tricky 

I love it when these Communist Bloc bikes show up here. The construction and design seem so reflective of that place and time.

tricky 

Will someone please put this box design on a black tshirt so that I can buy it?

Miele Man

My sister has a hexagonal frame tubing ladies Favorit bike. She likes it a lot.

Cheers

oneclick 

Printing on black is tricky, but if this helps:

tricky 

Sweet! Thank you! One step closer...

tricky 

Will stop with the thread hijack after this, but this would look cool. This is before cleaning up the image at all. I am considering ordering a sample. Wouldn't be the worst $30 I've spent.

oneclick 

You might want to check that that green isn't supposed to be blue. I went with the box as shown, but it may have faded, and I've seen that circle-F with red -and-blue.

tricky 

You're right. It looks like it's more of a blue: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...build-fun.html

oneclick 

All it need now are pedals. It came with Atom 600s, and on dissassembly I found one had a broken cone (see the ISO sticky thread). It'll probably get some Lyotards.

Favorit made pedals and it would have been nice to have them but probably too much bother; besides, I'm gonna sell this one. Whoever buys it can look for the pedals, and the hoods, and the pump, and the Barums, and the Favorit seatpost...or maybe just ride it.

Pics were taken just after a bit of woodworking in the yard which is the source of the tiny white flakes in the pictures:

jdawginsc 

I am going to pick up Kveta Favorit this weekend (no Slovakian-Czeck names starting with an F). Not sure why I did it, but I couldn't resist...it's not like I don't have 20 projects, bike and other, rolling around.

juvela

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the combination of Favorit and Rapido transfers is interesting

"usually" the Favorit badge is employed for sports machines

the Rapido bage is commonly seen on adult transoportation type biycles such as one-speed coaster brake models, planetary 3-speeds and derailleur 5-speeds

when you have the factory and all of the transfers to hand for the various marques it must be tempting to make some combinations...

please keep us posted as you work with the new arrival


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browngw 

As you can see, my yellow Favorit has that same combination. Perhaps they both came from the Canadian spec bikes.

jdawginsc 

I am thinking of interspersing finds from the Soviet Block (including Favorit) with more user friendly pieces. Amazing how many Soviet parts are floating around in Russia, Lithuania and Latvia. They are pricey though. And my Takhion Arrow stem doesn't really fit the build...

My other inclination is to fit it out and ride it as a city bike, which is one bike type I have not ventured toward.

jdawginsc 

Could be. Wish it had a few more parts to go with it to indicate what it might have been, but as I said above, this one is on slow motion as far as the build.

jonny7

Looks a lot like my old beast. Sold a year ago.

jdawginsc 

Beauty! Like I said, not sure why I picked it up (the price sucked me in), and I am not sure what I am quite going to do with it.

juvela

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there is a period correct Favorit pillar with integral clamp but it is all steel -







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geeteeiii

One of my Harkov road bikes had been painted in a Favorit livery for some reason, guess they had more cool factor back in the soviet days. Did Favorit have any higher end stuff also?

juvela

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at the time of the cycles discussed in this thread they had a top model whose frame was eleven-tube 531c and whose kitting was all Campag NR

this was the machine employed by the Czech national team

there was a model one down from this which was kitted with a mix of Favorit and Campag NR components -




https://www.sterba-bike.cz/item/favo...rchive?lang=EN

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had the opportunity to view a new example of the one down from the top model at me lbs ~1972. frame was full Reynolds 531 with some scrolly lugs (may have been NERVEX Professional but did not know lug names at the time).

finish was a deep red flambouyant with no chrome.

kitting included Campag NR chainset, gear ensemble and hubs. Favorit brakes & pedals. can no longer recall the balance of the machine's componentry.

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have a 1985 price list from the importer. at that time the top pro model had a wholesale cost of $550.

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juvela

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@oneclick

the RNK marking on the cycle's gear block and the RENAK marking on the hub barrel refer to a subsidiary of Fichtel & Sachs called Reichenbacher Naben & Kupplungwerke located in Chemnitz.

information from disraeligears.co.uk:

Trivia - Renak

there are also RENAK branded derailleurs

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browngw 

I have started the process of bringing the '73 Favorit back to life. I've seldom seen any bike that was harder to get apart than this one. Every major part has been a struggle, and without the help of my heat gun it would have never come apart. Whatever grease was used for assembly had hardened into some kind of glue that only brute force and heat could break! I thought I would never get the bottom bracket out. It had been hanging in a workshop unused for at least 35 years.
Weighed the bare frame at 5.2 lbs, not bad. Other than some light rusting and really terrible looking factory welds it looks good. Unique stops look pressed in place cable .
I will update as I go and find out new things about the bike.

BB weld


Some of the epoxy grease!

Different style headset.

Welds all over.

Crimp on original shift cable looks like pressed cable.

browngw 

Work is progressing . Cleaning rusty spokes is just not fun. Front hub looks like Velo marking?

browngw 

Things are coming together on the Favorit. Both wheels have been cleaned, trued and new bearings. I had to modify an extra Park FR4 freewheel remover to get the freewheel off. It is a 13T to 23T and won't go back on. I'll take advantage of the SR rear derailleur and put a SR 14T-28T I have surplus. The CR is 52-46 and doesn't give very low gearing. The original pedals cleaned up very nicely.

juvela

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great to see it moving forward!

thanks very much for posting these updates

fine work being done

do the pedal dust caps snap off so the pedals can be disassembled?

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freewheel removal tip -

on these two notch types with the raised ring never attempt removal with a tool which lacks a guide ring. use one with a guide ring such as Campag, Shimano DuraAce, Bicycle Research, etc.

without a guide ring things can shift under load, no matter how tight one makes the tool, damaging the removal ears and rendering removal more difficult in subsequent attempts


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noglider 

I don't think I would have the patience to work on something at this quality level. I admire that.