A touching story Auchen, and it reminds me of something in my own experience many years — a terminally ill man parting with his treasure. I can fully understand your "... MORE than ..." quote. A very sweet bike with really nice original pieces.

I need to tell the story of this bike,

to tell the story this bike.


The top bike is a mid-seventies gaspipe Mercier that I took on as 'French as possible fixed gear' build. I thought I did a pretty decent job as the only non franco parts on the bike were the Lambert chain ring and the Sturmey FW converted to 3 speed fixed gear. She turned out to be a really nice riding and handling bike. I did some light touring on it and also did my best 200k brevet with.

On August 6, 2007, I had the bike loaded for a ride from my home in IL to the Fixed Gear Symposium in Traverse City, MI. I made just 13 miles when I was hit from behind by an 18 y/o kid traveling 45 mph. I heard, more than, felt impact. That is, until I finally quit sliding through gravel on the shoulder. I seem to recall thinking about the worst hit I took playing high school football and wishing this felt as good. Long story short, no life threatening injuries. Just lots of tissue damage, stitches and one destroyed bike.

While sitting back at home that evening, pumped full of Vicodin, three of my friends I was supposed to meet up in TC, showed up to see how I was doing, see how banged up I was, and if I was in decent enough shape to be driven to TC. Negatory on that last one. The guys knew how much I had put into the Mercier and they all showed up bearing bike parts, a Super Course frameset among them.

After I recovered enough to walk without the aid of crutches and could get past looking at the remains of the Mercier without shuddering, I stripped what was salvageable from it, which wasn't much, and began building up what I call the 'Phoenix'. The resulting Super Course turned out to surpass the Mercier in ride and handling and still works out for light fixed gear touring. However, the last 200k brevet ride I attempted two years ago on it resulted in my baling. I don't think I had recovered enough then for 200k.

I love this thread!

Every time I see that bike, I know that some things are just meant to be.....

Though the bike in question is a steel Ironman, it begins with two Ironman Carbon bikes. The first one sold to me by Ot(t)o Rax, vended via Velospace; he made an offer not refused. I liked it just fine, though it was too big, a 58.5cm, larger than the 56cm I need.

With the scarcity involved, any size close was good enough. Then Spinz alerted me to one on CL in LA. A deal was secured by riva and shipped to me, just the parts I needed, in exchange for the parts he needed, and I'm grateful for his assistance and efforts on my behalf. It was also 58.5cm. I found myself with a matched pair of rare bikes, and really too large for me. There was nothing to do but outfit one with 8-sp Ergo Chorus and the other with 8-sp 600 tricolor STI and proclaim myself an expert on the difference between groups.

Enter afilado, a man who could fit the 58.5cm frame. He was about to come into possession, as an investment, of a 56cm Ironman, a pretty black '89 Expert. We arranged a trade, one Ironman Carbon frame for the steel Expert frame. An even trade, given that fit is important for a keeper bike, and he has been good to me over time (a privilege to repay in kind).

Alas, when afilado got his hands on the steel Expert to trade, it did not meet his high standards, and he could not bring himself to make an unequal trade. He notified me of this, and sold me the frame for a fair price, in lieu of a trade. It arrived, cleaned up and in need of some TLC. I commenced my touch-up routine as best I could.

I built it into a triple, but I could hear the Ironman in its soul weeping at night, so it was un-built.
I tried a white CF fork and accessories, a double with bright components. Still, I could not find a suitable look.

It seemed the frame did not like me. Perhaps it had heard of an earlier '89 Expert, torn apart, to emerge as a frame-only, CF-accessoried racer, and sold. Whatever the reason, it went to the wall, consigned to a life of leisure contrary to its DNA.

Enter in Razor from KC, whose Trek was stolen. He is a speed demon, or slightly mad, I can't tell.
Somehow, I had one like it, and off it went, me being glad to be rid of it. He made a fine commuter of it.

Through numerous communiques I encountered thirdgenbird.
I think it was while "warning" him of Razor's unbounded enthusiasm for speedy things.

Talk, as it always seems to do, ended up around an Ironman topic, and one thing led to another.
thirdgenbird seemed to have a vision for the bike that escaped me, and he said it was for a girl.
Well, that sealed the deal, and the build is certainly proof of that; such a better job than I could do.

As for the Ironman Carbons, afilado found a different bike, a Cinelli.
Both 58.5cm Ironman Carbons now rest with gmouchawar, but that's a different story.

^that story is for this bike:



thanks robbie!

I'm guessing that this one had a sad story that I probably don't want to hear. I can't wait to tear into it and start the process to repainting it, but that will have to wait until warmer weather so I can sand outside.








The "bike" is remarkably light, less than 22 lbs as shown. (I know the wheels are on backwards. I didn't want that greasy chain/frame touching the carpet and didn't pay attention.)

What the hell is it Beech? From the frameset's angles, it looks pretty serious.

I think maybe I will let the bike tell it's own story,

I started off in Waterloo, Quebec, the year was 1975, a collection of British made parts, it was a way my builder could get around high tariffs, in this land. I was boxed up and sent to a place called Toronto, where they spoke another language, English, then sold to a family, who spoke another language again, Hebrew. I was owned by a young man, but ridden occasionally, by his father and then his son, eventually, I ended up at the fathers house, he rode occasionally, but as he got older he slowly stopped riding me, I got moved around and eventually, I got parked behind some old boards, and forgotten. I saw other bikes over the years, then some bicycle enthusiasts moved in and there were several bikes, they lived in another corner of the garage. One of them noticed me, and thought about me, but didn't get around to dealing with me, and I got dirtier and dirtier, my tires were long flat.

Eventually the father was preparing to wheel me to the curb as trash, the tenant spoke to him, and then wheeled me into another corner, where the other bikes were, apparently I had changed owners. He stripped me down to my frame, noted how light it was, and cleaned everything, removed the rust, and painted over the scratches and dings, he cleaned and shined all of my parts, applying fresh lube, and I got new cables, and new tape, and new tires and brake pads, and a new chain, everything was adjusted, and then one day, he pumped up my tires and got on and I could feel the road on my tires, and the wind through my frame, I was back doing what I had been built for. I am 35 years old and feel like a brand new bicycle! I have been moved from Toronto, to another place, and I see snow and ice outside the window, I am on a stand, so I don't go anywhere, but I get a regular workout. A couple of my parts have been replaced, and I have newer wheels speeding here, via the post office, my new owner tells me that a 3:45AM this morning they were in a place called Mississauga, and that they will probably come here on a truck today or tomorrow. They aren't new, but are newer then the rusty ones I have.

I can't wait for the new wheels and to see the road again in the spring.

The Raleigh....

I started riding again in 2008 on a bike I'd had for over 20 years, and promptly wrecked it. It was still rideable but the frame definitely bent. My plan was to ride it until my birthday when I planned to buy a bicycle from a local shop whose owner went to the same church as I did. Note that my bike knowledge at this point was stuck in the pre-indexed-shifting age and I hadn't heard of BikeForums yet.

One day, the LBS owner mentioned that, "Mrs. O'Reilly has some old bikes she wants me to look at, but I don't deal in used bikes. Do you want to take a look at the bikes and see if they are any good? Otherwise, she's going to sell them at the church garage sale."

So I went over to look at the bikes. She had gotten them when her daughter-in-law's father passed away; he owned them. One of them was brand new! Well, kind of..... it still had the store price tags on it, the nubbies on the tires, and looked like it had never been ridden. She didn't know what to charge for it but since the price tag said almost $400, we agreed on a price of $100. It turned out to be a (near-vintage) 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS. When I brought it home, it looked like this:



After outfitting it for commuting and several upgrades, it looks like this:



But Mrs. O'Reilly had another bike, kind of an old clunker to my eyes. I decided to go back and look at it. After haggling back and forth a bit- she wanted $25, I offered her $30, since the money was going to the church garage sale fund- I bought the bike and brought it home:



Trying to find out more about the weird brakes it had, I searched the internet and found BikeForums. Y'all told me I had a Raleigh DL-1 Tourist and through the hub date, most likely a 1966 model. Cleaned up a bit, it looks like this:

Angles in the pic look skewed by the doors to my laundry closet and the bad camera angle. It is supposedly a Romic.

Many signs point to it being a Model 25, but the Romic website guy does not think that the serial number is in line with the format that Ray used and the lugs on my frame look a little poorly done compared to others.

10360121076 The center "0" is the issue.

I still think it is truly a Romic, maybe worked on by an inexperienced employee, with an error in the serial number. It certainly could not be the 10,360th frame built by that time, but a claim of 1036th would be very legitimate.

Hi Beech — I became very intrigued with your bike, and so I did some trawling. I've become convinced that underneath all that crud there is a gem of American cycling history. And no matter what tubing-set was used, it is very likely a very nice ride. All the signs point to the builder/proprietor, Roman 'Ray' Gasiorowski, as being a no-nonsense, ex-competitor of some renown who was more concerned with the feel of the bike as opposed to fancy do-dahs. This may explain any lack of detailing on the lugs. His higher end machines used Nervex lugs and 531. But, I was impressed by the testimony from someone who said that any number of other tube-sets received the same consideration during construction. In the sum of all things concerning frames, this sort of care and attention is commensurate with a good ride.

I agree that the serial number is a bit of a mystrey. But it seems most likely that your machine is the 1,336th frame completed on December 10th, 1976. From my reading, the "O" is not a mistake, but rather a suffix on the serial number. My same reading — intuition .. call it what you will — suggests to me that its significance is lost until perhaps someday someone can come forward and lend testimony as to what it really means. It could refer to a whole host of things.

Gasiorowski sprayed a lot of his frames with Imron, so if you mean to finish this frame yourself, you might get down to the base of where the Imron starts and stop there, because you are not going to get a better base on which to recoat. Of course, I can see from your pics that you have to get down to bare metal in places.

I think that you are fortunate to have this relic that is so closely connected to such an historic figure in American cycling. I for one would be proud to own it. I hope to see this 'story' updated in the form of a restored machine at some later date on these pages. Best of luck, and thanks relating the story of this bike.

One last thing for those who might be interested in the head badges these machines carried —see the attached. The Eagle is emblematic of Gasiorowski's ancestral Poland. "Romic" is a Polish nickname — a derivative of his Gasiorowski's first name — Roman.

Great, now I have another potential "Grail Bike"

Other than looks, which I consider mediocre at best, the frame seems to be very nice. If this is indeed a Model 25, I am curious to see how a higher end Romic would compare. His frames may be a hidden jewel in Polish-American craftsmanship. They certainly do not seem to demand the highest prices, per a recent auction of one.


Recent Ebay auction for a repainted(by Ray's shop) Romic - $320 + shipping

You can expect a thread on my project, unless it turns out badly.

Yeah, same here, Jimmy.

Yes, I posted the story back in August .. but I'll show it again with some more photos.


For those who don't know, Gene Ritvo, to me, was the "father" of Fuji in the U.S. He spec's the S10-S for the American market, picked all the Fuji models, colors and components during those early years. If there is a Fuji to be owned that has provenance, his would be at the top of the list.

This is also a good story of how our Fuji network stretches from coast to coast.

Matt dropped me an email in January inquiring whether I'd seen the post by a C&V member named Kevin looking for an appraisal on his 1982 Fuji Pro .. I'd missed it but Matt was kind enough to give me the heads up. It was a tad big for him but would fit me just fine. Matt had been coveting my '84 Fuji Super Record, which I 'd bought from BianchiGirl .. that was a bit small and I didn't ride it as much as I'd hoped. The deal had begun! I sold my Super Record to Matt and used the proceeds to fund the '82 Professional from member Kevin. To both of us it was a win/win situation.




During my conversations with Kevin, he mentioned he'd received an email from a gentleman on the west coast who was the original owner of an '82 Newest .. he passed that email on to me, I made my inquiries and met a great guy named Kurt. Kurt had worked at LifeCycles (the shop Gene started) in Cambridge, Mass back in the early eighties where he had purchased his Newest. We'd heard about a lot of the same people ... Gene Ritvo was one of the names I'd heard and read about.

Kurt needed to get some sense of value of his Newest before selling so he made some calls to some old buddies back in the Boston area. Lo and behold, he found out that Gene had died last November. He also found out that his collection of Fuji's were planning to be put up on EBay in the very near future. Kurt and I agreed on a price for the Newest and by early spring had the '82 Pro and the '82 Newest in my group.



Kurt put me in touch with the person who was selling the collection, a wonderful person named Warren who works at Belmont Wheelworks. I took a trip out to see the group, there was the '76 black Road Pro, the '76 black Track (a matching set) and the grey Pro that Matt now owns. Also, an unbuilt Super Record with all of it's parts and a '85 Opus III frame.

I knew I couldn't afford all of them .. so I contacted my friend William in NYC .. He'd worked at Fuji in the '70's as a graphic designer, the "three dot" Fuji logo is his, plus a ton of the other collateral material you see from that era. He has an amazing collection of Fuji's ... mostly Newests, Finests and Pro's. Of course, he knew of Gene and LifeCycles.

It was agreed that he would buy the collection outright and possible sell one or two of the models. I already had a grey Professional, so Matt expressed interest that if one became available, he'd like to be considered. William and I discussed splitting up the matched set Professionals but we decided against that. They just look to good together to be separated. I decided on the unbuilt Opus III frame which I'm currently working on. (Now completed)



So, it's come full circle, Matt started it rolling, I got to meet some great people, learn a ton about Fuji and Matt has the '75 (first year) Professional .. doesn't get much better for Fuji lovers ..

FIFY. Don't forget, I got two grail-worthy bikes out of the lengthy and large deal.

Neat... Now where does Keith come in?

You're most welcome, good to see it is getting used.

Just to add to your story, I bought that bike when I lived in Southern California used from a guy who regularly rode it from the coast up to the Angeles Crest and back. I rode it all around Orange County.

Then I brought it with me when I moved to Nor California up near Auburn where I put more miles on it. The only ride I wished I'd have done on it would have been up to and over Donner Summit and back, just never got around to it.
I then moved to Wisconsin and that bike came along with me and I rode it around the roads by Hartland and Oconomowoc. Then I made a deal with a small LBS owner for a Colnago that fit me better than the Centurion so the Centurion rested unridden in a corner of my apartment.

A few years later I got married, moved, and decided to pass the Centurion along to someone who might fit it better and begin to put the miles on it again.

And that brings us up to date. And it wouldn't surprise me if the guy I bought it from out in California is someone on the site here. It would be neat to hear his part of the story if he is lurking.

Thanks for the picture post, brings back good memories of rides in the past.

He hadn't reached proper membership at that point .. but he has now and is on the list for the next Pro that comes into my sights.

Scott

Just to finish Robbie's story before I make one of my own, here is what one of the Ironmen carbon looks like now. The second is waiting for a more deserving group.

Sweet, Gabriel, a nice build for a deserving owner....

OK, the twin Carbons....
gmouchawar wanted one. I was not really interested.
gmouchawar wanted one. He was persistent. I was not really interested.
gmouchawar wanted one. He offered me a very nice '86 in red and white, that fit me, not him.
Now, I wondered, "why would gmoucawar buy an Ironman that didn't fit him?" Simple, really.
gmouchawar wanted one. He was persistent. He perservered. The trade was made.

OK, so he's got one, I've got another. I'm OK, he's OK.
He was back. This time, with an eBay listing of a 56cm Ironman Carbon. A grail bike for me.
I was leary of an eBay purchase. It was in Idaho, and it wasn't a potato.
The seller seemed like a wildman, an mtb fan who may have ridden the Carbon like an mtb.
It certainly looked possible. And it was not for trade, it was for sale.

Did I mention gmouchawar is persistent? Did I mention he perserveres?
He figured out the price on the one that fit, that I didn't have.
He offered me the same price for the one I had, that didn't fit.

The man is a force of nature.
I win the one that fits me.
I sell him a 2nd one that fits him.

While in transit, I'm having anxiety attacks.
I don't have my Carbons. I don't have the one I bought.
It arrives, and needs lots of work. But it fits.
I think of Gabriel. He was persistent, and perservered.
The work on the Carbon that fit was done with him in mind.
I wanted to make it worth his efforts.

But that's not all, folks. This is my friend Gabriel, mind you.
An email appears. A photo of a green/white Ironman. In my size.
He has it. He doesn't ride that size. The schemer.
It arrived last fall, and is done except for some frame whitening.

The man is a force of nature.