Not quite vintage or classic yet, but worth mentioning as a catch of the day, local CL $100 bucks pickup

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...ee/Peloton.jpg

SpiritCyclist, that is a lovely old Super Course! I suspect that after cleaning and repacking everything, replacing the chain and the Simplex derailleur set with vintage SunTour like we all did back when, it will be an awesome bike! At the risk of sounding insulting, you ARE planning on soaking all those REG bottle cages and their parts in some sort of OA or Evapo-rust or something, right?

LOVE the Bluemels fenders, and I wish I had hung onto my last set! There are no words for how much I wish someone would put those back into production, especially in white!

I had made a thread on this earlier, but thought I would post the (95%) finished bike!

If you didn't see my other thread, I volunteer at a local donations collection agency, where people send in things like clothing and they are packed and put in a large shipping container to go to Nicaragua. This summer, back in early July, I noticed that we had a large pile of bikes out back under a tree. Every week I came to help, I passed by the pile and noticed one in particular was in great shape. After a while, I couldn't stand to see it piled under a bunch of lesser, Walmart Huffys and Iron Horses (though there was a nice mid-90s Schwinn Crossfit in there, but it was too far gone), so I asked the owner of the agency if I could take it home. She readily agreed, and so it came home with me.

Gave it a thorough cleaning and was happy to see that the only rust was surface rust, which came off easy with vinegar and a brillo pad. Then I waxed it all.
Replaced all cables, as a couple were badly corroded.

New bar tape replaced the hardened old stuff.

"New" fujita belt leather saddle was ordered off of Ebay (thanks user [MENTION=226065]Metacortex[/MENTION] for the reccomendation)

Finally, I put on a set of new Kenda tires (the old ones were in decent shape, but the rim strips were toast so I replaced the tires and tubes while I was at it)

Without much more ado, here is my saved from the dump 1978 Schwinn Le Tour III :)

http://i68.tinypic.com/av67fc.jpg

Its a little big for me framewise, but at the same time its incredibly comfortable to ride. Only thing I want to add is an Acorn roll bag, but it remains to be seen if I can nab one when the next batch comes out at the end of the month!

Real barn find.
 

I deviated from my normal bike purchases today, bought this and a couple others of similar vintage I don't have pics of yet but this was the real prize.......... and it wasn't really in a barn, it was in and old hog shed.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps4tz2j8pr.jpg

Moto
 

CL find locally, "Vintage Road bike". One picture, but a zoom revealed what appeared to be hi flange hubs with circlips and stronglight cranks. Campy record hubs and stronglight cranks and headset, shimano 600 Arabesque derailleurs, shifters, and brake calipers. All stuff I really like. Motobecane w no model name, only a few M logos, no tubing sticker. Cosmetically terrible, just like I like. $150 was easy to fork over for this ride. Rides nice.
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps7azjcr0k.jpg

[MENTION=345195]Murray Missile[/MENTION] - holy crap that's cool. Love the spring fork.

Here's a better picture and 3 others I snagged at the same time.....

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...psjmfujpdm.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...psbzls0yo8.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...psewyj4ptl.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...psjar9icim.jpg

Going back to try to make a deal for another pre-war Schwinn and a couple unknown makes.

That'll clean up surprisingly well. Get all that ugly electrical and bar tape off. Clean up the drive train and lube. I've done a lot of raleigh bikes over the years. They can almost always be shined up run well. Lotta elbow grease there. Enjoy!

My ride.
 

http://imgur.com/ujCLRln

Man, that Columbia is sweet!! It looks almost exactly like the one I sold and instantly regretted! 55 standard, or is it one of the star models? That's my favorite chainguard of that era! That one even looks to have the chain tread tires still on it?,,,,BD

Thanks. Not sure, these are my first balloon tire bikes and first Columbias and I'm just starting to research them, head badge is gone but the chain guard says "Columbia Built" as does the tank on the other. The other one says Goodyear HiWay Patrol on the head badge. Brought home a '38/'39 Schwinn yesterday but no good pics yet. Best I have right now.....
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...psgtkr9zf7.jpg

Making one more trip to retrieve a loop tail frame and what I believe is another Schwinn...........

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...psxuhzmomc.jpg

The green one back behind the blue girl's...........

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...pskgbbkdmk.jpg

Here's a small sample of what I first walked into, getting a bit picked over now.......

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...pso3mggfjq.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...psq31n4idk.jpg

At one time there were over a thousand bikes! 800 or so got scrapped a few years ago and the "really" good stuff had already been sold off.

I also added a couple Schwinn Varsities to the pile, one newer one that someone had put Weinmann 700c aluminum wheels on and some decent accessories then what I believe to be about a 1963 with down tube shifters. The wheels are gone but everything else is there, decals are faded but paint is fair and the chrome is not too bad, it should shine up very nicely. Three months ago you couldn't have paid me to take a varsity, now I have 3 of the damn things. :foo:

Whew, that's a LOT of heavy steel. I'd grab that MX banana seat too if you get a chance. In that condition they're pretty rare, and I imagine the old school BMX guys would get in a bidding war for it.,,,,BD

finished product:
harvested drivetrain (Shimano Claris) and wheels (heavy, cheap) from a donor bike
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...pszwnouoyr.jpg
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psbsxp15ch.jpg

I just got back from picking this up:

https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8403/2...6b715357_b.jpg

https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8266/2...24e53706_z.jpg

The seller advertised it as a 1972 Grand Record, and I don't have enough information to question that. There's at least enough of the top tube decal to verify that it's a Grand Record and just the tiniest bit of a Reynolds decal (French 3 tube 531, I'm guessing).

It's going to take a lot of work (starting with getting that seatpost out), but if I can bring it together the way I'm picturing it I'll end up with one sweet bike.

Thanks for the heads up on the seat, was never into BMX bikes much, but I'll snag it next trip. We just rode old Stingrays with no fenders and knobbie tires on dirt trails with jumps like the motorcycle racers on ABC's Wide World of Sports. We had no clue it would evolve into anything.

We use to get those seats at the local Auto parts store.

And it was a pretty good deal. ;)

It was, but by the time I get done having new bits brazed on and having it painted I'll have corrected that. :thumb:

Trek 370 found in same pile my old Panasonic was in. Offered some cash but they refused. A buddy and I are going to give it a little tlc for another friend who can't afford a decent bike and has to keep borrowing bikes when we ride. Tell me how lucky we are......our friend is 6'8" and it just so happens this bike is the biggest size they made. Lucky day!

Absolutely, cause the fun never $top$! :roflmao2:

Great catch that Will keep me busy for 6 months
 

Bought this bike in San Francisco from original owner for 100 bucks.Checked serial # and is clean.Working in San Fran for 6 months and I will pedal to the metal until done here.Love it.I believe it's a 2007 Specialized Crossroads with Thomson seatpost,specialized phenom saddle and carbon fiber fork.When done here I'm taking it back to Florida.

Latest Catch MB-6
 

It's a mess and crazy handlebars too.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8801/2...0658b99b_n.jpgIMG_0924 by lebagman, on Flickr

https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8544/2...0d1de35e_n.jpgIMG_0925 by lebagman, on Flickr

https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8799/2...5f1eb15f_n.jpgIMG_0929 by lebagman, on Flickr

You're keeping the sticker right?

Went out today after work to settle up on the last bikes I got and dig a little deeper but someone made them an offer on everything that was left today before I got there so I didn't get the MX seat. I'm pretty happy with what I got though and there wasn't anything left I really needed. I have enough project material to last me a long time.

My two most recent acquisitions, unfortunately both too small.

"Gitene" as the ad said has mostly campagnolo parts including hubs, with stronglight cranks, Mafac brakes, and Reynolds 531 tubing. I'm thinking late 60's or early 70's.

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/...pspcgd3jsh.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/...psogmbxsg0.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/...psihvbfsbu.jpg

1950's Raleigh Lenton Sport, love the front shifter. Has 26" tires.
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/...psqcbgjdqk.jpg