308jerry

Stayed at a dear friends home last night, her father passed recently. When I went down stairs to go to bed, this is what I stumbled upon. A Varldsmastarcyceln seems to be in really nice condition. Her dad's favorite bike. She didn't know much about it. It was 10 degrees and the wind was blowing 40 mph or I would have taken it out for a putt. Anyone know much about this bike? Thanks ..

noobinsf 

Crescent is Swedish. It looks like a Reynolds 531 decal, so maybe the model is a Pepita, the high-end race model. That's the extent of what I know... Others will know more...

3speedslow

308jerry

The lighting was bad and the light on my phone just made more glare, so I couldn't really read what the components were It's a 3 x 5 and had a Stella Italia saddle......

styggno1

I would suggest Crescent 92320 with substituted cranks, pedals and wheels. The rear rack has nothing to do with the bike (other than being practical). Reynolds 531, Nervex lugs and most of a Campagnolo Record and Nuovo Record group suggests that (being a 92320). Sturdy bikes that has taken a lot of victorys on an amature level (olympics). No "Stradivarius" when it comes to filing, mitering and brazing. The earlier ones suffered from toe clip overlap even in the larger sizes.

76SLT 

The frames all look the same on the higher end models. If It's a 92320, it will have Campy dropouts. If they're Suntour dropouts, it could be a 92318. I'm not sure what the 92319 used.

merziac

Also sorry for your friends loss.

Your mission should you choose to accept it........

merziac

531 frame and fork, not gonna be a bad one.

Salamandrine 

I think of these as the Swedish PX10. A couple people in my bike club BITD used to ride these.

Anyhow, yes, it's a racing bike. Modified with a triple Ofmega/Avocet crankset for lower gearing, probably circa 1980 or so. This being the top end of a factory line, was not as nicely finished as the handmade Italian racers, but functionally they were equivalent. 531 frame, campy parts, what more do you need? I would consider one of the extension cages from SOMA for that campy RD, so that it can actually handle the triple. Also, looks like it might have Phil Wood hubs?

SamSpade1941 

There was one of these for sale last year near me, it was a tad big for me at 58CM or I would have purchased it. Beautiful bike

76SLT 

I picked this 92318 up last year.

merziac

That's a good analogy and while they don't have the same cred, mystique, or history in general, they are cool as heck none the less.

And besides all that, orange is way better than white.

canklecat

Nice. Good opportunity to find something in common to talk about with your friend. Sometimes it helps to ease the grief process to reminisce about the loved one's peaks, successes and things they enjoyed.

That helped me get through grieving over losing my mom in November. She had experienced such a long, gradual and inexorable decline through Alzheimer's that I'd lost sight of how much she had accomplished before then. She was a late bloomer. But she'd also been a lot of fun when she was younger, and took us camping and fishing. It helped to reminisce about those times.

Prowler 

Well, about time!! A thread that has all three Crescent Pepita colors together (orange, white and blue). Mine is a 1974 92319 (Suntour GS dropouts. The 920 has Campy DOs). Mine is a 60cm c-t-c frame. No toe overlap and, given the OPs frame size, I'll bet the OPs bike has no toe overlap. A non issue. I think the workmanship is excellent though not refined. I believe the Swedes built these to be ridden BIG miles in comfort and did not feel the need for exquisite lug filing or refined detail. And I've ridden a lot of miles on mine and am VERY satisfied. For comparison - I have a 1976 Raleigh Professional MkIV which some consider a tolerably good machine. My Crescent is an equally fine ride and (especially as they are both blue) I frequently struggle with which to take out on any given day. Both are ever ready for 60 to 80 mile days.

OP: Congrats on your "Worlds Championship Cycle". I hope it fits you and gives you years of great adventures.

BTW: I can see that my head badge and that on the white Crescent are the same. Cannot see the OPs headbadge. The design of the head badges did change slightly every couple of years in the '70s so I know our two have close build dates. Neat if the orange Pepita has the same badge.

DiegoFrogs

I'd love to stumble onto one of the better Crescents or Monarks here in Sweden, but they're quite uncommon here.

308jerry

We did talk some about it. She remembered him taking her out for rides. She said he had something or sort of a chair on the back rack she sat in facing towards the rear. Had to be somewhat scary when she was 4 or 5 yrs old, some forty years ago.. Probably not real fond memories, but memories none the less .. We talked about the toe overlap as maybe she rode it as an adolescent and how careful you had to be. Oh and thank you all for the responses, I'll pass this info on to her. I don't think she'll part with it in the near future.

styggno1

Really!? I would say the opposite. At every/any given moment there are a couple for sale. Säg till så hjälper jag dig att hitta en.

styggno1

I am somewhat known here in Sweden to down talk these Crescent and Monarks. I want to set some things straight. I do not hate them - I just do not love them. They are common here and they are put on a piedestal. You can ask any Swede (not only the bike folks but actually any Swede over 40) and they will say it is a bike made by artisans and super duper special. I believe we can agree on them being - not. What happens over here when I put forward, as I did here too above ("No "Stradivarius" when it comes to filing, mitering and brazing. The earlier ones suffered from toe clip overlap even in the larger sizes" ) it is concidered blasfemy. "You do not love them therefore you must hate them!" When all I am doing is telling facts. The other part above (Sturdy bikes that has taken a lot of victorys on an amature level (olympics) people do not listen to. I feel the same thing is going on here on OF too. No worries though as I am used to it...

To put things in perspective - I have probably owned, restored and used more Crescents and Monarks of the 92320 model than all present in this thread together. Just to give you a figure I checked my list and I have had 19 of them. They are good bikes - sturdy - and the colour is attractive (here in Sweden they are only in orange for Crescent and blue for Monark - all other colours and combinations were for foreign markets). They are not beautifully made. The quality control was mediocre at best. Were they actually used to gold medals at the olympic games - yes. Were these frames actually factory made - yes (the Pettersson brothers did not get to use Masi/Colnago/Moretti until they became pro (but still in Monark and Crescent colours and decals).

They are good users - I have never said anything else. Just do not put them on a piedestal.

Here is one I restored when it was just about 10 years old (beeing called a fool for doing it at that time in the 80ies). Even the picture is old, as it is scan of an actual photograph...

DiegoFrogs

Thanks for the offer, but that won't be necessary. I was only seriously looking 5 years ago when I first moved to Sweden and my bikes were on a boat in transit from California. I couldn't understand any Swedish at the time, and all of my blocket e-mails were quickly ignored.

Since I lost my job, and quickly exhausted all of the possibilities here in Sweden, I will almost certainly move back to the USA in the next month or so. A 'new' bike is probably not in the cards for me right now. Men eftersom jag har studerat SFI halvtid sedan december, är min svenska mycket bättre nu!

styggno1

Sorry to hear that! And/but congratulations to an extra language. You might find it will give you a niche advantage when going back to the US. Here (in Sweden) everyone speaks English and it does not give you an advantage. Finding a job in the US where you get to use your Swedish might give you an edge. Not that I believe there are that many jobs where Swedish is needed but - hey - there has to be some! Good luck and I hope your experience of Sweden has been good even if the job situation does sound like a negative.

DiegoFrogs

I think that 5 years is a pretty good run. Looking back at the information that I had when evaluating the move, it was perhaps the dumbest decision that I ever made, but the result is that it became the best experience of my life. Accepting a stable, high paying job in Silicon Valley was great on paper and the result turned out to be the worst financial decision that I will ever make in my life. That's the problem with decisions.

The language is interesting. I love going to class, and every day I felt like I understood at least one thing better. If I were to stay here, of course it would enrich my life. But once I leave Sweden, it doesn't add a whole lot of value. In my industry, even here in Sweden, Mandarin is sometimes a "requirement," German is a "nice-to-have" and Swedish is more like "it doesn't hurt!"

canklecat

Toe overlap seems to be more common when folks ride racy bikes as casual bikes. At slow speeds they'll tend to make sharp turns that wouldn't be possible at high speeds. At high speed we're leaning and banking, so toe overlap rarely happens. And using toe clips or clipless keeps the toes away from the wheel in most situations.

I suspect a more generous fork bend would fix that problem. Might make it more pleasant overall to ride. Depends on whether the owner wants to modify the bike.

It looks like a frame for someone at least 6 feet tall, and probably feels precariously tall for anyone shorter.

308jerry

Yea I'm 6 ft on the nose with a 36 inch inseam. I did not throw a leg over the bike because at the time I only assumed it was her dad's bike. As we talked about it the next morning, she gave me the go ahead to try it out when I get back there. Pending better weather .. To be honest I've never been on a road bike of any kind let alone of this caliber I'm looking forward to it ...

madpogue 

Those wheels are 27s, right? A set of 700s would reduce the toe overlap, if only by a bit.

Bittersweet story about a sweet ride.... Brave little girl, riding with daddy in that fashion. Looks like a Jim Blackburn rack; you couldn't ask for anything stronger BITD.

308jerry

We didn't talk about how scared she was..... but the look on her face told me that she was pretty damn scared and she's been through a lot in her life and is one tough gal. Might be part of the reason she isn't scared of much today....


I didn't know that 700s were smaller diameter then 27s. But I know zero about the road bikes period and less about a bike made for racing... Lol