Bikedued

Most of the craigslist ads here are full original retail or close. ,,,,BD

randyjawa 

While picking these used building blocks up at the rural dump near my cottage, I decided to take a break after completing the last load(sounds ominous but you can only get ten blocks in the trunk of a Honda Civic)...



The day, though still a bit cool, here in Canada, was gorgeous. Feeling the need to enjoy, I headed to the scrap metal pile to see what might be of use to me. Nothing there worth my interest at the time, though I did notice lots of barbecue grills waiting for me to pick them up.

Next, keeping my eye open for black bears, and, more importantly, baby black bears, I took a walk around. And there is was - next Winter's Jamaica bicycle - an Empire Professional...

GordoTrek

Empire? looks cool, i've never heard of that brand. doesn't look like its in too bad of shape. any closer pics?

69tr6r

I would disagree. Definitely a Classic.

arex

It remains to be seen if I can undo the things the previous owner did to it without requiring a re-powdercoat, ie. the reflector strips and the holes he drilled in the fork for a rack (under the red tape).

randyjawa 

The Empire is a Made in Japan bicycle. It is not high end but it does feature forged drops, front and back and lovely long pointed lugs. The chrome is in great shape on the stays but not as nice on the fork socks. The socks are going to clean up good enough for me since the bicycle will spend the rest of its life in Jamaica.

Anyway, a couple more "as found" pictures...





The bike will be fitted with 27" wheels, offering best ride quality for the horrible road conditions in Jamaica. Anyway, pics when I get er up and runnin. For now, gotta finish an old all chrome Italian steed.

styggno1

Not saved from a dump but found at a flea market/swap meet - not at all connected to bikes. It is some time ago but I still cherish the feeling when they were found.







This was dump/garbage container though...




And minus the frame (Bottecchia). Crank arms, rear derailleur, seatpost early C-record. Engraved/stamped logo cranks and der. and seatpost with the "bump" just below the aero portion.

3speedslow

That Empire has me thinking it is a clone for a Sekine. Looks nice! Love the Titlist on the back. Front looks cool as well. Hope the BB is in good shape.

arex

@styggno1, that old derailleur is amazing.

Bikedued

Dang, it's raining Cannondales lately. My friend is bringing me an 86 navy blue SR400 this weekend. Fairly clean, and looks like mostly stock equipment except for the stem. Nittos are easy to find thankfully.,,,,BD

His pics. He's always been bad at that sort of thing, haha.

velomateo

Those are really great scores. I would estimate that there's several hundred dollars worth of bar tape in that box. The Bottecchia is awesome. It's cool that someone who could identify and appreciate the bike and it's components, is the new owner... the last owner obviously didn't.

coolkat

I thought this kind of deal had disappeared! '87 Miyata One Twelve for $5(!) at a garage sale this morning. Triple butted crmo, low end but competent Shimano Light Action group. It appears to be all original except the bar tape and pedals.

lord_athlon

Is that an aluminum railed Ideale?

GordoTrek

could be, i haven't looked at it that close yet. its in really poor shape.

Bikedued

The SR400 has landed. I looked it over top to bottom, and couldn't find anything wrong with it really. Wheels are original I believe. Miche hubs and Rigida alloy 700's. For $80 I wasn't going to let it get away. So now, another project. I already have several going. But? I FINALLY have a 60cm DT shifter Cannondale, and it's friction Cyclone no less. Could this finally be a home for my Retrofrictions? I sure hope so!,,,,BD



And now...

jmeb

Friend of mine has been riding his mid 1990s, beat-to-hell, mis-sized, nothing impressive hard-tail around town a lot this spring. He asked me to help him find a versatile bike that could take fenders, a rack, and still be reasonably quick.

I'm excited to be helping him re-build this. Found with all original parts, with chainwheels and freewheel showing almost zero wear. Getting a full overhaul, and then outfitted.

curbtender

Bobray95

Bikedued

New pics of the SR400 tomorrow. It's a;ready cleaned up and redone. Both wheels had a nasty hop, so I will have to lace some new rims onto those wheels if the hubs check out. Campy brake levers replaced the AGC's, which I have never felt comfortable with. New Benotto ribbon, see through cable housing, and cables. It promises to be a fun rider. Thie shifting is quite smooth and easy. Perfect Suntour functionality.,,,,BD

CannedPakes

Well it's interesting to say the least

Bobray95

I guess you get what you pay for!!! LOL

rekmeyata

I found a steel lugged maroon or burgundy (they're pretty much the same) colored Dawes frame and fork with brake calipers DGC500 (which were Dia Compe Grand Compe) and Sunshine hubs (not sure if original) but no other components except handlebar and seat post, the frame doesn't have a model name just says handmade in script and there's a sticker of the British flag that says made in Britain, with another sticker that says Reynolds 531st, I know what the st stands for but I don't know what model of Dawes this bike is and can't seem to find it on the internet either, the head badge is a black oval outlined in silver with the words Dawes in silver, it has Dawes forged dropouts. Serial number is ZD5859 if that helps which I understand there are no records on Dawes serial numbers? I'm also unable to get photos to post on this forum which doesn't help anyone to try to determine what model it is. It's probably a Galaxy made in the 80's. The frame/fork and paint is in really good condition, no rust and very little in the way of scratches.

Anyone with any info on what I might have would be appreciated, and what the original components were because I would want to try to bring it back to that.

Anyway I have project bike that I will very slowly work on as time allows, probably more of a retirement project.

echo victor 

Well, I can't say for certain that this would have gone to the dump, but the seller was clearing it out as prep for moving... and in the photo it was sitting on a couple trashcans. Bad photo, but I was able to make it out - a 1987 Schwinn Circuit.



It seems all original except for the saddle and pedals - Suntour Sprint drivetrain and Royal Compe braking. Needs a full overhaul, because brakes and shifters are very sticky. And tragically, the Suntour Sprint front hub is destroyed. Looks like someone stepped hard on the front wheel when it was lying on its side or something. But there's no significant frame rust, everything looks straight, seatpost and stem aren't stuck, and the paint will probably clean up with rubbing compound.

To be honest, though, there's a small paint chip on the fork which suggests that the fork is chromed under the paint... and I'm real tempted to strip some of the paint and have some chrome up front to match the rear.

I'll start a build thread as I get going.

plonz 

This is a great find. If the Tempo and Super Sport are any indication, that Circuit will flat out fly when it's all tuned up. I rarely see these... Maybe I need to look in the garbage more often

echo victor 

Hey, thanks! I'm really looking forward to getting to ride it - especially since it has the geometry I prefer with a slightly shorter top tube than seat tube. Could be a keeper.

Good luck looking in the garbage near you. I actually wasn't totally sure what it was when I first saw the seller's photo (he just called it an old Schwinn). I thought, "hey, that looks like it could be a Columbus Schwinn," so I counted the letters and figured it might be a Circuit or Prelude. Then I scoured the late 80s catalogs until I finally found what I thought was the matching paint job. I'm sure you'll probably have an easier time recognizing something cool in the garbage.