I would have said 'flip you for it' but I noticed the Tange Infinity tubeset. Already got one bike with the Infinity and hoping the next frame is a step up. Not that it's a bad tubeset, though my frame is Infinity only on the main tubes, Hi-Ten for the rest. Thought that the Nishiki Olympics were one of their higher end frames? Guess it goes to show I still have a lot to learn. :)

We can flip each other all day long, but it's pogue's bike. :) He wasn't interested in trading that 50th anniversary Paramount (that's too small for him) for the sweet Continental (that's his size), so there's no telling with him. :D

Well, I can't blame him on that swap. ;) *also brown nosing a bit in hopes pogue will come across a nice 58cm frame and think of me one of these days* I finally got word that my raise came through at work with some back pay. While it wasn't as much as I had hoped for, its a good step in the right direction and the backpay is already burning a hole in my pocket to get a frame and wheels for this 7speed 105 / 600EX group I have sitting in my room. As lotek and I were talking about the other day, Dallas isn't exactly a pot of gold when it comes to finding decent vintage rides. There are a couple guys around who seem to grab up everything that there is to grab as it is for resale on ebay and craigslist.

The Nishiki is, oddly enough, 58cm.

Once you get on southside here, no one is looking for older frames. I mean no one. The dealers I meet can only move MTBs; they'd have more luck selling a Roadmaster than a Paramount. The prices I pay have gone slightly upwards in the last year or so. I pass on anything that doesn't have at least a double butted tubeset at this point, so I leave a lot of decent riders behind me. The exception, of course, is I'll pretty much take anything 30 plus years old, as long as it's decent, cool, or funky.

The Olympic I would put as a decent mid level bike. My example is frankly filthy, as soon as I clean the dirt and pine needles off it I'll know more. Cool pencil stays.

Poguemahone where do u live, i cant believe some of the bikes that you pick up!!!!

although i must admit. i got kinda lucky myself

w/ my late 60's px10, gios torino, and reg harris lenton grand prix...

by the way i usually come across some of those nishikis w/ tange prestige. i passed on one w/ what looked like a tuning fork rear triangle. green/yellowish frame with a black rear...if ever i come across one i'll pick it up...sems like people like these. i think price was $25

i was thinking raleigh at the time

Ya know, the guy I bought the Masi from (in Boise) was from North Dallas, where he was a bike shop guy. He said that he knew several guys who had very extensive collections of vintage road bikes. He was a little disgusted because they didn't ride any of 'em, just obsessed about 'em. You just need to find those guys and wheel and deal!

I think there are alot of good vintage rides in the northern Texas
dallas area, they just aren't available without alot of work finding them.
I was offered a 53cm De Rosa 35th anniversary bike (complete) for
about $500.
One of these days all these Masi, Nago's etc. are gonna be brought out
of storage and end up on the street at Yard sales. Keep your eyes peeled
especially around Plano and other high $ areas.

marty

howdy, first post to Classic&Vintage... i'm usually lurking the fixed gear threads.

i'm curious if anyone has info on this Carlton frameset i recently picked up.
it's rumored to be from the '60s, possibly designed with grass track racing in mind,
which i'm just now learning about. it's made of Reynolds 531 (very light) and is in
excellent condition considering it's age...

...except... there's a strange looking weld just behind the seat clamp, between the
seat stays. it's under the paint, and is a little irregular/almost lumpy. i'm trying to
determine if this was a repair from years ago, or standard proceedure for English frames
of this vintage. (sorry no pics of area in question just yet).

serial# under BB is F2662... here's lots more pics

Hi Schloe Mo
welcome to cranky & vintage, the friendliest forum here.
I would say what you have is a path racer, sort of an all purpose
bike, which was raced at velodrome and road and ridden to the track.
I don't know much bout carleton I'm sure the experts will chime
in (and correct me if I'm wrong).
As for the weld, sounds like a repair of a Stuck seatpost removal accident.
I've seen that kind of weld before, most that I've seen did nothing to
affect the ride of the bike.

Marty

Schloe Mo, that is a sweet bike....

and it even looks like its my size! haha

Well, added another Mixte to my stable. Paid $30 for it which I normally don't do but this Peugeot is in real ggod shape cosmetically and mechanically. Anyways, this may be a keeper until Spring when the college girls will start fighting over it. I believe it's a 72 with the serial number 2569615.

I luv and hate this thread at the same time. I'm amazed at the stuff you guyz dig up. And I'm frustrated that in our valley, every damm piece of Gaspipe has at some point been equipe for some erstwhile spectac rider. People out here have considerably undue expectations of the 'magnificense of their 'iron horse'. But then I have a hard time really plumbing the depths of 'garage canyon' out here, thatz prime ridin time!

thanks broom and lotek...

i've since read up a little on path racing and it fits the description. i'm not too worried about the weld, the 2 LBS guys who inspected it are not too concerned. can't wait to build it up.

oh yeah, here's my other carlton.. a late '60s Catalina (i think). She recently got some very classic looking fenders... next up: moustache bars!

Mo,

(can we be honest here?)
Love the carlton, but for the luvagawd put some derailleurs
and brakes and stuff on it. . .
seriously, That is one fine machine and this is where my retrogrouch
comes out, that one deserves to be unfixed.

Pathracers are really cool bikes, maybe after I build up the
pog pista I'll look for a good brit path racer. . .

marty

as long as we're being honest...

while i realize i'm among purists, and i apreciate a truly classic set up,
practically speaking multiple gears just isn't for me. but in the hands
of someone so inclined (pun definitely not intended) she would look great
with all the old components on.

though it does have one brake :D
and i'll post a pic with the fenders.

lessee, path racers were fixed, before derailleurs, then came derailleurs, then it was cool, eventually, to take everything off and ride fixed again - I think this makes you a retro retro grouch. Or maybe a retro-cubed grouch. or since it is retro, then maybe we should be taking the root instead of raising to the power - a cube-retro-root grouch.

Too much math in my BikeForums threads! I can't escape the math madness!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!

(This moment of insanity brought to you by my first final's exams of my Master's degree program...)

Ride the Path racer fixed.
Ride the Carlton with gears
I have no problem with fixie conversion
this particular one strikes me, at least
you didn't grind off the extra bits (derailleur hangers etc.)

Marty

Got this one from the junk-mans truck:
A blue Browning 10 speed made in japan
With a eagle head profile on head tube badge & decal 'I'
22 inch btm of btm bracket to top of seat tube
Serial number stamped on btm bracket #C155330, also stamped LT1495
SR:grand silver cranks,drop handle bars w/foam pads & stem
Suntour: down tube shifters (Which is why I bought it, will x-fer to my WorldSport)
Shimano: tourney brakes & 1 lever,(other mismatched no name),journey rear dr, thunderbird front dr
weinman 416 alloy 27x1.25 made in belgium rims, joytech h87 hubs
Paid a whopping $5. Lots of Mismatched parts, so prob. not stock?
Never heard of Browning bikes, anyone know anything about it? (sorry no pictures)

Thanks,
Peter

I got this a few weeks back, for free, from the maintenance guy in our apartment building. He had picked it up when someone up the street set it out at the curb on garbage pickup day. He knew that I love bikes, so he asked me if I'd like to have it. Of course I never say no to an offer of a free bike, even if it's just for parts or to fix it up and find it a new home. This one was in pretty bad shape, it had been trashed and then set out probably in a shed or something for about ten years. It was covered with dirt and all the little steel bolt heads and much of the chrome parts have surface rust. The worst damage was a *broken* axle in the rear Campy hub, which I managed to replace with a spare Shimano axle and cones (thinking at the time that I just wanted to get it rideable, before spending actual money on parts). The drive side crank had been destroyed when the numb-nuts that owned it before had ridden with a loose pedal until the threads all stripped out and the pedal fell off, so I used a Deore XT crank and old chainrings that I happened to have around, again just wanting to get it rideable. The Regina 6-speed freewheel was almost solidified with rust and/or dirt, but I flushed it out and got it oiled and working fine. The wheels were badly out of true and undertensioned, but once I adjusted all that, the rims were in fantastic shape. The eyelets have a little surface rust, that's all.

All in all, there is not much actual wear on the bike, it has just suffered a lot of abuse and neglect. I was amazed to find that the frame is very sound inside, not even any significant surface rust. However, there was gravel inside the bottom bracket, and those bearing races on the cups and spindle are very bad. Rideable for now, but need replacing eventually. The hub bearing races are also not so good, but I already have a nice set of new Campy hubs that I'm thinking of lacing into these Mavic MA-40 rims over the winter.

The thing is, I just wanted to make this bike rideable so my husband could use it as an errand bike. But then, I took it for a ride when I had it done, and I fell totally in love with it. I have a lovely 1984 Salsa custom-built touring bike, which is comfy like an easy chair, and I never thought I'd like riding any other bike. Secretly, I think I've always lusted after a pure road bike, and when I felt how wonderful this one is to ride, I was swept off my feet. I've put over 150 miles on it in the last week.

It has downtube friction shifters, and the original derailleurs. I don't know anything about how to tell what model of Bianchi this is, or what model of Campy these components are, so I will post this as a separate thread to ask for help on the I.D. It is definitely a 1986, from everything I've found in the archives about dating a Bianchi--the cranks were positively dated 1985, and the number on the bottom bracket seems to verify that this is a 1986 model. That's all I know! If anyone can tell me anything more from the pictures, I'd love to know. Oh, sorry about the bar tape, it was just the cheapest I could find and I looked at it as a potential theft deterrent! :D

Nice find.
I like bianchis, especially columbus steel
italian bianchis. . . .

This is the Victory group (I'm sure, I got schooled just a few weeks ago). In 1985 this was the hot new group, and it is functionally fine, but bikies never warmed to the look, and it only lasted in Campy's lineup a short time. Similarly, Formula 1 is the good stuff, I think we concluded. The labels were made exclusively for Bianchi, but I am fairly sure that Formula 1 and SL are very similar. (Ibis had similar labels made exclusively for it's bikes, Columbus Moron...more on the ends, less in the middle. We all miss Ibis). During this period Bianchi was having most of its down scale bikes built to its specs in Japan, and only the better ones got the "Made in Italy" sticker. And you've done a good job cleaning it up!

I'm guessing that it's too big for you, judging from the height of the seat - but that's not a problem, that's an opportunity to shop for another...

Any Free Bianchi is a good Bianchi. :) I like the yellow, and while the handlbar wrap doesn't exactly match, it'll never be confused for any other bike (vintage Bianchi with unquie campy group and shimano crank or otherwise)

Thank you so much, for all the feedback! Luker, you're right, it's a tall frame for me but the reach is really nice. I will get a nicer saddle that isn't so deep and also change out the cranks to 170's instead of 175's, so there will be a little more seat post showing. And yes, now I'm really bitten by the vintage bike bug. I love this forum, I sit and gaze at all the bikes posted here and audibly sigh.

The yellow color had to grow on me a bit, I always have loved the celeste color. So I'm happy it has celeste decals at least! I'm looking for some nice celeste-colored bar tape right now.

I'm so happy to have the information you gave me, thanks again!

--Kathy

Nice find Lawkd.. :mad: J/K :D