John E

I believe the older of my two Viennese Capo bicycles turns 50 sometime this year. It's always fun to go on a group ride with a bike that is older than many of the riders and all of the other bikes.

https://classicrendezvous.com/Austria/Capo_eldon.htm

bjjoondo 

Nice machine, I keep wishing I'd had kept my first Italian 10 speed racer from my teenage years, it was a Olmo, the brightest yellow you've ever seen! It made all my buds on their Schwinn Varisty's very jelouis!

howsteepisit

Now thats the way a bike should look, bet she rides nice too?

Retro Grouch 

Isn't there a pie requirement for that?

BengeBoy 

Nice photos. How long have you owned the bike? Where did you find it?

pastorbobnlnh 

John,

Your Capos always inspire. They almost qualify as unique--- well at least in my mind--- since your Capos are the only ones I've ever seen. While I hit 51 next week, my oldest Schwinn, a Continental, still has 3 years before reaching the half Century mark.

How's the new job hunt going?

John E

Thanks for the nice comments, guys. I put 42 miles on that bike last Saturday and another 20 this morning. This is a superb machine for long distance rides -- very comfortable and stable, even in a crosswind. In contrast, I find I have to stay on top of my Bianchi, which is a superior climber and sprinter, but a bit twitchy and sensitive for a klutz like me. I really enjoy the contrast between the two.

A UCLA physics classmate gave me my first Capo in 1972, and it was my trusty commuter for nine years, until the crashed-and-staightened downtube finally began to fail on a climb. I found the red one in the early 1990s at a yard sale for $20, including a Nervar Star crankset, a worn-out Campagnolo Gran Sport front derailleur, and a dull Rustoleum-like monochrome red repaint job. I snatched it up for nostalgia reasons, then five years ago I splurged on the CyclArt paint job. I copied the original red-and-white paint job of a Montana-based Capo, taking the liberty of substituting CyclArt's great-looking standard metallic red for a period-correct candy apple. In bright sunlight, as in the frontal shot on the classicrendezvous page, it looks pretty close.

In 1972 I bought the Brooks Pro saddle for $5 from my boss at Bikecology, after he gave up trying to break it in, and I have put 50k miles on it. The brakes and shift levers are original, and I like the look of the sloping fork crown.

As the German-literate among you can easily discover from the https://Capo.at website (click "uber uns" in the lower left), Otto Cap Fahrrad und Metallwerk was founded in 1930 by a retired Viennese bicycle racer. He exported high-end road bikes with Reynolds 531 frames and mostly Italian components (plus Swiss Weinmann brakes) to California during a brief period ca. 1960. His son, Harald "Hary Capo" Cap, a mechanical engineer who is my age, morphed the business into a custom computer-aided-design shop.

John E

Thanks for asking, Reverend. The answer is, "Close, but no cigar ... yet." I am waiting to hear back on four different opportunities, and I try to pursue at least one new lead and one new LinkedIn contact every day.

I have my health, my beautiful college sweetheart wife, two fine young adult sons, a paid-for house in a nice neighborhood, and more than two years' worth of cash reserves outside my investments, but I am extremely concerned about some of my former coworkers and students. I have always lived by the first three lines of late bail bondsman George "King" Stahlman's motto, and I have since been focusing on the fourth:

"Early to bed,
Early to rise.
Work like hell,
And advertise."

Tom Bombadil

They are the only ones I've ever heard of.

I do enjoy older gear that has been cared for. That's a pretty bike.

Louis

I get the little "rush" that only quality vintage bikes can trigger when I look at those pics, John.

Jet Travis

Oh my!

MNBikeguy

Nice looking ride.
Truly the Capo di tutti Capi of bicycles...

Tom Bombadil

Is this something your wife should know?

waldowales

If I wasn't such a weakling, I'd ride my 1936 Columbia further than the grocery store.

Louis

I'm pretty sure she already does.

pastorbobnlnh 

A great and inspiring perspective during these challenging times!

Way to rise to the occasion--- even though you did not chose it!

BluesDawg

She's mighty purdy! Sweet bike.

Artkansas 

That's some beautiful lug work. Nice ride.

John E

Capo [DSCHAW-poe] of Vienna has always been a much smaller and more focused company than the huge Austrian bicycle, car parts, and gun conglomerate everyone knows, Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Graz. Hary has told me that the peak production in his father's shop in the 1960s was about 400 units/month. As near as I can guess, fewer than a thousand bikes were exported to bike shops in San Diego, Los Angeles/Pasadena, and San Jose/San Francisco for about 4 or 5 years around 1960. Needless to say, Capo is much better known in Austria than in North America.

I have greatly enjoyed owning three of these bikes, organizing a loosely knit vintage Capo owners' club with fewer than 10 members, and trading emails with Hary Cap and a Vienna-based member of Bike Forums, "Puchultima," who has visited the Capo Rad Und Mode shop a few times. Even the company name, Capo, is a clever Italian-looking play on the founder's name, Otto Cap.

I took an uncharacteristic monetary splurge in having my 1959 Capo professionally repainted, but the result and the reaction from many fronts has justified the decision for me. I am currently slowly restoring its very slightly newer white-with-red stablemate, this time keeping as much of the original paint and chrome and as many of the original components as I possibly can.

TysonB

Welcome to 50+, John.

For those who didn't know, John has long been a regular poster in the Classic-Vintage Forum. His posts are insightful and full of technical knowledge. He is a great addition here.

However, JohnE, don't get the big head because when all is said and done, we have very minimal qualification requirements for this forum LOL!

Thanks so much for your posts and PM's regarding Mimi, my 1969 U08 Peugeot. She was sprayed a nice white powdercoat last year and with new reproduction decals, she looks pretty nice for a 40-year old French babe. You'd notice lots of little things that make her a 'Frankenbike,' but she is still fast and loves to dance with her new red shoes (red Look pedals)!

Welcome again, and please post often.

TysonB
Cushing, OK

John E

I've been here for 8.5 years, Tyson. It's the bike that just now qualifies.

Several years ago, a pedestrian asked me if I could "do any stunts on that bike." I told him, "I'm 50 and the bike's 40, so we're too old for that."

DnvrFox

Well, you have only been in the 50+ Forum since 9/2004, since it wasn't started till then.

I understand that when you have been on the BFN forum 10 years, Internet Brands sends you a coupon for a free Seven

Louis

Um, more like a free 7-UP.

TysonB

[QUOTE=John E;8504521]I've been here for 8.5 years, Tyson. It's the bike that just now qualifies.

The Bike! The Bike! Duh! Don't know what I was thinkin'. You look so young in your picture! I still like your post whereever the heck I read them!

TysonB