shalomry

I bought this bike a couple of years ago for $300 as a grad school commuter when my old single speed was stolen and I wanted to upgrade to a nicer 'real' road bike. I rode it daily for a few years, blissfully unaware that it was probably too nice to leave locked up outside in the bike lots even on rainy days (in my defense I did store it inside my apartment at night) and that it was a bit too big for me. Recently I started learning more about bikes - vintage ones in particular - and am curious about what exactly I have here.

I uploaded photos to an album on my profile.

The decals on the bike identify it as a Simplon Vuelta 540 (I think - the numbers are in bad shape). Simplon is an Austrian brand; there doesn't seem to be much information available about its history. My best internet sleuthing found records of two other bikes of perhaps the same model for sale - one in the UK and one in Singapore. There is a decal on the top tube that reads "Intersport Spettel Alberschwende - Hittisau," referring to a sporting goods store in Austria, so I assume this bike was originally sold there. I bought it from a graduating Chinese international student, but am not sure where he got it, so the bike's journey from Austria to California remains a mystery.

Here are the details:
- The frame tubing sticker indicates it is made of Conquest Ultralight - the description reads "Multiple Short-Butted Chrome-Molybdenum Tubes". Is anyone familiar with that tubing? The sticker is also Simplon branded so it could be their name for some more well-known tubing.
- The frame is fully chromed.
- The bottom bracket and dropouts are stamped with A-PRO, which is a Taiwanese frame manufacturer that in 1986 "began a 2-year process to transform the product lines form BMX frames and Miniscooters to MTB and Road racing frames".
- The components are Shimano 600 (hubs, brakes, levers, derailleurs, crankset, pedals). Neither of the other two bikes of this model I found online had Shimano 600 components (one had RSX and the other 105), so I have no idea what the bike originally came with. Perhaps it was the customer's choice. The date codes date the components to 1991 except for the front derailleur, which is dated to 1989.
- The saddle isn't in good condition, but I've kept it since it is original. The underside of the saddle is labeled 'Velo / VL-190 / Made in Taiwan'.
- The handlebars, on the other hand, were made in Italy by Italmanubri.

I'd like to know what the value of this bike is, but more than a dollar value, I'd like to know what bikeforums' considerable expertise can say about it. When I first got a bike that actually fit me (a 1988 Schwinn Premis) I thought I would sell the Simplon, but I'm not sure now. I want to try a shorter stem - the current stem is 12cm and an 8cm stem would give the Simplon an equivalent top-tube + stem length to the Premis, and the seat tube height is okay for me. Also, I have developed a sentimental attachment to the Simplon and it feels wrong to part with something rare.

Does anybody know anything about Simplon in the late 80s/early 90s? Is this a bike worth preserving? I feel a bit guilty about abusing it and giving it a couple new scrapes and scratches.

shalomry

I feel lucky for having had this bike fall into my lap - I found it on a campus classifieds site that usually has nothing interesting, and I had no idea what to look for when I bought it. The photos were tiny and I wasn't sure about the color scheme. I've grown to love the colors and have had some decorative fun with the bar tape. This might be inflammatory but I'd really like to get some pink, gray, and black splash tape like the kind that was on it when I first got it - it's delightfully period appropriate.

shalomry

Here are the photos - sorry for all the grime:

thinktubes 

Pretty bike, with a really sweet group!

bikemig 

It is a fine bike and certainly worth restoring but it is also not something that most of us know much about. This is the first example that I've seen of this particular brand.

The frame tubing and parts are high end. A generic chrome moly/shimano ultegra bike in decent cosmetic shape is worth something in the neighborhood of $250-$300 (more in a large city, less in a small one). This bike is from an unknown manufacturer which hurts the value but it is in decent shape which helps.

The parts on this bike are highly valued by people who fix up older bikes and so the bike may be worth more as a part out than as a complete bike.