2021: Your Top Three(C&V bike related)
 

I had a pretty good year(as far as old bikes go). I picked up a couple of nice bikes, as well as a couple of project bicycles. I didn't ride enough, but had some pretty memorable adventures.

I hope you all had a good year with your vintage bikes. If you did, post up your top three notables.

Here's what made this a good year for me:

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First is this 1979 Michael Johnson that I bought last Spring. I got it from the original owner who claims that it had less than 100 miles on it from brand new.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...l-johnson.html
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Second is Cino 2021. This years Cino turned out to be our ten day family vacation camping trip. Riding tandem with my son was such a great experience.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d1a8dc5563.jpg
Third and greatest thing this last year, my kid turning thirteen, and really stepping into the hobby. He is really taking an interest and appreciating these bikes from the past. We've been riding together for over eleven years now.

I'm OK really , I didn't even have one . ms.westi had one though , I sold the Bianchi so now there is only one bike in our little apt. How small is our apt . ? When we go to sleep our heads stick out the front door and our feets stick out the back door .

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e5967e92_z.jpgIMG_0480 by mark westi, on Flickr

Only bought one all year so that means I only own….one.


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I picked up only one C&V bike this year. I found this full 105SC equipped PDG 5 late in the year.


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As a matter of fact, I did get 3 bikes in 2021. Kind of different for me, my last purchase was 2018, and that was a single bike. In chronological order.

1942 Frejus. My first and likely only restoration.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...37c1b1d7_h.jpgFrejus 01642 by iabisdb, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...233a366f_h.jpg1942 Frejus Paint 08 by iabisdb, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7ead3019_h.jpg1942 Frejus Paint 09 by iabisdb, on Flickr



1935-39 Paglianti. Will someday have a first gen Campagnolo cambio corsa attached to it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...da67836f_h.jpgPaglianti 01 by iabisdb, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...58ae8cca_h.jpgPaglianti 02 by iabisdb, on Flickr




1915 Rola. Emmo Ghelfi's B brand (Frejus was his A brand)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...390b7400_h.jpgRola 01 by iabisdb, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...90612204_h.jpgRola 23 by iabisdb, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...da35d217_h.jpgRola 28 by iabisdb, on Flickr

I had a somewhat banner year, didn't ride enough but more than I thought I did, several great acquisitions including the Ritchey, and older big Merckx frames, a Bianchi SL mostly complete that was very grungy but stripped down and cleaned up very nicely, it was complete and will donate many of its parts to the bigger SC that I have but was missing several correct parts.

Disposition of this frame is still up in the air as it really did clean up well for how nasty it was.

As crazy as these can be, it may be kept to be half of a pair despite being a bit small. Really not sure, shouldn't keep it but may do just that. :twitchy:

So that's 3 bikes/frames. I had a couple of good rides with my kid that are far too few now days.

Managed to ride the Alpenrose velodrome 45 years after the last time in HS and after it was closed down earlier this year for good.
:mad: :troll::eek:

And there were a couple of other big deals that are still playing out under wraps. ;)

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Never mind restoring- just leave both hanging like they are and call it 'art' (which it is, of course)!

Too late for the first one.
The next owner decides for the second, but it will damn sure have all the correct bits and bobs.

And let's not get into the art thing, people around these parts will let me have it for my .02. :)

My hands-down favorite acquisition of the year is this Bridgestone Grandtech GR-27. Such an awesome design.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c3a6abc351.jpg

My favorite wrenching job of the year was building up this Union frame I'd bought.

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I just put it together and really enjoyed riding it in three Eroica events without so much as a flat tire. For a while it made me believe I was actually getting rather good at this wrenching thing.

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The most memorable ride of the year award goes to the one mrs non-fixie and I did on King's Day (April 27th). The combination of it being a national holiday, the country being mostly locked-down because of COVID and the nice spring weather made for a strange but not unpleasant atmosphere.

Social distancing on a haul-yourself-across ferry:

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I finally got to build out my gugiefication Witcomb. Such a nice ride and setup.
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Also finished the build of the wheels for my Super Course double dingle speed build.
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Most fun C&V projects were two rehabs. One was for the Velo Cheapo in which I took this Claridge:

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And turned it into this:
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The second was a Peugeot mixte frameset that @bwilli88 graciously dropped off at my house. It looked like this when I got it:

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And like this when I was done with it:
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And finally in terms of C&V riding, clearly it was Cino on my ‘73 Wes Mason. It came to me as a frameset about a week before Cino, so I had just enough time to build it up and take it for one 30-mile test ride. It was the perfect tool for the job and likely this year’s CA Eroica and Cino ride (photo credit to @rccardr):

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Added nothing to my collection (there's a couple of bikes passing thru, hopefully will be gone at Westminster in February) this year, what I have done is build up an awful lot of mail ordered bikes for neighbors. 2021 will go down as the year that I got the bicycle shop operating again. Nothing I'm going to post, because virtually everything that passed thru the shop that wasn't my own bikes was stuff that would horrify the group.

Nothing major bought, nothing at all sold. For me, the highlights of 2021 are rides. The September weekend of FauxRoica in Cambria CA was a great time, especially riding out to Ragged Point with a fun group (thank you, Velo Cambria and Rick Denman) to greet Gugie & Co. on the last day of their ride from the Bay Area and escort them in..

A lovely metric century done with my long-time friend in northeastern California was a good time - views of Mt. Lassen and Mt; Shasta are always great, even through the smoky haze. (Bonus: We stayed in Fall River Mills 41 years to the day after we camped there on my big cross-USA tout (he had to turn back at Yellowstone to bus back in time for his brother's wedding.).

And I got in 2,200 miles for the year. Not much by the standards of many of you, but a very good year for me.

Busy year here at the house of patina;


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I wasn't in the market for a Canadian market Rudge cruiser but it was weird so I needed it. (BTW - sellers pic which is probably why it languished for months on OfferUp. The florid description of "Old Bike" didn't help.) I've cleaned it up as much as possible and it is almost ready to ride. Pics will be forthcoming.


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Mid 50s Bianchi city bike. Correct handlebars were sourced from Italia and the steerer is being repaired with a little help from friends. I hate the term Frankenbike but it may apply here. Modern Shimano dynamo hub and unknown steel rear hub with a Shimano single speed cog. Brooks Flyer allegedly was bought 40+ years ago and never mounted. Quite a bit of "reconditioning" is happening. This is already a money pit that I am viewing as the expense of having a hobby.


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Perhaps my best bike score to date - 1987 Schwinn Circuit. Very crappy ad on Marketplace so I was able to get it for a very reasonable (cheap) sum. I've only done a brief ride on it and it's a peach!

My top three, Serotta, Mercian, Romic. These were more or less bare frame purchases.
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Runner ups, Jack Taylor, De Rosa, MKM. The Jack was completely seized post, stem, crank dust cap including the NDS bb cup, the freewheel has yet to be removed. The De Rosa is a not well repaint showing wear. The MKM is getting appropriate parts for its time.
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Honorable mention, Raliegh Professional, Lygie, Miyata 615. The Professional and Lygie were purchased from one sale, both are very fine pieces with minor changes and Shimano shifters.
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The Miyata got the most of my attention.

Didn't buy either a C&V bike or frameset this year. Didn't ride much either.

Did change things up on the Pinarello. Converted from double to triple. This involved new crank and bb along with RD. Still 8v.
In the process of moving to 9v because I have the parts.This involve new wheel set, clincher to tubular, with 9v Campagnolo block and conversion of the left Ergo from 10 to 9v. Gives me a lower gear and I don't really need a 10v. The De Rosa fills that slot.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...775b3716_b.jpgP1050223 on Flickr

Just 2 this year.
First: Ron Cooper f&f I built up with period Campy SR. The OO had repainted this many years ago, however.
Sub 20# with pedals and cages. I'm keeping this one.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a9161efe_h.jpg

Then, this popped up on my local CL
Chinook by Bruce Gordon.
Unfortunately, try as I like, I just can't make this really work - just too small. I don't have a built-up picture, so you get a f&f and a removed parts pic. :)
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I sold 5-6 bikes from my 'permanent' collection and purchased 1 bike in 2021. The Falcon that I purchased had Suntour barcons on it that are worth more than my total investment in the bike. It was a bit of a hodgepodge of parts so I was able to de-Frankenstein it with parts from my parts bin.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cbff19503c.jpg

@iab, those three are all gorgeous!
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I didn't get in a lot of riding this year, but I stayed busy with various bike projects. I finished three builds this year--one for my daughter, one for rainy days/spare commuter, and an Italian racer. Coincidentally, they're all blue. How'd that happen?

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Oh, as I was going through my flickr account, I remembered that I refurbished a 4th bike this year, a '75 Peugeot PR10, also blue. But those other three are tops. 2021 sure was blue year!

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This year just a few, four, vintage community rides what's a pity. Also only one cycling stock market, also because of the covid pandemic.
But very glad with building up this Koga Miyata FullPro 1981 and ridin' it at Über die Grenze and Eroica Limburg.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d54baaab96.jpg

And building this CJV cyclocrosser and ridin' it at the Stalen Ros Turf Toertocht. Both buildings after years of collecting stuff and waitin' for opportunity.

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Finally, almost at the end of the year finding this jersey I was lookin' for so many years.

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But the first two were not possible if my new shed was not finished this year. Maybe that's the most important ..

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So, it's been a good year!

Ended up adding 2 sister Bianchis to the fleet this year.

1990 Bianchi Tangent - picked this up as a frameset. Went with a flat bar 2x9 setup since I had the parts. Plan to keep it this way for the foreseeable future.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bdeb4c727e.jpg

1990 Bianchi Grizzly - this one almost had all the XC Pro components (brakes missing). It's still a work in progress.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4025d2a0ca.jpg

To keep with the Bianchi themed year, I also picked up this 1992 Bianchi Super Grizzly, but it was traded to a friend as it was the wrong size. Rear wheel was swapped in for a test ride since original was badly out of true
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f35dbcd9ba.jpg

Yes, thank you. But 2 matching bikes are always my favorite. Perhaps not done on purpose, but nicely done nonetheless.

At the beginning of this year I had 0 bikes…

then, I found and cleaned up this
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then, maybe a month later this fell into my lap. Got modified to my liking.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c21ba3689.jpeg
And then in august I got myself this for the mtb trails
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Overall a pretty good year.

:thumb: Atta boy, you're off to a great start.

No bikes, but did score some vintage jerseys. Other than that, rode like my ass was on fire and had my first 3K season in 20 years.

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