Giacomo 1 

My question - who the heck is Fabio Barecci, the builder of this fine Spanish bike I love so much?

Otis

Boy, if you could only do this!!

I would really love to know the history of my 1930's Cicognani.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/546162...7625325995422/

Was it built as a commemorative model, or possibly one of the actual bikes used by the Italian amateur squad at the '33 Worlds in Montlhery? Or if possibly raced on the road with the 2-cog Torapado foot brake hub? And, how the hell did it end up in an attic in Livonia MI???

We actually get three questions right, like wishes...................

Shaneferd

I have a rear derailleur mystery to sort out on an early Super Tourist. Cyclo pullchains, twin wires & Simplex Grand Tourisme plungers fail to fit the chainstay hanger and monocable routing properly.

So which mech did J H Masters originally run on Thornele?

cbender

How did the previous owner of my 89 Bridgestone RB1 manage to destroy the rear wheel (necessitating that they replace with a non-matching replacement), yet not ride the bike enough to accumulate any noticeable wear on the original Suntour brake pads and chain?

noglider 

I have a 1982 McLean which is a collector's item, since the builder, McLean Fonvielle, made a few and then suddenly died at age 29. The original owner bought it at a bike show. The builder might have skimped on it since it was for the bike show, and I wonder if it's really made of 531 tubing.

noglider 

Oh my goodness, is that a fine bicycle!

Sixty Fiver

He may have been an apprentice at the shop these were built at (BH Cycles) and other than this, no-one of any notable importance.

Pars 

I'd like to actually know where my '73 Raleigh RRA was built, and why it was even offered in 1973?

My bike shop at the time (Europa Cycles in Cedar Falls, Iowa) had one that taunted me until 1974 when a friend of mine bought it and I traded frames for my '73 International. They told me that a) the Professional was not available that year, b) there were only 500 of them made and 1 allocated to each dealer in the US. I had also heard that the Carlton (Worksop) factory was on strike, and these were actually built in the Netherlands (Holland). Mine has a Carlton decal on it (original).

thinktubes 

How did the fork on my Ciocc get so rusty?

noglider 

There are some experts on the RRA. That's the white one with yellow trim, right? With French components? The story I heard is that there was a strike at Campagnolo that year, so Raleigh built a French-equipped bike.

zazenzach

WOWOW that's stunning!

Shp4man

I hope this post doesn't offend anyone, but this question is something every collector of old guns thinks about. "If only this old ***** could talk!" It's something that makes us wonder.
This old Russian *****, a Mosin Nagant, was made in 1942. Was it there at the battle of Stalingrad? How many fascist invaders did it eliminate?

And this 1940 Japanese Arisaka Type 38. It was made with Korean slave labor. What atrocities did it see during the war?


I collect these old guns because of the history they hold.

leicanthrope

Often wondered the same about the 1938 k98 sitting about two feet from me as we speak.

Giuanin

It is a safety in case of breakage, it is always in a wood called coudrier (hazel ?).

noglider 

I believe you but don't fully understand. What does it protect from in the case of breakage?

Pars 

Yes, that one. I had also heard the same thing, though I was told the Professionals weren't available that year but the Internationals were (which had almost full Campy on them). The size Raleigh was at that time you would think they would have had a pretty good supply of Campy built up. And I seem to recall seeing '73 Professionals for sale online, etc.

Salubrious

What I want to know is why every single Chater Lea chainwheel I have ever seen is really really worn!

Did they make them that way or did they really get used that much??

jimmuller 

Ah, it protects from breakage?

It's kind of like a how a celebrity is someone famous for being famous.

-holiday76

it now belongs to @Coloneljlloyd but I'd want to know once and for all who the heck made this "jack taylor"



serials make no sense based on registry, though if it were older i'd believe it



Oh and I found this stuffed in the seat tube above the bb shell.



Norris Lockley whom I purchased the bike from swears it's from the Taylors, but nothing else makes sense accept the decals.

Via Bob Freeman at Elliott Bay cycles I'm going to have Ken Taylor look at it. Failing that, I doubt I'll ever know for sure.

old's'cool

If anyone here doesn't understand the function of a web in the strength of a beam, raise your hand, and I'll try to provide an explanation.

Giuanin

I confused Coudrier and cornouiller.


I found a text of the 70s:




Le bris de la fourche peut occasionner un accident grave. C'est pourquoi, pour limiter les risques, beaucoup de coureurs montent dans leur fourche un "cornouiller".


Il s'agit d'un cylindre tronconique de cornouiller ou de buis qui mesure environ 85mm de long, 17mm de diamètre à une extrémité et 20mm environ à l'autre.


On le place dans le tube fileté de la fourche de la façon suivante:


Le limer sur toute la longueur pour faire un plat.


Le tremper dans l'huile 24 heures avant la pose.


L'enfoncer en force dans le tube fileté de la fourche par le haut, la partie mince vers le bas et le plat vers l'arrière.


Couper ce qui dépasse.


Percer un trou dans le cornouiller pour l'axe de frein.


En cas de bris du tube au ras de la tête de fourche (c'est là qu'il survient généralement) le cornouiller retiendra la roue et évitera le pire.




Translation try:




Breakage of the fork can cause serious accident. Therefore, to limit the risks, many bike rider get into their fork a cornouiller.


It is a truncated cylinder of cornouiller (dogwood?) or buis (boxwood?) measuring approximately 85mm in length, 17mm in diameter at one end and the other at about 20mm.


Placed in the threaded tube of the fork as follows:


Grind the whole length to a plate.


Dip in oil 24 hours before installation.


Sink strength in the threaded tube of the fork at the top, the thin part down flat and backwards.


Cut the excess.


Drill a hole in the dogwood to the axis brake.


In case of breakage of the tube flush with the fork crown (where it usually occurs) dogwood retain the wheel and avoid the worst.

rhm

I don't have a burning question, or should I say a single burning question, but would love to have been a fly on the wall when the first owner took possession of my Fothergill. I'd like to check out the bike, the frame color and graphics, the components; I'd see who the new owner was; and I'd like to take a peek at the sales receipt. And while I'm there, I'd take in all the other bikes in the shop, and note the page on the wall calendar.

If I could be there in person, I'd even show the new owner what the bike would look like 75 years later...

Salubrious

Sweet- thanks for showing **us** what it looks like...

noglider 

@rhm, in my view, that's your best work, and you've done a lot of amazingly good work. I look forward to seeing it in its eventual new form.

Skyshroud

Apart from discovering the finer details about my mystery Bottecchia, its ownership, manufacture, etc., it would be fascinating to learn more about my 1947 Hobbs. I would love to be able to look through a 'window into the past' and see the original owner of my new-to-me 1947 Hobbs of Barbican - now 84 - pick it up from the shop and take it out on its first ride, or touring through France in the late 1940's and early 1950's.