My 2024 entry is a red-trimmed black Huffy “Professional Concours,” or possibly a “Concours Professional.” The venerable “Huffy” name is there on the head badge, as well as the rear stays, seat, and (faintly visible) a decal missing from the seat tube. Other details include fully lugged frame, Avocet touring saddle (padded), high pressure tires, and Suntour Vx drive train (10 speeds total). The cable end caps are kinda neat, as are the pin-striped lugs. Front wheel is quick release, rear wheel not so (for now). Seat post shows rust (but was not stuck).





Rusty as well is the front fork & skewer chrome, rear wheel chain guard, and other areas. Dirt and grime covers everything. The duct tape that once held the shift cable housings has tears, and one of the foam handlebar grips is badly torn.


Sun Tour stem shifters (friction) seem original, as do the brake lever extensions, the center-pull brake calipers (name invisible), and Araya rims with “Satylite” plating.

Acquired for an initial outlay of $0.00, it was rescued from the reuse table at my town transfer station (as pictured in an earlier post). Needs serious cleaning, and needs younger tires. At first spin, bearings seem smooth all around.

As-is the bike weighs in at 32.6 pounds. My plan is as I (hopefully) lose some of my own excess body weight while riding, I’ll try to reduce the bike’s weight comparably. I don’t know how much I can pare from the bike, but I have an idea how many pounds I could I stand to shed.

I'll take my first easy test ride soon (delayed due to knee injection) after merely airing up the tires, testing the brakes, and crossing my fingers. I will pack a multi-tool, spare tire & tube, and air pump.

Dang. I might have to rethink Huffy even more than [MENTION=133054]AdventureManCO[/MENTION] has already made me done so.

Looks like a fun bike to do the challenge with, and looks like it needs Stronglight, Nervar and SunTour bits (a la Motobecane ).

If I’m not mistaken, that bike was built by Raleigh for Huffy - let’s all hope that the legendary craftsmanship Huffy is known for didn’t take too bad of a beating from our Worksop boys

Still, nice to hear of someone, other than…me, looking to lighten up and upgrade a Huffy! Have fun and keep that wallet tight! Huffy’s like to burn that green paper

Aha. Figured it was a contract build. Still a Huffy though, just with better quality dropouts and fork.

Likely still straight gauge hi-ten steel.

Very cool looking though (not unlike the Huffente!)

Didn't get the Diamond Back finished, I ended up working on 3 other bikes but I did quite a bit done on it. I just need to run brake cables, hook the brakes up and set them then wrap the bars and take it for a test ride. Incredibly the rear derailleur was in A-1 working condition. Hard to believe after seeing it under a plie of Roadmasters, Huffys and Schwinns LOL. I did "kind of" wash it but I'm not going to go crazy. Hopefully I have some pre-2024 bar tape stashed away so I can maintain my "100% on hand before Jan. 1st" status.

Yep, we got bar tape, it's even red.

Test rides are done, I'm OK with the brake lever positions and the saddle is about right. Just need to wrap the bars and mount an old Cannondale cyling computer to track my mileage. I need to get it's 1990 Interval big brother down so I can compare their ride characteristics. The frames appear very similar as far as geometry, the Interval is full Tange Champion No. 2, the Momentum is Tange infinity. I won't have an after pic of the Momentum until the bars are wrapped but here's the mock up pic and a pic of the Interval. I ended up using the mismatched wheels that are on it in this picture but with a different freewheel and I I switched the tires over to Continental Ultra Sport yellow wall 700 X 25's just like the red walls on the Interval. They are basically new but I put them on a project bike several years ago and let them sit with no air in them for an extended period and they developed very small cracks in the sidewalls. The tires on the Interval were purchased at the same time but were kept aired up and they're fine.

The first 5km in the books. It also doubled as the Continental’s shakedown cruise. Adjusting derailleurs in the stand seems to be a bit different than testing under load on the road. For me anyways.

Observations: the seat tilt self adjusted on the first bump in the road. I think I’ve got it sorted. First gear on the RD gave me fits in the stand. It went ok on the road with a tad too much travel. The upper jockey wheel axle would “ting, ting, ting” on some of the spokes until I trimmed with the lee-vurr. A quarter turn on the screw in the stand took care of that, but we’ll see on the next ride…

Nice sunny morning:

I always loved that color on the Schwinns.

You are partially responsible for this! I tried to ignore a craigslist ad for two weeks while I followed your March madness thread. One day after reading your thread I decided that I'm going to call and see if the Schwinn was still there in the pile of bikes that was for sale. I went to just go look. And I had to "save" the Continental. I'm proud of how it turned out. I can't say it's perfect. But wow that color in the sun!

Not a Schwinn guy, but their heavyweight fillet braised bikes always had the coolest colors. The Root Beer, your Orange, banana yellow, the powder blue...was there a lime-Kelly green maybe...? Was there a deep blue metallic?

Ross always seemed to play it conservative (a la Fuji) with the metallic blues, silvers, subdued reds it seems.

My submission for #3, Restoration. 1939 Paglianti

All pics - https://www.flickr.com/photos/681231...7718830574822/

This came to me as an original frame, BB, cranks, headset and hub shells. My best guess based on the dropouts is that is was made sometime from 1934 to 1939. I built as a 1939 as the bits and bobs need for a pre-1939 build are nearly impossible to get.

Redid the nickel plating. I made the decal artwork from a headbadge and some ads I found online. SSSInk made the varnish slide decals that I applied. Second generation, fifth version, made from 1938-1940 Campagnolo cambio corsa derailleur.Stem and bars are Ambrosio, stamped 1939. Universal mod 39 levers and calipers. Ambrosio rims with Stella spokes laced to the Paglianti FB hubs. FMB Paris Roubaix tubulars. Paglianti FB crank and prewar Sheffield Super pedals. Super-Rosa Calolziocorte saddle.

Before








After

My submission for #5, From The Frame Up. 1951 Maino

All pics - https://www.flickr.com/photos/681231...7720304290867/

This started as just a frame. Yes, there was an original BB, but it is entirely shot, cannot be used. What attracted me to this frame are the first generation Campagnolo Gran Sport dropouts with the hanger stop at 4 o'clock.After I removed the orange paint, I found the non-drive seat stay had water in it that froze. You can see the blown out stay in the pics. Jack Trumbell fixed the stay, did a fantastic job with the chrome and painted the color I saw of another original Maino with the same dropouts. Varnish slide decals by SSSInk. It has a first generation, second version Gran Sport rear derailleur and a first gen, second version GS FD. A first gen, third version of the chrome-plated bronze shift levers. First generation Universal mod 51 levers and the calipers are first gen, second version of the mod 51 calipers. I have an FB BB with FB cranks and Magistroni chainrings. Nani Torino steel stem and Ambrosio Champion bars. Campagnolo Grand Sport high flange hubs laced to Limone clincher rims. Actually, some of the spoke holes on one of the Limones blew out, swapped in an Ambrosio. And finally, to top it off, Rudi made a Maino saddle.

I forgot to mention I have completed a 10k loop for both this and the Paglianti. I should have a 100k for both by July.

Before







After

Bravissimo! That saddle is the icing on the cake.

Not much to report. The Cimarron has a free stem, and a stuck seatpost. I really wanted to save the seatpost, so I've been using penetrating spray on the outside, and on the inside through one of the water bottle cage holes. Then I would use the heat gun, heat that sucker up, then twist using the front triangle with wood blocks holding the post.

Post bit the dust tonight. It is an XC Pro posts with the 2-piece construction, and the top head broke loose today, which means post is junk. Too bad, was a nice post.

Well...I tried! Out will come the lye!

This is gorgeous! Rudi is so much fun to work with on saddles. Another excellent reproduction by him.

You're welcome. Turned out great too.

( Schwinn always had such great colors BITD. )

De-Raleigh-fication process underway!

Citristrip with some course sanding to start it off.

Ride 1

Nashua River Rail trail trial ride…

My first ride, to wring out the (red-winged) Huffy, was a few easy kilometers on the Nashua River Rail Trail.



It went well. The front rim was not quite true, so a brake pad rubbed lightly at the high spot, which dragged down coasting. The rear derailleur traveled a tad too far inward, enough to make chain clatter, but not enough to drop the chain. The bike was remarkably stable, and I rode hands-free on the first try.

So, I began the bike clean-up. I removed everything to do a decent cleaning.

The most interesting find was at the bottom bracket and crank. To my surprise they were not square taper, but some kind of octagonal lobe.



The rh crank is two separate pieces – crank arm, and chainrings. Correct, the double chainrings (with chain guard) have no bolt circle; they are one integral piece. I now know that “Shimano Adamas,” was a short-lived group in the early 80’s.





The bottom bracket spun smoothly, so I left it as-is. The small ring has 40 teeth, which will do, so no Stronglight crank is in the plans (despite rumors that the bike was actually produced by Motobecane, or maybe Carlton).

Since the handlebar grips were shot, I’m replacing the steel handlebars with used alloy bars I had on hand. They were already taped, with Dia-Compe brake levers like the originals. While in the area, and since I didn’t want to redo cables later, I replaced the heavy stem shifters with a lighter plastic set.

Last but also least, I added clamp-on cable stops for the shift cables, and ditched the full-length housings.

So, my first weight reductions are done. The handlebars alone should yield a couple hundred grams!

For reference, the frame and fork stripped down, with the bottom bracket, weighed 4.1 kilograms (9 pounds). I’m going to use metric numbers since I’m riding 100 km.

I regret that I must inform the group of my withdrawal from the challenge. The 1974 Schwinn Continental has a new owner...

I was plumb out of room for bikes so I thought I'd list a half a dozen and see what happened. Wouldn't ya know it, the one with the most elbow grease that turned out the best went to someone who thought that they were getting a great deal. Maybe I should've asked for more in my ad?

And no I didn't make any money. Of course not. It wasn't too bad though. But the excitement that was evident in the new owner's body language was worth it.

No worries there, Brett. You did get an older bike back on the road, so you have succeeded with the main objective of the event. There is plenty of time left, so if you want to have a go with another bicycle, you have nearly four months. Otherwise, you can always check in to see what some of your fellow enthusiasts are up to.

You are just withdrawing a bicycle. You might have another epiphany!

Well...I did get 5 bikes in the bunch with the Continental. A couple could fit the Mucho-Cheapo category. And one would be a real challenge....

Quick update: The Cimarron's seatpost continues to be toast....

I did start the lye treatment, and even that hasn't worked yet! Good news is plenty of post is showing, so we'll eventually get it out of there w/ no damage to the frame, but it sure has tested my patience for wanting to just clamp in a vise (which I have done), and really go to town on it (which I have also done). Actually it sounds like I failed the test


I will be cutting the seatpost top off and will instead do the treatment from the top. I previously had it inverted, and with the top chunk of the seatpost now spinning, only a matter of time before it leaks out.

Sorry, forgot the photos!

Finished brazing on the Crescent project. Big !thank you! to scarlson for all the tips on brazing and the "go for it".

Next steps are paint prep. First is the filing and sanding of the lugs. It's pretty obvious that Crescent didn't clean off the lug's rough casting marks. They just put on a ridiculously thick coating of paint to cover the total lack of handwork. Cleaning up their messy brazing around the fancy lugs is stupid, but I guess I enjoy it.

The seat stay caps are so deeply scored (by the factory gorillas, the rips were under the paint) that I'm concerned about filing through in places. So they'll get a coat of Bondo.