Senor Torrot gets a facelift.
 

There wasn't much interest when I posted the "before" pictures of this old guy but It's quite a nice bike so here are the "after" pictures. Thanks to Juvela for the yellow bar tape suggestion. I could only find one other photo of this particular model and it too had yellow tape so maybe this is the way they were sold.

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Fork crown is awesome! So is the crank.


If there is a better bar tape color, I don't know what it is.


Is the seat new?

I agree that the yellow tape goes perfectly with the bike. It highlights the decals. I have never seen this brand. I assume that it is Spanish. What year and in what city was it produced? Also what if any original components were replaced and how is the ride?? Excellent work!

Those foil decals are so iconic of a certain era!
Thanks for showing this.
Brent

Yes the bikes were made in Vitoria Spain by a company founded by a gentleman by the name of Don Luis Iriondo in 1948. They evidently built motorcycles also. I couldn't find much information online about the company or the bikes and they do seem to be quite rare in North America.

The mechs, shifters, crank and handlebars are original. A previous owner had added fenders, steel pedals, a rack, an adjustable stem and aero levers so that all came off along with a lot of weight. The wheels are Mavic Open 4 cd with Campagnolo high flange hubs, brakes are now Shimano Tourney cause they were the only centrepulls I had left. (The originals were Super Olympic and poor quality)

One of the previous photo's was a bit blurred, this one is better I think

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This is a very cool bike with a sweet fork crown.

..and what a fine load of bull this is! ;)

Amazing to think she is a bit over forty yet you found her in such good nick.

Great job with the restoration peter. :)

A nicer model 256 we shall not see!

Suggest add link in each of the two threads to the other.

nicely done.

my only suggestion would be to cut the end of the front brake bolt off...would look a bit cleaner.

Wow! I had no idea of what you had when we communicated. Lucky dog! Can't wait to see it in person when next in the Peg.

Yes, I was considering putting a thicker spacer behind the nut but the ones I have are all too curved so I'll dremel the bolt.

Thanks Randy! And I actually found a shop in town that still has a 23.35 extractor.

And complete with crank arm dustcaps and rubber shifter covers.

hello again peter_d,

keep forgetting to ask...

did your researches lead you to discover the meaning of the fr initials?

suspect that part of what makes things look a bit rough at that locus is the use of a plain hex nut rather than the false acorn which would have been there originally.

If you measure the frame angles, I'll be curious to know. They look very slack, which probably explains why the front derailleur cage's edge looks not to be parallel to the big chainring.

Hi Juvela, I think the initials may be TT not FR. I thought at first it might Spanish for three tubes..tres tubos but that wouldn't explain why the fork also has the TT sticker, perhaps it was just a TorroT brand name the first and last letter of the company name.

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Hi Tom, I think it's part optical illusion and partly the way the FD is built. Frame geometry is quite relaxed yes.



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True -- most of the early 1970s Nishikis were spec'd with 54T outer rings, and the shape of the lower edge of your cage would be consistent with that.

thanks very much peter :thumb:

am sure you must be correct.

in the smaller format photo of the blade transfer the letters appeared as fr to me eye [ :50: ]

thanks for these larger images. ;)

Hello again peter,

Hope that you and your Toro are getting along swimmingly.

Chanced upon another example today in the course of web wander. Looks to be late seventies. Blogger shows process of fixie conversion. Note the distinctive bridges. Have not previously seen bridges exactly like these...

Best to you and to Senor Cuernos!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xISeAvYndR...%2B2010(8).JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lbO3Ck7fRF...i%2Bsilvia.JPG

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bilbobike: Restaurar una bicicleta antigua

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The better ones did seem to have some distinctive touches and the build quality is quite good. It's a pretty nice ride and quite nimble even with that relaxed geometry. I went back to 27" wheels and wider tires and its a very comfortable ride for scooting around town.

Regarding the TT symbol here it is on the head emblem of another Torrot bicycle.

Came across something puzzling today. Found a classified listing for a Terrot bicycle price list dated July 1964 which has this same symbol. Perhaps our numerous Peugeot experts could comment on its presence here. Makes one wonder if there may have been a connection at some point in the past...

[MENTION=20650]T-Mar[/MENTION] is very knowledgeable regarding Torrot bicycles; perhaps he will have a comment.

Torrot sold Terrot products under license: Mini history of Torrot.

And Terrot became part of Alcyon, which in turn became Peugeot ...

non-fixie striketh encore une fois! :D

Thanks so much for this great big explanation. :thumb: