non-fixie 

As I've stated in my thread about project 2108/A, mrs non-fixie and I will be participating in Eroica Germania later this month, Covid rules willing, and I thought it'd be fun to prepare a couple of new rides. Hers gets precedence, of course, but if I can find the time I'll build up this Union for myself.

The Union Rini Wagtmans is a strange bird among the high end Dutch racing bikes from the 1970's. The Gazelle Champion Mondial is well-known, and the Batavus Professional also has a following among the cognoscenti, as do the bikes from specialist brands like RIH and Presto.

But Union? A brand that was always considered second rate, and had a very 'provincial' image? In the mid-seventies Union wasn’t in the best of shapes. There was a new management team, there were troubles with workers as well as the “industry regulators”, and sales were down. And then, in 1976, the factory burned down.

So what do you do when the chips are down? You go racing.

Union, being a bread-and-butter bike manufacturer, didn’t have a bike in their line-up that any pro would ride, nor the means to build one.

The solution was to hire Rini Wagtmans, a former pro and domestique to Eddy Merckx at Molteni. And in early 1976, the Favo - Union Freetime team was presented to the general public in Rotterdam. Wagtmans had his connections, and apparently arranged for Gianni Motta, who was just ending his career at the end of 1976, to provide the team bikes for Union. They were also available to consumers, albeit in small numbers. The team only lasted a few years, as did the "Rini Wagtmans" bikes.

This is one of the official team pictures, on a postcard which I found earlier this week:



And this is one of those frames:



Besides the color, the Union headbadge and the Columbus decal these cable guides are an identifying feature:



There were several versions of this model, and it is not yet clear to me who built what version. This one has a rather striking BB shell cut-out. Let me know if you recognize it:



My plan is to build it with Campagnolo NR, like the original team bikes. However, since I want to actually ride it at an Eroica event, it will temporarily get a more senior citizen-friendly crank set, and probably a more sturdy set of wheels as well.

3speedslow

You always bring some nice and interesting ones to the table! Can’t say I recognize the cutout. Is the fork original as the pictured team bikes were the same copper colour all over?

juvela

-----

thanks so much for posting this project!

dost thee ha the requisite portacatena bits on hand or shall thee needs be goest forth in exploration thereof?

could the shell cutout represent an M for Motta?


-----

non-fixie 

I believe the color is the original team color, or at least one of the team colors. As many of the team photos are in black & white, I can't be sure:



About the fork: yes and no. The fork is original, but the frame has been replaced. The seller told me the original owner had broken a dropout, shortly after buying the bike, and Union sent him a replacement frame.

non-fixie 

No, I haven't the portacatena bits yet. I will keep an eye out, as I think it is a pretty cool piece of kit. I doubt they were on the team bikes, though.

As for the cutout, it could be an M, but I am not sure. And even if it were an M, it might not be for Motta.

From what I can find online I get the impression that Motta didn't start his own brand until 1982:



And the cutouts on the Gianni Motta bikes that I have seen all have the shape of his company logo:

juvela

-----

​​​​​​

-----



not much mystery as to what decade we be in here!

just look at the hair, cravats, flares, lapels and upper lip upholstery on the gents in civvies in this image

for meself, as one who survived it, am glad it be in the rearview mirror...

-----

non-fixie 

Next weekend is Eroica Germania, and I thought it'd be nice to take the Union. Which meant building it up and testing it no later than this weekend.

Finished version 1.0 today. Rear brake housing needs to be shortened by a couple of inches, decals need to be applied and a few other details need to be sorted, but otherwise it is done. Shakedown ride is planned for tomorrow:

juvela

-----

looking very fine

were you able to complete the build solely from the bins or was it necessary to borrow bits from existing complete cycles?

shall look forward to the ride report...


-----

non-fixie 

Thank you!

I did manage to find most of the parts I wanted to use in The Bin. The front hub is an early Shimano (Shhhh!), and the brake levers are Gran Sport, rather than Record, but I can live with that.

Shakedown today. I was very happy with the results.

juvela

-----

thanks so much for the response & update!

love that directional marker

if the city where i live were to put up anything like that it would be graffiti-ized and vandalized on the first day


-----

non-fixie 

These directional markers are called "toadstools" and were introduced in Holland in 1919. They are quite useful, although hard to read at speed, so you typically find them at junctions where you have to slow down anyway.

BFisher

That's a handsome bike, and quite a nice looking saddle there.

non-fixie 

Thanks. The saddle is an old Brooks Professional. It looks great and it is very comfortable. It is sagging quite a bit, though, I may need to do something about that.

fabiofarelli

A great find and it looks very nice! It's a pity, this year I'm not at the Eroica Germany. Maybe you and mrs non-fixie are in Valkenburg, Limburg, too?

non-fixie 

Oh yes.

Will you and Farelli junior be there too?

fabiofarelli

Yep, we will be there. We stay in the city-camping so I guess we'll be plenty of time on the festival. Good to see you both again.

non-fixie 

And we're done. For now at least. I decided to replace the Brooks Professional by another one, with decidedly less of a hammock shape. And I applied a reproduction set of the original decals.

Ready for Eroica Germania:

juvela

------

non-fixie -

regarding your numerous flanderlander fiets

is the Raleigh labeled Flandria this only one with a 70mm BSC shell or are there others with this dimension in your holdings?

recall that Superia was another major flemische producer who made use of this size

we have some of their products here in the U.S. under other names


-----

non-fixie 

The truth is that there are a few things I never seem to get around to, and one of them is measuring the BB shell width of all my bikes and frames.

And when I do measure them it is because I have run into a problem. And even then I usually forget to document it. Like when I find a 65mm BB shell. I did recently, but for the life of me, I can't remember which bike it was.

juvela

-----

likely a perpetration of that notorious cape tosser...

they did a great many 66.5 so a 65 would not surprise


-----

non-fixie 

I wasn't entirely happy with the freewheel. Cog #3 has a tendency to skip, and the biggest cog was "only" a 25T. My Parktool FR-2 wasn't up to the job of removing it, so with limited time available, I chose to borrow a wheelset from one of my other bikes and fit it with narrow enough tires for this frame.

Weinmann rims laced to Campagnolo Record hubs: