I'll agree with Don as well. I've had a couple of these and they both went for $450 or so a few years ago. You should get at least $500 as yours is much cleaner than mine were. I think I gave $100 and $125 for mine (a 56cm and a 58cm), but couldn't get comfortable on either one (I need a pretty long top tube).

Best of luck,

Bob

Bossman -- I completely forgot you had that Expedition; I'd been going nuts trying to find some reference pics of the downtube decals. I'll call you to see when I can stop over with my camera.

Today's find...a pair of Yakima 48" crossbars, 4 Q-Towers with #84 clips...slightly used...$3.00 from the local Goodwill outlet store.

An eBay catch arrived today: A 1979 Raleigh Competition GS. I have to assume the GS stood for Campy Gran Sport as original spec was a veritable Gran Sport groupo, but none of that left now. Instead, it has a nice drilled Sugino crankset, a pair of Araya 700c tubular wheels, and came with three sets of brakes. For now I chose the Dia Comp GX. And, no, those are not the bars it came with. I thought I'd pop on the Lux bars and steel stem that arrived today, too. This bike will likely be outfitted as a go-fast single speed.

Neal

The front forks look tweaked.

A weirdness of digital photography, I suppose, as the fork is fine.

Neal

I know this is BIcycle forums, but I thougth this Schwinn UNIcycle deserved a mention. I found it in a trash can on my way to work on Thursday. I'll probably try it out then send it off to ebay. PM me if any of you are interested in purchasing this fine piece of machinary.

Mid- to late-1970s Carlton Raleigh of some sort, Stronglight headset and crank; Nuovo Record hubs, derailers, seatpost, shifters. Butted 531, plain lugs. The few non-original things include crappy plastic pedals and saddle, and SR stem and bars -- all soon to be replaced. There's a dent in the top tube, but the frame needs a repaint anyway. The structure is sound, and the price was right.

Pics!

Can't find the cord to my camera, but here's a couple I shot the first time I met the bike.

Nuovo Record

Lucky dude. I keep looking for one of them in the trash, but never had the luck. Have to keep my hand in -so to speak.

I posted this introduction earlier today, but I realize that this is the most appropriate thread for the thrift shop story and so I am copying it to here. Any advice and counsel about the Ochsner, et al. is much appreciated.

Everything is relative. Take my brother for example. But seriously folks, I am new here and by most accounts the bike that brought me to this forum would be counted as old by most of you (I imagine...). Let me explain.

I am a 50+ year old father of three, who recently started to fix up his youngest teenager's now neglected mass-produced Raleigh mountain bike to ride occasionally in an effort to get some exercise and have fun. I went into a local thrift shop, just browsing for bargains earlier this week, and noticed an old racing bike amongst the junkers. My instincts were triggered by its thin tubing and lots of Campagnolo hardware beneath the dirt. The blue frame was prominently labeled as Ochsner, but I didn't know anything about the name. My eldest son, 20, works for a good local bike shop, building and selling higher end bikes. I asked him by phone and he told me that he had heard the name and it might be worth more than its $7 price tag, so I went back and bought it. Now I am suddenly obsessed and I have been cleaning it and exploring the web to find out all that I can. Here is what I know so far: It is a 55 cm (marked on bottom of frame) Ochsner frame. Ochsner, which is a story in itself, is a private company in Illinois founded by Orthon Ochsner, a Swiss bicycle racer from the early part of the 20th century (1919-1921 in competitions) who emigrated to the US, had a long career as a chef and manager of resorts and clubs, rode bikes into his 80's, and founded his company with his wife from their suburban Chicago home in 1969 after he retired (he was then in his 70's). They imported bicycle components and by 1975 had become the Campagnolo distributor for the US. The company is now owned and run by his son, who also collects classic cars and bicycles. In the early 80's, around 1981 or 1982, the Ochsner company imported a Swiss-made frame that they had built by a company called Royal (?) which came in two models and multiple sizes. The frames were made from Columbus tubes, lugged and brazed and all painted blue and prominently labeled as Ochsner. They sold the frames to bike shops who then outfitted them with various components to build custom road bikes, which must have been good, but not outrageously expensive, higher end consumer racing bikes. Not professional racers, but more than the Schwinn, Fuji or Peugeot racers, that I remember coveting as a lad. Mine is made from a steel alloy containing manganese and called their Aelle version, which I understand was there higher end version.

I haven't figured out the model of the Campagnolo brakes, gears, derailuers, etc. yet, but I will. The seat (I know now to call it a saddle.....) is a Brooks Professional, in reasonable condition given its age. The pedals are probably not original because they are clip-less. They are Shimano DP1065's, which are marked as "made in France". (Did Shimano, which is Japanese, settle a lawsuit brought by Look over their alleged patent violation by contracting to have Look manufacture pedals in France with a Shimano label? I am just beginning to learn about this stuff....). The handlebars seem to be aluminum and are marked Windsor, from Mexico, which is another mystery to be unravelled. Finally, the bicycle has a Trek Vision 30 headlight, which works and judging by its brightness, must be halogen and an even later addition. My suspicion is that the headlight alone is worth more than I paid for the bike.

I don't know that I will become a road bike rider. I am probably more of a fatter tire, higher handlebars, more cushioned seat with springs, kind of guy. But the aesthetic of this road bike has me hooked. The lines are great, the technology is simple enough to quickly grasp and beautifully fitted to its purpose. I understand why people love these "classic" road bikes. I am smitten. Maybe I will sell it, but maybe I will learn to ride it and enjoy the art in motion. In any event, I am working to fix it up, clean it, and understand all that I can about it and the history of its ilk. That is why I found the Bike Forums and have now joined. Thanks for your welcome. I will welcome all advice, information and suggestions.

I wish I could find something like that around here! I guess I dont look hard enough.

Benhurd - sounds like a super find. Looks like you're going to be occupied for a bit. One thing you might be able to do to find more information out is to go to www.bikelist.org, and perform a search of the classic rendezvous section for the word "Ochsner". No doubt you'll find some chaff with the wheat, but with a little patience, you'll find considerably more than what you have now.

Also, there are online Campagnolo catalogs posted as links from www.veloretro.com. They aren't the easiest things to search through, but unless you can post some pictures here, or find a local vintage afficienado, it might be a workable way to figure it out.

Good luck with your catch. It is certainly worth 10-20 times what you paid - if not more.

Z

Benhurd- I personaly own an Ochsner road bike. I love it to death and it is my primary vintage ride. If you search the forums for Oschner (I misspelled it at first) you can see my thread. Heres a pic during the build up some parts were changed based on personal preference.



If you would like I can post a run down the components that were on it when I found it and that I believe are original.

Optical illusion. The fork crown has the appearance of looking bent, particularly if you start with the last photo and work your way up. Took me a few minutes of close examining all three photos to realize it's an illusion.

Not tootin' my horn here, but I haven't been wrong on one yet.

-Kurt

Well, I may have hit the jackpot for my personal use... even if it isn't a treasure financially.

I had hoped to find a frame to rebuild a frankenbike from my youth and decided it didn't have to be exactly the same, so I bought an old Schwinn with a similar but not identical frame from another BFN member for $10. It will work fine, and has a 3 speed hub (also needed for my frankenbike re-creation).

As I looked quickly at the bike, it is obviously not completely stock, since the two pedals are different, and the chain guard is black while the rest of the bike is blue.

When I looked to try and find a way to date the bike, I found that the Sturmey Archer hub was made in 1955... This means the bike may meet a different desire I have, to ride a bike older than I am.

However, on quick examination, I am not seing anything else to indicate the age of the bike (no date code on the head badge and no serial number found yet)...

It does have solid bladed spokes the rear rack hooks to the bottom of the seat, and the seat has a metal bar across the back. It has 26 X 1 & 3/4 tires and chromed fenders. It weighs more than 22 pounds... a LOT more...

I will post pictures once I unpack my camera, but does ayone know of a way to confirm the age without a serial number or date code?

The age really isn't critical to me, I am just curious.

Now to strip it down and start the renovation... After I finish a couple of other ongoing projects and finalizing some trades...

was cutting grass at my grandma's, and the neighbors next door were moving out, Heard them talking about a bicycle, then they mentioned hauling it to the dump, started watching and they pushed a very nice bridgestone rb-t out with everything stock except for the tires/rims, they'd been swapped out for a set of 27's somewhere along the line. mentioned it, they said I could have it so I pushed it over, played with it a bit to check it out, threw my rims and tires from the gitane on it and took it for a cruise, rode like a dream.
only thing it's missing is that plastic cap between the hood and lever body on the front brake lever (exige), and a brake pad. a couple minor scuffs in the paint, otherwise beutifull, checking old catalogues shows it's a 94.
now I'm stuck, because I like the gitane, but the bridgestone seems to fit better.

Ken.

ken - A man can never have too many bikes (unless his wife tells him so). But 2 bikes? That's barely enough to say you're a cyclist.

Was over at a friend's house today. I've ridden MTBs with him when we've gone out with the Scouts, but had never seen his road bike. There it sat - seldom used, but in excellent repair - a nearly mint, red RB 2. It's a little too big for me, so I extended the courtesy to inform him that he has a collector's item.

Received a recent ebay catch in the post last week: Guerciotti Carbonio 1985 with full Super Record group (except for the Stronglight A9 headset). Needs that headset replaced, new rubber brake hoods and Cinelli bars to be 100% catalogue original. In great shape and it only set me back $120. Just did 40 miles on it this morning. Sweet.

Raleigh Super Tourer.

-Kurt

That does appear to be it, although there are some things that threw me off the trail: the whole fork is chromed, and it's got a drop bar and stem that are clearly non-original. As always, I appreciate your wealth of knowledge, Kurt.

Any opinions on the machine?

I bought a frame just like that several years back. They ride quite nicely, though on mine the workmanship was terrible. I stripped it of paint, primed, then filled the lug edges for a nicer appearance, and painted it the teal color that they used on the Nissan Altima. I presently have it built as a comfort bike but it does not get ridden much.

You'll enjoy it, I'm sure.

It's got Altenberger brakes, too -- at least on the front. That ain't according to Hoyle either. Who cares, though; it's a great frame.