Thread: Lotus Unique
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Old 08-10-10 | 10:24 AM
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Zaphod Beeblebrox's Avatar
Zaphod Beeblebrox
PanGalacticGargleBlaster
 
Joined: Apr 2009
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From: Smugglers Notch, Vermont

Bikes: Upright and Recumbent....too many to list, mostly Vintage.

Lotus Unique

My buddy picked up a lotus unique off ebay recently... it showed up over the weekend and while its far from pristine condition its pretty nice and shifts so smoothly.

Looking over the frame I'm not sure it wasn't in a front end collision but everything is straight and it tracks just fine. The components are a bit odd, and honestly I don't know how anyone was riding it in the state it showed up in but its all pretty nice considering the price and the relatively small amount of work required to get it on the road.











Components are sort of all over the place... Derailleurs are Suntour Cyclone MKII and shift wonderfully, shifters are just run of the mill suntour friction shifters, not ratcheting. Brakes are 1st gen Superbe, brake levers oddly enough were crapola Dia-Compes with the Turkey Legs unscrewed. TA Crankset, but the non-drive-side arm is a sugino...no clue what became of the matching TA arm.

We replaced the Levers with $5 nashbar aero levers, new stainless cables all around, housing was lined and in good shape...the chain was about a mile too long and I have no idea how anyone was riding the bike that way...there was no way to hit the granny ring without the chain dragging on the chainstay. I removed like 4 links and its fine now.

Gearing is half-step plus granny and the shifts are silky smooth.

Serial # is EN00339, i dunno if there's a Lotus Ser. # database but if there is please kindly point me that way, I'd love to know the year on this.
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