SPECSStatus: For Sale at $1250 Size: 57cm Frame and Fork: Reynolds 531 tubing with Campagnolo dropouts. Groupset: Campagnolo Nuovo Record Brakeset: Universal Mod. 61 Saddle: Brooks Professional Wheelset: Campagnolo Record hubs on Weinmann Concave rims with Michelin Dynamic Classic 700x23 tires BEFOREI travelled an hour to pick up this one. It was in rough shape but the bones were amazing and it had an almost complete Campagnolo Nuovo Record groupset. It was looking rather sad with the dull silver and blue paint and I new I could restore it to its former glory and make it happy again. AFTERThis bike was one of my favourite builds because I fell in love with the paint job. It's true to the original but with more vibrant silver and blue. The colours go so well with the new headbadge, too! I've taken this bike on a few test rides now and it is absolutely lovely to ride. It's so smooth and quiet, gliding over the bumps and imperfections in the road. I'd love to keep it for myself, but I can't keep them all!
SPECSStatus: For Sale at $850 Size: 57cm Frame and Fork: Columbus tubing (Tubi Rinforzati Garantiti Columbus Acciaio Speciale) with Campagnolo dropouts. Made in Italy by an unknown builder who put the initials DES on the seat stays Groupset: Shimano 600 Arabesque Wheelset: Araya rims with Suntour Cyclone 7000 hubs and Michelin Dynamic Classic 700x25c tires BEFOREI bought this mess of a bike because I saw the Columbus tubing decal in the ad. I had no idea about the rest and could tell that it was a mess but I thought that it must have good bones. It was in Vancouver so my nephew picked it up for me and took it to his mom's who stored it for me. Her brother-in-law was visiting in the city so he picked it up for me and brought it to his house, about an hour from mine. I'm guessing it was made in 1971 based on the Columbus decal which is one of the very early foil decals with the gold dove. It has "DES" pantographed on the seat stays but there are no other identifying marks as the maker's decals had been removed. There is no serial number that I can find but it has "57" on the bottom bracket which is the size. It has nice lugwork with Campagnolo dropouts on the frame and fork. The fork was originally chromed but I can't tell for sure if the rear dropouts were chromed or not. There are no braze ons for water bottles, rear brake housing or shifters. There are above-the-BB braze ons for the shifter cable guides. There is a button braze on for the rear derailleur cable stop. It came with a complete dog's breakfast of parts: Suntour Superbe Road headset, Cinelli stem and bars, Dura-Ace cranks and brake levers, Campagnolo Nuovo Record front derailleur and seat post (27.2), Shimano Crane rear derailleur, Shimano 600 Arabesque shifters, Campagnolo rear brake and unknown front, Campagnolo hubs of two different styles with Nisi and Mavic hoops and a beat up Selle San Marco Rolls saddle. Wow, what a mess! There was a man's name and social insurance number engraved on the stem and I happened to find him on FaceBook. It turns out that they had been on a Nishiki that he sold, which definitely isn't this bike! Too bad, as I was hoping he'd have an answer to the frame mystery. So, I'm going to strip it down and repaint it and rebuild it with a nice groupset. I only hope that by the time I paint it, I've figured out who made it so I can pay them tribute. AFTERThe maker of this bike is still a mystery. The frame was obviously very well made but there were a couple issues that I couldn't repair so at first I thought it was ruined. The non-drive side rear dropout adjustment screw was broken off and seized inside the dropout. I wasn't able to remove it, so I used an external adjustment device in its place. More seriously, the threads in the frame's bottom bracket were completely destroyed. Fortunately, I found a Mavic 610 bottom bracket that was made for damaged BBs and it is buttery smooth. It solved the problem perfectly. Despite those two issues, the frame turned out really nice and I don't think I could be happier.
SPECSStatus: For Sale at $450 Size: 18.5"/47cm Frame & Fork: Tange Double-Butted Cro-Moly Groupset & Brakeset: Shimano 7 spd STX (MC-34) with SRAM Grip Shift SRT 400 Wheelset: Sun Rims AT18 rims on Shimano Acera X hubs with Massi Blaze 26x2.0 Tires BEFOREI picked up this really nice Rocky Mountain from a gentleman in Black Mountain who had replaced it with an e-bike. It was in great shape and I rode cleaned it up and rode it as my winter bike in 21-22. In the fall of 22, someone came to look at my shop and liked the Whistler so I decided to rebuild it and sell it to him. AFTERThis was such a joy to ride and a really fun rebuild. It was in excellent condition and everything went smoothly. It had a really cool 1 1/8" threadless front fork that was rigid. Something I've not seen before and will make it easy to update it to a modern cockpit in the future. For that reason, I struggled to sell it. It received a new bottom bracket, new tires and tubes, new cables and housing and new grips.
SPECSStatus: Sold Size: 19"/48cm Frame: Tange MTB Double Butted Cr-Mo with Ritchey Dropouts Fork: Tange CR-MO MTB Rigid Groupset & Brakeset: Shimano Deore LX derailleurs (M563) with Shimano STX (MC-30) shifter/brake combos Wheelset: Ritchey Vantage Sport Rims on STX Parallax hubs with ?? Tires BEFOREWow! I couldn't pass this bike up! It's in amazing condition and all original, even the saddle, grips and tires! There are two nice touches that were added by the original owner, a purple bottle cage and purple bar-ends to match the purple decals. Notice the cool purple accents on the Vetta saddle even! This bike is going to pop when I finish with it! AFTERI traded this bike and the Rocky Mountain Equipe for the Cinelli Supercorsa. I never got the opportunity to rebuild this one. It went to a good home and I'm confident it will be beautifully rebuilt. SPECSStatus: Not for Sale (Belongs to my Father-In-Law) Groupset: Shimano Tiagra Frame: 7005 Aluminum Fork: Cromoly BEFOREMy Father-In-Law is in his 80's and still rides his bike several times per week. He's even done some 100km rides, and all that without electric assist! I had already set-up his cockpit to give him a more comfortable riding position, and the bike was running great but the frame was pretty scratched up and worn out looking from years of traveling on racks and in the back of trucks. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures before I took it apart, but at least you can see what the frame looked like before it was painted. AFTERHe wanted it painted red with white decals so I chose Corvette Victory Red for the basecoat. I made all the decals with Photoshop and cut them out with the Cricut. Since Brodie is a Canadian company, I added the maple leaf to the 'b' logo and thought it made it look pretty cool.
My father-In-Law was pretty happy with the results. He's now riding a bike that is like-new with a completely original paint job. I'm sure he'll be twice as fast now with his racing-red machine! SPECS Status: For Sale at $870 Made in Italy Size: 56cm/22" Frame & Fork: Columbus Aelle Groupset: Gipiemme Crono Sprint (World Championship Edition) Wheelset: Ambrosio 19 Extra rims on Gipiemme Sprint hubs with Vittoria Zaffiro Pro 700x25c tires BEFORE When I first saw this bike, I was intrigued because of the unusual groupset and the quality frame but I thought it was priced way too high for the amount of work it needed so I passed. I just couln't get it out of my mind, though, and a year later, I contacted the seller to see if it was still available. We settled on a reasonable price and I brought it home. From my research, I understood that Fiori was a Canadian bike company but that some of the bikes, especially the early ones, were brought over from Italy. Others were made in Japan and even Canada. This must have been one of the Italian ones. AFTERI love white frames with black accents so I decided to give this frame a pearl white paint that I think looks amazing with the black in the decals, wheels, brake callipers and crankset. The Gipiemme derailleurs (made by Simplex) work really well and the shift levers look and feel elegant. The black accents make it look almost like a modern build, or at least a neo-retro build, but everything on it is original, except for the stem. The previous owner had a shorter stem installed and had lost track of the original. I had a black on in my parts bin so I thought it would go well with the headset and other black components. Since everything on the bike is Italian, it needed a Selle Italia saddle and to me, nothing looks as better on an 80s bike than a Turbo. Luckily, they still make them. I don't think I could be any happier with the results!
SPECSStatus: Personal Collection (Not For Sale) Size: 58cm Weight: 20.6 lbs/9.3 kg (with pedals) Made in Canada Frame & Fork: Tange Infinity Cr-Mo Tapered Double Butted Tubing Brakeset: Shimano EX-500 brake levers with Modolo Speedy brake calipers Crankset: Unknown brand (stamped TR8/GBC) single speed specific Gearing: Front - 44, Freewheel - 16 (2.75:1) , Fixed - 14 (3.1:1) Wheelset: Alexrims DA-22 rims with Formula track hubs {flip/flop} and Vittoria Zaffiro Pro 700x25 tires BEFOREThis is the first road bike I ever bought, back in 1990, in Portland, Oregon. I got it on sale because it was the previous year's model. I loved riding this bike and rebuilt it more times than I can count. In 2002 I found a track wheelset on sale in a bike shop in Edmonton and decided to set up the Miele as a single speed. I loved riding it as a single speed, especially since I had purchased a more modern road bike, and kept it in that set up ever since. I have wanted to make it up a permanent single-speed, by grinding off the unnecessary braze-ons and derailleur hanger for quite some time, to give it a sleeker look, and since MBW needs a single speed team bike, the time has come. AFTERThe bike is painted Indigo Blue. It looks almost black in the photos but in the sun...wowzers! The removal of the brazons for the shift levers on the downtube, the derailleur cable stop on the chainstay, the shift cable guides under the bottom bracket, the pump hanger on the headtube and the rear derailleur hanger, all went smoothly and there were no indications of the work showing through the paint. It was built up with several parts that were given to me by my buddy Ian, including a single-speed specific crankset of unknown brand, the Modolo Speedy brake calipers and the San Marco Ponza saddle. I added a new headset with sealed bearings and a sealed bottom bracket to really make it reliable and smooth. I have loved riding this bike for the past 32 years and I'm sure it is going to serve me well for another 30 years and beyond.
SPECSStatus: For Sale at $725 Size: 54cm/21" Weight: 18.8 lbs/8.5kg (without pedals) Frame: 6061 T6 aluminum, butted, Handbuilt in the USA Fork: Time Stilleto, Carbon fiber composite, Unicrown Brifters: Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed Derailleurs: Campagnolo Xenon Rear, Campagnolo Daytona Front Brakes: Campagnolo Veloce Crankset: FSA Gossamer Stem/Bars: 3ttt Ergo Power bars with Kona stem Saddle: Ritchey Logic Pro Titanium Wheelset: Mavic Cosmic Elite wheelset with Specialized Pro 700x23c tires BEFOREThis bike, which had once been a high-end, lightweight, racing machine, had been neglected and left in the elements to rust and corrode. I wasn't sure if everything would work but I thought it would be worth a try. After way too much haggling, I got it at a good price and brought it home. AFTERAt first glance this bike looked to be in great shape but there were some real issues to be resolved for the rebuild. The chain had rusted solid and had to be cut off the bike. Unfortunately, the 9 speed rear Veloce derailleur was in serious trouble. The steel set screws and cable adjustment screw were seized in the aluminum body of the derailleur and couldn't be moved. Bike Karma came to the rescue when I bought an early 80's Benotto frame (project #35) that someone had unsuccessfully attempted to build up with a more modern Campagnolo Xenon 10 speed rear derailleur, Veloce 10 speed brifters and a 10 speed Mavic Cosmic Elite wheelset. None of them seemed appropriate for the Benotto build and I had plans for it so this Lemond had the parts it needed for a nice rebuild. Was I ever pleased with this build! It's now ready to turn heads and go fast! This bike is going to make someone very happy!
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AuthorMike the Bike Archives
October 2023
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