Rabid Koala

Nice Moto! That one was on my lust list back in my LBS days.

DMNHCAGrandPrix

[QUOTE=Poguemahone;11090729]Some more photos of the Moto, which came into my possession today.


I lusted after those Jubilee downtube shifters back in the 1970s bike boom days in high school. What a contrast to the bendy plastic Simplex shifters that were standard issue on most of the bikes owned by me and my friends at the time!

sykerocker 

After talking with Poguemahone (for a good long while) when he came to pick up the bike yesterday, I now really realize that Erie, PA was a bicycling backwater during the Bike Boom years. I'd rough-guessed that the bike was mid-late '70's only to have him show me where it was early '70's. In Erie, we never saw Huret Jubilee before 1975 (I forget which bike had them, probably some Gitane once they dropped the sticky foil decals), Stronglight 49D cranks were unknown (only ever saw 93's), and if it was French it invariable had Simplex, either Prestige or Criterium, in those years. I'd never seen the later Simplex alloy derailleurs until I got back into cycling this past decade.

The area was a hotbed of SunTour (V, V-GT and Compe-V fronts) and a few Simplex Crane setups. Otherwise, Huret Allvit was still common in '75, and not just because of Schwinn.

sykerocker 

The saga continues:

The Finest hit the road this afternoon for the first time - one more Tour de France spent restoring a worthwhile vintage road bike.



While it runs just fine, it's going to need a bunch of changes over the course of the future.

First off, I've got to do something about the gearing. The bike originally came 42/52 in the front and 14/19 corncob in the rear. I've already changed the big ring for a 49t (closest I had on the shelf to my preferred 48t), but all I had on the shelf for rears were 14/28's, and the SunTour V wasn't really happy with that 28t big cog. Will do some looking for a 14/26 which should take care of that cat4 climb I call a driveway.

Wheels are next, as in a new set. The original owner had the stock sew-up wheels rebuilt into 27" clincher on narrow rims. I'm running a set of Forte 27x1's at the moment and they'll do, but they're not the real thing. Sunshine hubs should be no problem, but I'll have to most likely settle for Araya rims, as the original's aren't anything I've seen in years.

Already replaced the rusted out front derailleur, will have to hit the local re-cycle to pick up a set of Dia Compe calipers that'll clean up better. The originals were gone to the point that the pitting shows through the polish. And I'll have to look for a replacement seat in the same style - that one is battered heavily. Thank ghod for leather dye.

Now to spend the next month reminding myself why I've wanted on of these for almost 40 years.

illwafer

love this thread.

auchencrow

Enjoy! You have a wonderful steed there for sure sykerocker !
If I were you I'd keep the hubs and just lace them to the Arayas - something that will allow you to go with the 1-1/4 Panaracers. It's like riding on top of a Cadillac!

redneckwes

Syke,

Thats one sharp looking Fuji!

(I might have a set of Sunshine hubs if you need em. )

sykerocker 

Start checking. A set of proper tubular wheels are definitely on the menu for this winter. I'm not going to take the current set apart, because I can always use a 120mm set of 27" clinchers for another project.

cudak888 

Now the bad news: I want royalties.



-Kurt

dashuaigeh

glad this worked out . sadly, when someone tried to the same on CL, the guy was instantly accused of trying to flip the bikes for an easy buck in a bike-popular town. shame

sykerocker 

Well, it did get that 1980 Schwinn Traveler finished. Sounds like it could be fair payment.

khatfull

THAT is droolworthy...

ScottRyder 

Syke, is that the original Fujita YFC Seamless? I've got a few of those around if you're interested.


Scott

USAZorro

syke,

We'll have to go on a White 1972 Fuji Finest ride some time. Too bad Robtown crashed and is OOC for a spell. I've adapted mine to be my distance rider, which means wider gearing range and 26 or 28mm clinchers. I have the original Ukai tubular rims (front is laced to a high flange hub - possibly the original Sunshine, the rear is not laced - I know I have both the original hubs somewhere). They have their share of wear, but are definitely usable. I would be willing to part with them, as I've no intention of remaking mine back into a "go fast" bike. Drop me a PM and I'm sure we can arrange something if you are interested.

cudak888 

Nah. Just your first Campy group

-Kurt

noglider 

I wish I lived on a road like yours! Then again, I already have a lot of people who just drop bikes off with me. My property is like a bike junkyard.

Also, we don't hang signs on our properties here. I'm not sure if there's an ordinance against it, but in any case, it's considered gauche in these parts.

due ruote 

I had forgotten that 'snazzy' was even in my vocabulary until I saw that Fuji.

robtown

A different Robtown, I presume?

brockd15 

That Fuji would look really, really good on 650b's...you're replacing the wheels and brakes anyway right?

USAZorro

My error. The fellow who got in the bike/bike crash on the DC bike trail has a Finest from the same year. I got ID's mixed up.

<edit> I meant robatsu.

sykerocker 

Yes - battered as it is, it still is reasonably comfortable, but I'll be slowly replacing all the really cosmetically worn components with better as I find them. I'm interested.

sykerocker 

You realize, for us, this is kinda full circle. When I first me you on Classic Rendezvous and you turned me on to this place, we were discussing Fuji Finest's. That's almost five years now. PM to follow on the rims.

sykerocker 

Gag!!!!!!!

brockd15 

ha!

sykerocker 

Bump.

The saga of advertising at the bottom of the driveway continues - and it's been a really worthwhile idea. OK, nobody's dropped a barn-find Merckx or Colnago off with me, but I've been picking up some worthwhile flippables for about $10-15 each, as well as a few parts bikes. As to what I've picked up (this is what I remember off the cuff):

A pair of '87 Raleigh Triumph's, men's and woman's frame. Absolutely nothing special, here's the woman's (seeing that someone will grump about the lack of pictures), but should be salable for an asking $110.00:



I upgraded more than a few components on these bikes (the men's isn't finished yet), as these are probably the trashiest bikes to ever wear the Raleigh (USA) comorant. Virtually all the components were low end SunRace.

A '75 Schwinn 10-speed Suburban. We all know what those look like. Brown, by the way.

A pair of '71 AMF Hercules, cosmetically challenged enough that I dumped the woman's frame and built the men's out of the best pieces of both. This one's a keeper, either my ride to the mailbox, or I'll take it to work and use it for the commute to the nursing home to see my wife. It's only three miles from the office. Once again, the bike isn't quite done, so I'll have pics shortly.

The Ranger 3-speed. Just started tearing it down and putting some of the chrome parts into the oxalic acid bath (which has become a permanent feature in the shop - I'm seriously considering building a 19th century style wash stand/dry sink for the shop for the acid bath).

And today got interesting:

Got a call this morning from a local guy, he'd run across a couple of bikes and was wondering if I was interested. Now, I've got a method for handling these calls. In the first place, everybody's welcome to come by. I don't attempt to cull uninteresting bikes over the phone, other than making sure the guy is talking a 3, 5, or 10-speed road bike. Then, before we even dig into the back of his pickup, I take him into the shop and show him what I'm doing. Usually keep one of my worse $10 finds on the motorcycle bench, give him the complete rundown of how I buy bikes, what I put into them, and what I hope to sell them for.

At this point, we go look in the truck. He had two: An early 80's Raleigh mixte, all there, dirty, unfortunately the chrome was coming off the wheel rims. From the period when Nottingham was using Raleigh rebadged SunTour gear. However, I could see a load of nice parts, and a frameset worth cleaning and selling. The other one was more interesting, although I knew virtually nothing about the brand. A Vista Silver Shadow. Arai 631 tubing (I assume this means some variant of chrome moly, nothing said about butted). Good forged dropouts with micro adjusters and built-in derailleur hanger. Crankset was Shimano Tourney. Drivetrain was Shimano 600 with bar end shifters. SR stem and randonneur bars. Didn't note the hubs, other than they were decent alloy, with alloy rims. 25" frame. The bike really reminded me of a somewhat cheaper version of my old World Voyageur.

I opened with my usual $10.00 per bike. He was holding out for $15.00 each. We settled quickly.

While we were talking, he mentioned that he often runs across bicycles, and would I be interested in the future? I took him to the garden shed (now being used for finished inventory and bikes not yet worked on) and we spent the next fifteen minutes in a quick primer of what to look for, what I'll accept, and what I have no interest in. I have a feeling I'm going to see him again in the future.

The sign has definitely been worth it, to the point that back in October I pulled out my copy of Quick Books and set up an accounting system for the shop. Might be nice to know if I'm actually making any money on of these days.