My 1973 Favorit
 

My first yellow bike! Rescued a 1973 Favorit (yes, it's spelled correctly) Rapido last night. 700c alloy wheels, leather saddle and a plethora of Czechoslovakian Favorit branded gear. Included is a working cable speedometer 0-60MPH registering 194.5 miles. Tires may be original as well as they were also made in Czechoslovakia. The rear derailleur has been replaced with newer (1990?) Sun Race. The 23" frame is my size too. Should keep me busy for a while. A 1974 CCM Mixte came with it. It will appear on separate thread.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f0427e58be.jpg
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Its fine, It'll buff out?

Nice! Will be following proceedings. :)

Nice I like it Made for export to english speaking market since "made in Czechoslovakian " is english
Ed

A lot of modern Favorit stuff comes through here. The cheapest of the cheap. All kinds of stuff-- block planes, bicycle and motorcycle parts. Bottom of the barrel in a market filled with low quality.
Good to know it's a more recent thing

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Thanks for posting; these are lots of fun. ;)

If located in U.S. importer would have been American Jawa of Valley Stream NY.

Hub barrels may be marked ESKA.

Note how pump pegs also serve as housing stops.

Original rear mech would have been a Favorit PWB (Prague-Warsaw-Berlin) model.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7278778e5a.jpg

please keep us posted as you work with the new arrival :thumb:

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Well well.

I'm halfway through almost the same bike - also a '73. Mine has drop bars, and the paint & decals were poor, so it's getting painted and a set of decals from a 60-something are supposed to arrive sometime. I couldn't find decals matching what was on the bike, and the ones I got are much prettier, what the hell. It has the PWB. My rings are 47-52, what are yours?

There are few surprises - everything should be english threaded. There is (or should be) a white plastic cover on the front mech. Be careful getting it off.

I'm having fun with this one. It seems to have a slightly different cultural heritage in terms of the mechanics - some things are so simple they are elegant, some so simple they are agricultural.

The lugs and the BB shell are stamped-and-welded, and the welds were lumpy, really lumpy. I filed 'em smooth. In contrast, the edges of the lugs are sharp, nice points, head lugs have quite a nice set of crisp cutouts, the BB shell has fancy ends. Yet the fork blades and all four stays are seam welded with a deep line down the backs of their legs that looks as cheap as a black-and-white movie.

The front mech plunger needs a some-what inclined surface for the adjusting screw to contact - they put the screw right there where they bent the plunger 90 degrees for fixing the cable. The surface is the outside bend of the curve. Is that elegant or agricultural or both?

The chainrings are stamped-and-dished - no need for spacers in between the rings. And the outside ring has threaded holes, so the screws need no nuts: elegant. Square-headed screws: agricultural.

Stem - I-beam extension of aluminium alloy - but a steel post. *But* that steel post has a forged keyed wedge with a lightweight design - it's lovely - check it out, no-one else will ever see it.

There is one other things to be aware of, if anyone does have the PWB rear mech.

It has a little spring-loaded pin riding in a slot in the top knuckle, meant to limit swing.

Yes, if you push the pin in you can get the mech to swing farther. And then you can learn how to take it all apart so you can get the pin back where it's supposed to go.

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PWB rear mech -

VeloBase.com - Component: Favorit PWB

Favorit PWB - Montageanleitung

Favorit PWB racing derailleur

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Pretty much any question a person might have regarding Favorit, Rapido, Jawa, Pioneer, Stadion or Velamos badged cycles can probably be answered at the Czech forum:

https://www.bike-forum.cz

[if you have Google Chrome installed on your device it can translate for you]

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Probably obvious to you, but just in case: the shifters weren't originally positioned to cover the top of the downtube decal; they slid down to that position over the years. A thin shim might keep them in place when you return them to their original location.

Thanks everyone, for the good information! I had noticed that the shifters had slipped nearly two inches by the marks on the downtube. I won't be getting to working on it for a while but will post my progress here. I may like to take it back to dropbars. Are they generic or uniquely branded, alloy or steel? I also noticed the dork disc was marked 333 which seemed odd. I will be looking for the PWB style RD. The saddle cleaned up really nice. Leads me to believe the 194.5 miles on that speedo may not be far off. The lady who put them out called me the next day and offered up a Norco cruiser style bike as well. She said the Favorit was bought new by them in the Toronto area.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6a5e2842af.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3524104ce4.jpg
After a bath.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cd05b9aaa5.jpg
After Mothers leather cleaner/conditioner.
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Here is what came on mine - the bars measure 22.0 dia, there's a small bulge and a sleeve in the centre. They are 390mm wide, outside-to-outside. There are no markings, but I have not seen these bars except on Favorits.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f3a8af39c5.jpg

I'm guessing it's a fairly well built Bike, but where's the needle in the speedometer? Maybe it's hiding just out of view, or maybe it's gone?

333 is a shimano thing

The needle is in the slot fairly deep in the head. It is sitting just out of sight on the zero. It moved when I spun the wheel.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b81ce46a89.jpg

cool!

Nice find. One of those bikes I always wanted to have. Back in the early 70's dad and mom went back to Slovakia (in our family it was two countries, before the official split) to visit family and I asked dad to see if he could pick me up one of the bikes. Gave him complete specs (one of the 531 frames of course) but nothing happened. Over the past two decades I managed to store and refurbish a good collection of Favorit components, was just looking for a decent condition Favorit frame to mount them on. Unfortunately, that was a major part of the loss in the fire last November.

Still kinda hoping, but as the years go on that's kind of a fading dream.

Mine had the 333 disk. Must have been the only japanese part on the whole bike. Note past tense.

The freewheel is marked "RNK" - very small.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...31e9a606ef.jpg

The hubs are marked "RENAK". They are another of the bits that show both elegance and crudity. They have labyrinth dust seals - pairs of overlapping U-channel rings at each end of the axle, nice ground cones and races. But the logo is stamped crooked:


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a8d482d7f1.jpg

checking in.

After a cleaning and assessment, I am going to store the Favorit Rapido for a few months. In the meanwhile keep my eyes open for a rear derailleur, maybe even some drop bars. I am starting to think this bike came as it is pictured. The upright bars have that same raised color in the centre and the original owners wife said it was purchased with the bars that are on it. The pressed steel brakes look similar to some SS Rapido's pictured on the internet. Who knows? Looks like Barum branded tires, made in Czechoslovakia.
Got some better pictures today, stay tuned!
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OK. Personally, I would leave the cruiser bars on it. ;)

I'm done painting
 

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8804437aae.jpg

I did this bit:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fa242bcf24.jpg

more pics of the drop bar bike
 

so far:
straightened right side rear stays - they were both about a half an inch out. The bike had been hit, but not too hard.
added derailleur hanger
sanded frame & forks to bare metal
filed lug welds smooth
JB weld in a small dent somewhere - can't even remember, it was 1cm long and about 1-2mm deep
3 coats rust paint primer
3 coats each colour rust paint
repro vinyl decals from ebay
2 coast clear rust paint
I almost always use rust paint, why not, the colours are nice and maybe it works.
(all above rattle-can)
lots of fiddly extra bits of paint
every single part apart, cleaned, checked and lubed if required - except:
a) freewheel not disassembled
b) riveted section of rear mech stayed riveted
every steel part de-rusted
every alloy part steel-wool-ed
head and wheel bearings excellent, cleaned and replaced. Similar BB I thought but it has a notch or something, have to look at it again.
all parts greased as appropriate on assembly

rebuilt wheels with stainless spokes, the old ones were disgustingly rusty, got a set of nice-looking tyres, wanted to have a look:


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1144f12254.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b14d5d69b9.jpg

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thanks for posting!

wonderful work; never looked this nice when it left the factory.

tyres: were you able to locate some Barums for it?

are hub barrels marked ESKA?

in case it may be of interest, i see F-A-V-O-R-I-T badged frame pumps come up on ebay from time to time.

all best!

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I have the old Barums, they were little used but that rubber is *old*.
The hubs are marked RENAK, so are the QR levers.

Yes, I see those pumps too.

I would really like a suitable alloy seatpost. Suitable meaning if possible iron-curtain mfr, else a plain turned pin.

Thanks for posting. I have a friend who owns a Favorit. It's in bad shape, but he's attached to it. I'll show him this thread.