Here for your viewing pleasure , a 1978? Austro Daimler Vent noir.
It came into the Bike Exchange as a frame and fork. As soon as I saw it I grabbed it and brought it home. This was a time when European mfg’s were starting to use Japanese components on some of their high end bikes . Although this one came with Forged Shimano dropouts and fork ends I decided to outfit it with a mixture of high quality bits, starting with Suntour Superbe brakes and levers, and Superb derailleurs. Also by Suntour it sports a 12-28 tooth 7 speed freewheel and Symetric self adjusting down tube shifter. For wheels I used a set of Mavic rims on Campi hubs with our house tire EVO 700 x 28’s.. The crank is by Specialized with 42- 52 teeth and a drilled outer chain ring which I found in the pile some time ago and have been dying to use.. The stem is a Specialized which fits the oversized Cinelli bar diameter perfectly.
When I first handled the frame it felt rough. When I got it home I cleaned everything then rubbed it out with 3m white polishing compound , being careful not to wipe off the decals. Looking closely at the paint it looks like there are tiny pits in it. Rubbing it out greatly improved the look and feel. I think a clear coat would really make it pop.
The bike as pictured has been loosely assembled just to see what works. My next step will be to take all the hardware back off and clear coat the frame with Rustoleum clear Automotive enamel. I would really like to know what the original paint was. The frame appears to be fully chromed with a semi transparent coating over it to get a black chrome look. I really don’t want to spray anything on the frame that would damage the finish. If anyone has had experience with this model please let me know. I will post more pictures when everything is finished.
My Austro-Daimler "Vent Noir II" Bicycle And Brief History of Steyr Daimler Puch good history and description