cudak888 

The haul:



But first...the STORY!

One of the local LBS owners got the idea that he needs to add some cute used 1970's commuter bikes to his stock, so I got the opportunity to cannonball with him to nearby Ft. Lauderdale. Here we are on the I-95, a.k.a., the I-want-a-train-not-this-deadly-highway:



Our first stop was in West Palm Beach, where we met Jack the Bike Man. A huge non-profit run by an elderly gentleman who has done a lot for the community, but gives the vibes of someone who is forever skeptical of people's motives. Jack is also a storyteller who wants you to listen and follow his life experiences, which means you should sit down and shut up, whether you like it or not. For someone who puts such a great store on respect, he showed little of it to us, and basically talked down to us as the adults in his childhood had to him.

However, his staff of young volunteers from the community were absolutely the nicest people you could ever want to meet, which suggests that Jack's old-fashioned approach to youth character building may not necessarily be without merit. Or it could just mean that some nice people are gullible, but that would do this wonderful group of teens and tweenagers a terrible disservice. They were absolutely delightful to chat with, and we talked quite a bit about Schwinn Super Sports and Sports Tourers. Two nice examples of these exact models were in the racks and made for great conversation over their minor differences and Schwinn's approach to product tiers.

I did manage to snap these Raleigh Sports-inspired pictures. I had also picked out the lovely machines behind the '82 Sports too:





My only regret was the near-mint Lemon Yellow 23" Raleigh Sports that I failed to photograph. But there's no shortage of them should I seriously want one in the future, and I'd rather deal with someone else than a clearly difficult seller. I've learned in my brief time spinning on this rock that there are some people you can communicate with and do business with. Conversely, there are those you can communicate with, but you just can't do business with. Then there are those that no matter how hard you try to find middle ground, you can't communicate with, and you can't do business with. You can guess which slot Jack and I fall into.

Jack ultimately said he wouldn't price anything and wanted his "expert" to do so - even though the LBS had called in advance about our intentions and made a 72.8 mile drive from Miami. But Jack was willing to sell the LBS a pile of 15 rusty pre-1980 machines that had been literally dumped on their loading dock: Two repop Western Flyers, three heavily pitted Schwinn Twinns, a scattering of Schwinn middleweights which were too rusty to have any real value anymore, and five absolute scrap-worthy DL-1s for $2,000.

We moved on.

Our next stop took us back south to Recyclable Bicycle Exchange, run by a boisterous, full-of-life fellow named Jeff, along with his volunteers, who donated no less than three brand-new bikes to local kids while we were there. They're closing down their excess stock warehouse, so we were given the run of it. Here, there was no question about pricing and the ones Jeff wanted to keep were marked with tags.

Unlike Jack's stock though, Jeff's has seen a lot more moisture and is a lot rougher. No, that's not a Team Pro, it's a Record with Team Pro colors. I left that POS because I had other POS'es to buy.



The LBS and myself cherry picked through the pile until we had this:



Which included a late-model, rusty Puch Rugby Sports which doesn't really deserve attention, but I've been needlessly eying since I first looked in that warehouse five years ago #becausebrooks and #becausechaincase.



I was also shopping for a neighbor who is equally nuts about 3-speeds as myself, so it looks as if he'll take on the Puch and I'll get to see it brought back to life without getting involved in a seventh (or eighth?) project.

I also pulled out a 23" 1970 Phillips for him:



And so we come to the #pileofcrap that I wound up landing, which includes a Woodrup which is painful to look at, but I absolutely will not refrain from making the joke that it wants to be a Hetchins.

I am going to start a standalone thread about this one, as even though it's too far to fix with only coldsetting, I want to do another thread demonstrating just how much one can push 531.

cudak888 

Next is a rusty 1986 Schwinn Voyageur 12 suffering from Are You Sure This Fork Looks Bent? syndrome. Oh, and a really rusty Marinoni. Because when life hands you a Marinoni, you take it and ask why you bought it later.



It's probably going to the FS forum for someone else to fart with it, but I wasn't about to let it go to scrap.



Ooh la la, I broke my own rule and came back with some French stuff. Gitane TdF and a Motobecane Nobly.



Got the TDF just for the crank. Wheels are later and they're going on the Voyageur.



Yes, it's bottom-rung, but the Nobly is GORGEOUS. Someone sell me an 8-speed Nexus, I'm making a commuter bike out of this.





-Kurt

Dylansbob 

Florida has to be one of the best places to pick bikes with all the retirees that moved there over the last 50yrs.

cudak888 

Yes and no. It's one of the worst places for riding thanks to FDOT's car-centric approaches and similarly car-centric engineering from the local agencies. There are virtually no protected bike lanes here, and when these agencies have added painted bicycle gutters to the streets, it's usually on high-speed stroads that warrant Jersey-barrier levels of protection, not even low dividers would be enough.

Lots of what was sold down here are anchor-level Schwinns. Stuff like the Woodrup, Puch, and Moto usually wind up from out of state or from people who moved from Europe to the US, all of whom discovered Florida is a car-centric hellscape, for the most part.

-Kurt

juvela

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...someone at this residence is fond of blue

is that a transport case we see there hiding in the foliage?


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cudak888 

Mama loves cobalt blue pots. I like green and teal.

No transport cases in sight, you'll have to point out the optical illusion to me, as I don't see it.

-Kurt

clubman 

stardognine

Next time you find a Marinoni, can you make sure it's tall enough for me? 😁😉

juvela

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thank you!

thing-a-ma-jig is bright blue rectangular item in hedge in background of photo with a black handle/strap on the top


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cudak888 

Darn it, I forgot about those shorty crankarms for you. The shop still has the small track bikes with them. Maybe if it's not a 12-hour day next time, I'll tear apart the narrow room they've shoved them in.

I can try to stretch it like the Woodrup

Oh! Those are garbage can keepers from the 1940's. Pull the lever, open the door, and the trash can sits in a steel frame on the door, like a huge cupholder. Back in the day, the County trash service would walk to the back of the house and empty these for you.

-Kurt

cudak888 

Update: Pulled the Voyageur's fork. Got caught up talking to neighbors, so I didn't have time to get the "after" pictures, but it's dead straight now.

Frame had a slight bend in the front from the front-ender; in fact the wrinkle shows up better than usual in the following photo. Pulled the frame a bit with my propeller-shaft headtube straightener, and the headtube cold-set back to the correct angle. The wrinkle virtually vanished too.



Fork appears as if it's only bent rearwards, but it turned out to be a compound bend. It was shifted sideways and the dropouts were misaligned with each other more than I would have guessed.





The results came out great. It's already wearing the Gitane's non-period wheelset now too, which suits it very well. Just have to re-space the rear axle a bit (probably replace it with one a touch longer) and change out the freewheel to a Shimano 6 speed (or seven - haven't confirmed the downtube clicks).
​​​​
-Kurt

clubman 

That's yeoman's work, nice.

Slowride79

Kurt, Very entertaining and good of you to save these from the scrap heap. You were very charitable in your recounting of your first stop. can’t imagine him selling anything with manners and prices like that. What size is the Gitane TDF frame set if you’re moving it on? Thanks, Steve

cudak888 

I felt bad leaving the progress pictures on a cliffhanger, so I took a few quick and dirty (literally) pictures of the Voyageur - post-repair - this morning:







Thank you, Captain.

It all worked out. The LBS needed the 30+ bikes that you saw in the picture with the van, I was seeking some projects (as if I don't have enough), and I knew that there'd be a few extras in here worth saving that I hadn't planned on but could move on to someone else who'd really appreciate them. It also put a nice check in the pocket of Jeff's non-profit shop, which I'm sure will be appreciated given that the downsizing is not entirely of their choice.

By comparison, Jack says his 501(c) is going to be moving into an even bigger building soon, which is quite the feat given that their shop is already in a huge warehouse that must easily cost $10k a month in rent. Pretty sure they've mastered the Greater Fool theory at that place.

Either way, given the choice between someone who greets you with a smile and a handshake (and was kind enough to come every half hour or so with some ice cold water for us) vs. a fellow who's first reaction is "so...who are you saying you are again?" like a stereotyped DMV employee in a bad comedy sketch, I'll take the handshake and ice water.

In fact, when his staff invited me to meet Jack for the first time in his dead-quiet shop office, he claimed he could barely hear me. I had no reason to doubt him. However, after lecturing the LBS owner for half an hour and coming out to the main warehouse, he had no trouble deciphering either of us under the sound of huge industrial fans and the occasional Brightline train. Really, now?

Admittedly, he did spend a fair amount of time with us and was friendly enough at the end, but the feeling of talking at cross purposes was always present. I don't buy into his ham-fisted lectures if he doesn't share the same respect to others. Case in point, for every question I asked - usually to show that I was genuinely interested in whatever story was being told to us - I was nicely belittled ("Well, that's because you weren't listening."), and any time I tried to express a story of my own in return, I was cut mid-sentence, so the so-called discussions of hard work and respect were definitely all flowing down a one-way street.

I realize that at ~80 years old, one is entitled to be a bit crochety or forgetful, but there are signs that he may be playing this for his audience. Either way, I'll only tolerate so much nonsense in a business transaction that involves a fair amount of my money, and a good possibility of getting gouged.

I think the Gitane is 57cm. Haven't checked. Will know later today. Also want to give it a closer inspection to make sure the surface rust is just that - surface.

-Kurt

Slowride79

Quick work with that Schwinn fork. It looks great. You had me laughing at Jack’s comment about how you weren’t listening. Incredible. I was curious so I looked at his non profit website and the story behind it. Clearly he’s done a lot of good but…maybe he was intimidated?

cudak888 

Too bad the rest of the Schwinn looks like a rusted pile

At least it is intact, which is more than I can say for the Marinoni. It is significantly pitted at the bottom of the downtube. Toast.

Also, was able to get the Woodrup torn down. Thread here: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...l#post22572119



As for Jack - it was definitely not intimidation. He made it quite clear he didn't want to get screwed, expressing it through one of his various youth stories about getting shafted himself. I can't fault him for that, and I can't fault him for wanting his staff who actually knows pricing to price.

But I do fault him for inviting someone to make a 70+ mile trip to his shop without making this clear from the start, and I do fault him for failing to realize - after running a bike shop of used bikes for over 10+ years - that he was now the one egregiously taking advantage of others with a $2k price tag on literal junk. The LBS owner even made a $1,500 offer before I could stop him - by the grace of Tullio, Jack turned it down.

There's no end to people like this - those who grew up in the age when youths were seen and not heard, and in their many years of life feel they've earned the right to pass that same attitude onto adults they run across along the way. He's probably earned it. Some may be tolerant enough of someone like this, even in a business scenario.

Personally, I respect my hard-earned play money - and my own self-respect - too much to consent to be wrapped around anyone else's finger.

-Kurt

P.S.: I forgot to mention: They failed to call me back yesterday as agreed upon. So much for old-world promises.

52telecaster

That type of guy reminds me of so many guys my age I worked with over the years. Really difficult for me to spend any time with them.

cudak888 

Yep. They're not uncommon. Just not worth the trouble to find common ground.

It is too easy to wind up butting heads with such people and making an unnecessary enemy - without even trying.

-Kurt

cudak888 

Tore the Marinoni down. Unsurprisingly, both stem and seatpost are stuck solid. I'm not entirely sure what to do with this one. Downtube is severely pitted at the bottom and definitely needs to be replaced.

In a very different way, I'd say this frame is in worse shape than the Woodrup; it's easier to straighten the Woodrup and replace part of the rear triangle than tear this apart to replace the downtube. Fact is, if one bothers to replace the downtube on this, then it makes sense to fill in all the non-critical pitting, and at that point, one might as well replace some of the crusty braze-ons...it's a slippery slope.



Also, I'd like to know what chucklehead at Profile Design was in charge of hardware for that gawd-awful aerobar. It's weird enough to run into Imperial fittings on anything that isn't an old Schwinn, but 5/32" Allen head bolts? That's just a bad joke; it took me longer to find the right size in the toolbox than it took to remove all four bolts.



I also stripped the Gitane Professional, partially. I polished it afterwards, and...it looked identical to what it was before polishing. This is the first one I've ever set my eyes on in person, and I'm trying to understand why these have a following. They're akin to a more-expensive PX10 with worse paint and lugwork that's bad enough to make it an honorary Raleigh.

By the way, I'm now in the market for a Stronglight puller. I only have TA pullers.



The stem was so high up that I was sure it wouldn't be stuck, even if it hadn't been greased. It wasn't stuck.

Mercifully, the seatpost is steel, so it came out just fine.



I would have closed up then, but decided to throw a bit of Meguiars #7 on the Voyageur, which also didn't do much. It is going to need either compound (or machine-assisted polishing) before it'll look any good.

It'll always be spiderwebbed with surface rust, but it still presents better than the front-ended wreck it started out as:









Like a fool, I polished the Motobecane Nobly and didn't photograph it, even though it came out nicer than anything else. Oh well.

I'll wait until I can get some better mid-day photos tomorrow.

-Kurt

52telecaster

That voyager looks like it would make a real nice touring bike.

RobertUI 

First of all... I love all of your posts, even moreso when you use the term "chucklehead". I recently picked up a profile aerobar (different design) that had the exact same STUPID sized bolts, and as was your experience, finding the proper wrench in my bin of oddballs took longer than turning the damn things. I also see that they used the same horribly corrosive material on all of their products... smh

Can't wait!!!

cudak888 

It is. It has all the necessary brazeons, including proper lowrider rack mounts and triple water bottle braze-ons. I'd rather like fitting it with proper fenders and said lowrider rack if I can get it to clean up better.

A story about a bunch of rusty bicycles isn't really worth telling if it doesn't have the kind of humor only a frustrated mechanic would express

I'll defend them on one point though: Nothing could have prepared the Marinoni or the Profile Design bars for whatever rusted both of them up. It's as if someone dumped a bucket of sweat on it every day and washed it off in salt water to clean it.

-Kurt

stardognine

Remind me to never buy a Profile aero bar, OR a bike with one on it. 🙄😁

RobertUI 

I kinda/sorta agree with you, but I would LOVE to have one of the Profile bars like Kurt's dealing with. I know they're totally out of favor, but I love the aesthetic of them!

pastorbobnlnh 

Kurt, no one has earned the right to be rude, arrogant, mean, selfish, judgmental, and condescending. Not even the person who is/was elected as the leader of a nation.

Since retiring from my 40+ year former profession, I've decided to call people out directly when they make their blanket statements about "all _________ are _________" (group of people with specific negative trait[s]). Whether it is nationality, or race, or age, or sex, or education, or profession, or religion, or region of the country, or what-the-hell-ever, we cannot leap to the conclusion that just because a person fits a certain demographic--- that person will behave a certain way.

It's similar to when someone here on BF-C&V criticizes about the angle of handlebars, the tilt of a saddle, or the length of a cable end. Or a rider decides to build a classic 1960s road bike yet equips it with a favorite set of clipless pedals.

We must all strive to be less judgmental, more inclusive, and willing to accept a person for who that specific person is at that moment. The more generous we become to others, the better this world will become. Just look at the decision Bill Gates announced about his wealth yesterday as an example.