nishikiroadace

Operation turned out to be a bit more troublesome than expected. Haven't had much chance to do work to the 1981 RIH, other than cleaning and swap out the front brake

The headset is Dura Ace, rest Cinelli and Campa.

jerbo

Nice, I just saved a nice RIH from the scrapyard, in a very nice shape. Fully Campagnolo fitted. Will try to post pics when I am allowed to (only 9 more posts to go...). Frame decal says Bustraan Holland, frame number #833 , anyone got some details on tracing that and find out some bike specs?

non-fixie 

Welcome, jerbo ! Saving a RIH from the scrapyard is always good. Where is the serial number located?

jerbo

At the lower balll head (near fork)!

non-fixie 

833 is either a pre-war bike, or I'd have expected more. Something like this perhaps?

jerbo

No its a perfectly clear number '833', very clean. Full Campagnolo Nuovo Record equipped.

non-fixie 

I added another RIH to my own stable. A rather unusual one. The serial number does not jibe with the Amsterdam or Groningen numbering systems, so I'm assuming it came from Blerick. Top tube cable guides and under-the-BB-shell FD cable routing suggest a late seventies build. As does the decal style. And the serial number on the BB shell: 79-113.

I bought it because it is a RIH, it is light, and will take fenders. Should make a nice "randonneuse légčre" for mrs non-fixie.



Even with the steel rims and the sturdy tires, it weighs 10 kgs:



The steel-rimmed wheels and aero brake levers are definitely not original, the rest may well be but is a bit of a mixed bag.

Campagnolo shifters:



Shimano Crane RD:



Weinmann 605 brakes:



Davis BB shell with the serial number:



I guess I found myself another Corona-time project.

spakie

With my eighties RIH

non-fixie 

Welcome, spakie!

Pic assist:

LeoBoon

Hello Mr. Non-Fixie, lovely RiH you bought for Mrs. Non-Fixie. She is going to enjoy that bike. Here are some pictures of mine 79-125 RiH that I bought in late 1982, early 1983 from Wim van der Kaaij. As you will see it is in rough shape and has currently a mismatch of components as I took parts for other bikes I was competing on. In 1982 I returned from a 4 year long journey cycling a RIH Sport around the world from Amsterdam to India, through Asia and North America, before I returned to Amsterdam and to Westerstraat 150 where I had started from. I was welcomed by Wim and his wife and I was offered a new bike. I asked if I could have Willem Bustraan Jr. who at the age of 75 still came in a few days a week to built road racing and track bikes. More about that in my next posting.

As I had joined Club Olympia I needed a racing bike to train and race with. The Roberts racing bike that I had been racing on just did not suit me. Wim agreed and we planned to built me a racing frame later that season, in the mean time he sold me the 79-125 which was secondhand. It was someone's training bike in beautiful shape fully equipped with Campagnolo, Cinelli handlebars with tubular tires.
Wim was a bit vague about the ownership and who had built it. Hence all of these bikes with YY-XXX numbers that we don't know exact heritage off.

In the days in the early 80s I got to spend numerous hours in the workshop upstairs. Watched Wim Bustraan and Wim van der Kaaij at work on various frames, everything, the angles, tube length etc was all calculated in their head. Bustraan was not much of a talker those days where as Van der Kaaij could talk non-stop. Occasionally notes were being scribbled in little notebooks.

Would love to hear from other if there is more information on the background of these RIH bike frames with Year and Number on the bottom bracket



Rough shape from years of riding on rough roads in Canada.

non-fixie 

Thanks for posting your 79 125 here, LeoBoon! Much appreciated.

The past few days I've been trying to find out more about this number format, but haven't had much luck yet. I am looking at similar bikes from the late seventies and the early eighties, and if the numbers and their locations are following a particular pattern I'm not yet seeing it.

non-fixie 

About that pattern: I just noticed that steinbra's 791 43, according to the lower head lug .....



... has 79 143 on the BB shell:



More pictures of that bike are in this thread.

Tinkel

My RIH from 1954
Serial 5429
One of the best if not the best brands holland once had to offer

non-fixie 

Wonderful example, Tinkel! Thanks for posting it here. Great pictures, too!

Do you know anything about its history?

pullup

Great RIH Tinkel
Very pretty bike

LeoBoon

The workshop above the RIH shop on Westerstraat 150 is where all the magic happened. That is where most beautiful frames where built, and where "vakmanschap is meesterschap" (craftsmanship is mastery) I had the pleasure of watching Willem Bustraan Jr. and Wim van Der Kaaij create superb frames by hand. We all have seen the YT videos of How a RIH is made, seeing VanderKaaij in action. Here are some pictures of Bustraan working on frame 9606 in Nov/Dec 1982.



Fishing the chain stay bridge

Tinkel

Yes it is nice i wont deny that

I just love owning things old as it has a soul

The story is that the 1st owner as a boy wanted to race, but was not allowed by his father.
Somehow went against it and was able to convice the willem bustraan jr that he was worth a rih ....
Funny when dad was looking one day in the monday morning papers he noticed the name of his son in the sports section and wondered if that was his sons name even though he had forbidden him to .... no he was convinced he wouldnt ....

Ill post some more pix

non-fixie 

Wow, LeoBoon! I don't think many people have the build of their bike that nicely documented. Very, very cool to see the old master at work. Thank you very much for sharing these pictures.

BTW, very interesting bike as well. Touring bikes from the Amsterdam shop are few and far between. Great to see another one.

non-fixie 

Thank you. Great story!

LeoBoon

non-fixie 

Thanks for the additional pictures, LeoBoon !

I find this detail particularly interesting (and puzzling). 09072? Any idea what this number is about?



BTW, if you haven't seen it already, here's the build record from the RIH shop. Confirms both of you are real!

LeoBoon

Well Non-Fixie, I was ready to add a comments on the bottom bracket numbers. Here are the photos of the head tube and the bottom bracket. I must confess I did not look at the bottom bracket of this RIH until I got the red 79-125 out of my shed a few years ago. When we communicated via private message we both hoped to get some answers from others on the YY-### bottom bracket mystery.
Here is what I know:
I was in the workshop when Wim Bustraan jr. stamped the head lug numbers 9606 in the frame. I also saw him do it on some other frames. And as you see in the shop pictures there were various cardboard boxes that held BB shells, lugs etc. The BB that RIH used came from Davis Components Ltd, in Four Oaks in the Midlands, UK. Among other products, Davis manufactured many elements used in bicycle frame manufacturing, including sand casted Cinelli style fork crowns. The company was formed in 1928 and dissolved in 2009 after 80 years in business. Their bottom brackets were stamped with their company name, the angle of the seat tube (60) and down tube (62) and a serial number.

Not until I came to work in the Andrew Hague factory in Wales as assistant manager and visited various custom bike builders in their workshop in the UK, Belgium, Northern France and The Netherlands did I understand that most frame builders filed off the Davis serial number. The Andrew Hague ltd company produced braze-on bits for custom frame builder. From brake bridges, ferrules, cable guides, shifter bosses etc. We also sold lugs and tubes (Vitus). We also started a sewing floor and produced pannier bags and undersea pouches etc.

As I might have told you, I got to spend some time with frame builders both in Europe and North America and I found that most of them (not all of them) where not very social, easy to get along people. Some where gruff and with a temper. What I learned though is that most frame builders speak with the flame of their torch, they communicate with steel,. They are masters of frame building, not bookkeepers of records. SO here goes the journey of discovery.

I don't know if others have found themselves with a RIH frame where there are numbers on the head lug and on the bottom bracket, or have frame numbers like 79-125. We love to hear from you or from anyone who has information.

non-fixie 

That is is a good question, and one that will keep me busy for a few hours this weekend. I have stuck a few RIH-branded frames in my attic over the years that I shall try to dig out and check.

LeoBoon

Framenummer: 000782378

No mystery about where this RiH Bike was made. I had spend months discussing the various components with Wim van der Kaaij including frame angles, gear ratios, centre pull brakes, wider rims, thicker spokes in the rear wheel, etc. We decided to have Cové built a RIH Speciaal, under supervision of Wim van der Kaaij with a more relaxed setup for touring. It was the first Rih bike that would be biked throughout Europe; (Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece) through Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, Pakistan to India. Besides breaking my fork in the south of India after about 18,000 kilometers, the trip went superb the first year. Broke the same fork a second time in North America in the Rocky Mountains. After almost four years on the bike, through 17 countries and 38.571 kilometers, I cycled back to the Netherlands.
On my return, I was welcomed by Wim van der Kaaij and his wife Rie at Westerstraat 150 where it all began. As I had send pictures, newspaper articles and letters over the years from the countries I travelled through and told the story of RIH everywhere on radio and tv, Wim and Rie offered me a brand new bike. I wanted Willem Bustraan jr. to built me a randonneur bike. I had been riding some 200 and 400 km rides in the USA and Canada and had designed a frame that would be a more relaxed, smooth long distance two wheeler. RiH 9606 (see post #416 & #420)
At that time, late 1982 Wim Bustraan came in to built a frame each week in the upstairs workshop. He had turned 75 years old and he wanted to retire.

The Cové built Rih Speciaal worked great those 4 years of intense touring. I also won a few road races and criteriums in Florida and in Canada on the stripped down RiH touring bike. After I got my other RiH bikes, this RiH 000782378 became my ride around town bike with a straight handlebar. Retired, like me from a life well travelled.



In the Nilgiri Hills, the day I broke my front fork

Riding a day with a fellow Dutchmen who cycled around India on an Indian made Opa fiets

With my friend Norma in Berkeley, California before I cycled across the USA to Miami

A stop in Topeka, Kansas with a new front fork.

Arriving home in Amsterdam

ciccioformaccio

Thank very very very much for your post, the story and the magnificent pictures. I would like to know more about your cycle travels. Do you write a book ? Do you publish may me a photographic book ?

I would love to hear more about your travels and your bike.