AdventureManCO 

*****shield ye eyes, all ye purists who may enter here!!!*****

"Offensive'... 'Unconscionable'...'Unbelievable'...'Pointless'...'Waste of Time'...'Absurd'...'Crazy'...'a Farce'...'Wow...'...'Garbage'...




Yes, yes, I know. Now let the fun begin! Choose your favorite descriptor from above, and come on in.





[ [i]Note for our moderators: First, I'm sorry. Second, yes I'm serious. About the only thing saving this thread is the fact that it does indeed have 'vintage' bicycle content, though certainly nothing 'classic'.]

Before we begin, let's first take a moment to look at this lovely 1960s Cinelli...




Ahhhhh. That's wonderful. Okay, keep that picture in your head for later - you're going to need it.



Now that you've got your C&V immunity shot and taken your C&V vitamins, onto the travesty...

We've got a local ride coming up in several months called the Eddy Rando. I've never done it, but it sounds like fun. I saw a post about some guys getting some sweet, undoubtedly high-end bike projects together for it. I thought, 'hmm, maybe I should get a project for this ride together'...

I became inspired for the original concept of this spawn of all unholy from a discussion here, which was a thread I created that compiled a list of 'favorite bikes' from many C&V members.. Funnily enough, Trek took the title by a landslide (which it probably why the thread died lol)

Some of the discussion drifted towards a theory that the components may play a larger role in influencing the quality of the ride of a favorite bike. I jokingly responded that it would be funny if someone just took an old Huffy and loaded it up with the best stuff just to be crazy and see what happens. Nobody stepped in to fill the gap. I decided to take one for the team. You're welcome.

Even before this thread, I was aware of the original Huffy advocate, the one and only Johnny Mullet , and his fantastic threads on Huffy, some of which you can find here and here (they are really good reads). Sadly, we have not seen him since 2017. I hope he is alright, and if he is reading this - we'd love to have you back!

I started to get inspired, the same way a baby gets inspired to climb up on a hot stove or shake an ironing stand with a hot iron sitting on top.

Finally, I just came to the conclusion: why not? I have an actual, genuine, somewhat-warped interest in how one of these bikes rides, and even moreso when actually given a makeover. So I started looking for a good donor. First place I checked was the scrap pile of a few local co-ops, which would undoubtedly be a great source of the perfect donor. Unfortunately the scrappers are quick to the draw, so finding something for this project has actually been hard.

Then one evening, I saw an ad for what was titled simply 'bike'...




No description of any sort. But what exactly was it? The features started looking promising: squirrely housing, small tubing, huge steel kickstand, the goofy looking seat, the ashtabula cranks...okay...okay!! Could it be!? The photo was clear enough to make out the name, and upon some quick research: bada bing, bada boom! We found ourselves an authentic, genuine Huffy. I actually got excited.



'The spirit of the bike'...

The bike is a Huffy Le Grande. Now, unbeknownst to basically all of you, this bike is actually pretty special (er not really).

It appears as though this bike is the famed 'Breaking Away-but-not-the-Breaking Away-we-all-know-and-love' edition (tv series, cancelled after 8 episodes), upon which Dave rides to a local championship. Which increases its collectability to, well, still zero, but I mean, cool, right? I think I will eventually have to source some sort of 'world champion' decal. No harm in a little embellishment of a fake story, right?


Notwithstanding all your Tour de France wins and countless local championships, your fancy Italian has nothing on this Huffy!


In doing research on the La Grande, I stumbled across this gem from 1980 -



Say what you will, I bet your fancy Pinarello or De Rosa never had a theme song. The ad does a great job spanning the gap between nostalgia and propaganda. Once I saw that ad, I knew. It sealed the deal. I had to have that Le Grande. I mean, Its the nice, white Huffy with the European look. The propaganda worked.

So I went, and I looked, and I bought it immediately, from a very nice gentleman, who also gave me another Huffy since he was going to just throw it away.

Yes, I paid for it. Real money. An ad for this bike from 1980 places it on sale for $115. That is over $400 in today's money! Another ones lists it on sale by Christmas at $104. Heck, I got a bargain!




And in the flesh:


As pictured when picking up. Intentional NDS photo.

AdventureManCO 

'The actual bike'

The good news: The wheels turn?
The bad news: I'm more of a glass-half-full kinda guy. The wheels turn!


This photo took more effort than it looks



I needed at least something that obviously said 'Huffy'. Still may need a bold, downtube decal



Ahh, just picture a Campagnolo Super Record rear derailleur sitting right there



'Building the bikes America likes'



All my other bikes, literally looking down on it

Hefting it onto the stand, is not so bad, especially if one works out for a living. No wonder the call it the 'Huff'-y...I was winded after it landed in the clamp. Miraculously, the stand didn't crumble. We are coming in at 36.4lbs. Not bad! I mean its not even double that of a top end 70s/80s model! No doubt it would have been more had some generous soul in the past not replaced the steel stem for a nice 'Jun' alloy example -




The funniest part about seeing this stem on the bike was that a couple months ago I was looking for a short reach stem, and stumbled across these 'Jun' stems and really like them. Well, now I've got one! Its the nicest part on the bike, and I'm tempted to leave it, but I first want to see if my Sakae Ringyo New Royal Extra Super Light stem will have a place of honor upon its head. If it fits, it stays.


Photographic proof of my wife's unending love


Well, she let it in the house.

Actually, I think she felt bad for it, as it squealed and screamed from hardened rubber brake pads writhing out in agony against out-of-true rims as I pushed it through the house. A bit of a cry for help, perhaps, as if somehow it knew it was born to be thrown away.

The bike itself is dirty and a little greasy, but from working on plenty of grimey bikes, this one is actually in really nice condition. The seat looks absolutely brand new...perhaps an indication that its hardly ever been ridden? For good reason?

Now, the interesting thing about this one is that it has pointy seat stay caps that terminate on the side of the seattube cluster, much like an actual, normal bike. In all my research, I never came across another Le Grande that had this feature. Maybe it could possibly be a speci...nah.

A couple of interesting observations. There is a paint defect (oh really) at the junction of the top tube and seattube and had me wondering if there was a crack there. Time will tell! Also, maybe it was just an illusion, but I couldn't help but wondering if the bottom bracket was attached off kilter. I was trying to determine the alignment based off of pedals, because it looks like one of the pedals was not rotationally perpendicular to the frame. Going to measure the BB for squareness and see what we've got.

TiHabanero

I like your attitude of the cup half full. That bike can be ridden many, many miles in comfort once properly fitted and tuned up. They really are not all bad, just mostly looked down upon by bike snobs, but for the rest of the USA it was cheap transportation to school or work or around the block. Huffy served a real purpose for a whole lot of folks.
Now, there is a Huffy branded bike that is a true collectable. Has something to do with the USA cycling team.

Anyone notice the model in the video had a tough time stopping the bike at the balloon?

AdventureManCO 

'The Build Ethos'

I'm quite curious to see what we can get the old girl down to. She's not porky! She's just big-boned!

I've read a few things about this particular bike. One gentlemen found one and set it up as sort of a tourer (Ed H?s Huffy Legrande | Old Ten Speed Gallery). Unbelievably, he enjoyed the ride. Someone else said that it was horrible. I'm not sure which to believe, but after trying to get the rear wheel off for putting in my truck by shifting to the smallest cog, and then instantly having the derailleur move back to the largest cog all on its own as soon as I started to pedal (the shifted never moved), I was struck by an epiphany...all the judgements about this bike have been completely one-sided and unfair. Everyone blames these bikes for being terrible because they've had terrible components strapped to them, never giving them a chance to live up to their potential. This bike is the movie equivalent of the scene in Office Space in which Peter is found to be the victim of not having been challenged enough and therefore promoted.

Well, we're going to make the ugly girl the beauty queen, and do the unthinkable. I'm going to strip this thing down to a bare frame and we are going to build it from the ground up. I say 'we' because I'm going to drag as many of you down with me as possible.

We are going to be doing a full Campy Super Record build, at least as much as possible. I was quite dismayed at the fact that I will be unable to use a real Campy Super Record post. I emphasize 'real', because I am not above creating a 7/8" fake, but the 'Campy' writing might be hard to replicate. I'll just build my own lightweight post if need be for the time being. Stem will not be Cinelli, but I'll try to get some Cinelli bars. So far, here is what the build is shaping up to look like:

- Record Crankset and BB
- Super Record front derailleur
- Super Record rear derailleur
- Super Record shifters
- Super Record brakes
- Super Record levers
- Super Record wheelset
- Super record headset
- Sakae Ringyo Royal Extra Super Light stem (70mm)
- Cinelli handlebars (what is the nicest bar they made?)
- Litepro titanium pedals (I just really like these)
- Brooks B-17 leather saddle

Haven't decided on a tubular tire set yet (Vittoria?), and I need to check to make sure the dimensions of the SR stem will work. The fantastic news is that while the headtube will very likely need some adapter bushings, a regular ISO headset nut screws onto the top of the fork steer tube, which means the NR headset should be no problemo. Of course, I'll need an American BB-to-English threaded bb adapter. No big deal. I am still thinking about the bb. If I don't end up using a Campy Super Record, I may elect for building a ti-spindled bb, or maybe a Phil Wood. If it turns out the B-17 pushes it over some weight envelope, I mght have to get one of those custom-made carbon saddles for it eventually. In the meantime, I can sometimes find ti-railed 'super saddles' in the bin at the co-op, and that can help get the weight down on the cheap. It will be the smooooooothest, lightest [functional] Huffy west of the Mississippi! East of the river, bikes have the unfair advantage of lightening of the tubes via road salt.

If I end up not using the Jun stem, and the sizing works, I'll probably use it on my PX-10 or Gitane.

I'm so curious to see what this thing will actually weigh once we are done, and how much each takeoff component weights. She is going to go on a diet and we'll see how much she can lose. Literally everything on this bike is steel. The crankset alone looks like it weighs 5lbs. Of course, we are going to weigh everything. Imagine that, a weight weenie building a Huffy. Pigs are flying, I suppose.



Its a bit of a surreal feeling, honestly, to really dedicate time and passion towards something that there is a near united consensus against. I dig that though, its right up my alley, probably the same alley this Huffy came from.


Now I know the collective shaking of heads at these efforts may be enough to trigger an earthquake. Trust me. I was the guy on a quest to keep moving up, up, up, to the 'ultimate riding, ultralight vintage bicycle'. Actually, that was partially why I decided to go for this. I know its not going to be light and win any awards and garner disdain and scorn from all corners of the earth, but that was the point. I needed a reset, to get out of the 'best best best' thing. And this will sure do it. So, bring it on, I've got my nuclear blast wave suit on. I don't really get offended. If anything, It's funny. Its goofy. Its absurd, and I like that. And I know there is probably nothing more objectionable to a true C&V retrogrouch, but this bike will be a reminder that life is short, and to not take it too seriously. This thread will test your resolve. Have fun, talk bikes, ride bikes. Live well. One love.

SwimmerMike 

I am very intrigued about this build. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

AdventureManCO 

Yep, I laughed at that one...putting her foot down...stomp stomp stomp...to stop the bike Honestly it is the perfect juxtaposition to the glamorous zoom-out showing the bike and balloon. I'm not convinced it wasn't intentional by someone, as it is so precisely timed. Art.

52telecaster

During the 80s I built bikes in department stores. Huffys were not fun but as heavy as they seem, Murrays we're usually way heavier. I'm glad I don't have to relive those days.

Drillium Dude 

DD

AdventureManCO 

You know, I had considered one. But, seeing as how the Murray brand just doesn't have quite the same name recognition and panache as Huffy...had to go with the big boy.

WGB 

I just have to say that I was having a simply miserable day and then this thread appeared in front me.

Thank you for this! I can't stop smiling.
This is on my list to follow.

Reminds me of Buckley's statement about Hunter Thompson and how he elicited the kind of admiration one would have for a streaker at Queen Victoria's funeral....


​​​​

John E

I had a Free Spirit piece of junk, a $10 yard sale treasure (?) I kept locked up outdoors at work, for quick noontime fun rides or errands. I put a 14-23 freewheel and an old Campag. Record rear derailleur on it, along with downtube shifters, toeclips, and brake extension lever deletion. I didn't cry too hard when it got stolen(!).

velomateo

I love this thread so far, and I'm totally behind this build. And that HUFFY looks mint... good score.
Not sure you can use a Super Record bottom bracket on that frame. Unless there's some sort of adapter, you may be forced to use one of the better old BMX bottom brackets.

Mad Honk 

Naw, There is a BMX converter from the oversized Ashtabula BB to a standard square taper BB. It is alloy and held together by three screws. I think there is one at the Bloomington Bike Project V. I will look for it next time I am in there. Smiles, MH

52telecaster

When the stores started importing cheap Asian bikes everything got better. The first Kent I built had a lugged frame, working derailleurs and a square taper crank. Those always got built first.

thumpism 

You need this. O.M.A.S and missing only one of the four bolts. Keep this project (mostly) all Italian. It's buried deep in my garage if you decide you want it.

ehcoplex 

I so, so, soooo, wanted it to be a Santa Fe...... The Huffy Santa Fe was the bike to have/aspire to 'round the suburban cul de sac when I was a kid...

AdventureManCO 

Ummm…absolutely 100%!!! Actually incredible generous of you!!! I was going to just pick one up on eBay or something, but this…this will keep the bike more elite and Italian. PM me and I will definitely pay for shipping.

Edit: scratch that I will PM you!

Wildwood 

I firmly believe,
for this project the tubular tires should be A. Dugast or R Herse!

Nothing less for a Huff-y.



Hey, I put Campy10 Veloce on a '90s NOS hi-ten frame, added nice wheels and tires and it rides like a dream on an 8 pound frameset. Triple for the hills.

Trakhak

Aside from all the other delectable details, the repair stand. Park? Var? No, Aldi.

Noted: the stand legs aren't splayed out to their full extent. Thus, you're not comically tripping over them going from the back of the bike to the front. That's one of the little IQ tests life is fraught with.

AdventureManCO 

No no that is for your Huffy build my friend! You know…if I see one I will definitely pick one up. Would be cool to maybe do a modern build on one, Di2 DA and all.

AdventureManCO 

Correct on both accounts! Although the weight of the bike kept things close to the tipping point. Gotta live life on the edge.

AdventureManCO 

This one wins post of the day - far better than any of mine! I’m so happy you posted and really this is what it’s all about. Thank you so much for that- that made my day.

Life is short, and often it is hard. If any of these shenanigans can bring a little bit of humor and a smile then that is a far better result than any anything related to the outcome of this bicycle, though if I’m being honest I’ve set the bar pretty low lol

AdventureManCO 

Yes yes and yes. Didn’t even think about that. We can even get super exclusive with tires! I assume Herse makes tubulars, but if not I’m sure I can conjur up a way to get the bike to make use of some Compass Pass rubber.

Jedneck

I love it. I put ultegra 6770 di2 on a schwinn le tour. Need to change to wider bars but otherwise it a nice fun 19# bike

AdventureManCO 

Ride report to follow soon.

Spoiler: I’m still alive.