Oh, I had a good day at the office today. First is this Claud Butler Gran Sport, for which I paid £95. Probably paid too much, but never mind. It's evidently not a top line frame, plain spearpoint lugs, but it has a Campy Velox rear derailleur, and that Imperial Purple frame is going to turn a few heads.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/DSC00241.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/DSC00242.jpg

Next up was this very nice JA Holland tourer, a snip at £30. 531, nice lugs, Campy Gran Sport rear der, Ideale leather saddle, very very nice.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/DSC00236.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/DSC00237.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/DSC00238.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/DSC00239.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/DSC00240.jpg

Then the surprise in the pot. The fellow I bought the Holland from say, "Oh, I've got a mixte you might be interested in, if you like old bikes. Out comes this Mercian! 531 of course, Mafac Cantis, Campy Gran Sport again, beautiful. Somebody has decided to "modernize" it in the 80's, hence the appalling bar tape, suicide levers, and that saddle, but underneath, nice as pie. So tempted to keep this for the girlfriend. It's by a long way the nicest mixte I've ever seen, and at £30, it was a steal.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/DSC00233.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/DSC00234.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/DSC00235.jpg


And then there were the ones that got away. The chap with the Mercian and the Holland also had a lovely Rotrax tourer he wanted to keep. The bloke with the Claud Butler had an original 50's Ernie Clements, in really good nick. I offered £95 for that too, but he was too savvy for that. I do believe I would've kept that bike, but he wanted £250 minimum for it, and I just didn't have it. It had wierd knurled thumbwheels on the brake levers, which I'd never seen before. I nearly licked it......

Well, I'm sick already... :p



:D

Sweet, Sweet, Mixte. I'm drooling :p

Once again, Sammyboy...You make me wish I was in England.:beer:

Heheheheh, if I could find high end Peugeots and Raleighs at the kerb and at yard sales for $5 like you do, I probably wouldn't go to the effort of digging these things up!

Hmmm. The g/f wants the Mercian, but she really likes the awfulness of the seat and the tape. She doesn't like the suicide levers though, nor the downtube shifter, and wants me to set it up with a thumbshifter and a set of interruptor levers. I'm hoping that when the Bates is shining like new, she'll let me put a Brooks and some sensible tape on it, so we have cool looking Vintage rides we can use together.

I like that Holland. Can you anticipate my question?

I feel your pain; you should see the bars the wife had me put on her Centurion LeMans mixte. :eek:

I'll measure it for you John. I think it's too big, but I'll check. It IS gorgeous.

If it doesn't work out for him, put me second in line :D.

Still sorting things out eh? ;) http://75.126.17.35/showthread.php?t=224730

Stopped at the local thrift store yesterday. They had an old "gas pipe" Olmo, not much to recommend it, looked like maybe old Magistroni steel cranks, but unmarked. Rear wheel had been replaced at some point, sunshine hub. Front looked to be original, with Normandy "competition" hub, unmarked alloy rim. ttt bar and stem, "Compe" brake levers, "Favorit" C-P brakes. Decal for front badge. They wanted $25. I decided to pass, too many bikes in the garage to add lower end Italian stuff, but still interesting!

If you're serious about looking for that sort of bike, Peripatetic, drop me a pm. I'll find you something. Shipping costs are pretty high though, unless USAZorro has had more luck than me finding a cheap option.

Ouch, ooh. Caught me. Okay okay, drop me to below the bottom of the line. Whew, thanks for that cold water, I needed it!

Unless my friend at DHL has super powers, I haven't been able to find any options better than yours. Expect to pay $135 - $220 to ship a bike from the UK to the US. (Depends on the size, weight and where in the US)

The deal I have is with a shipping firm that uses DHL anyway. They get massive discounts because of the size of their account. If I went direct to DHL, it would be > twice as much.........

mode Gil from Simpsons

Awwww, I could SMELL the sale that time.......

/mode Gil

Any idea what a pair of these Dahons would be worth? I need to know by noon, Saturday. They have SA 3 speed hubs, and appear to be in very good condition. I cross-posted in Folding too.

Thanks,

Ex

$150-200 in the States, although I find it odd that it's using cheap steel rims...

-Kurt

Thanks. I'll be sending you a PM with questions on my Twenty.

Dropped in at a local thrift and spied what turned out to be a 1967 Western Flyer 10-speed. Sort of an odd mix; gaspipe frame and stamped forks, 26-inch wheels, an Ashtabula crank with steel chainrings that resembled a Stronglight 93, but also a nice Messinger saddle, Pivo stem, and Huret Allvit mechs. It appeared to have '9.99' marked on the saddle. That seemed about right given the prices on other bikes there. Imagine my surprise when the cashier told me it was $75. "You must be out of your ******** mind!", I said as I exited the premises.

I was sort of bummed that I couldn't find anything to spend the proceeds of selling my tandem on. When I got home I checked CL and found a ladies Raleigh Sports for $35. Drove right over to see it and it turned out to be a really clean '79 with a 3-speed coaster hub. The seller asked if I had any interest in an old Schwinn she had, and wheeled out a '65 Bantam convertible. Twenty-inch wheels, all original. Fenders look like a few little kids learned the ropes on it, but overall worth the extra $20 I gave for it.

Now I'm not so chapped about the Western Flyer. Pics to come in the morning.

My sister found this bike for free. It's called a Jupiter Beat. Anyone know anything about these?

http://cdn-03.cdn.buzznet.com/assets...5730820913.jpg

http://cdn-43.cdn.buzznet.com/assets...5730820665.jpg

Well, as some of you may have noted, I've been away a bit. This is partly because the summer is my busiest time work wise, and partly because my computer blew up mid-June, and I haven't been on line much since then-- think I posted a few times from work in the last three months, but other than that nothing. Didn't particularly miss the internet, except for this comfortable little spot. Didn't miss trawling for bikes that much either; though once the busy stretch stopped just over a week ago, I started up again. Had a decidedly interesting week...

First up, a cool Italian water bottle cage. Got it off a Fuji special racer I found for free for an impoverished co-worker. Pretty neat, I'll stick it on something.

Next, a Shimano Golden arrow groupset. Unfortunately, the Ross signature it was on was badly mauled by a prior owner, in particular on the stays; stuck post and stem as well. Got the group in trade for a Shogun 100 in much better shape but with lamer components, which I paid 20$ for...

Actually paid cash for the next one, a 1980 Trek 410. Prime period Trek in excellent shape, standard entry level Trek from the period (which means it's better than most companies' mid-lines). Potential trade bait, didn't pay that much, so happy.

Cannondale with cracked frame, but odd component messo. Suntour Superbe levers, Royal gran Compe brakeset in black, Suntour cyclone hubset/wheelset, Cinelli bars, 105 drivetrain, 600 aero pedals. Free, from a co-worker who just wanted it out of her basement.

Austro Daimlier with a badly cracked frame (see photo). Campy Record grouppo, minus the shifters, pedals, and wheelset. Cinelli bar and stem (jeez, not another one, just kidding). Have a matching front wheel, now only need the rear wheel. Didn't want the shifters anyway, because over the summer I found a pair of the classic Simplex retrofrictions in clamp on ($15). Have some cyclone pedals, might use them with this group. This one was also free.

Sorta seems to be bad frames week... no pics just now, BF keeps signing me out...