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Stupid, but nice

Old 03-28-21, 12:26 PM
  #1  
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Stupid, but nice

I really don't need anymore bikes, especially no extra copies of bikes mrs non-fixie and I already own.

Yet when this Méral frame popped up in the local classifieds with a seller thirty minutes away I couldn't resist. I like the brand, the story behind it, the builder, and mrs non-fixie says her Méral is her favorite bike. And they do not show up very often in my area.

So, for the price of a cheap pair of tires I got me another one. It has a few more braze-ons, so I expect it to be a little later.



The "MERAL" decals look like an afterthought, and are probably not original, as are the Reynolds decals. Camus tubing seems more likely.





This one has Gipiemme dropouts, instead of the proprietary Méral items:

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Old 03-28-21, 12:47 PM
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-----

who knew that Albert produced frame tubing?!?!


---

am picturing mrs. non-fixie having to deliver non-fixie his meals as he is seated before the computer screen compulsively poring over the listings at marktplaats


-----

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Old 03-28-21, 02:52 PM
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I chuckle when you quote a time reference for picking up a bike... wouldn’t 30 minutes put you on the other side of the country ?

Nice looking frame! Are the HS cups painted as well?
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Old 03-28-21, 03:17 PM
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Originally Posted by juvela
-----

who knew that Albert produced frame tubing?!?!
---
am picturing mrs. non-fixie having to deliver non-fixie his meals as he is seated before the computer screen compulsively poring over the listings at marktplaats

-----
Apparently Albert had a rather nice operation going on in Tonnerre, France.

BTW, I'd appreciate you not mentioning this arrival to mrs non-fixie just yet. Need to find the right moment, you know ...

Originally Posted by 3speedslow
I chuckle when you quote a time reference for picking up a bike... wouldn’t 30 minutes put you on the other side of the country ?

Nice looking frame! Are the HS cups painted as well?
Yes, it was near the border.

Thanks! I'd actually bought this frameset based on a picture in the ad w/o a headset, but when I arrived to pick it up, the PO had mounted what he said was the Miche that it had come with. That was a nice surprise. Looks like it came in white originally.



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Old 03-28-21, 03:28 PM
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Originally Posted by non-fixie
Apparently Albert had a rather nice operation going on in Tonnerre, France.

BTW, I'd appreciate you not mentioning this arrival to mrs non-fixie just yet. Need to find the right moment, you know ...

-----



what be the plan, "temporary" storage at a friend's estate?


-----
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Old 03-28-21, 03:40 PM
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Originally Posted by juvela
-----

what be the plan, "temporary" storage at a friend's estate?

-----
That won't be necessary. Where better to hide a tree than in the forest?
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Old 03-28-21, 03:57 PM
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-----

au sujet de sequestration of new arrivenations -

one o' me other interests is coffee wherein i used to participate in some online coffee-related fora

some of the forum members are much like the vintage bicycle crowd in that their equipment holdings have a tendency to multiply...

enthusiasts often purchase commercial equipment for home use

one fellow bought a big commercial coffee grinder designed for use with an espresso machine. it was a heavy duty model and stood about one metre tall. he made a photo of how he "hid" it from his wife. he placed it on a side table in the living room and placed a lamp shade on top.

it was a hilarious image. would love to find it but the forum has had thousands of posts on that thread in the interim...

all best wishes to our favourite forester

-----
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Old 03-28-21, 04:10 PM
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Originally Posted by non-fixie
That won't be necessary. Where better to hide a tree than in the forest?
Hahah
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Old 03-28-21, 04:14 PM
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I love it! The internal brake cable routing on a (semi?) mixte is cheeky.
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Old 03-28-21, 04:17 PM
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Dig it!
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Old 03-28-21, 07:55 PM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by non-fixie
That won't be necessary. Where better to hide a tree than in the forest?
“What, that old thing back there? I forget- feels like I’ve had that one for ages...”
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Old 03-28-21, 08:12 PM
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Originally Posted by 3speedslow
I chuckle when you quote a time reference for picking up a bike... wouldn’t 30 minutes put you on the other side of the country ?
It almost would be if we could ride the speeds North Carolinians actually ride, as opposed to the stated speed limit. Oh, and traffic jams around the big cities of course.

I spent a few weeks there a couple of years ago while my girlfriend was doing research in the state. I don't think I saw a single car NOT doing 10-20 mph over the legal speed limit on the highways.
Took her some time unlearning when she came back to the Netherlands as we have a lot of fixed average speed check systems. And doing 15-30 kmh is a nice €147 - €294 ($173 - $346) ticket delivered to your doorstep in 4 days.

Nice bike @non-fixie ! Looks like it came with an F A G/SKF bottom bracket. Do you already have the tool for that?
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Old 03-29-21, 05:40 AM
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Originally Posted by Charliekeet
“What, that old thing back there? I forget- feels like I’ve had that one for ages...”
-----



reminds me of the lady who sees a dress she dearly loves and "has to have"

she researches and finds the maker but lo' it is difficult to find one in her size

she performs still more due diligence and eventually locates one

then she has to figure out how to pay for it and decide upon what item/items in her regular budget to do without

the first day she wears it when she receives a compliment on how nice it looks and how beautifully it suits her she replies "oh, this old rag? i was cleaning out the closest in our back bedroom the other day and ran across it at the back. thought i give it a whirl for old time sake.."

-----
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Old 03-29-21, 03:10 PM
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Originally Posted by JaccoW
(...)
Nice bike @non-fixie ! Looks like it came with an F A G/SKF bottom bracket. Do you already have the tool for that?
Thanks! I need to check whether I have the correct tool. It looks like they use the same format as some of the later Campagnolo cups.

Not that it matters very much, as those nylon cups apparently have a tendency to disintegrate at the first try with any tool. Anyway, the BB is actually very smooth, so I'll leave it be for now.
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Old 03-29-21, 04:42 PM
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Originally Posted by non-fixie
That won't be necessary. Where better to hide a tree than in the forest?
I am still laughing at this.
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Old 03-29-21, 05:05 PM
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Originally Posted by non-fixie
That won't be necessary. Where better to hide a tree than in the forest?
that has mostly worked for me....until it didn't..... my wife who could not tell the difference between a mixte and a fat tire snow bike took about a millisecond to note the de rosa red color of a new acquisition
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Old 03-30-21, 11:32 AM
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Originally Posted by juvela
-----



reminds me of the lady who sees a dress she dearly loves and "has to have"

she researches and finds the maker but lo' it is difficult to find one in her size

she performs still more due diligence and eventually locates one

then she has to figure out how to pay for it and decide upon what item/items in her regular budget to do without

the first day she wears it when she receives a compliment on how nice it looks and how beautifully it suits her she replies "oh, this old rag? i was cleaning out the closest in our back bedroom the other day and ran across it at the back. thought i give it a whirl for old time sake.."

-----
From "It's a Wonderful Life":
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650...ters/nm0002108
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Old 03-30-21, 12:38 PM
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Originally Posted by squirtdad
that has mostly worked for me....until it didn't..... my wife who could not tell the difference between a mixte and a fat tire snow bike took about a millisecond to note the de rosa red color of a new acquisition
(WARNING: generalization ahead!) If there's one thing in which women differ from men when it comes to evaluating bikes, it's the importance of color.

When I found mrs non-fixie's Méral a couple of years ago, and showed it to her, she didn't like it much. Mainly because of its color. "It's a bike and it's beige".



I took note and even though the "beige" is very much a Méral original color, I went looking for another color, as close as possible to one of the other Méral colors as I could, and repainted it. I think it's too green, but it worked. Much better!

I also changed a few other things I knew would be important later on:

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Old 03-30-21, 12:48 PM
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Originally Posted by squirtdad
that has mostly worked for me....until it didn't..... my wife who could not tell the difference between a mixte and a fat tire snow bike took about a millisecond to note the de rosa red color of a new acquisition
I kept it in a box for a couple of months until a set of wheels was acquired. Then it hung next to the red Langster for several months as it was periodically built. Then after the build it took another couple of months before discovery. I fessed up but stated "New cat, new bike."
PXL_20201123_024404099.NIGHT on Flickr
late 80's De Rosa Professional on Flickr

A few residual discussions and then done.
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Old 03-30-21, 12:54 PM
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Originally Posted by SJX426
I kept it in a box for a couple of months until a set of wheels was acquired. Then it hung next to the red Langster for several months as it was periodically built. Then after the build it took another couple of months before discovery. I fessed up but stated "New cat, new bike." A few residual discussions and then done.
my replacement for the de rosa (your build of its is killer by the by) was an 85 team miyata in addtion to the 84 team miyata. When asked the difference, I started in on durace friction shifting for eroica/heroica rides vs modern 105 5800 brifter groups, here eyes glazed over and she dropped the conversation. She did notice the 14.5 foot kayak in lime green....but we had discussion about that ahead of time.....
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