Latest acquisition: Lotus Eclair
 

Got this the other day. Several items are obviously not original--saddle, stem, crankset and pedals. It was spec'd with the Blackburn-style racks.

I'm developing a taste for dedicated touring bikes since I picked up the Bob Jackson Super Tourist--versitile, good for commuting, whiich accounts for most of my miles nowadays..

I will add fenders, for sure, and may look for other chainrings (it's now 52/40)--50/34?

Anyone know anything about this Tange "2001" tubing?

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/IMG_4622.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/IMG_4623.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/IMG_4625.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/IMG_4626.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/IMG_4630.jpg

I'm in love...

Tange 2001 is kind of so so, shows up on a lot of touring bikes where weight is not so much of an issue. Someone pilfered the original crankset and pedals off that bike, which is too bad. Bike originally came with a nice Deore triple crankset, with the oddball oversized pedal threading.

Make sure stem is not overextended.

Looks like a really nice bike, I have one in my project queue right now, I'll get around to it someday....


Here's an auction of what originally came with the bike:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1st-Generati...item4aaf9d2d0a

Thanks for the link. The owner pitched the Deore cranks because he stripped the pedal threads on the drive side--perhaps trying to use an adapter for another type of pedal? I'm not overly concerned with being 100% "correct" so I'll likely get a 50/34 for the double or a Suginio triple for it.

The stem is at close to it's limit, but it's a Nitto and I trust it as long as I don't go past the limit.

I wondered whether the Tange 2001 was sort of a Japanese 531 since it's a manganese alloy.

Isnt Tange 2001 a magalloy variant? That would make it hiten or maybe a step above normal hiten .

Tange Mangalloy 2001 is not a manganese-molybdenum alloy like 531. Only manganese was used in alloying the steel. It's a step above high-ten steel...a bit lighter and stronger.

[edit] Veloh just beat me to it.

Who cares about the tubing. I love the sparkly brown paint and the contrasting blue panels. The bar tape and hoods compliment it perfectly too. I'll take it off your hands if you decide it's not high-end enough for you, I think it's great.

Thanks everyone. I took it out for a 10 mile spin today--I like the stable, comfortable ride.

I found this with a little info on Tange 2001. It confirms it was a simple alloy tubing that was thicker than most--geared toward supporting a 200 pound rider, which I suppose would make it a good choice for a dedicated touring bike.

http://www.desperadocycles.com/Lowdown_On_Tubing.html

I'm guessing it's 1981--83ish, given the Deore group.

Very nice snag Mercian Rider. The blue and brown is very unusual and snazzy.
I would reiterate the caution about the stem being overextended.

I like the Sugino VP cranks - personally, I would prefer it over the original because of their odd pedal threads.
People do expect to see a third ring on bikes like this, but with that inner ring and the FW you have there I don't think you will miss it.

I had one of these bikes, unfortunately it was tiny. I thought it was really nice. The tubing might not seem exciting but I would agree that it is appropriate, my Mercian is also pretty heavy with 531ST tubes. I've never seen the metallic brown color before, it's really striking. That's a great looking bike, definitely nothing to sneeze at.

I did pilfer the cool Deore group from my Lotus before selling the frame, I couldn't resist the weirdness. I really like the goofy Deore pedals because they are very wide. I did not particularly like the shift levers with the overshift mechanism, the derailleur works fine but the floating bit does make it feel a little less precise.

aren't you already married?

That's a sweet bike and the only example I've seen in "Bronze", as Lotus describes it. It's probably an 83-84 model according to the Lotus specification sheet. That model Eclair (pronounced AY-klair) was discontinued sometime in the mid 80's and returned in 1987.

We think the original racks were made by Vetta, pumps were Primus and the water bottle and cages were OKG, for the most part. The OKG cage with the plastic base is past it's prime, put it on the collector shelf. I think it's cool how "loaded" that bike came from the factory and how much brazed on equipment it had for the time.

Someone added the extension levers as they weren't standard on that model. Does it have Gyromaster hubs?

While most of the 1983 era upper-end Lotus bikes were using Columbus tubing, the ever popular Excelle, Unique and Eclair all used Mangaloy 2001. The Classique was the only bike in 1983 to continue using Tange Champion. Lotus was getting up to speed by 1983 and I feel the mid 1980's were their best bikes all-around.

I recently bought an '83 myself. Mine still has the Deore Dyno Drive cranks and pedals, as well as the Primus pump. You probably can check the seat post and hubs for manufacturing dates. Mine has Sunshine Gyromaster sealed hubs and Ukai 36/40 rims. That's just grease from my grimey paws on the forward section of the top tube. They were made in Japan by Tsunoda.

http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/o...9/100_0196.jpg

http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/o...9/100_0194.jpg

I thought it would be cool to add photos of the other two colors available for the second generation Eclair models, that way they'd be here all in one thread for future reference. In addition to Bronze and White there was Navy and Burgundy.

The Bronze was also available on the Classique for 1983 only and then was changed to the Burgundy. Burgundy seems to be the most common Eclair color, followed by the White, Blue and the scarce Bronze.

At some point the tall front rack was replaced with a low mount rack.

Cycleheimer and Mercian Rider, I can't see from your photos, but is your "Eclair" decal on the top tube a block letter or a scripted style?


http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...Copy-800-1.jpg


http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...Eclair-800.jpg

It's perfect, especially with the front and rear racks.

I've got an eclair, but it's not a lotus.

http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/...ay-june-22.jpg

Snyderman--the "Eclair" decal on mine is toward the front of the top tube and is script.

It has Gyromaster hubs--36/40, with 1982 date stamp.

Great bike! Love the front (and rear) rack and the first gen Deore components. I rebuilt an early Univega Gran Turismo with those derailleurs and I was happy with their performance and style.

Is everything Tange 2001 or just the forks? I think I've seen 2001 forks paired with other tange tubes for the main frames before.

That's cool. The early 1980-82 scripted "Eduardian" style font was only used on the second generation Eclairs for 1983, the later models (1984 on) used the block "Copperplate" style type. The later style 1984 bikes also have LOTUS cast into the seat stay caps. Yours is the first Eclair I've seen of it's type in the Bronze and blue. I never expected the blue accents on a Bronze bike. Too cool.

1st Generation Deore is my favorite.

Tange 2001 double butted frame and forks. I'm fine with it--it's rated for 200 pounds and keeps it safe and stiff/strong enough for lots of gear. I'm taking it on a mini-3-day vacation with my wife next weekend--we carry all we need on our bikes, so this will be a good test.

I'm giving the idiot/suicide brake levers a fair chance. In the 70s, they were considered nerdy, and a sign of a lower quality bike, along with fenders, racks, reflectors, and other stuff that's actually useful in real life.

Snyermann--you have a cool site. I recently emailed you about my Campy NR-equiped Competition--if you'd like I'll try to take better photos of that and the Eclair and provide them to you for your database.

The "Eclair" decal is gone on mine. My hubs also have a 1982 date stamp.

Thank you for the compliment, the site is only about 25% of what we'd like it to be, but we're slowly getting there! Two is an accident, three is a collection, only one more Lotus to go? We'd love photos of the Eclair for the site, we're gearing up for a comprehensive update once the warm weather is gone.

Believe it or not we've seen what appear to be original parts date stamped almost two years older than the model year of the bike on some Lotus bicycles. Talk about using up old inventory.

Does your bike have LOTUS cast into the seat stay caps? If not it's 83-ish, caps were stamped LOTUS in 1984-ish. We're not sure exactly when that started it may just have been a running change and not a model year change. Lotus was very loose about model introductions and did not offer a catalog every year. I've been told that new models were often introduced by handing out flyers.

I've got a spare kidney if anyone has any.

Oh, not to hawk my stuff, but the Lotus decals will be available a-la-carte, so if you just need model names you can get just those and not have to buy a set for the whole bike.

It doesn't have "Lotus" cast into the seat stay caps, and it also doesn't have the braze-ons midway up the fork for lowrider front racks. Anybody know roughly what these sold for new in the early '80s?