Going Dutch...
 

Hey guys... I added a new bike to the stable a couple weeks ago...with the help of Mel (Elev12k). I was heading to A'dam so I started looking at marktplaats.nl...i was looking for a small maker Dutch bike with fastback seatstays. I asked Mel his opinion on a few things and he pointed me towards this Reus. After the seller ignored me (as a foreign buyer) Mel facilitated in Dutch and set the whole thing up...so...big thanx for that. I took the train to Hoofddorp just outside A'Dam and collected the bike the day I flew in. It was just as described...not perfect...but nice. It is Columbus SLX with Campy Athena (except a wayward Avanti RD) and Mavic Open Pro wheels. It needs fresh tires/tape and pedals (had beat Shimano SPD-SL pedals) and I will probably change the stem and bars.

Also, if anyone has an opinion...I am contemplating changing the headset...black or silver/chrome?? Make/model?

I boxed her up in 2 boxes and shipped her out a week ago...I arrived home from Barcelona on Thursday and she arrived at my shop today.

Here she is in front of Reus in Zwanenburg (which was unfortunately closed for vacation that week!):

-Mark in St. Louis

greatlooking bike

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...7&d=1276555850

Great looking bike, and special too! With those elongated (elevated?) headtube and seattube, this must be a special build. I guess Lotek will chime in, he has a nice Reus as well, with striking paint scheme. You can compare ride qualities later!


PS: I'd say, chrome headset. Any good quality one, but not Stronglight. Too clunky.

Hey...Thanx for the replies (and compliments). Do you guys (and gals) think the Tange Levin is "good enough"?
Both Mel and I were wondering about the elevated seat/head tubes as well. The components date the bike to the mid-90's...but...an older Dutch gentleman on a Chesini pulled up next to me in Hoorn and in broken conversation told me it was an 80's Reus...???

I'm thinking chrome headset as well and silver stem for a slghtly more classic look.

What do you guys think...stick with a classic yellow/chrome/black scheme or add color accents (either red it blue) with tires/tape/hoods/saddle/etc...???
TA
-Mark

More color is always a good thing:
Attachment 155449
That's my Jan de Reus (pronounce like Rausch? or potato's Rosti).
As far as I can tell that makes exactly 3 Reus in the states. CV-6 had
an older one which he sold, yours and mine. These are not common bikes
even in the Netherlands where they originate from.
My bike was built in 1990, and was one of the last that Jan de Reus built
before he was killed in an automobile accident. Reus was a retired racer
who opened his shop and actually built bikes as opposed to having them
contract built. I've been trying to gain any information on Jan de Reus
but there is hardly any out there that I have been able to find.
My bike is typical Dutch Criterium geometry, in other words it's fast,
carves a turn like it's on a rail and positively dives into corners.
I wouldn't call it 'twitchy' but it definitely is more responsive than say my Zieleman or RIH.
It's not an easy bike to ride no handed as it responds to every little input through the
saddle.
sr70guy believes the ride is due to the low BB drop on the bike, it's somewhere between
a regular road bike and a track bike.
FWIW I'd go with a silver headset, probably a Campy Record threaded headset
(the more modern ones, not the super record era) it would set off the chrome on
the rear triangle and chrome fork nicely.

Marty

Nice Reus. As lotek said, I had one also which I sold only because it was just that little bit too big. It was a fun ride and just seemed to want to go. I have a new Dutch fix that I will share in a few days.

Here is a photo of my former Reus

https://live.staticflickr.com/7036/6...0b2ecaa3_h.jpg
Jan De Reus #1 by L Travers, on Flickr

Buldogge's Reus (yes, like rösti), is definitely from the mid 90s. Somewhere in my memory was an article in the otherwise quite worthless Dutch magazine 'Fiets', about a Reus bike. That article is from '95. That bike has the same elevated headtube and seattube, but is otherwise very different. Maybe its best to have Melvin call the present owner, Ron Snijders, he probably built the bike back in the 90s. He's a nice guy BTW.
what strikes ma as odd though, is the front fork. Doesn't seem in the same style as the other Reus bikes featured here.

As headset, why not splash out, and get a Cane Creek 100 TD? Its beautifully finished ... Or a Shimano Dura Ace threaded, maybe they're still on sale somewhere. Great looking headset too.

Edit: i just read that article again, and its a guy named Jack Post who owned the shop in the 90s, and build the frames. Ron Snijders came later.

Hey Marty... After I found the bike, it was your posts that I read that whetted my appetite! Only thing is...with this particular bike...it rides quite stable. I was able to sit up and ride hands free for decent distances (given though that this is on super smooth perfect Dutch bike lanes!). I put about 150 miles on the bike while I was in/around A'dam and it rides very nice. I get a little heel strike with the short chainstays but nothing horrible.

The Selle Italia flite has to go I think though...my posterior was killing me after my longish (for me) 65 mile ride north of A'dam.

Color might come from saddle/tape later...the Red Conti GP4000s I had lined up in 25c are no longer available so black tires it is for now (unless I want to suffer another bike with 23s).

TA

Hey Lynn... I spent some time looking over your pictures before the trip as well.

BTW...Where did your Reus end up???

Hey s70rguy... Thanx for the scans...wish I could read Dutch. A Zwanenberg newspaper article that I found on the web and translated with babelfish said that Ron Snijders bought the shop in 1996 from Jan de Reus' son...??? The one pic showed Ron building a bike in the back of the current shop.

Do you know any details about whether it would have been built there, or about Jack Post??...the framet is marked with the Zwanenberg location along with Reus decals and a Columbus SLX sticker. It also has Columbus dropouts/ends.

The current headset is an Arix which I have never heard of. I will probably just use a Tange Levin unless there is a compelling reason not to...I only paid 200 for the bike...not sure I want to pay 100 for a headset! ;)

What's the general gist of the article???

TA

Sold the frame to an eBay seller in Springfield, IL. He has since sold it to someone else. I asked about it a few months ago, entertaining the idea of getting it back. It was a fun ride and I missed it. Drop me a PM. We are neighbors of sorts.

All nice bikes

Thx for posting those scans, Freek

The review mentions the dropped toptube as a Jack Post typical. It indeed sounds plausible than that yours is by JP. The reviewed bike also has the slightly raised bb that makes it very suitable for entering a criterium.

Your bike uses nicer tubing than the one reviewed. The tested bike only has SLX seatstays. I understand your bike is full SLX. The reviewed bike has more conventional wrap over stays, while yours are of the fast back type. The fork of the tested bike is more 'Reus typical'. The tested bike uses a special kind of head lug ensemble. They mention it was an option.

I happen to own a Reus myself. It is an older one quite alike Lotek's and CV-6's. Sorry, no pics available.

I did own another Reus, but I sold it to someone who flipped it through CR list a couple weeks later. I still have the pics though. Here you have one >>

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2674/...ff339c68_b.jpg

Sure a nice frame, but not really a frame that many would immediately recognize as Reus. I do not know much about it.

I have seen quite a lot pics of your Reus coming in through email. I know up close it looks well crafted. With the article of Freek now as reference, its origins seem to be pretty clear too.

Hard rubbish Melbourne (not Florida)
 

[QUOTE=Elev12k;10967890]All nice bikes

Thx for posting those scans, Freek

Thy are throwing em out over here:)
http://s862.photobucket.com/albums/a...embledbike.jpg

[QUOTE=matilda5;11504811]A Reus down under! What next ...

(Ah, yes, the world championships ... :-) )

I don't want to throw a spanner in the works, but in my hazy memory there is this small fact floating around: Reus frames build by Jan de Reus had that specific backwards pointing number tag on the toptube. Marty knows more about it, although his memory is sometimes as hazy as mine ....

[QUOTE=matilda5;11504811]Oops... that doesn't look good

http://i862.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/reusbike.jpg

Freek,

My Reus looks in pretty much every aspect identical to Lynn’s and Marty’s. I would be highly surprised if it is not of the hand of Jan because of the absence of that race number braze on. I think it was simply not meant to be raced in competition.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/...75553005_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/...7054c513_z.jpg

great color schemes here.

Elev12k wrote:
Oops... that doesn't look good

No and it handles worse. During hard rubbish season you pick things up when you see them...no coming back with the wagon for this one!

Hi Matilda,

The ensemble is yours and you picked the Reus up along the roads or from the dump? I would say a great score! The Reus bicycles are rare in Holland and even more in Australia. Really unique, especially given you get it for free!

I didn't fell out the plastic box when on your way? Please tell me it didn't.

picked up from the naturestrip (outside a posh house) from a pile of rubbish complete except for tyre and pedals.
I tied it up with Duct tape and wobbled 10ks home through Suburbia occasionally checking out other piles.
It and me didn't fall! Googling it comes out with the bike forums site. I have been a lurker for a time but post soon after.
It is exactely my size and rides well

P.S I really like the Reus you sold. Why is it grass always greener.

Good piles of rubbish in your neighbourhood. I paid actual money for mines.

A couple weeks ago I acquired a 70s Reus. Currently it is undergoing a big overhaul: new Motorex and loose balls for all bearings, internal rust prevention liquids, waxing paint etc. Here two pics of some distinctive detailling >>

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1245/...47afd258_z.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1289/...87c56dec_z.jpg