VeloBrox

You'll have to endure a little wall of text here - but don't worry, pictures will follow!

Geir, my fiancee's beloved uncle, sadly passed away a few years ago. He was an avid cyclist and told me had toured southern Norway up and down at breakneck speeds back in the day.

One time we were visiting his farm last year, my interest in old bicycles came up. His wife asked me if I would like to see Geir's bike. I gladly agreed. We walked over to the "old barn", me expecting to see the typical gaspipe bike that every Norwegian had in the '70s. Not so.

Up on the wall was a Swedish Monark 90320 - the hottest racing bike Scandinavia produced the early 1960's. I voluntered to restore it for the family to have as a memory.

As found:



Drive side. Stronglight crank with Simplex rings. Cottered steel, but still nice. Rear wheel is a later replacement. Don't worry, I have the original one.



Non-drive side. Brooks Professional saddle is hard, but not dried out.



Nervex lugs. Notice the lining is on the lug, not on the tube.



Reynolds fork decal on the frame? It must be fake you say! But no, this is a known issue with these bikes. See this excellent site for another example




Campagnolo Gran Sport rear derailleur. Gummed up, but definitely salvagable!



Campa push-rod front derailleur. Not Valentino, but I don't know exactly what it is.



Titan bar and stem from Belgium. Haha, I have a patented Maes bend! Stem is steel, bar aluminium alloy.



What do you call Fiamme rims that do not have a label?



Holy slim-line, Batman! They don't make forks like this anymore!



At last, the imposing headbadge.

Should clean up fine! As far as I can determine, the bike is from 1961. That's the year Monark introduced their Reynolds 531 models, but still kept their own, weird fork. The Campa gear and Mafac Dural Forge brakes point to the 90320 (or 320 for short) top-of-the line model. Geir's son raced on this bike in an Iron Man challenge in the 90's - to great results!

The paint has some chips but is in an overall splendid state. Frame is straight and the components need a polish. Some springs are rusty - esp. on the brakes.

What do you think? Not often you see one of these - I certainly don't!


/Velobrox

AZORCH

Oh my! I love seeing new-to-me marquees... and this one will be such a stunner, I think. That FD sure does have some of the hallmarks of Valentino, which is a little bit odd - maybe someone can shed some light on that. I look forward to seeing how this one cleans up... love the lug lining!

puchfinnland

I believe that front deraileur was campa first real production front deraileur,
in the beginning it was their only choice, which later was replaced with parallelogram,
the model was still sellable as their valentino range.

rootboy 

Wow. NICE. I love the lug lining too, like you say, on the lug itself instead of in the junction of the tubes. Some odd and beautiful details on that bike. Cool bike.

VeloBrox

Thanks everyone!

Puchfinnland: Didn't know that about Campa front mech - thanks for enlightening me! The push-rod certainly fits with the rest of the bike: High-end but low-tech. Many of the components, especially the steel ones, look more '50s than '60s. I like that. It's nice to see what craftsmen in an underdeveloped bike market could come up with when they set out to do their very best.

More pictures:



"Flygstål" - or "Airplane steel" in Swedish. This is a carry-over from the '50s, when Monark and Crescent used their own alloys, reputed to be same Saab used in their airplanes. Or maybe there's a Reynolds 531 plane flying around somewhere?



Funky fork crown. The Mafac Dural Forge's are from the days before plastic bushings. I have a replacement set if I can't refurbish those springs.



Binda straps. The man was no casual rider!



The proud restorer! This is what a Scandinavian looks like when he's super-stoked.

Thanks for your time people! My fiancée took these pictures under adverse lightning conditions. Will get back with more as the story progresses.

Any tips for polishing up the Campa gear without damaging it?

dbakl

Super sweet, love it, good job! Campagnolo could be late 50s or early 60s, but bike looks original as is.

rootboy 

nice shirt

VeloBrox

Thanks! I mostly listen to surf rock when fixing up bikes, so why not. Norwegians were crazy for "Tiki" stuff in the '50s, after Heyerdahl's expedition.

I dread opening up the crank. Cottered cranks were never common in Norway (Fauber one-piece for low-end bikes, square-taper for high-end) so I've only worked on two thus far. Luckily I have a mechanic with 40 years experience to help me.

The bar setup is interesting - apparently Geir was too hardcore for cotton, so he rode bare electrical tape instead. Wooden plugs.

The pedals have an interesting metal shim covering the teeth on the cages. Maybe for protecting his shoes?

John E

The front derailleur is the Gran Sport, which matches the rear. I have had the same pair on all three Capos, although I have kept them on Capo #2 only. Be sure to keep that front derailleur well lubricated -- one of mine had so much wear-induced slop that it was unusable. They are a small cut above the Simplex pushrod, and they work quite well w/ half-step gearing, such as the 49-46 I have on Capo #2.

VeloBrox

Great advice, thank you!

Any idea what the Fiamme rims are called?

dbakl

Are they sewups? Probably red labels: an red oval with a knights helmet in gold and black. Send me a message with your address and I can mail you a pair.

zazenzach

interesting lug design and really interesting that the lining is on the lug itself

beautiful bike

qcpmsame 

Should be a beautiful period restoration. Good on you for restoring her Uncle's racer. Please keep the pictures and reports coming. I had a Botty with the Campagnolo Valentino derailleurs front and rear, got along quite well with them when I kept them good and clean and the cables proper.

Bill

VeloBrox

For real? I'll message you so we can talk price.

My experienced friend confirmed that the front derailleur is indeed a Gran Sport. Identical to later Valentinos except that the screw holding the cage to the rod mounts from the top, not from the side.

I like the lug design too - I imagine those were the lugs Dracula would have had on his bike.

Also the pulley wheels on the rear derailleur are quite worn. Does anybody know if pulley wheels without teeth are still in production?

Otis

"What do you call Fiamme rims that do not have a label?"

Fiamme's that the decal has come off of.

They are either red or yellow labels. The only way to tell for sure is to weigh them bare, which is hardly worth the effort. If the sidewalls have a ton of dents they are probably yellow labels (lighter). But I would gues they were reds.

They are period correct for the 60's with the "longhi" lettering. Is there a grommet around the valve hole? That would date them to the early 60's or late 50's.

The GS rear derailleur wheels have no teeth to start, so do not worry about that. They also have cones and bearings like a hub and can be taken apart and lubed. Careful though, the bearings are small.

Study up on alll the 60's parts before you dig in.

puchfinnland

chrom cleaning is fun,

use chrome polish, small wire brush
edge of a razor.

if you can get the rust off-a thin coat of oil will keep it from returning-this bike will live inside so it wont rust again!

3speedslow

Great looking bike there. You will enjoy those Gran Sport DR's. Have them on my 61 Raleigh.The pulleys do not have teeth and as I know, they are not being made anymore. Ebay ?

The Valentinos were a chore to keep adjusted, never like(d) them.

Can't wait to see more reno pics.

Pars 

Looks like a nice and really cool project, and I am sure the family will appreciate your efforts.

BTW, I had read that Reynolds 531 was originally produced for use in aircraft in the mid 1930s.

VeloBrox

Ha, maybe the swedes were in the right after all!

Otis said I shouldn't worry about the pulley wheels so I will keep them on for now.

This has probably been asked a million times before, but does anybody know where I can get old-school Campa wire housing? You know, with bare coils? I see Jagwire makes some with clear plastic cover - anybody try those?

I have removed all the components. Pictures will follow tomorrow or the day after.

javal

From one Monark-man to an other; con grats! Swedish bikes (MCB) doesnt usually get the appraisel they are worth, but hang on to this and you´ll be an happy biker! Post me the BB digits and I´ll try to get you the exact date/year when it was made. And of course, the lugs & lining of my 319 -73 Monark...

VeloBrox

Wooo, nice bike, javal! And I agree - for some reason the equivalent Crescent racers got a bad reputation in the US (going so far as to Sheldon Brown himself), although I never saw why. Yes, build quality varied but so did Raleigh and Peugeot's work too.

I'll post the BB digits this evening.

Anybody interested in seeing the Peugeot PY-10 M Perthus I scored yesterday?

javal

On swedish CL not long ago.

Go ahead! The francophiles´ll dig it!

hagen2456

Sheldon didn't like toe overlap. I'll admit that it can be quite annoying if you're riding on streets with many stops, but once you're on the road, it's no issue at all. I own two Crescent equivalents to your Monark (they were the same bikes apart from minor details), and I frankly never give the dreaded toe overlap a thought. In fact, I like the reason for it: The saddle tube angle is rather relaxed, making it easier for a short legged and long body'ed rider like me to find the optimal balance on the bike!

Your Monark looks like an early to mid-60's model "319" or something like that.