merziac

1958 Schwinn Paramount

JohnDThompson 

I worked with Chris when he was at Trek. He left Trek in the early 80s to join the Paramount group at Schwinn. Lost track of him over the years …

Shrevvy 

I have a couple I would consider good finds for me. A Della Santa and an Osell would qualify, but they are not complete bikes. I acquired this Appel at the end of summer. This pic is as purchased. I do like that Fiorini posted above. I'll had to add that to my search.

Kactus

That bike is too small for you. (And looks to be just my size.)

merziac

Technically you are probably right, commuted on it for a couple of weeks and took it on a couple of longer rides, 10mi. +. Definitely a bit challenging but worked just fine. Not really a rider at it's age but man it's cool to sail along on.

Something about tea in China?

Kactus

So. You're saying there's a chance.

merziac

Sure, with the container ship it came in it would be close.

crank_addict

Off the top of my mind, finding a NOS 1985 Ochsner full Campy from a dealer - whom closed its doors five months after my purchase. That dealer purchased it from another closed dealer (shop owner collection with a large lot of vintage MTB bikes).

Anyways, I only replaced the dried out tires with NOS period tires then waited for its maiden ride which was at the 2018 CR event.

First ride - in the rain.
Remarkably a bike like this can be found to this very day. lncludes sad thoughts of many shop closings.

JohnDThompson 

Well. Both Fiorini and Appel worked for Trek. Fiorini, as I mentioned above, left for Paramount; Appel left to work independently, a couple years before Fiorini left. There used to be a group of Trek workers who would hang out at Appel's shop on the east side of Madison. Joe Starck and Dave Tesch left to work for Masi. A couple, like me, stayed with Trek.

crank_addict

Thanks and quite a few funneled from fellow forum member's too! Goodlordie... lost count.... 7?

Poguemahone

Truly an amazingly amazing collection of amazing finds thus far. Great eye candy, this thread.

May 2019 be as excellent for you lot!

Poguemahone

It was a quarter, in a pile with some other blues and string band 78s. The bike frame was only 1,000x more!

markwesti

Cool bike you don't see a lot of silver 86's . 240 mi . New Years Eve ? HAPPY NEW YEAR !

seypat

I went to look at this Trek. Dude had it listed with dim pics in a bad part of town. In one pic I thought I saw first gen Dura Ace brake calipers. His wife's bike. She didn't take to cycling. It was barely ridden. The serial number says it's a 82 412, but the components are a little higher on the Trek chain. I was working on it today. I even made up a mostly Quasi Masi and posted it on the Breaking Away thread. If John D or another Trek expert reads this, I need to order a seat tube decal. Velocals has different types and thicknesses. I need to know which type/thickness is the best for this bike. This will be my first decal to apply. Thanks in advance.

seypat

The seller of the Trek had another bike listed also. It was his bike and had a high(for me anyway) price. It was a 1972 Condor. The guy had bought it when he was working in Europe. I researched it before I went to look at the Trek. Really high end bike. The CL ad said it had been repainted by Condor in 1987. After I bought the Trek we talked about the Condor. He sent it back to have it modernized in 87 so he could upgrade the parts. He said he couldn't afford a Campy upgrade so he put a full Shimano 600 on it. He would not go down on the price, but said he would include a box of parts he had. We open up the parts and my eyes nearly pop out of my head. I didn't have the money on me and had work related activities I had to do. I tell the guy I will contact him the next day. I brag on his bike and tell him either I will buy the bike or find a buyer for him. The next day, I go back and purchase the bike. Here it is after I got back to my office.

seypat

Now, about the box of parts. The first thing I noticed was a Suntour Superbe sealed BB still in its box with a faded purchase receipt. The guy said he was going to use it to start his upgrade, but couldn't get it to work. So he kept the Campy BB/crank. No 600 crank. In the box is the complete original 72 Campy NR group that came on it minus brake calipers/levers. The seatpost is there. The original Campy wheelset is there. All of the original Campy clamp on parts are there.(cable guides, shifter cable guides, pump holder etc.) The original Zeus pedals are there. A couple of Cinelli stems are in there. The 600 DT shifters are in there as well as a pair of Suntour ratcheting barcons. A couple of freewheels. Another Campy seatpost also. There is a 57T Campy chainring in there that the guy used for TTing. If I don't sell it, I will frame it and hang it on a wall. Other things include old NOS tubulars, adhesives etc. The original saddle and brakes from the Trek are in there. Finally, there is this bag from the Condor shop the guy got when he made a purchase there. The water bottle that came with the purchase was on the bike. It shattered when I tried to remove it from the cage. I thought I had a picture of the parts, but can't find it currently.

seypat

The only thing that confused me was no Campy brake parts. The seller was only 60, so most likely not the original owner. Condor was/still is a custom builder shop. Maybe the bike was bought from the shop after 1972. My thinking is that the bike had the Dura Ace brakes on it when he took possession of the Condor. When he did the upgrade to Shimano 600, he put the Dura Ace parts on the Trek.

shoota 

That's quite a haul seypat! I love both of those bikes.

seypat

Beautiful bike! That paint is stunning.

coolkat

Maybe not in the same league as some in this thread, but my best was this '88 Kuwahara Cascade (frameset). My beloved '87 Kuwa Shasta was bent up after i got hit by a car, and I was dreading finding a replacement. This happened to pop up just a couple weeks later, with identical geo and slightly better tubing. Such amazing luck: these kuwaharas aren't suuuper rare up here in BC, but to find one in the right size, as a frameset, and in the rarer top model so quickly is definitely amazing.

Chombi1 

My best acquisition for 2018.....My 1983 Davidson Signature.
It fulfills my dream to finally get an American built custom frameset from a well known builder.
Just cannot get enough of this bike! Rides and handles like a dream! An the build quality of the is miles better than all of my bikes.

Andy_K 

2018 was a good year for me acquiring bikes. I got a 1983 Gios Professional, a 1969 Raleigh Competition, and a 1987 Serotta Colorado, all of which I love. But definitely my "amazing find" of the year was the '70-something Stella SX-76.



I actually "found" it hanging from a hook in @gugie's workshop a couple of years ago, but 2018 was the year that I finally came to an agreement with him to take it home. A big part of the deal was that I agree to get it a proper re-paint and decals, which I was more than happy to do.

seedsbelize 

Great thread

Mr. 66

gugie 

Mine was "another" Gran(d) Sport(s), which I have dubbed the Grander Sportier after a dollop of Gugificazione: