jamesdak 

Well this morning is another perfect example of why I'm getting rid of these. Spent hours the morning in the yard working. Knees now aching so bad I can't hardly walk but I've spent the last 30 plus minutes looking all over the house and the yard for my freaking glasses to no avail. No clue what I did with them so of course now I'm frustrated and mad as hell. Same as happens when I try to work on a bike. Set a tool down, never leave the room and them spend 20 minutes trying to find where the heck I put it....

SurferRosa

I've found it's really difficult to find my eyeglasses if I'm not wearing any. I bought a few different, far less expensive pairs from Zenni online. I'm really happy with them.

jamesdak 

Fortunately mine are just reading glasses.

And...I just found them. For some reason when I put the smokey work clothes in the washing machine I also grabbed the glasses from somewhere or had them in my hand or something. Anyway they were in the washing machine with the load of clothes I had just washed. Nothing had pockets that the glasses could have been in so I have no clue how I did that.

SpeedofLite 

Interesting. Thanks for the insight!

jamesdak 

Just got back from meeting the guy who took two of the bikes yesterday. Two more gone and this in exchange. I think it's around a 2000 De Rosa Primato (Neo Primato) but don't know for sure. Racing T setup with Chorus bits,Mavic Ksyium SL SCC wheels with Continental Gran Prix Attack in front and Gran Prix Force on the rear. Easton EC90 fork, King Headset, FSA bars and the S&S couplers. Got a hard shipping case and all the tube protectors. No wrench for the couplers but I can sort that out just. Bike weighs 19 lbs 11 ozs with a set of Look Keo pedals. Bikes marked as a 57 on the BB but I got 56cm CTC on both the seat tube and the top tube. Also has the Diamant type diamond shaped chainstays on the frame that is made from Genius tubing. No idea what I'm going to do with this yet..

Pics as I got it:


Nice blue color

Genius tubeset

Decent Chorus Ergolevers

Mavic wheels

More Chorus

Triple RD

Triple FD

My first, and probably one, coupler bike

Never had bars shaped like this before

Sedisport gold chain that looks new, new DT shirters, new lockring, new DT cable stops, cable guide, and some other misc stuff....

I have no clue what I'm going to do with this yet. May just clean it, service it, and sell it. Or ride it, who knows?

Bad Lag

I tried for over a month to order one of those Guv' nors. I couldn't find anywhere to even order the darned thing.

I ended up building my own from a Specialized Stumpjumper Sport. Yes. it's in black. :-)

It is an entirely different riding experience. You will like it. As long as you are on the flats, they go surprisingly fast.

jamesdak 

This is one, or the only, U.S. distributor.

https://www.britishbicycle.com/

I placed the order Jan 3 according to my message traffic with them. Was expecting to see it May/June so this really isn't too bad I guess with the state of things in the bike world right now.

Bad Lag

Thanks for the info, jamesdak.

Those are nice bicycles. IMO, they are the epitomy of "classic" English road bikes - Guv'nor is my favorite but Clubman, Countryman and the Pashley 5 speed are my faves.

If I had been able to find a seller back when I was looking, I'd already own a Guv'nor.

jamesdak 

It does seem pretty dang nice. It arrived this afternoon and didn't take too long to put together. No instructions but no real surprises as it was mostly set up. Biggest bike box I've ever seen though, LOL!

Here's one quick picture after the first test to get a feel for it. Pretty dang smooth feeling for an initial impression.


1930's design with a modern twist!


Guess I'm getting old and slowing down a bit by moving on so many sweet road bikes for something like The Guv'nor.

Bad Lag

Enjoy the ride!

The hub brakes and internally-geared hub make that a clean-lookin' machine.

You'll like the IGH, too. When I couldn't get a Guv'nor, I splurged and bought an Alfine 8 speed IGH in lieu of the rear derailleur on the bike. No maintenance, quiet, easy to shift on the fly, can be shifted when stopped,... what's not to like.

jamesdak 

Yep...... I bought a crazy old German made Mars Trekking bike last year to be my errand and grocery getter for the next many years. 7 speed in back and a triple up front. Spent a lot of time restoring it to a work condition just to realize it's still a compromise bike and a pain in the butt to get onto when loaded. This old man isnt' swinging his leg over that milk crate and this sucker is really tall to be stepping over the top tube.


Crazy but cool bike that just doesn't suit my needs now.


So I placed one more order for a "forever" Dutch built Azor bike that will be maintenance free pretty much, last forever, and something I can ride over the next few decades even if the old body continues to fall apart. It too has an 8 speed IGH and internal roller brakes. And yes I did get a step through frame. No more leaning a loaded bike over on it's side just to mount it. :-) This baby is maxed out to include a dyno hub and lights, full fenders, racks, super strong frame and wheels, built in bike lock, heavy duty kickstand for loading and Brooks goodness for the butt. This is going to be so much better for biking with my camera gear than having to carry it on my back while I ride to the shooting location.


This is what I ordered except for changing the chainguard choice at the last moment.

Once the Azor comes in I'll take a bunch of pictures of that Mars bike and sell it local too.

jamesdak 

Well, this was the latest to go. A TSX tubed De Rosa built up with a brand new Chorus 11 speed setup and Fulcrum Racing 3 wheels.


Small frame for me but magical ride.

And as I think about it I'm probably going to list the softride too. I picked it up last fall and then a donor frame with a heavier duty beam. Plan was to swap beams and then ride it for a while just 'cause. But for the life of me I can't drive out the pin holding the beam on the donor frame. So I think instead of fighting with it I'll finish renovating the bike itself and then list them locally. Nothing wrong with the current bike other than the label for the beam is gone and I don't know the weight limit. I have ridden it and it was fast!


Keep your pedaling smooth and this is a rocket!

Then I have to pick one more to go I think. That's going to be hard. I could maybe just pass on the De Rosa I took in trade, or I do have two Giordana XL Supers and common sense says sell one. I also have the two Italian built Lemonds Maillot Jaune, the Team Z one and the blue one. The team Z is a grail so no but the blue one is redundant, sort of. But it also holds several PR's for me and spanking but with a 30 year old DT shifting bike is just so much fun. The Reus is probably my least nicest bike now but rides so good. Still it may be a wise choice. But I love the red white and blue colors. Same for the PDG Paramount, it's my patriotic ride and I just can't see letting it go.

And I do have two triples now with the De Rosa and with the Lemond Versailles. Maybe I should do some comparision climbs and see what get's up the mountains better under me. I put a lot into the Lemond but it's just your standard "spine" framed Lemond and I have no real attachment to it. Don't even find it that comfortable on a normal ride. But it's one of my lightest fully built rides at 18 lbs 4ozs sporting some really nice November wheels and a lot of new Dura Ace parts.

Anyway, got my second Covid shot yesterday and just sitting here musing about the bikes as I fully "enjoy" the effects of that second shot......

toyotus

WOW!!!! Buy MORE! ride MORE!

jamesdak 

Well....it's finally raining here right now which is awesome. Worse drought since I moved back 15 or so years ago. Anyway, figured I'd update this a bit since there's been some changes.

First off I did wind up sell the Versailles. Had a family looking for bikes for their two teenagers come by. They bought the Lemond and then some how talked me out of the Reus I thought I'd never let go.




These bikes going out also included this one coming in. A pretty dang nice Klein Quantum II. Rides so much better than I expected an aluminum bike too. In fact I now have an unreasonable desire to spend money on this one just to get the weight under 18lbs because it's so close. Hmmm, cheap carbon tubulars....



Oh and around this time I finally gave in and got this bike that had been listed locally for over a year. It is in pretty much mint condition, a beautiful red color, and a Pinarello. How do you resist that???!!!



Then yesterday the funky cool AZOR step through I had custom ordered awhile ago came in. Took about 20 minutes to slap it together. They did a great job packing and shipping it and their was hardly anything I had to do. I did check the headset and front hub before assembling in found there well greased. Unlike the Pashley I got a while bike this didn't really even need any adjustments to the mechanicals to get it going. It's obvious they fully built this up and tuned it before shipping. I'll post better pics somewhere later but here it is this morning in the garage. I already swapped my crate over from the Mars bike onto it.


This is the Azor, 8 speed IGH, dynamo front hub with front and back lights, heavy duty racks, Brooks sprung saddle, upgraded roller brakes, and racks front and back with a frame lock.

The Guv'nor with a few customizations. Been using this one after dinner for cruising around the area for a second daily ride.


And speaking of the Mars Bike. It's now unneeded with the Azor in so I listed it for sale locally. Then my son hit me up wanting to know if he could swap the Schwinn 684 I gave him for it. So the Mars may be gone but it looks like the Schwinn is coming back in. Sorta happy about that because I never really had that one in my hands long enough to give it a fair shake.


A totally funky and cheap bike with a lot of actual capability.


The adventure continues......

BikingViking793 

Thanks for sharing all the pictures. Fun to look through.

Kobe 

With all of the recent comings and goings its hard to tell if you're actually down or up. At least you're having fun and trying some new rides.

delbiker1 

Hot damn jamesdak , just never ends. If someone is contemplating a build but not certain what to do, this thread is a pictorial on a whole lot of slick ideas, particularly for a classic look.

Charliekeet

Inspiring!

jamesdak 

I am down for sure. Used to have bikes leaning on both sides of that back wall, another one leaning against the rack on the left, one bike in between each rack on the right and then another 4 or 5 bikes scattered around the house. Now, all the road bikes fit in here without any of that and excluding whatever is on the wall by by front door that is the next to go out on a ride.





I was at around 35 road bikes, not at 18.

AdventureManCO 

jamesdak

Where are you at now? Any new updates? This thread is absolutely wild...and a great read for someone who hasn't read it yet. There has to be some new updates.

And, while I feel like I shouldn't ask the unanswerable question, I know everyone who reads this thread (including me) is thinking of the same question...

What is, or was, the best??? Best riding, best feeling, however you want to describe it. It is not often that someone has gotten to rotate through so many high end C&V bikes.

If it would be even possible to answer such a question, it would almost make me want to sell my entire collection, and then just get one of those, whatever it may be.

EDIT: Just found this post.

georges1

I once tried a merlin titanium road bike years ago and I found the same problem.

jamesdak 

Well, since this has been revived. Let's do a little update.

The second De Rosa went back out the door. Fine rider but just never really connected with it.



Then the KHS ZH2B Aero Comp came and went. Another case of I just wanted to check out something different. It was a much nicer built bike than I expected and I put a lot into this one just to pass it back on. Fun winter project for sure and nice to get it back out in use with another rider.



The Klein Quantum II was sold to another local also. I preferred the ride of this one over the CAAD 8 Optimo but I put way too much money into the Cannodale making it stupid light and would never recover even half the cost. The Klein went to a fella who owns a local composite repair company so now I have an "in" if I even need some carbon fiber work done. The guy bought it to commute in town on but quickly killed one of the tubulars. I just hooked him up with another set of wheels/tires as I don't want anyone ever unhappy with a bike they got from me.



I also sadly let my beloved Lemond Maillot Jaune go. Logically it was redundant since I had gotten the Team Z one but this bike had given me sooooooo many great rides and still looked almost mint. A local Campagnolo cycling nut like myself got this one. If I remember correctly one of his daughter's friends had fallen in love with steel bikes and wanted one. He got it to sort out for her. He's a cool guy I've dealt with before and had some time as a racer. Won't touch any Shimano though, LOL!


The Serotta CSI was let go too. Absolutely gorgeous and fast bike but sometimes it could have a tad harsh ride on the roads up here. Had this one a lot of years but finally felt it was time to let someone else enjoy it.


And while not C&V I had a full on beast of a Trek MB pass through the house. I'm an old vet with lot's of broken bits to include a messed up lower back. I hadn't really had any major issues with it for a couple of years so last winter I decided to finally get back into some mountain biking. Bought the bike in the dead of winter. Unfortunately twice in the early spring the back "went out" again really bad. Down for days. One time I was literally just walking across the living room floor with a Garmin mount in my hand. They scared me off of trying to abuse the body, banging it around in the mountains. So a local teenager got a steal of a new bike with about 4 or 5 test miles on it. But he had saved the money up himself and not someone that was going to just flip it. Another feel good moment as something good came out of it.

John E

I was thinking the same thing, as I contemplate exactly what I want to do with my 1962 Carlton. Relatively wide tires, e.g. 700Cx35, are definitely in my plans for it.

jamesdak 

And I still have had brought more back in, LOL! Resistance is futile.

This old Trek was picked up as another good local deal. Had a few easily sorted out issues. Mainly got it to give me another light, stiff, triple for the long mountain rides. This old girl was pretty dull when I picked it up also but a couple of rounds with paint polish has it gleaming exceptionally well. Better than the pictures can show. My knees have really gotten bad now to the point of I'm almost always in pain. So this seems like a smarter choice for me to use now in the mountains as I am a bit of a masher.



This C4 Air One came from an old racer just a couple of miles from me. He was moving to a new house and selling off this and a beautiful Cannondale. It had been listed for awhile and he kept dropping the price. I finally broke down and got it. This is one of the earlier monocoque bikes from Europe. It's quite a sweet looking bike to me with a nice Campagnolo setup. It got more than it's share of rides last year for sure. But....I may try to move it on locally in the spring to make room.



And then one of my most modern rides. A Cannondale CAAD8 Optimo. Picked it up for $300 in SLC and was told it was an old team bike. I haven't confirmed that but I did find a Paramount Racing Team from the right timeframe that was associated with the Orange County Wheelman. I just couldn't get anyone from the club to respond confirming things. This was a light bike and one I spent stupid money on as a silly weight weenie project. Got 'er under 16 lbs and it feels so light and fast on the road. But it's times aren't really better than a lot of the other bikes. Still I love the red, white, and blue scheme on it and have no plans of letting it go.



Then there's the really early Calfee Tetra Pro. Bought a long time ago as a frameset and sorta forgotten about. Was holding off on it while trying to find a Greg Lemond Decaled one that wasn't crazy money. Finally "rediscovered" this and built it up with some Campagnolo parts I had on hand mostly. This was surprisingly a disappointment on many rides. Just didn't feel "alive" to me. I kept trying different tires/wheels on it until I put on a set of beloved Zonda wheels. BAM, now it transformed into a bike worthy of it's reputation! I will say this bike is absolutely beautiful and no pictures can capture the gloss and translucent qualities of the paint. What shows up as black is really a black and blue marbled paint that shows the carbon weave underneath when you have it out in the sunlight. This was one of the earlier machines with the little chainring clearance issues. So I had to do a lot of research and then size out the right Phil Woods BB to work on it.



The "more modern" approach continued when I picked up an Ebay frame. Crazy looking Coppi I couldn't find much out about. Came in with these crazy, oversized, shaped tubes all over it but without much weight to it. Built up with a pretty much full Dura Ace groupset. I really fell for this one hard. It's stinking fast to ride and really carries speed in the mid 20 mph range so well. It looks like it would beat you to death on the rough chipseal roads but it actually doesn't. I probably put more miles on this one than any of the others last year.



I also lucked into this beauty. It was offered up over on Paceline with some other really nice bikes. The owner had died unexpectedly and his widow was selling the bikes through a forum member. I initially commented on how beautiful it was but the timing was bad for me to spend the kind of money this bike was worth. I came home from a ride a week or so later to a PM from the guy helping to sell this. He said she really wanted them gone and was taking offers. I said the bike funds were low right now and then my offer would be too low but he said go ahead. So I wound up with this for way less than it's worth. What an amazing ride on the road as they rear really does soak up the rough sections while staying fully planted. The build quality and paint are off the hook as one would expect with a David Kirk/Joe Bell work of art. I still feel guilty about what I got it for but I had just fully paid for the new Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk and my bike funds were depleted. Maybe the biking gods smiled on me that day as payback for all the sweet rides I've passed on at a loss.



Then another local find last year. Another bike I've never seen or really paid attention too. It had been in the local ads for months and I finally went and got it. A bit rough with some tune up work that was only a few years old. But it still had not been ridden since them. The seller was the local owner and got it when he was 12. It had been hanging for around 20 years or so. Paint has more damage than you see in the pic but from 10 ft she looks great. Basically refurbished, degreased and relubed, polished and then started to enjoy this one. It's a bit larger than I prefer but so wonderful on the roads. I put a lot of miles on it after I got it. I've got this one listed locally to make room but won't be sad if I keep it. I've got a mint set of Suntour Cyclone parts ready to go on it if I do keep it. The factory paint job on these must have been something to see because enough of it still exists to tell it was something special.



Did about a 3 hour round trip to pick this Peugeot up. I had ridden one all over Germany in the 80's and had been lusting for that same bike again for many years. This showed up locally and I grabbed it. Older gentleman had "refurbished" it. Powder-coated the frame and then built it up with period correct French parts. He got injured though and was out of riding. To be honest the rebuild wasn't well done with a lot of issues. But I was able to sort things out, upgrade a few things and then set it up how I wanted it. I think it looks very sweet now for a "lower end" model and the ride with the fat, cushy tubulars is outstanding. This is a keeper unless I finally spot that champagne brown one like I had.



I continued to "get back to my roots" with another DT build. A ratty ol' Raleigh Team USA bike. I had a pretty much mint pair of these in the wrong size years ago that I had let go. Always wanted another due to the paint job and finally paid too much for a frameset. Built it up mostly with a mint early setup of Suntour Superbe parts that a guy over on Paceline had graciously given me. Originally built it with road tubulars but decided to use it for light gravel work. So on went some old Fulcrum Racing One wheels with fat, knobby CX tires. This has been a lot of fun but the gearing is totally wrong. I need to do something about that before I kill myself in the steep mountain roads, LOL!



Then there's the too small Bianchi Trofea I got from a local I've dealt with before. It was fairly cheap but a bit rough. I got it planning to take off the mostly Suntour Superbe parts and then sell or donate the frame. But once I cleaned it up I realized it was actually much nicer than it appeared. So down the "too much money" hole I went yet again. Full refurb, sorted things our cosmetically and then totally fell in love with the ride on the road. I had a mint Campione years ago that did nothing for me but this Bianchi stole my heat. Man it just feels so right out on the road. So, I do have it listed locally now and sort of hope it does sell this spring. If it does I will seek out another celeste Bianchi in my size to build up with some mint Suntour parts I acquired. But if it doesn't sell I'm perfectly fine with keeping to ride it. I really, really like it!

jamesdak 

Last month I grabbed a dirt cheap Raleigh locally with the plans to just clean it, service it, and then donate it. It's a "lower-end" Supercourse. One of the Technium frames that had Exage 400/action DT parts on it. Had been hanging in a shed unused. Here again I discovered a pretty much mint bike under the grime with no real sign of use. So plans changed and I tore it completely down removing the Exage parts. I built it up with Ultegra/Dura Ace parts I had on hand as well as a nice set of Dura Ace/Open Pro wheels. Put way more in parts on this than it will ever be worth but I think it's a real beauty. Hopefully come spring I fall in love with the ride. Because it I don't I'm going to lose a ton of money selling this one, LOL! Oh and I managed to drop an amazing 4+ lbs off of this with all the upgrades. Crazy good and should help make it really move on the road.



Finally I picked up a couple newer late 90's rides for me. One is an Olmo Forma that appears to be a pro Team Bike. Olmo said it does appear to be a team frame but didn't actually confirm it. The seller got it from Tony Tom who had a good name in the cycling world. It's supposed to be the training bike Oscar Freire used early in his career. It does appear to be his size and does have his name on it like other examples of these team bikes. I just haven't been able to successful contact Oscar to confirm. I just finished setting this one up to be my fit yesterday. It had come with some boat anchor Mirage wheels and fairly heavy cockpit parts. I set it up more period correct with stuff on hand and dropped a few pound off of it. Still really too small for me but it's a really cool bike and if I ever confirm that it belonged to Oscar it will take over the position of honor in the bike cave. It was picked up for a decent price so even if it's not Oscar's bike the price was really good for what it is.



Then I have been wanting to try a Merckx bike since I've never had one. This beauty was offered up at a good price for the build and I jumped on it. It too came with a "history" of belonging to an old female pro. Parts of the story didn't seem to pan out but I grabbed it for the bike itself. As I've researched it turns out the bike is a nicer model than it appeared to be in the ad. Also a couple of years older. I did finally manage to contact the rider who's name is on the frame. She did not ride for this women's team and the bike was not hers. So curious why her name is on it and who did that but still totally happy about getting my hands on beautiful Merckx Corsa 01. This sucker is light and I hope it really shines on the road once I get it out. Still need to get a set of bottle cages and pedals on it but it will still be under 19 lbs when I do.



A little edit: I do have the proper blue Silva Eddy Mercks's tape coming in for this one. It's somewhere between Belgium and here. Once that arrives I'll reconsider the handlebar choice and placement for final fit and then wrap 'em back up. I replaced the mismatched brake pad holders with some matching Kool Stop ones with blue Renolds CF pads. You can see the blue pads through the back of the holders and that looks pretty cool with the rest of the blue on the bike.