lukasan

I went to help my parents organizing a charity fundraising today and there was this little baby who was just asking to be ridden again. For 70 euros I decided to save her from the dump.
I've never had a drop bar bike before but I couldn't resist. I guess with a little tuning this will become a great and fun way to exercise.
The frame is made by Primo Liberati a very well known bicycle shop in Rome...and it must date back to the '80s... this is all I know about this bike... what do you guys think?
Any suggestion of parts to replace/update?

I promise I will post other pictures after a nice cleanup

Grim

Nothing wrong with Suntour VX bits. If it is still tight no real reason to change unless you want to upgrade to Campy or put brifters on it.

Looks like a nice score. Look forward to the after pictures.

Grim

Yeah defiantly a 58 and ran out of seat post before I ran out of legs.

I',m a bit of a goofy build. I'm just under 6'1" but I can flat foot 35 inch stand over. Most of my bikes are 63cm but a 60CM frame is about right for my reach with an average length stem. Most 80's steel bikes the top tubes seem to run a little shorter then the newer bikes like my Canondale so the 58's just don't work.

I perfer the taller bike for the naturally higher handle bars anyway.

curbtender

I've always wondered if we had guys out hitting flea markets/estate/yard sales in Italy for thier old steel. Craigslist sucks over there, 3 post in the last month?
https://rome.it.craigslist.it/bik/1751820763.html

cb400bill

Nice bike. Other than if it needs cables or tires, I would not change a thing.

I've not heard of Liberati but they are still around. https://www.cicliliberati.it/index.htm

Bikedued

Not a lot of Volkscycles around, that's for sure. They did make high end sports tourers too, and I LOVE mine. I almost sold it
a few weeks ago, but have decided to hold onto it. 71-73 era Mark 100. Fully chromed frame with the lugs and dropouts left
chrome, early Dura Ace brakes and cranks, Crane RD. Quite a nice bike in it's day, though not a super recognized brand.,,,,BD

Sixty Fiver

If you compare the VX bits to what you were getting from the other guys at the time you will find the VX to be superior in every respect and in most cases, lighter weight to boot.

BluesDaddy

Here are some detail shots of the Shogun:









I have a couple questions, if you don't mind...
On the Suzue Sealed hubs, does "sealed" mean there is zero maintenance, or do I still need to grease and adjust them? Do you think if I put a new battery in the Cateye, it will work? I've never tried to revive an old computer.
I love this bike already. Moreover, I can't think of a single component that needs changing. The tires even look like the originals (Mitsubishi). I will move the brake levers into a more comfortable position, and at some point racks will be a good addition.

kingfish254

The one that got away.
I missed getting a Sears Free Spirit Greenbrier similar to this one for only $25. Missed it by 5 minutes. Looks like it would have been a cool Raleigh-esque bike to play with.

cb400bill

I have a Crane RD on my Viscount. It shifts great.

The seller of my Volkscycle was the OP and said that they bought it new at AEBike. The seatube does have a badly faded sticker from them, too. The OP even gave me the original owner's manual.

I did some searching around here on BF and in a thread from a couple years Sonatageek stated that a Mark XV had a 531 frame. Nothing leads me to believe that this XV has one though.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=1#post8346032

I am in the middle of tearing this one down for the typical overhaul and then it is likely destined for CL. So far, besides some grease and some cleaning, it doesn't seem like it may need more than new bartape.

Nice bike, but it doesn't fit anyone in my household.

Sixty Fiver

I love these brakes... so much so that I just snagged a set for myself.

Shimano did not seem to use these for too long as they moved to using angled models which also made many old levers obsolete due to their lower actuation rates.

lukasan

I guess very few italians know about craigslist. We prefer to advertise our used car/motorbikes/bicycles/furnitures etc. on ebay or other local websites.
Also, yard sale is not a common thing to do here as most of us don't have yards or gardens and live in buildings.

People would rather give away their old bicycles to charity associations that sell them at fundraising flea markets.
Recenlty group of voluneteers connected to the italian critical mass are collecting old, unused bicycles from garages for free. They fix them and sell them for few euros to people who want to try bicycle commuting to help the environment.

Grim

That is a sharp bike!
More often then not sealed means that their is a seal over the bearings to keep dust and rain out but not nonservicable bearings. The "seal" will pop out like the older metal caps. Just be easy on them.

Chris_in_Miami

You're not missing anything, the Free Spirit three-speeds are unbelievably flexy. I've had plastic patio chairs that were more rigid.

BluesDaddy

So, if you can't fit a 10-cog cassette on it, it is worth nothing? That's a great score on a pretty hub.

Glennfordx4

My wife rides a mint Greenbrier right now until I get her mixte built and I just picked up a men's Greenbrier for $10 when I bought my Jetter,nothing special but they aren't the worst bikes I have seen. My wife really likes hers.

Wizel603

that is only 15 minutes away from me. hmmm.
and I bought another bike just yesterday. well, I guess one can't have too many.

Sixty Fiver

A gypsy arrived here today... she runs out beautifully, the eccentric bb was adjustable, and the drum brake and dual Mafac brake lever are simply cool.

Now... if she was only a few cm smaller... I can stand over the frame and the position up top is very nice but fitting a stoker bar in the usual place will not be possible.

I am doing some bike related consulting and bike related work for an upcoming play and this bike will be used in it and afterwards it is mine to keep.

1976 Gitane tandem...

auchencrow

Holy cow Sixty Fiver ! That is the most beautiful tandem I've seen and a fitting reward for your services. (Have you reckoned how you will store it once you take possession?)

trout_smith

I almost passed this by... I always look over while commuting a heavily travelled road on the way home to see if the thrift store has any "vintagy" bikes out front. I actually pulled because I thought I saw something with the Celeste color, but it turned out to be a Roadmaster. But right next to it was this (I believe) 1974 Sprite. Some parts have been swapped out. I believe it shouldn't have drop bars. And the Shimano Tourney RD is certainly out of place. But it has the original Sturmey Archer wheelset and is in very good condition! At 60cm it may be a tad too big for me though. Nice find anyway, even if it wasn't the Bianchi I was dreaming of...



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mtnwkr

Shogun Samurai I picked up yesterday and flipped today. I like the rear stays. It rode wonderfully and I would have kept it if I could have made it fit.

Smokinapankake

Ssssssexy!

jstewse

There's some nice Shoguns on this page.

HSean

More bikes please. Four of them, one Weird Raleigh sport that makes me cunfused one random CCM girls bike and two never ones, that nice shiney red one is a Tim horton's 40's anaversary bike from roll up the rim to win. It was garbage picked! that weird hyprid in the back is actualy full suspention? I findthat abit weird.

that Raleigh has a 1978 rear hub and plastic leavered shifter but the front wheel is from an older one and the frame itself says made in england on it, plus it has frame pump mounts. I didn't think the late 70's ones had those. I think this Raleigh might of had a strange life

Sixty Fiver

It is a rather beautiful bike and is in very good condition and everything runs out very smoothly... these were sold by the thousands in the seventies and do not garner much love from serious tandem riders as they are rather lightweight and not as refined as other tandems in that their parts are all standard, or as standard as French bikes can be, and believe the stock wheels were rather inadequate.

But I can build more than adequate wheels...

Serviced the brakes last night as the housings and cables needed replacing and set up the rear brakes so they are now properly synched up... the stopping power is rather excellent and the bike can do mad skids.

The standover and reach are fine as it is set up now but with the stoker bars installed the saddle height would be far too high for me so will be looking at fitting a lower mount on the seat tube.

We are looking at getting a custom built tandem in the near future but should have fun with this and gives me a bike to loan out to people who would like to explore tandem riding.

I also know a young couple who would really like this bike so will offer it to them to use as much as they like... my friend is blind and cannot ride solo and they could use a nicer tandem than what they have now.