PBC peugeot

I got this bike used back in the mid late 1970's, the frame was a bit big for me, so I eventually stripped all the Campy parts off , along with the Brooks seat, and built it back up with SR cranks, shimano derailleurs, and an Ideal leather seat (see other thread for pic of the seat, it now lives on my Carlton) and sold it, much to my amazement, 20 years later what do I see hanging on the repair rack at my friends bike shop, but my old International, still with all the parts I swapped on to it when I sold it so many years earlier, (including the Ideal leather seat) after much pestering / haggling / negotiating (about a years worth) it went something like this, "hey thats my old bike!!!" "belongs to a customer, came in for a flat" then a couple weeks later, "sell my my bike?" "can't belongs to a customer" a few months after that, "SELL ME MY BIKE!" "NO! IT'S A CUSTOMERS BIKE!" then one day out of the blue, ring ring, "hello" "come get your bike, I sold the shop"
Brooks seat and Campy parts go back on, and the frame even fits me now, this weekend it got a full overhaul, cranks, hubs, headset, even pedal bearings got cleaned and repacked, not quite stock, a few tasteful upgrades, Cinelli bar and stem, Suntour superb brake levers, Campy Rally rear derailleur, 14-34 freewheel, 27" clinchers, albeit on the incorrect small flange Record hubs, (I hope to find a pair of proper high flange hubs for it one day)
yup she found her way home, and is NEVER leaving again,

Lascauxcaveman 

"Reunited and it feels so goood..."

That's the best, LOL

bikemig 

That's a great story.

gaucho777 

Sorry about your broken period button. Sometimes pulling up the key and cleaning around the edge does the trick. A semi-colon might be a better replacement than a comma. Or maybe even a dash, or a good ol' fashioned STOP.

Were you amazed that you sold it, or that it took 20 years to do so?

Enjoy your new old bike!

Pars 

Nice story and glad you got it back. Looks like my old International that I sold (or traded) for my RRA frame back in 1974. Sometimes I think I should retrieve it; think my friend still has it and it hasn't been ridden in years. I still have the Campy (on my RRA) but had small flange wheels built back in around '80 and sold the high flange hubs.

multivac

so the customer just left it at the shop??

PBC peugeot

yup, I even told my friend who owned the shop to offer to trade a new bike for my International if they ever showed up to get it, and I would pay for it, it hung in the repair rack for over a year, and no one ever showed up to claim it, I think they wanted to get the wheel fixed due to a transit strike, then once the buses and trains were running again they didn't care or want to pay for it,

PBC peugeot

I got your broken period right here
I'll fed ex it to you postage due
not so much a period, more like a black hole

multivac

wow! im sure no one would leave something like that at the LBS around here.
enjoy!

gaucho777 

Now, we're getting somewhere! I hadn't considered a return as a replacement for a period. Not as good a plain period, but certainly less confusing than a comma.

davester

Nice! That's the exact same International I used to have and that's exactly how I'd equip it if I got it back again. Sadly, mine isn't coming back...it was destroyed when I was run down by a pickup truck while touring through New England. I would really like to have another one.

PBC peugeot

I may have my International
but YOU have Blondie's pizza
so lets just call it a draw then

oh, and here is a pic of my Pinnarello
I bought new at Velo Sport back in 81
it was on sale for $350 (frame & fork)

davester

I'll trade you!

gaucho777 

Funny you should mention Velo Sport. When they went out of business, several customers who had left bikes/frames for service could not be located and their old bikes were left out on the curb for trash pick-up. I saved a Univega Grand Sport from the scrapper. Nice Pinarello!

PBC peugeot

I had to buy the Pinnarello when the WAY WAY overextended seat post snapped during a race causing me to crash on the ALAN that I had used the parts from the International to build

P.S. this is the ALAN as it lives today (with a new longer stronger seat post)
P.P.S. yes I did spend all holiday weekend working on bikes, and playing with my camera
didn't you???

noglider 

The way you got your Raleigh back is the stuff of dreams. My first car still comes into my dreams and we are reunited happily. Weird, huh? I'd like to have the old bikes I sold or were stolen, but I won't hold out hope.

vintagerando

I have a buddy that works at my local bike shop. He said people regularly leave bikes behind and never return.

PBC peugeot

bummer they closed shop
I never worked there, but they did forward my info to Tom Hale at backroads bicycle touring
when he was looking for a mechanic to keep the loaner/rental bikes up and running

multivac

man, our countrys are millions of years apart. not that i didnt know
its really sad though, such beautiful bikes going to waste. its awesome when someone who will love them gets them!

The Golden Boy 

I ran into my old car. Not literally like that. I had an 88 Mustang convertible. I had it repainted. Started having all kinds of 'nickel and dime' issues- and sold it. A couple of years later in a Wal Mart parking lot- I saw a Mustang convertible- painted like mine- (with the overspray on the subframe) and noticed the repairs in the top... looked in and saw the broken ash tray cover and cigarette burns in the center console... yup. My car.

*sigh*

It's just better remembering that car.



BTW- the Return of the Raleigh is a great story- I hope it serves you well.

Vintage Raleigh

Great story! (That's better than what I did which was buy a bike similar to one I built up as new in the 70's) Hence my current 74 International

PBC peugeot

a quick update, and a GREAT UPGRADE!
it once again has proper high flange Record hubs!!!
this has been something I have wanted to do for YEARS!
as THIS is the way I remember this bike when I first got it
to put this whole adventure into perspective, I first bought this bike
when I was in 7th or 8th grade, after my $40 used all steel 10 speed got stolen
I found this for sale in the trading times, ($75 or $100 I think) so it was my first REAL bike
and I rode it everyday for the next year or so, until I sold it, in 9th or 10th grade (I think)
and I was in my late 30's when I found it again, I am now in my early 50's, an entire lifetime of cycling
all due to THIS bike, I think I owed it, and it deserved a nice pair of Campagnolo Record high flange hubs

davester

Now get some simichrome and polish those suckers to within an inch of their life.