Mr. 66

I sold a Raliegh Twenty to a guy he said, "My wife is going to like this one".

I said aid to him, laughingly, "Are you sure about that?"

non-fixie 

What she actually said was probably more like "OK, I'll give drop bars a try if you really want me to", but I'm not picky.

This frame was built by Jan de Reus jr, whose shop happened to be close to one of the more successful cycling clubs, "De Bataaf". His father had been a member and made it to Dutch amateur champion in 1931. He started the shop in 1937. Many De Bataaf club members ordered their bikes from the local De Reus shop, and took them with them on their road to fame. I suspect quite a few were repainted in whatever colors their teams required.

On record, at least two Tour de France stages were won on a Jan de Reus frame. The Frisol team didn't have a bike sponsor in 1975, but did have talented riders, like Hennie Kuiper, Cees Priem, Fedor den Hertog and Harm Ottenbros. They all rode their own bikes. Theo Smit, a De Bataaf member, brought along his De Reus and won two stages.

noglider 

non-fixie that von Reus is amazing. I want to hear how this goes. Has your wife ever used brakes like those? My wife doesn't have a strong grip, and she can't use them, especially not with the original levers. Recent improvements to brakes are much kinder to people with weak grips or small hands.

BFisher

Ha, ha! The joys of spousal communication/interpretation. Neat frameset - make sure she likes the color!

I wrapped some bars yesterday. Just waiting on hoods.

non-fixie 

My wife has tried drop bars a few times, and with mixed, but less than optimal results so far. First drop bar bike I put her on was this Benotto, in 2012 or so. She got on it, but didn't even want to leave the yard. Scary!



Next up, a few years and many miles later, was this Olympique. It fared a little better. She liked the looks and actually rode it for a few miles, but decided the bars were too narrow and she didn't like the long reach MAFAC levers.



So back to touring and porteur bars it was.

Last year she bought an indoor trainer and needed a bike to use with it. Since little or no braking is involved, as the danger of automobiles suddenly appearing from side streets is minimal in our living room, I decided to give drop bars another try and put this Jonkers on the trainer. She's been riding it regularly for almost a year now on that trainer with no issues, so that gave me some confidence about her being able to get a comfy position on a bike like this:



This fall she said she wanted to try drop bars on the road, so I fitted one of her favorite bikes, her Méral, with a set, and mounted Weinmann levers, as she has small hands and these seemed to have been the favored choice by lady racers BITD:



This wasn't much of a success - she didn't feel comfortable on it. But as I didn't know what the actual cause was, and wanted to experiment with stem lengths, bar shapes and angles and different levers, I decided that, instead of countless rebuilds of the Méral, I'd build a test mule with another small frame I had lying around.

At the time I was mounting some ergo levers on one of my own bikes, and she felt them and commented how much nicer they felt than the Weinmanns. So off they came, and straight onto a pair of randonneur bars I'd selected for her they went:



Apparently the combination of the curvy bars, the short stem and the laid back frame geometry worked, and she liked this bike immediately. A first short test ride on New Year's eve was a success, an as soon as weather allows, we'll take it out for at least a 25 mile ride. Her only comment so far has been that she won't be allowed to ride L'Eroica or such on it.

So that's where the Jan de Reus comes in.

non-fixie 

Thanks! And an excellent point you make. Looks - especially color - are important indeed.

Which is why I tried to make sure that the test mule's looks (see above) were as much to her liking as I could make them, and that there was nothing to distract from the bars and brake levers.

noglider 

non-fixie your experience seems to match mine with my spouse. I tried a few vintage bikes, and she yelled "get me off this!" on each of them. She's 162 cm tall, perhaps taller than yours, and her hands are not small for a woman. Still the forward reach on most older bikes in small sizes is too long. It's not too long for men who fit those bikes. Modern bikes have shallower head angles in small sizes, and that works fine for women, along with the shorter reach. My wife's two main bikes are her All-City Macho Man, a cyclocross type bike with drop bars and Shimano brifters, and a Trek 7.3 FX with flat bars and trigger shifters. She rides the Trek more often, and she's melded into it.

texaspandj

Nice work JD, as usual.

Prowler 

My winter project Fuji continues nicely - getting all accomplished but taking all winter to do it. Yesterday I completed the wheels. Respoked the front wheel and half the rear wheel due to rusted spokes. Cleaned, new grease, tensioned and trued. New tires, tubes n strips on the shelf.

I find that with these total overhaul/preservation projects that it's a special day, in the course of events, when you "sign off" on the wheels. A milestone (or should I say kilometerstone, klickstone or something?).

non-fixie 

Well, I've got 163 cms of mrs non-fixie, so as near as no difference. Reach is indeed often an issue. I just mounted a saddle and 5cm stem on the De Reus and can get the reach within a quarter of an inch of the Snel's.



I had to look up the All-City Macho Man, as they're not sold here. That's a good-looking frame!

noglider 

Here is her bike. She bought it from whatwolf who built it up expertly. We have changed the pedals, saddle, and tires. It's a 2x10 drivetrain. One day I might change the cranks or chainwheels, as she says the bottom gear isn't low enough. This is the bike she keeps in the city, and it's not very practical, to be honest. She usually takes Citi Bike to get around and doesn't take many pleasure rides here.

cboy1980

Been working on the Colnago, putting on new brake levers (Campagnolo).

the operation

right handle fitted (back brake)

JaccoW

Did some Fidlock modding on a Carradice Junior for the SilverAce.
For those that don't know them, Fidlocks are a magnetic closure that will auto-close but are really easy to open one-handed when moving them in the right direction.

I wanted the saddlebag to carry a chain lock and some other stuff in, instead of wrapping it around the frame, but normal straps are a hassle when I'm trying to catch a train.

Pro-tip though; don't use stainless steel rivets on thick fabric like this. If you misfire one of them you will have a hell of a time drilling them out.

non-fixie 

Nice to see that these frames also came with canti posts, and not just disc brakes.

We have the advantage of living in a small rural village, so pleasure rides have a low threshold.

The major disadvantage being, of course, not living in NYC.

noglider 

For the time being, we are lucky enough to enjoy both worlds, having a home in the city and another in the countryside. We are two blocks away from the Hudson River Greenway which is a great bike route with no motor vehicles. I love it. And we are three miles from Central Park where I rode a lot when I was a kid. I still like it, but it's become very crowded.

capnjonny 

I just finished up a Peugeot mixte. This one was 58 cm!!! The sucker is huge. I swapped the 27" steel wheels for some Arya Aluminum hoops with a Suntour Perfect 14-34 cog 5 speed freewheel shifted by a Sunrace friction thumbie.. At the front I replaced the Peugeot Cranks with an SR Custom with a 42 tooth single chain ring. Someone had forced some 9/16" Lyotard pedals onto the French threaded cranks but with a lot of force I got them off and put them back on the new crank arms. to complete the white bike I rubbed out the paint with white polishing compound, touched up the nicks and scratches, and clear coated it with Rustoleum Clear Automotive enamel then put some 27" gum walls on it and a nice saddle.
The bike will go into our fleet of sale bikes at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange.

My current project is a 1972 Botteccia Special that I found in the pile at the Bike exchange as a frame and fork.
It had a terrible green rattle can paint job over the original Green Gold finish. The paint was beyond saving so I stripped it down to bare metal. I have done this a number of times before but this was the toughest job yet. The green paint actually wiped off with acetone but the gold underneath was hard as iron and the undercoat was even tougher. I used sandpaper, stripper, and sand blasting and it took days to get it to metal. The technique that finally got the toughest parts clean was to lather on paint stripper then wrap everything tightly with aluminum foil and let it sit 2 days. After that some of the paint was loose and some still hard so a second and sometimes third application was necessary . For the seat post lug and bottom bracket the only thing that really worked was sand blasting.

In case you are wondering , the entire frame and fork are chrome plated. Except on the fork tips, lugs, and stay ends there is no polishing and the chrome, while in great shape, is rough . I just sprayed a coat of self etching primer after sanding everything with 400 grit dry paper , wiping down with acetone, and then wiping with tack cloth. So far everything looks good. Next I am going to spray a white primer over the grey self etch as a base for Rustoleum Yellow. I have never done decals before but with this build I think I am going to order a set. I know this isn't a high end bike but with decals, Campy Valentino derailleur, Nervar cottered crank, and universal brakes it should be fairly period correct and hopefully will fetch a decent price for the Exchange.

Anyone ever heard of a Cote d Azure bicycle? French, 60's , or 70's , possibly Peugeot?
I am awaiting delivery on one that looks interesting in the pictures the seller posted. Specifically, it appears to have a TA cotter ed crank and a leather saddle. The seller is having a friend deliver it to me sometime in the next week or so. I can't wait.

Phil_gretz

I finished the '74 Special Road Racer today. Fortunately, I had the stem, seatpost, shifters and spoke protector in my parts stash. I'm planning to commute on it on Tuesday. Yay.

DQRider 

1984 Dawes Ranger

I've already posted this elsewhere, so apologies if you have already seen it. But this is what I've been wrenching on for quite some time now:


Now I have to wait until the salt is off the roads before I test-ride it and make final adjustments to everything. But you can see where I'm going with it, anyway. There will be no racks on this bike, only a saddlebag with a support, and a small handlebar bag. But when was the last time you saw an MTB with a hand-built Reynolds 531 frame and fork, and a wheelbase like a stretch limo? I can't wait to ride it...

.

J.Higgins 

I'll bet that thing rides smooth and creamy!

Goosecheck 

Added a taillight and headight to my Rando ride (New Albion Privateer). LEDs win the lumen/battery contest hands down. But I really dislike putting a modern taillight/headlight on a vintage or retro-vintage ride; it just looks out of place and wrecks the aesthetic. After converting a 1950s Radios dynamo taillight to battery/led power (posted previously) for my Peugeot porteur, I sought a “vintage” light for my New Albion. Online searching got me to a vendor that sells fender mount Swiss Army Military Bike style taillights that come with Swiss bike license plate. Cool! I gutted the incandescent internals, built a simple bracket to mount an LED blinky light completely inside, and mocked up a small plastic button through the lens so I can turn it on and off. Up front I found a 1950s AshFlash flashlight for $7 at the local antique shop and added a Nite-ize 75 lumen LED bulb. Bodged a bracket and mounted to the Nitto front rack. Perfect!


Swiss Bike License plate for the Canton (state) of Vaud, year 1969. My wife sees the plate “VD 69” and just says “seriously?”.

malcala622

I noticed the other night while cleaning my Giro that the saddle had cracked in 2 places. Where both rails meet the hard plastic underlay. I've decided to retire the saddle and install a Turbo.

2cam16

Not a bike, but I finally got around to making myself a cup removal tool:
60408926075__0199E8F4-4401-4D85-B9A4-2B3313489A9C by 2cam16, on Flickr

mkeller234

I’m on the home stretch with my Fuji Finest. Should be ready by the time the weather turns.

malcala622

mkeller234 That is going to be one good looking FUJI.

merziac

The "Mighty" Sugino Super/Mighty Competition, easily as tough, strong and beautiful as any other, one of if not the best in the business.