An unexpected gift
 

A friend of mine just scored a good deal on a used Trek XO1, and today offered to give me his old Chimo road bike as a thank you for the various old parts I had given him to maintain that bike and a few of his other ones over the past few years. I had seen the Chimo before, but had never really given it a close look - I figured it was just another run of the mill bike boom ten speed and nothing special.

Well, I picked it up tonight, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was a little better than I expected - it's got Champion #2 tubing, Suntour forged droputs, and Suntour Cyclone derailleurs. Not grail bike stuff, but pretty nice for a surprise gift. I'm really looking forward to cleaning it up, gracing it with the old Brooks Professional I have in the basement, and maybe picking up some Nitto Noodles or VO rando bars for it.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3729/8...0048aa9a_z.jpg
Chimo frame

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3829/8...7a0469cf_z.jpg
champion #2

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3748/8...9aed90c5_z.jpg
Cyclone

With a nice set of wheels that would make a great rider.

+1
It would be worth investing in a quality saddle for it too.

May it fit you well!

Sharp looking bike for sure.

im jealous

Agreed - I have an old Brooks Professional waiting for it :)

Thanks! It's a little smaller than I'm used to, but it's probably my "correct" size - a lot of my recent bikes have been a bit larger than I probably needed.

Don't worry - I truly believe there's a free bike out there for everyone. You'll find yours...


Started cleaning the Chimo up today and so far it's going well - the chrome on the stays and dropouts looks almost new:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8399/8...7ddd35a8_z.jpg
Chimo dropout

no....I already got mine and i crashed so no more free bikes for me

Just wanted to post a final (for now) pic of the completed build. I had to ditch the original cranks as the drive side arm was bent just enough to rub against the FD. That was disappointing, as those Suginos look much cooler than the Biopace set up I had on hand as a replacement - the non-circular rings just look odd to me, and the crank arms up close have a lot of ugly spots and scratches. I'll also be changing the pedals when I find a pair I like, but anyway... here's how it turned out, photographed today on the lake side bike path on MKE's east side:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7347/9...b55d6dd2_z.jpg
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/95345096@N07/9028641698/]

Nice!

Yep, pretty nice bike.

Nice looking bike! Never heard of Chimo before. It has some similarities with some Nishiki's I've seen. I wonder there's any connection with Kawamura Cycle (manufacturer of Nishiki)? What is holding the rear brake cable to tthe top tube? I think I'd go back to the cable clips. Why did you ditch the fenders? Lastly, with apologies for nit-picking, those modern ergo bars also look out of place on an otherwise great looking bike.

Very nice. That's a bike I'd be happy to ride, for sure.

Thanks! There are two braze on cable housing stops on the top tube to keep the cable in place - that's why I ditched the clips. I didn't put the fenders on because they were in rougher shape than the pics would indicate, and I was figuring I'd eventually get a pair of the VO hammered ones when I could afford them. I'm reconsidering that move... I rode through a few puddles today that made me think the old ones might be nice even if they're a bit beat up. As for the ergo bars, I agree. Honestly, they're just more comfortable than any of the older style drops I had on hand. I may replace them with a pair of Nitto Rando or Noodles, again when I can afford that.

Thank you!

Nice job on the bike. Looks good! What kind of tires are those again?

Nice! Reminds me of a Nishiki I had bought in the late 1970s. Same color and chrome pattern.

Thank you! The tires are Panaracer Pasela TGs. Heard a lot of good things about them here and decided to give them a try. Liking them so far.

Thanks! I have a Nishiki frame on one of my other bikes, and they actually are pretty similar. Not sure if it's got the same tubing, but it does have similar dropouts. I've got that one built up as a single speed townie, and I really like it. It's my primary grocery getter.

I like the panracer TG's. Nice job by the way!

Great gift... Nice to see yo have made it yours...

Nice ride. Sorry but I hate the way brooks saddles look on pretty bikes. Ruins the whole thing IMO.

sweet ride.now go use it!

Turned out really nice. I especially like the way the gold around the lugs stands out against the dark blue. You could also tie in the gold to the RD as an extra little touch too...something like
http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/photo-25.jpg

Late to the dance, again . . . . Can the band play one more song?

Nice gift. Thanks for posting the pics. Same as another Chimo Criterium that I have seen.

Chimo is a brand name from Vancouver, Britich Columbia, Canada. I have a picture of a 1976(?) Chimo head badge: "Interex Industries Vancouver", a logo, "CHIMO" in larger block letters, "Made in Japan".

I don't know the years of existence, of the company or the brand name. I think 1970s and 1980s, maybe 1960s also.

I don't know how widely the brand was distributed in Canada. I have seen them in British Columbia and Alberta, the two western provinces. Randy, in Thunder Bay, I don't think has ever mentioned a Chimo, and he sees a lot of bikes:

http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe..._Whats_New.htm

How one wandered to the Great Lakes and Wisconsin . . . ? Any idea where your friend got the bike from?

In general Chimo bikes that I have seen appear to be on par with the Norco distributed brands of this era: Monshee and then Norco.
The Criterium model is an exception, I don't think the Norco Magnum SE was this nice.

Do you have the serial number? It may provide a clue as to the frame manufacturer.