streets

I was idly looking for something slightly more exotic than the English 3 speed utility bicycles I seem to collect when I found this for sale.
I haven't collected it yet so these are the only pics I have at the moment:



The seller states that it's a Ukraina. It looks in pretty poor condition but I'm all for restoring it and I don't really care about its monetary value. I'm more excited by the fact that it's a rare sight in the UK and it deserves to be saved.

From what I gather the single speed hub should have a coaster brake and the wheels 28". It's hard to tell from the pics but I think it was once black, although most of the paint has been lost to time and replaced with oxidization and moss.

There's something inherently cool about bikes from this part of the world to me, even the most basic of models. I've no idea of the age but I'm guessing 70s-80s? I have no idea how I will find parts for it either but should be able to get it running okay with some non-authentic parts until I source the right parts.

Anyone else rocking a Soviet clunker?

-holiday76

In Russia bike ride you!

Bikerider007 

I have to agree, and great convo piece. I picked up a track bike late last year from a collector locally. Great price but did not have orig fork, just could not pass up as it has a made in the USSR decal.

Reminds me of the cold war as a kid. And things like Metallica and all those bands singing about war and nuclear bombs. Imo, just cool to have a piece of that history.

Oh yea, the brazing sucks, at least on mine, they were trying to build tanks or something!

non-fixie 

Not exactly Soviet, but from behind the iron curtain nonetheless:

streets

I'd love a Russian track bike, or indeed anything more sporty. The decals on these bikes with their logos and fonts are just so different somehow. When it comes to repainting the bike I will want to source or recreate what ever it should have on the frame.

non-fixie- That's the sort of exotica I'm loving right now! Very cool. What does the rest of the bike look like?

arex

How'd you get a hold of this beast?

streets

It just popped up on Ebay, I couldn't resist it. I have no idea how often they crop up for sale in the UK or whether holding out for a better one would have been wiser, but I'm a sucker for a vintage bicycle in distress.

The Golden Boy 

He shoots; HE SCORES!!!!


Yakov for the win!

USAZorro

I'm no expert by a long shot, but if someone told me it was late 50's or 60's, I would consider it plausible.

streets

I went into it thinking it was perhaps 50s/60s but after some research it seems the design of these bikes remained unchanged until the 80s, though I may be wrong there. The saddle (or what remains of it) is what made me think it was later, since the earlier models have either a hairpin spring up front or a coil. That said, it could be that the saddle is missing its spring, kind of hard to tell until I go and fetch it. It's certainly looks rusty enough to have been around for 50-60 years though.

SloButWide 

Sadly, it appears VeloInk doesn't understand Cyrillic characters. You could fake it for some letters like CCCP (for Союз Советских Социалистических Республик). It would be cool to have "Есть велосипедов" which Google Translate claims is "Is Bicycle".

verktyg 

"You don't know how lucky you are boy.....Back in the USSR!"

Old Rusky proverbs:

"You can't pi** up my back and tell me it's raining" "Don't lay down if they aren't screwing you" "U vun bleeb - bleeb... No bleeb -doan bleeb"


@Bikerider007 "Oh yea, the brazing sucks, at least on mine, they were trying to build tanks or something!" Yes, a T-34!


@streets Russian Takhion TT bike...




до свидания товарищ (do svidaniya - továrišč)

verktyg

Chas.

mongol777

Wow, what a find. I was born in USSR and my friends had Ukraina and other bikes, like Ural, Salut and Kama.
Here are some pics of Ukraina (nevermind first couple of pics, scroll down to black one) https://www.drive2.ru/b/288230376152342319/

mongol777

This is the bike I grew up with, rode it since I was a kid till late teens. Passed to my yonger brother and at some point it was stolen from my parent's storage locker. It had foldable frame, obviosly SS and with coaster brake
Good bikes were hard to get at MSRP in USSR, you either had to have connections or pay extra on black market. My granpa got me my first Salut (Firework) in orange color but BB went out after 1 day of riding. So returned to the store and got virtually new one in green from my cousin.
Pic is not of my bike, just the same

mongol777

My neighbour and friend had Ural. Oh boy, was it awesome. It had way bigger wheels (compared to what I think were 24 on my Salut), had proper adult bike look. I could not ride it seated or standing at first (bike was too tall) so usually I would slide my left leg through main triangle and ride it that way

streets

@SloButWide I wonder if there's someone making the original decals for this bike? I absolutely love the font, especially in cyrillic lettering. In a pinch I might try to recreate them by hand-painting? I do fine line work (pinstriping) so if I get a template together it should be feasible. @verktyg That Takhion TT bike is beautiful!

streets

@mongol777 Wonderful information! Thank you. I notice that there is a huge amount of folding bikes from Russia, and that single speed with coaster brake was extremely popular too. I think my Ukraina is very similar to the black one in the first link, but with a few differences so perhaps it's an older model of the same machine?
One thing I love about these bikes is the pouch on the top tube. The Ukraina in your last post seems to be very similar to mine, perhaps even a perfect match. What do you think? (edit: I see that it's a Ural now. Very similar though or perhaps my seller is mistaken?)
It's great how much a part of the culture these bikes were/are, and the memories they stir up for people who grew up with them. I can't wait to get using it!

mongol777

Could be seller was mistaken. I have very vague memories of the bikes from my childhood. Kama (I think had 20 inch wheels) and Salut (24) were most popular in the area I lived in.
Lots of people lived in apartment buildings in big cities so having a folder was a big plus.
I know that decals for Salut can still be found, not sure about other bikes, I will look

mongol777

Can't find anything for Ukraina.
Here is the link to most popular Russian language search engine, https://ya.ru/, may be you will have better luck
You can copy/paste search terms below
Bicycle - велосипед
Ukraine - Украина
decals - наклейки

mongol777

For the black one in first link - I read the actual blog post and authuor states it is 1989 so much younger. I doubt though it changed very much - XB3 (the plant who made them) was making them unchanged for years

mongol777

OK, much better link for you - history of that particular model, Ukraina
??? ******************** "**********??" ********************?? ********************??? **********? | ???? ??? ********************????

streets

Brilliant thank you. I will see what I can find out.
I have to say my favorite brand logo that I've found so far is for Diamant:



How I wish it was a Diamant! But I'm getting distracted. I'll see what I can turn up.

streets

Excellent!

non-fixie 

Slightly disappointing, to be honest. The PO repainted, rebranded and rebuilt the bike into this. Beside the frame and the brakes there's not much original on the bike. I'm slowly collecting Favorit parts - already got a PWB rear derailleur, a Romet front changer and a Favorit bar stem - to bring it back to full eastern block spec. Current forecast for completion is 2030.

streets

Okay so as far as I understand, the rack being bolt-on rather than weld-on indicates that it's a post 1961 model, and the head badge design is indicative of a 70s model. So I think 1970s is a good estimate for the age of this bike.