My friend bought one of these today, and wants to charge me $100 for it. It's my size, so at least it will be ridden. It has lugs that look like 70's Raleigh. It has Suntour GT with bar end shifters, Dia Compe brakes with turkey wings, and Gran Compe stem. The drops are forged and are also Suntour branded. The head lugs only are chrome, with a half paint full chrome fork and chrome half stays in rear. All the cable guides are clamp on, and the bars are Windsor branded. The fork crown lug has two holes in the side. It doesn't have the three hole drilled lugs or the Cinelli looking seatpost area. I'm guessing this is an upper midrange? Not a pro, but Semi pro possibly? Overall decent shape, but needs rust cleaning everywhere(surface only) Should I grab it just for rarities sake? I may try to offer less, but he's saying he'll trade it to someone else for another bike....sigh.,,,,,BD

And no, it has no tubing pedigree decal that I could see.... Looks VERY mid 70's coolness though.....

Correction, it has GT luxe. The bike weighs 28.8 pounds so might be gaspipe, or possibly plain gauge? It wouldn't make sense with the forged drops, chrome bits, and barends though. Rims are alloy 27" and it's a ten speed. Pics in a bit, damn cam battery was dead.,,,,BD

Well, here it is. The rust looks horrible but scrapes off cleanly with just a fingernail, revealing chrome that is still in pretty nice condition. I like it, it grows on me the more I look at it. The paint polishes out to almost perfect, and the chips can be touched up easily.(black). I have a black Brooks I'm not using which will look right at home. A good cleaning, new black cloth wrap, and some grease, and I'm down the road.,,,,BD

fwiw, Carabela's were distributed and sold by REI in the mid-70"s thru the mail order catalogue and the original seattle store location.

A good clean-up ,new tyres,grease and oil, and maybe white cork bar tape with new white cables to match and it will look like a winner,sometimes a good bike dont hafta be the best ever made !

It was redone sometime in the mid to late eighties, since it has black cable housing and aftermarket cable clamps. How old is Specialized, anyways? I had no idea they were old enough to make top tube clamps?? They look like they used to have a gold tone to them, and say specialized right across the wide spot. It also had Michelin tires and an Avocet "flex gel" MTB saddle.

Oh yeah, it's going to be very sweet. I don't care about the weight, it's so unlike anything I usually find, and the chrome lugs on black? Awesome.... I was thinking white cable, but it may stand out too much. I also want to try and find some non turkey winged levers. I have some Dia Compe NA levers, but they're the eighties drilled type.

Anyone know what color housing they came with? They don't make gold that I know of, but it would match the lug striping. I think gold would work, adding color while not being over the top. The shifter housing is the Suntour spring type from end to end.,,,,BD

You can unbolt the suicide levers and hacksaw or dremel the pivot flush with the lever body. It's possible to do a nice clean job in under 10 minutes.

Jagwire makes gold housing.

That Gran Compe stem is stunning. Absolutely stunning.

-Kurt

Looks like the Carabela version of Windsor's Carrera or Super Carrera, in which case it's probably gaspipe and the stem may have a 0.833" quill. Lugs look just a little "cleaner" than the Windsor.

+1, in terms of components it is identical to a a late 1970s Windsor Carrera, in whcih case the frame is hi-tensile steel or, as Acer-Mex used to call it, HCS (high carbon steel).

Jagwire may make gold housing, but convincing my LBS's that I need something other than black might be a hard sell. Ask me about my attempts to get a 27" Bontrager Racelite tire, lol. Been to three or four of them, and they say "I'll put it on the next order". Needless to say I started this quest several months ago, haha.

After I posted last night, I remembered the flea market guy has a set of wingless levers. I have a set of Cane creek repop hoods already in the parts stash so I'm halfway there.

The stem is the small type, and is pretty nice huh? Only one small nick in the top, but it looks anodized. It will probably leave a dull spot unless I blast and polish the whole thing. Up to now I've only seen them on here a couple of times.,,,,BD

Anybody have three chrome Suntour cable clamps? The other clamps and guides are original, so can be saved with a little work. The Specialized clamps are dulled out, and seem to be cad plated....

Looking a little better now, eh? I had to spray the top of the fork, otherwise I would have had it in the picture. It's still drying. Yes, you caught me with the top race partially out. I was about to tear it all down, but felt like taking a pic halfway through. It's going to be a great looking bike that leaves a lot of people scratching their heads, hehe.,,,,BD

Did I mention that I HATE computers on vintage bikes, they always leave those tie wrap impressions...sigh..

Somewhat off topic, but was Carabela the Mexican company that made both bicycles and motorcycles? Some of my high school friends used to fool around with dirt bikes and the name Carabela dredged up some long forgotten memories....

Yes, Acer-Mex was the parent company and made both motorcycles, smaller motorbikes and mopeds, and bicycles. Those under both the Carabela name and Windsor (the name we are more familiar with).
The currently-sold Windsor bicycle is made in China, AFAIK it has no connection to Acer-Mex.
BTW, bikedued's "Carrera" is looking good!

Okay, anyone know how long Carabela, and/or Windsor bikes were made? This bike is apparently a little newer than I thought. I changed the buttons on the brake levers(In a "why didn't I think of that earlier" moment, lol) and the turkey wings are dated 07 79, if in fact that is a date? That would make it a 1980
I guess, or a very late 79? The components look a little dated for 1980, but maybe I am wrong?,,,,BD

Dang that things startin to look good !

Thanks! I'm going to ride down to the LBS after work and get some cable housing. I'm hoping for gold, but at the least he'll have white, gray metallic, or black. This is a one man shop, and has parts everywhere. I'm hoping he has three chrome cable clamps. I mean he has vintage campy brakes and stuff, so it may not be too far of a stretch.,,,,BD

The other shop carries BMX housing, but all they have is blue, hot pink, mustard yellow, and lime green. None of the colors I'd consider for this project......

Windsors were still sold as late as the mid '80s, but by then they started sourcing tubing and components from Japan (Tange), maybe even some of the frames were built in Japan (this is just a rumor I'm repeating, I don't know). I'd say your Carabela is certainly Hecho en Mexico.

Yep, made in Mexico. It has the made in mexico sticker on the seat tube. It's the little strip about 6 inches down from the top.

Well, no clamps, I think I have a few Shimano ones though. I did find out by asking, that he has white/red/black/yellow & brown Tressostar cloth wrap. Not a lot though, or at least he didn't bring alot out anyways. I bought 4 rolls of black and two brown. I got black housing, since there wasn't any gold. It was the least garish with the black paint and chrome. Now I just have to decide between black B.17 & black tape, or brown B.15 & brown tape. What a nice dilemma, hehe.,,,,BD

Hey Bikedued, first awesome bike. I love that you are keeping it original. I've been scouring the internet and offline - gasp library! - and have found zero info on the bike.

Why you ask? Cause I have one too! Our bikes are almost identical except mine didn't have the derailler hanger and I think its older than what I was told. And at one point my rear stays were chromed but the original owner stripped everything down and then repainted it black.

She started life like this:


And has since been transformed into this:


I know, I know, people hate conversions, but this bike seemed to work out so well I had to do it. Stiff and rides exceptionally well. My kids love when I throw on the BoBike Mini and take them for spins on it.

Anyway, nice to meet another fellow Carabela owner!

Cheers!

I have to admit that's a pretty nicely done bike! Beautiful even. Now, send me the old rims,,,,BD

Very tastefully done conversion. I like the simplicity of the white, plus the gold bands.

East Hill

BD, unfortunately, someone took the wheelset. My fault for taking them off in the basement and leaving them down there over night.

Thanks for the compliments on the bike. The color is a warm, white pearl with white accents and gold lining.

White headtube:


Better shot:


Carabela owners unite!

Nice, I just picked up a very similar 'Bela only in Silver paint, I'll try to get some pix up soon
jim

I might as well chip in with mine. My paint was a little too chipped up, so I started wet sanding and will have it painted at some point. Mine has a italian BB with a .833 Gran Compe stem also.