Batavus Randonneur GL project
I enjoy projects and I enjoy tinkering and making photographs so I figured I'd start a thread of my own. :)
Last summer I wanted to go for longer distances and was looking for a slightly lighter, faster bike after my girlfriend gave me a run for my money on her Batavus Sprint while I was trying to keep up on a 23Kg upright 8-speed IGH city bike. It's doable but maintaining 25-30kph all day on that combined with her looking over her shoulder to see where I was get annoying after a while. :lol: So, I wanted something that was suitable for some lightweight touring and not too expensive and as such I ended up looking for randonneur bicycles on local eBay for a few weeks. Now I am quite tall @192cm or 6'4" with long legs but don't have a very long torso. In fact my girlfriend at 182cm 6' is often looking down on me when we sit side to side since she has the opposite problem. ;) Finding jeans that are long enough is often tricky and my current bike is a size 62 with a very extended saddle. I came across the Batavus Randonneur GL in my size and €125 / $155 later I was riding my 'new' bike home for 30 km. :D The Bike: http://i.imgur.com/xT6AwABl.jpg (As I bought it) - More pics here. Current Iteration: (2019-Mar-28) http://i.imgur.com/Y6QYfmzh.jpg Specs:
Background info on the bike: Batavus (Wikipedia) is a Dutch company that has been around since 1904 and through a series of acquisitions became one of the 'Big 3' bicycle manufacturers of The Netherlands. (The others being Gazelle and Sparta) They go bankrupt in 1986 but the Atag Cycle Group buys the company. At the 1986 and 1992 Olympic games they are the official supplier of the Dutch team and this is where my bike comes in. It's a bit tricky to tell but my bike seems to be from around 1990, most likely a bit earlier. I haven't found a good place to decipher the frame number yet but I did contact Batavus on Facebook and they dug into the archives in their museum. http://i.imgur.com/YL38fyph.png (Excerpt from the 1990 catalogue - See attachment) Translation: "Randonneur GL. Grand Luxe for demanding tourists. The Randonneur GL is a thoroughbred with all the extras you could think of that make even the longest tours comfortable. Especially stable handbuilt frame made of Reynold 531 ST double butted chrome molybdenum tubing. Heavy-duty front- and rear carrier. Shimano Deore II componentgroup with Biopace crankset, SIS rear derailleur and "full-fit" pedals. With halogen headlight en aluminum two-legged kickstand. With cantilever brakes and 18 gears: fl1,979.- Color: black/red." Turns out the GL stands for Grand Luxe and while this was a later model with a slightly different set of components it does seem to be the same model. Specs 1990: - Handbuilt frame - Reynold 531ST double butted - Vetta branded racks - Shimano Deore II group 18 speed (3x6) - Cantilevers - Sidewall dynamo front and rear lights with a halogen headlight - aluminum twinleg kickstand - Fl. 1979,- back in 1990 so around €1566 / $1960 today Specs mine: - Sachs-Hurett New Success touring front and rear derailleurs. - Campagnolo Record hubs - Weinmann brake levers and cantilevers - Blackburn rear rack - Weinmann AG A129 Concave rims From the sparse information on the internet I managed to gather some more pictures of other bikes which were outfitted with a gorgeous Stronglight 107 triple optional Blackburn lowriders. http://i.imgur.com/cUdiL6jh.jpg (JulianK - Rad-forum.de) Future plans: In the meantime I have replaced the tires with a fresh new pair and replaced the brake cables and replaced the pads with salmon Koolstops. I replaced the original cracked plastic Esge fenders with a pair of stainless steel Weinmann fenders I managed to score for cheap and put Cane Creek aero levers + crosslevers on. The rear rack bolt snapped so I had to cut it off but I will be replacing that with a nice Tubus in the future. I got a cheap Velo Orange Campeur front rack on local eBay but It is missing a few parts so I am waiting for now. The idea is to replace the current Shimano cranks with a classic Stronglight or Spécialités TA crankset and update the lights to modern LED lights. a few other things like bar-end shifters but I'll see that when I get there. My goal is not to restore this bike to its original state since it is not that pristine anymore but I do intend to make it a semi-classic looking bike that can be used for touring again. Just with some modern lights and upgrades where possible. Thanks for looking and when the weather gets a bit better around here I will start updating again if people are interested. :) http://i.imgur.com/kviNCZxh.jpg Other threads: |
Nice bike and background info. I've seen some older Batavus but nothing like that. Look forward to updates.
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killer score! if that doesnt have you keeping up you will have some explaining to do.
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Great write up! Reminded me of the great narratives that [MENTION=53844]@non-fixie puts on.
Plenty of interest here! |
Originally Posted by 52telecaster
(Post 20145937)
killer score! if that doesn't have you keeping up you will have some explaining to do.
Originally Posted by Bikerider007
(Post 20145925)
Nice bike and background info. I've seen some older Batavus but nothing like that. Look forward to updates.
Originally Posted by 3speedslow
(Post 20146284)
Great write up! Reminded me of the great narratives that [MENTION=53844]@non-fixie puts on.
Plenty of interest here! Putting some effort into researching this is half the fun. I'll try to put up some updated soon. |
Great looking Batavus.
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Good to see that Batavus back here again. This forum could do with more vintage Batavi. :thumb:
And yes, we would like to be kept informed of any progress, please. ;) |
Took the bike out for a ride today to get a better feel for it and while some parts are still in the mail.
Finally figured out why the Front Derailleur was throwing my chain off from time to time. Turns out one of the adjustment screws was worn, making it possible to just push the FD through and throwing the chain off the big ring. Quite messy. http://i.imgur.com/8SCs8Pph.jpg Replaced it with a 4mm allen screw for now but I haven't been able to find a thin-headed screw to really replace it. http://i.imgur.com/0gIK9nhh.jpg Hopefully some bigger updates soon. :) |
Wonderful job, the build just fits with those fenders.
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Originally Posted by JaccoW
(Post 20176362)
Replaced it with a 4mm allen screw for now but I haven't been able to find a thin-headed screw to really replace it.
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Originally Posted by non-fixie
(Post 20147194)
Good to see that Batavus back here again. This forum could do with more vintage Batavi. :thumb:
:D |
Originally Posted by JaccoW
(Post 20176362)
Took the bike out for a ride today to get a better feel for it and while some parts are still in the mail.
Finally figured out why the Front Derailleur was throwing my chain off from time to time. Turns out one of the adjustment screws was worn, making it possible to just push the FD through and throwing the chain off the big ring. Quite messy. Replaced it with a 4mm allen screw for now but I haven't been able to find a thin-headed screw to really replace it. http://i.imgur.com/0gIK9nhh.jpg Hopefully some bigger updates soon. :) |
Originally Posted by Piff
(Post 20177420)
Wonderful job, the build just fits with those fenders.
Originally Posted by jj1091
(Post 20177759)
You could always cut the screw head off with a hacksaw, then carefully cut a slot in the top with the hacksaw.
This will work for now and allen bolts are cheap anyway.
Originally Posted by The Golden Boy
(Post 20177865)
Well that sucks... those Sachs/Huret FDs are really cool. I kept mine on my Trek 620- I could replace it with any number of outrageously "cool" FDs with all the "cred" in the world- but this thing just works well. Exactly what an FD is supposed to do, and it looks pretty cool while doing it. :D
I was thinking of taking them both off and giving them a good clean and lube in the small sonic cleaner I have here but I don't want to ruin anything. |
Originally Posted by JaccoW
(Post 20178410)
Speaking of that, what are people's thought on disassembling and cleaning derailleurs? Both front and rear.
I was thinking of taking them both off and giving them a good clean and lube in the small sonic cleaner I have here but I don't want to ruin anything. |
Cleaned the rear derailleur today!
It was really filthy and I wanted to replace the pulley wheels with red aluminum ones to give it some color: http://i.imgur.com/WH2Htysh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/8ojT79Uh.jpg Bad news: The bolt of these Sachs pulley wheels is larger than the Shimano ones. Good news: The original pulley wheels looked pretty much new so for now they are staying in. Tossed everything in the sonic cleaner and took an old dishwasher brush to get the worst of the gunk off. http://i.imgur.com/WqT8rBEh.jpg All apart. |
Good job. Good weather for it, too. :(
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Originally Posted by non-fixie
(Post 20196666)
Good job. Good weather for it, too. :(
Sachs-Huret New Success touring lubed, oiled and back together again: http://i.imgur.com/w7DKhT7h.jpg This was actually fun to figure out and put back together again. These things just keep separating into smaller and smaller pieces. :)) And to quote Disraeligears: "It is a monster. Not content with a massively long pulley cage, it also has longer parallelogram plates (47mm) than the ‘racing’ version (which has 40mm plates)." Here it is side to side with a Shimano 600 short cage: http://i.imgur.com/lPLP4rRh.jpg |
I like the sachs huret new sucess RD; I have the short cage version of that derailleur that I'm thinking of using on a build.
The shimano deore is a fine crank and frankly more practical than some of the alternatives (like the Stronglight 107) you are thinking about. There is a lot to be said for the 110/74 bcd triple crank. |
Originally Posted by bikemig
(Post 20197265)
I like the sachs huret new sucess RD; I have the short cage version of that derailleur that I'm thinking of using on a build.
The shimano deore is a fine crank and frankly more practical than some of the alternatives (like the Stronglight 107) you are thinking about. There is a lot to be said for the 110/74 bcd triple crank. Though with France close by there are plenty of people selling alternative cranks like the 6-bolt Spécialités TA Cyclotouriste for prices around $50. But you are right, the Deore is a good alternative and very much the modern standard. |
Originally Posted by JaccoW
(Post 20197253)
This was actually fun to figure out and put back together again. |
Originally Posted by JaccoW
(Post 20197298)
The Stronglight 107 is beautiful and was original on this bike. But with second hand prices going for close to $400 (!) I'm definitely not going that route.
Though with France close by there are plenty of people selling alternative cranks like the 6-bolt Spécialités TA Cyclotouriste for prices around $50. But you are right, the Deore is a good alternative and very much the modern standard. |
Originally Posted by bikemig
(Post 20197314)
Wow, $400? I have one and had no idea it was worth anything close to that but that is an asking, not a selling price, and that is perhaps also a NOS price. $50 is cheap for a TA; I suspect they go for more than that in the US.
Indeed a NOS price but I have rarely seen the triple version for sale. As for the Ta, just look for "Pédalier triple" on eBay and you will see lots of French sellers with prices between $50-70. A lot more when it is not France. |
Originally Posted by JaccoW
(Post 20197328)
Well, if you are ever loking to sell it I might be interested. ;)
Indeed a NOS price but I have rarely seen the triple version for sale. As for the Ta, just look for "Pédalier triple" on eBay and you will see lots of French sellers with prices between $50-70. A lot more when it is not France. |
Originally Posted by non-fixie
(Post 20197311)
Last year I literally spent hours riding behind mrs non-fixie, just to see her Allvit at work. :love:
;) :D |
Originally Posted by bikemig
(Post 20197265)
The shimano deore is a fine crank and frankly more practical than some of the alternatives (like the Stronglight 107) you are thinking about. There is a lot to be said for the 110/74 bcd triple crank.
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