pcb 

Most of my bikes are steel, most of my steel is American, but most of those wear modern clothes. Here's a couple more in the vintage spirit...

'81 JP Weigle Sportif, due for maybe a wheel swap and a couple/few other tweaks. I'm just looking at these photos and seeing the lowrider bosses on the forks, and remembering I might have a Blackburn lowrider rack tucked away somewhere. That's definitely what I would've had on this sucker in '81 if I owned it them. Hmmmmm......anybody know of a nice set of front Specialized Tailwind panniers? Like doesn't have to be beautiful, but shouldn't be smelling like cheetos/vomit on the inside? Ew, but if I pull the front rack then I need to do some fender rework, which I hate. Geez Louise. FWIW, this is one of those frames that the guy who sold it to the guy I bought it from reached out to tell me he wants first dibs if I ever sell it. He shoulda held it to his heart to see if it resonated before selling it.

Peter told me he built it for a sea captain, Captain James, who "wanted to use all these weird components, like Pedersen SE cantilevers..." Sounds like a man after my own heart.











'82 Columbine Sports Tour, components maybe slightly tweaked since these shots. I forgot to hoist a toast to its 38th birthday on 10/5. The fella I bought it from wants first crack if I ever sell it. Also the '78 Kvale he sold me, probably the '83 DiNucci, too.

It's original paint, but somehow/somewhere the painted to match pump did not make it to me with the frame. John Murphy told me this customer was a body builder, so he built the frame with a heavier downtube, 19/22 wire thickness, or 1.0/0.7/1.0 (1/7/1).

I think it's very cool, btw, that these builders can remember these details after all these years. They both have a heckuva lotta frames under their belts since '81/'82. Murphy can look at the build sheet and see a heavier downtube was spec'd, that's easy, but remembering it was because the guy could bench press a gazillion pounds is remarkable.

That's a Jim Merz tripelizer ring on the crank, and I don't have two identical cranks, it left the Weigle for the Columbine. Likewise the tan Brooks Team Pro, it got moved from Weigle to Columbine.

Wonder how a frame would look with the reverse paint scheme, the Dark Caramel main with Silver panels.

pcb 

Ooh! Looks like the Brooks Team Pro has a nice smudge of anti-seize on it. Dang that stuff get everywhere!

RobbieTunes

Paramount connection



I’d say “Keeper of the Flame,” but it’s an ‘86.

Fun stuff

Don’t want to lose that binder bolt.

bikingshearer 

1978 Eisentraut "A." The pride of Oakland.

tricky 

Not Vintage, but classically styled. 2007 Lemond. Made in USA of US made True Temper OX Platinum. (Ignore the missing front fender. I fixed it the next day)

Btw, anyone know who built these?

pcb 

Trek still had a licensing deal with Greg Lemond in '07, so the frame would've been built by Trek in Waterloo. The Whitewater factory got wound down in '04, I think. Not sure if Lemond production was always in Waterloo, or whether some/all production was in Whitewater for a time.

noglider 

I have one rockin' American steel frame. It's a McLean, a rather rare name as the builder died suddenly at the age of 29.

He build this one in 1982, and the original owner decided it was too small for him. I bought it in 1983. Around 1991, I had it modified and repainted by Weigle.

I originally built it with mostly Campagnolo Nuovo Record except for Super Record chainrings. Nowadays it's a frankenbuild with modern components except that I still have the Campagnolo brake calipers.

mrv 

Yes. New for 2019 with rim brakes.

jdawginsc 

Columbine. Some of the most beautiful bikes ever made.

79pmooney

American steel rocks. Steel rocks? I grew up with American, Canadian and Greenland granite rocks. Boston. The land completely shaped by the rock carrying glaciers of the ice age. Granite dropping over the entire countryside in all sizes from sand to small houses. (New England stone walls - the way to move the cleared rocks the shortest distance.)

And back to steel rocks. My Peter Mooney; probably mostly 531, a Trek 1983(?) 4something; possibly built in Japan; I got the frame without decals, and steel forks for my two TiCycles bikes; at least one 531. (The TiCycles diamonds are from that other ore. So rocks also.)

Bike rock, So do rock bikes.

79pmooney

Quick sorta Eisentraut story. Summer of 1983 I crashed my Mooney and bent the fork blades. I was living on the island of Alameda across the estuary from Oakland. Took the fork to the shop (3 miles from my house and a block from one of Alameda's bridges. (Alameda - all roads lead to Oakland, via bridges or tunnel.) It was a slow period for Eisentraut. Only person there was Ed Litton. He took a look, said it was fixable and proceeded to straighten the blades. He obviously knew what he was doing. I was impressed.


Ordered a new fork from Peter Mooney. Later that year I learned Ed had moved on to go out on his own in Richmond. I contacted both of them and arranged for the fork to be sent to me unpainted; that I would have Ed paint both fork and frame a new color. Fork arrived, I took both to Ed, got a quote for too little to mention here for a metallic Imron single color strip, paint, decal and replace headset. A week later, done. Absolutely perfect! (Well there was one flaw. A tiny pinprick. By the tire on the right chanstay, Once the bike hit the street and saw its first dirt, I could never find it again.


Now that paint has many chips, all earned. And much of it looks as perfect as whan it left Ed's. (The beauty of a quality Imron job.)


So while this is a very tangentially Eisentraut post, Eisentraut will always denote for me professionalism and quality at the highest level. (And I love seeing Ed Litton's bikes and seeing him at the shows in years past.)

gomango

Some nice pics of my McLean.

Better than I could shoot, for sure.




McLean M05030

gomango

Another keeper for me is my Hollands.

EL-OS goodness, with a light touring possibility as well.

Again, an old pic but you can get the idea,

A lot of other bikes have come and gone, but this one is an all time fav.

fender1

My “new to me” 1978 Tom Ritchey:

gomango

Your Ritchey is gorgeous.

It looks like it's brand spankin' new.

fender1

Thanks! It is a fresh re-paint from Franklin frames. I got it from Philly CL after it had been sitting in a damp basement for 15ys. The top tube guides had rusted off, there was quite a bit of rust spider-webbing under the paint and at some point along the way someone took a drill to the front and rear fork crowns to mount recessed brakes.

The rear triangle was out of alignment as well so I had it cold set to 130. Its running a 10 speed, 12-30 rear and 46/30 Sun XCD Chainrings. Super sweet ride!

gomango

They did a fantastic job on the color.

It's sooo close to the original.

....and a great decision on the drivetrain.

I'm inclined to go with the same plan on my Bilenky this winter

Practical, strong performance and doesn't cost a paycheck if you shop it well.

Again, congrats on your nice Ritchey.

It's a real keeper.

tkamd73 

Agreed! I’ve got 3 that are legit American steel.
Tim


71 Schwinn Sports Tourer

88 Trek 400t

91 Waterford Paramount OS

bikingshearer 

Ed Litton has painted five frames for me (including my Eisentraut). He does very good work at a fair price. His shop is a museum of fantastic steel frames (it could use a curator) . Best of all, he is great guy with tons of C&V knowledge that he enjoys sharing. I feel very fortunate to live a 20 minute drive from his shop.

Germany_chris

Sure I’ll post another picture of the DD




it did get a new driveline the other day, a new seat post clamp yesterday. Hopefully my matching wheel with dynamo will be done this week.

tricky 

Awesome, thanks! I've always wondered. I didn't realize Trek was still making steel frames in the US in '07.

pcb 

I don't know exactly when Trek stopped US frame production, I was just using Sherlockian deductive reasoning. Waterloo/Whitewater were their only US production facilities, so since Whitewater shut down on '04, and your '07 model has a Made In USA sticker, ergo dipso facto unum (I don't really do Latin...), it was built in Waterloo.

Whitewater was a pretty incredible operation. Trek built lower-end bikes there price-competitively with Giant/Merida for quite a while. They brought in raw tubes for frames and giant long aluminum extrusions for rims, built their own frames, rolled their own rims. The mostly robotic rim-rolling/welding machine was very cool. The factory was close to a local technical high school, so they never had trouble hiring welder graduates.