basic theme. (SIGH)

SO ... congratulations on a very beautiful project ... I'm inspired. It really is a beautiful piece. Furthermore, I admire the sum of the bits that make it up. Really. In my book, it does not have to be Italian, a single gruppo or any of that tra-la. My thoughts: form is function, function is form and this machine looks to have it. We cannot always have it. Can't always get it. In this case — it is ....

QUESTIONS: What chain-ring T-counts are you using, and what cogs are on the back? I assume it is a 6 speed freewheel (FW).

Cheers — Lorne/Lenton

RobbieTunes

It's a little small, but I'll decide down the road what I'll do with it, probably literally.

BIGDCYCLES

Here is my completely rebuilt Huffy Strider. Just built this because parts were laying and the frame was the correct size. All low end components until I decide if I like it. Have weinmann or dia compe brakes laid back as well as higher end vintage shimano derailleurs and shifters.

Prowler 

I puttered around all winter taking my Raleigh Professional Mk IV down to the frame and cleaning-n-relubing everything then building it back up. A clean bike but clean is NOT what they were made for. So I cranked out 50 miles yesterday on the Schyulkill River Trail; down into Phila, had lunch at the Water Works and returned to the car. Now it's dusty, got dead bugs on the paint and a bit of mud on the tires. Now it's a good bike. I'm quite impressed with this machine.



If you've seen this bike in other threads you may notice its' done now. Nice Pasella PT tires (run well, no complaints). I've installed a proper vintage coiled spring RD cable housing, exactly the proper 220mm long. I've also installed the grey bar tape, the AME hoods that came with the bike and the homemade walnut bar end plugs. This photo also shows the beta version of the homemade rack for the Cannondale Trestle bag - lowers the bag about 3 inches from the stock rack. This afternoon I made the final version from a 1/4 inch chrome plated rod I had. Much like this one but some dimensions adjusted from the beta. Now I'll just ride him.

due ruote 

Beautiful. I'm intrigued by the bag hanger as I have an old Eclipse bag that's similar. Would you happen to have a picture of just the hanger without the bag on it? How did you go about bending the rod?

bchris

Hello,
A new member, here. I'm appreciating the many beautiful bikes on this thread - thank you. I recently decided to clean up my bike, which sat in the corner of the basement for the last 15 years. It's an Alfredo Gios Compact, 56cm, Columbus SLX, Campy Chorus gruppo, circa 1989. Threw on ergo brake shifters and newer saddle around '92, I think. Surprisingly, though it sat for so long, it didn't need much work - just minor clean, lube and adjust.
Looking forward to seeing many more classic beauties in the coming days.
Chris

Prowler 

Thanks. I took a few photos so I'll start a separate thread to answer your questions. See that'n.

RobbieTunes

I like a bike fit to the drops.

I can help you with that.

Ace bike, just beautiful.

upthywazzoo 

Holy balls. I was sold on this bike as soon as I saw the monoplanar brakes and the paint. Gorgeous. In Chicago we have this structure called "Cloud Gate", more affectionately known as "The Bean" where during the summer, you will always see people walking around it with their converted fixies or Bianchi Pistas. Generally I find walking around the Bean with a fancy-pants italian bike or anything that comes in celeste green to be kind of show-offy, considering that you can ride past it in about 10 seconds.

BUT. I would definitely allow this GIOS to be walked. Rad bike.

jared1212

just finished reincarnating this 87 Fuji Tiara. So far I'm really feeling it, gotta tune the rear derailleur though.

vintagepedals

'83 Trek 720

'84 Raleigh Prestige Racing USA

'84 Nishiki Medalist

'90 Specialized Allez Epic

My Classic Rides!

smontanaro 

Bike boom Atala - seller thought 74. The rear derailleur is a Pat 70 NR.

+ =

20.5 miles round trip. (That's the seller, not me.) He was a pretty chatty fellow (and we had another bike associate in common), so I wound up talking longer than I should have. It was getting pretty dark by the time I rolled into the garage.

JohnDThompson 

IIRC, the first two digits of Atala serial numbers (usually stamped on the seat tube) indicate year of manufacture.

smontanaro 

Thanks. Based on a couple searches I did this morning that's what I concluded as well. Alas, the bike is at home, I'm at work, and like a fool I didn't think to locate the serial number and photograph it last night. (I did pump up the tires. Hows that for rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?) Now the knowledge that I can't deduce the year of manufacture will gnaw at my reptilian brain all day. Oh well. It will motivate me to ride faster on the way home. :-)

mort1369

A couple more pics of the Raleigh:

At a car wash. . .



At our local R/C field. . . .

Sixty Fiver

1988 Dahon V... a father's day gift to myself that my 14 year old daughter thinks is the coolest bike ever (and I am happy to share).



One of the most interesting things about the Dahon was the freewheel as it runs 5/6 possible cogs to allow the rear derailleur to clear the tyre and more interesting is the freewheel itself... it is a Taiwanese made "Charger".

Pastor Bob is gonna like this one...







That 9 tooth cog gives the bike a rather steep top gear, makes for a big jump to the 14, and a 9 tooth cog is not the smoothest thing in the world.

Rewind things 5 years when I was going through an old bike shop and found an odd freewheel with an 11 tooth driver which just happened to be another Charger... I dug that out and swapped the 11/14 outer cogs on that for the 9/14 the bike came with which smoothed out the shifting and gives it a more spinnable top gear.

So if anyone wonders what the smallest freewheel cog was... I suspect it was this 9 tooth on this rather obscure freewheel.

echo victor 

Welcome to the forums!

Beautiful bike and beautiful photos. Convenient that you found a bike work stand in a forest clearing.

sizzam

Picked up a tiny little Bianchi Premio from the late 80's (I think) for my daughter. Because of the downtube shifters, I was able to convert it to a flatbar road bike in about 20 minutes. I'll definitely be hanging onto that sweet stem and handlebars for later after she gains confidence on it.

smontanaro 

Turns out the serial number says it's a 1971. As I was cleaning it up I discovered a very small sticker just about the shift levers that reads "Competizione," so I presume it's Atala's second-in-line model from that year. Its color doesn't match the options in their 1971 catalog, but most of the components do (the crank has obviously been replaced). I'm still undecided what to do with it. It certainly doesn't fit me. Looks like it might fit Ellen, but I have been slowly building up a frame for her to use as an Italian style city bike. This would be a better starting point, and actually an Italian bike.

Duane Behrens

New stainless spokes and brass nipples on the Raleigh: