Nice bike. Hopefully you didn't sell a bike he stole from someone.

A very nice bike. Your tall friend got a very good deal. It might have gone to $150 or so on eBoo...

I hit a few of the local thrift stores during work on Thursday. While sifting through the piles of kids bikes and girls huffys/magnas I spotted a Bianchi. It is a taiwan made Bianchi Strada with Shimano Exage indexed shifers and Biopace chainrings !!! It included a Cateye computer. I don't have any pics because I already have it stripped down to clean it up/regrease. It is in great shape. I don't think it was used much if at all. THe only thing it needs is a new set of tires as the old ones were dry rotted. I am guessing late 80's because of the index shifting/biopace/700c wheels. Oh ya I paid $15 bucks for it.

I just picked up a few nice catches:

-A sealed bearing 13-32 Shimano 600 freewheel for my touring build
-A Suntour XC-t rear derailluer also for my touring project
-A set of dia-comp centerpulls for the tourers
-A set of NOS schwinn approved bar-cons (presumably suntour)

$15 for everything

That bridgestone on the last page is sweet! I'm a sucker for cantis. People are probably getting sick of hearing me say that. Anyway, Today I tuned up my friend's catch of the season. A 1986 raleigh super grand prix in excellent shape. Hardly used at all, I repacked the BB and pedals and trued the 27" alluminum weinmann rims... Has shimano light action drive train and weinmann drilled (well holes but they don't look drilled) levers and side pull brakes. There are raleigh logos everywhere. On the top of the seat stays it's stamped on the top of the fork crown it has the badge stamped. It's a sweet bike. But the best part was I had a pair of beat up 170mm sugino VP cranks laying around and his bike had the same in 165mm. The bike is probably a 54 or 56 and he is about 6 foot usuing it for short commuting. He quickly accepted my swapping offer and I got a set of nice 165mm cranks for my girlfriend's road build. Something i have been looking for for some time. I forgot to mention, he paid 60 bucks for the bike, it's hardly been used.

Today I was walking my dog and he found a old Columbia girl's ten speed, a 27" steel rimmed gas-pipe special! Years of looking at old bikes have told me to always give a bike a cursory examination, just to see if the owner has made any upgrades... like the Suntour Superbe RD I found on a Schwinn Varsity, for example, or the always desirable Brooks saddle. Lo and behold, this bike had some cool wignuts, and since the bike was located next to a trash can in an alley, I helped myself. Then I noted the rear hub was alloy, not steel, like the front one, and further, it was threaded on both sides, with another set of threads in reverse on the other side. Why, it's a vintage flip flop track hub! Not quite as cool as the 50-60's vintage french threaded Stronglight HS in mint condition and the excellto super competition hubs I found on the last overdressed junk bike, but I'll take 'em. This hub is unmarked, but resembles either an Excellto or Normandy hub, so I'm guessing it's prolly french, thought the freewheel attatched to it was BSC (an nice atom, which I also took). Cleaned it up and put fresh bearings in it, smooth as butter.

Good dog!!!!

Dog had nothing to do with this one. Funny, I was just about to tone down my searches a bit, and then all of a sudden I have a really nice stretch. This is probably the least cool of my recent finds, a nice Fuji Del Rey. Quad butted steel, lugged, 57cm frame. Looks like it was bought, never ridden, and then given away to charity twenty years later. Kinda cool, with some black andonized parts, including a Nitto bar and stem. Really stictly an entry level sorta machine, albeit a very nice one. Only disadvantage? Too clean, actually attracted attention at the auction I scored it at.

Speaking of Fujis, I thought I'd post a small progress update on a pair of entry-level Grand Tourers that I mentioned here at Catch Of The Day last month - one for $20, the other brought to me a week later by one of my cycle customers.

You might remember the green one in the photos I posted a while back. It's pretty much done, save for new brake cables, and alloy 26.2 seatpost, and some top tube cable clamps.

I don't believe I ever posted a photo of the silver one, although I did mention it here when I got it. I have it partially stripped down at the moment. The original chrome steel wheelset was swapped for some aluminum Arayas (anyone out there have one of those giant freewheel removers for the Sachs freewheel it has?), and the steel Nitto bar was replaced with an alloy SR. The Suntour rear derailer will be swapped out for an old Shimano 600 (from the Peugeot PSV-10), and a corncob rear freewheel will replace the Suntour Im-Perfect. Also getting the boot are those Suntour suicide shifters in favor of D-T levers (note the Suntour Power levers on the green one).

Yes, that's a 27" Continental Sport 1000 tire residing on the rear of the silver one...and I'm looking for a nice used front to match it...check your tire piles...

P.S.: Kickstand will go on both after I finish them...and find their way onto my ever expanding fleet of Raleighs. The Pletcher ESGE stands were pretty much standard fare for Raleigh in the late '70s.

Take care,

-Kurt

The components are worthless, but I'll be willing to take them off your hands... ;) :p

Seriously though, I was about to say that the components look like Campagnolo C-Record third-gen, but I note Lurker says they're Chorus. Knowing my luck, I'm probably wrong..

Either way, it's nice stuff. I can't help but note though, that later Campy parts have lost their elegant, traditional styling in favor of the "Fruitcake-In-Spandex" look that's the popular thing now.

The last true Campy gruppo was C-Record first-gen, in my opinion.

Once they began fattening every cosmetic corner of the derailer a'la Shimano (and, may I note, also a trend in current automobile styling) and began printing the Campagnolo logo instead of embossing it, well, that was the end.

Take care,

-Kurt

Kurt,
I think I was the one that said Chorus, I was basing my assumption on the
brakes, I always thought c record had either Delta or cobalto brakes. . .
the rear Derailleur looks like it could be c record, hell I can't be sure of the
difference between the two.
I tend to agree re the last true campy gruppo. I also really like Croce D'Aune
(just bought a Croce rear for the Reus).
hmmm, I think this needs a thread of it's own. . .

Marty

My morning drive was to go and pick up the pictured all-chrome Raleigh 3-speed, dated 1966. Because the bottom bracket axle had snapped off at the left-hand crank arm, the seller gave it to me for the trouble of having driven down to pick it up. Now that's a shiny bike!

Neal


http://web.mit.edu/nlerner/Public/Bi...meRaleigh1.jpg
http://web.mit.edu/nlerner/Public/Bi...meRaleigh2.jpg

^^^^

That is just cool beyond belief. Hope it cleans up nice, because that Raleigh is just eye candy...

I don't believe I've ever seen an all chrome Raleigh before.

Very nice. Very nice indeed.

Marty

I've found a few mentions of all-chrome Raleighs in the OldRoads archives. One possibility is that they were given to Raleigh dealers in the late 50s, early 60s when they reached a sales quota. I haven't seen them pictured in any of the catalogues of that era, however. The older gentleman who gave it to me said it had belonged to his brother-in-law's father back in the day.

Neal

Bought on eBay, NIB Campy Veloce hub-set -- Price:$65 + $10 shipping.

Front is 32. Rear is 9 speed and 36. I'm going to use these to build wheels for the NOS Schwinn Superior frame I also bought on eBay.

Any rim recommendations?

"I've found a few mentions of all-chrome Raleighs in the OldRoads archives. One possibility is that they were given to Raleigh dealers in the late 50s, early 60s when they reached a sales quota. I haven't seen them pictured in any of the catalogues of that era, however. The older gentleman who gave it to me said it had belonged to his brother-in-law's father back in the day."

Whatever the reason, it's purty cool... personally, I think your bike is the catch of the month, easily outstripping my Pinarello and Mhendrick's Vitus. That's the coolest, most blingin' three-speed ever. Brilliant catch. You gotta replace that seat, though. Please.

I just rebuilt a 1967 Raleigh Sports for a co-worker (I'll make a thread on it in a few days, maybe) and was very impressed with the craft on the bike.

I've got a nicely broken in Brooks B66 just waiting for it. I sure have seen a lot of those Brooks vinyl mattress saddles w/ springs on 60s and 70s Raleigh 3-speeds, including a 1970s lady's Superbe I bought last year. I don't know if they were stock on some imports or a cheaper option or what; they're not bad saddles in terms of comfort, but they aren't exactly attractive.

Neal

I'm not sure which variants you've had in recently, Neal, but my '69 Robin Hood has the same mattress saddle as your all-chrome DL22...and it ain't comfortable - that thing has been ridden on to the point where the springs sag in back, creating a big round lump in the middle of the saddle, right where the family jewels are supposed to take their place on the saddle.

Ain't comfortable, to say the least, yet I've been tolerating that saddle up till the day that my 23" '80 Sports came to replace the Robin Hood as my daily driver. Even though the B.72 on my '80 is practically brand new (never been broken in), it still feels a worlds different from the S-series Brooks mattress on the Robin Hood.

Take care,

-Kurt

That is really sweet. Hopefully that rust near the front brakes will come off. PM me if you're interested in a NOS brake cable/housing for the rear.

I'm speechless.
(After goggling at the pics for a while)
A rare and beautiful 3-speed. Nice catch!
Does that guy have any more bikes? And what kind of scotch does he like?

Yes - many Sports and some nice 531 upright touring conversions.

Forget it FlatTop, I've already put my foot in the door to be the first to get a go at that chrome Raleigh if he does sell it. I may have to pass depending on price, but you can bet that I'll go for it if it is "right".

-Kurt

The base Sports model came with the mattress saddle, the Deluxe had the B72, and Superbes the B66.

S22, DL22 and DL24, respectively.

That all-chrome variant seems to be a S22 then, for the saddle it has upon it is the correct mattress saddle for that year (and was slightly modified in '70).

Take care,

-Kurt

I don't care if it's correct, I'd still get rid of it... nlerners got the right idea with the B66. Throw the old one in a box, keep it, sell it w/ the bike should you sell it, which I would not.

Agreed.