Another mystery bike at the Bike Exchange.
09-09-18, 02:53 PM
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Bikes: Miyata 610(66cm), GT Vantara Hybrid (64cm), Nishiki International (64cm), Peugeot rat rod (62 cm), Trek 800 Burning Man helicopter bike, Bob Jackson frame (to be restored?) plus a never ending stream of neglected waifs from the Bike exchange.
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Another mystery bike at the Bike Exchange.
The thing I like best about volunteering at the Bike Exchange is discovering something unique and different in the pile of donated bikes waiting to be rehabbed.
Yesterday I spotted a Miyata 1200 sitting out front of the pile and was going to take it home when sitting nearby I saw this bike.
At once I realized it was special. The tag said it is a custom frame and It looks like it dates from the 70's . Judging from the over all condition I would say it had good care over the years . It looks to be all original with the following components
Frame with Champion decals on the down tube and forks with an arrow pantographed into the lugs and an H on one side of the top steer tube lug. No serial numbers.
Rear dropout on drive side with what may be Brev--- under the paint.
120 mm rear dropout spacing
Cinelli stem and bars
Weinman center pull brakes and levers
sugino AT crank with triple chain rings, two large and one small (haven't counted teeth).
Suntour cyclone (first model?) front and rear derailleurs
Maeda 6 speed freewheel with 32,26,21,17,15,13 tooth cogs which seem to have had light usage.
Miche competition hubs with 1 1/4 x 27 " unlabeled aluminum rims with stainless spokes and presta valves.
Ideal leather saddle with SR aluminum seat post.
The frame paint is excellent with enough scrapes to attest to the fact it was ridden a bit and everything dried out enough to indicate that it has been stored , probably in a garage, for quite a while.
Take a look at the pictures and tell me what you think. I intend to clean and polish it and maybe swap out the brakes and levers for some Suntour Superb's I have. I might also spread the rear dropouts to 126 mm and install a Shimano Hyperglide Freewheel.
I am curious what you all think about the value of a custom frame of unknown origin. Would I be doing a dis service to the bike to fit upright bars and fatter tires on 700 c rims and make it the next of my hipster series or should I leave it bone stock and possibly untouched . Like all my projects with the bike exchange it will be sold once completed. ( hint hint - anyone want to buy it for an insane amount to support our non profit?)
Cap'n Jonny (who just spent 2 weeks at Burning Man and lived to tell the tale)
Yesterday I spotted a Miyata 1200 sitting out front of the pile and was going to take it home when sitting nearby I saw this bike.
At once I realized it was special. The tag said it is a custom frame and It looks like it dates from the 70's . Judging from the over all condition I would say it had good care over the years . It looks to be all original with the following components
Frame with Champion decals on the down tube and forks with an arrow pantographed into the lugs and an H on one side of the top steer tube lug. No serial numbers.
Rear dropout on drive side with what may be Brev--- under the paint.
120 mm rear dropout spacing
Cinelli stem and bars
Weinman center pull brakes and levers
sugino AT crank with triple chain rings, two large and one small (haven't counted teeth).
Suntour cyclone (first model?) front and rear derailleurs
Maeda 6 speed freewheel with 32,26,21,17,15,13 tooth cogs which seem to have had light usage.
Miche competition hubs with 1 1/4 x 27 " unlabeled aluminum rims with stainless spokes and presta valves.
Ideal leather saddle with SR aluminum seat post.
The frame paint is excellent with enough scrapes to attest to the fact it was ridden a bit and everything dried out enough to indicate that it has been stored , probably in a garage, for quite a while.
Take a look at the pictures and tell me what you think. I intend to clean and polish it and maybe swap out the brakes and levers for some Suntour Superb's I have. I might also spread the rear dropouts to 126 mm and install a Shimano Hyperglide Freewheel.
I am curious what you all think about the value of a custom frame of unknown origin. Would I be doing a dis service to the bike to fit upright bars and fatter tires on 700 c rims and make it the next of my hipster series or should I leave it bone stock and possibly untouched . Like all my projects with the bike exchange it will be sold once completed. ( hint hint - anyone want to buy it for an insane amount to support our non profit?)
Cap'n Jonny (who just spent 2 weeks at Burning Man and lived to tell the tale)
09-09-18, 03:20 PM
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Features such as the position of the chainstay stop, letter H cutout, and hex nuts brazed to fork ends are fairly unique and may twig a reader's memory.
One interesting thing about the housing stops on the top tube is that the maker did not re-radius their mounting surfaces. Their curvature is intended for the diameter of a chainstay and they should have been re-radiused to fit better to a top tube.
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Features such as the position of the chainstay stop, letter H cutout, and hex nuts brazed to fork ends are fairly unique and may twig a reader's memory.
One interesting thing about the housing stops on the top tube is that the maker did not re-radius their mounting surfaces. Their curvature is intended for the diameter of a chainstay and they should have been re-radiused to fit better to a top tube.
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09-09-18, 08:25 PM
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Bikes: A green one, "Ragleigh," or something.
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It’s a 1981 Hollandaise; a very saucy bike. And yes, I would like to pay an insane amount for it to support a nonprofit.
(Kidding on both counts)
Looks like quality, but I’m a bit leary of a bike that has had holes drilled
in the fork crown like that. I’m guessing someone wanted to mount a rack or something?
The hipster/flatbar idea leaves me cold. I still can’t see why anyone would go to extra effort to change
a bike so it has three fewer hand positions.
(Kidding on both counts)
Looks like quality, but I’m a bit leary of a bike that has had holes drilled
in the fork crown like that. I’m guessing someone wanted to mount a rack or something?
The hipster/flatbar idea leaves me cold. I still can’t see why anyone would go to extra effort to change
a bike so it has three fewer hand positions.
Last edited by Lascauxcaveman; 09-09-18 at 08:34 PM.
09-09-18, 09:46 PM
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...removing a Cinelli bar and stem setup does not strike me as a good way to increase the value of your project. It would make it worth less to me.
I've never bought a used one, but my understanding is that those Ideale saddles are worth some significant asking prices on the mysterious internet marketplace.
I've never bought a used one, but my understanding is that those Ideale saddles are worth some significant asking prices on the mysterious internet marketplace.
09-09-18, 09:54 PM
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...I forgot to add that custom frames from the 70's are a mixed bag. Many of them were lovingly built by guys who dod not make all that many of them, so some of them have some design flaws. So without some sort of name recognition, it's pretty much a crapshoot on whether it will ride better or worse, or about the same as a high end,double butted frameset of the same vintage. I've never actually seen one that was made out of Champion tubing.
09-09-18, 10:07 PM
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...possibly a very early Holland ? Just a wild guess from the creative rack fittings and the visual similarity to Eisentraut. You might ask on the framebuilder's forum, there's more expertise there.
09-09-18, 10:08 PM
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...I forgot to add that custom frames from the 70's are a mixed bag. Many of them were lovingly built by guys who dod not make all that many of them, so some of them have some design flaws. So without some sort of name recognition, it's pretty much a crapshoot on whether it will ride better or worse, or about the same as a high end,double butted frameset of the same vintage. I've never actually seen one that was made out of Champion tubing.
1+
upon reflection there are things about the frame which make me lean toward thinking it a one-off hobby project.
IIRC one part-time and long gone (AFAIK) aspiring builder in capnjonny's neck of the woods was Sampson.
unless a reader sees something in it they recognise i suspect it may go unidentified - it may be unidentifiable.
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