mkeller234, those levers have the lowest leverage of anything I've ever used. They may be good for V-brakes.

For what it's worth, here's one of the Motobecanes i picked up last week, fresh on its photo shoot for Craigslist....guess I can't keep 'em all....

Went out for a ride tonight found two bikes, a like new condition Birl's hybrid. with 700c deep V type rims and front suspention. needed a seat post clamp and some other minor things. didn't bother posting pic, it aint old. However I think this is. A Raleigh Chill. Airline V Rims. really neat gel seat. rock shocks. some rust, missing one skewer. looks like both bikes sat for a few years unused.

Edit" heres a better pic after I fixed it.

Found this 1955 23" 3 speed Raleigh through CL. The seat is guaranteed to cure hemorhoids, the pump was in pristine condition, it has a front Dynohub and an AM close ratio rear hub. $20 and I'm happy.

Working on a simililar bike right now. As unbelievable as it may seem to some, these bikes can be taken apart, cleaned and put back together in a relatively short period of time. Just need a few pieces here and there to complete the picture. That head lamp bracket on the right fork makes this one a super nice catch! The Dynohub ain't nothin' ta sneeze at either! A project for the "brave hearted" who can really appreciate the battle against schmutz & rust!

While I was out riding Sunday I passed the house of an acquaintance who was outside working in the yard. I stopped for a brief chat. He asked me if I wanted an old road bike he had hanging in his garage. I asked him how much he wanted. He told me I could have it. It was pretty crusty, but mostly suffering from neglect. I gave him $50 and spent the next couple of days cleaning and lubing. The shifters would hardly move, but only required cleaning. The tires were flat because the rim tape needed to be replaced. I re-taped the handlebars, cleaned and greased the bearings. I took it for its first ride this morning. It works great. According to the serial number it was built January 16, 1988. For those not familiar with the Raleigh Technium, it was built in Kent, Washington. The main frame tubes are aluminum bonded to steel alloy lugs. I was surprised to find the headset contained roller bearings. The components are Suntour drive train, Regina cassette, Mavic rims, Continental tires, and Shimano brakes. I think this was a good find.

^ You did extremely well for $50! I'm not aware of the Technium line coming with a chromed fork as stock. Most were painted, with traditional semi sloping fork crowns or a unicrown fork. What model do you have? (can't make out the name on the top tube due to small picture res.)
I have a similar sized Tri-Lite Pro, but in red/white, blue striped, of unknown year.

Nice looking bike. Good find!

Gotta love those "bottom of the lake" finds!

Make sure you get you're up to date on your tetanus shots before you tackle that one!

The model is a "Prestige". I am also 100% certain that the chrome fork was original. I found a couple of other pictures on the internet and they also had chrome forks. The original seller (LBS) and the original owner are from my community and I doubt they would have replaced the fork. A friend of mine just bought a new carbon fiber road bike. It was a pleasure to ride, however for me there is just something special about restoring and riding the vintage steel.

Nice collection of bikes. Motobecanes are always fast sells. The Mixte frames are becoming more and more rare, as the demand for this vanishing frame configuration continues to go up.

There are some beautiful restorations of Motobecanes elsewhere on BF in the last few years, one woman in particular has a fine example of a metallic blue one, I think he name is Alice Strong: try a search.

I would spend some time restoring that mixte. I don't know anything about Tennessee, but if you
wanted to sell an early '80's Moto like this in NYC for $300 +, you would get it in a heartbeat.

Nice find, good luck, show us your completed Moto(s), tell us what you got for them.

WNG,
You can find out the year of your bike by looking at the serial number stamped into the bottom bracket. If it was made in Kent, Washington the the serial number will begin with an "R". The first and fifth numeral will give you the year. The second, third and fourth numerals are the day of the year. I don't remember what the rest of the numbers indicate but it identified the shift and employees. So my bike's serial number starts out "R80168---". Therefore my bike was made in Kent, Washington on January 16, 1988. I hope this helps identify the age of your bike. I do like the paint job!

I actually ran out of bikes to work on. I bought this Caprice. No handle bars, wrecked tires and tubes, wobbly wheels.

Amazing what $25 worth of rubber and a few hours of elbow grease can do. I just need to hook up the cables and attach the repainted basket and it'll be back on the road.

While at the Goodwill for something else altogether, I noticed this:

And figured I could turn it around fairly quickly for some pocket money, as I paid less than $20 for it.

Sometimes you just have to ask and things appear...

Received some 27 by 1W Araya aero (clincher) rims laced to hand built Arvon cartridge bearing hubs... seems like these were made for my Cooper.

You're absolutely right-on Sixtyfiver - those look like the OEM issue for that bike! Very nice!

Had to true up the rear wheel just a little and will also need to hit these hubs with a little polish but man... they are so insanely smooth.

The builder of the hubs is also the same frame builder I partner with and it is a surety that I will build more of these hub sets up as they are simply beautiful.

Bought this Ross Gran Tour 2 from my local bike shop for $85


This Nishiki Sport was sitting behind a guys house forever and I stopped and asked about it. Got lucky and he let me have it. Thinking about turning it into a single speed. I'm going to make it my commuter and use my Giant for long distant rides/weekend rides.


Saw this GrantSport Road Course sitting under a tree going, basically aready gone to waste. Stopped there today and asked about it and got it free also. Its such a small frame but it fits my wife perfect. So it will be brought back to life for her.

OK, I have sworn off picking up any more MTBs. That's it, NO MORE!

So what do I pick up this week at my favorite thrift store: two freakin' MTBs. Oh well, at least one was really cheap (senior day, 25% off). Both have cromoly frames and forks, alloy rims, decent components, pretty clean paint.

Both need seats, basic clean up and adjustment. I have plenty of take off seats. Treks are well respected in this area, so that one is the pick of these two.

Nice haul. Wish I could find things like that around here.

Picked up this Cannondale Delta V1000 for only $10. Strange geometry. Not sure how good the headtube shock is. I may end up having to part it out and use the rear section for a future longtail. I think this is a 1992.

Snagged this at the Copake swap today. The seller said it was a 1937, and I have no reason to doubt the decade at least. Its a rider, which is nice! It just needs a serious cleaning, and removal of what looks like crackled house paint all over it. I can see the original paint under it, so that's a plus I didn't get a screaming deal, but it was much cheaper/easier to buy this complete than it would be to piece it together.













I also got titanium tubed Litespeed wind chime with Stronglight rings and Wheelsmith spokes for $25, and a cool stainless 1 1/4 threadless stem with internal binder for $2.

Kevin, that is really cool. I look forward to your post in the "before and after" thread!

A Cannondale for $10 bucks??? WOW!!! If it can be returned to ride-able condition, that would be my recommendation. Chains and seats are cheap, I don't know what else it needs other than a thorough cleanup.

Traded a Crusty bare 28" wheeled Glider frame for this Ranger, it looks like it's in good condition too.


Oh right I also got this freebie to, it had a broken weld, I repaired it like new.