Charles Wahl

Chrome does, however, outperform copper-nickel in the oxidation-resistance department. I'd use nickel for a guitar, but probably not for a bike, unless there's other work on it that's nickel, rather than chrome, or the part was originally nickel-plated.

Kabuki12

Yes , chrome is more robust but nickel has a different , “not so shiny” finish. I don’t think the OP bike will be left outside unless being ridden. It is up to the owner , but in some cases , such as this stem, I just think the nickel would look great. It looks to me like that’s what was on there originally. I’m sure that stem will look awesome after it is done whichever plating is used, especially with one of gugie’s cool bell’s..

Kilroy1988 

Hello all,

I'm en route to finishing six bicycle restorations in 2022, which is by far a record for me (the Routens would be the seventh). All six were completely stripped down and mechanically restored, two involve a lot of touch up paint, and two will have received powder coating, lug lining, fresh decals and clear coats. Due to all of this I'm a bit burned out on such processes, so I've decided not to plan on repainting the Jo Routens for the time being. There are minimal marks on the current paint and no signs of surface rust. I have fresh downtube decals coming and I am going to ask Velocals to make me a decal of the head badge that I can stick on until I have time to make an etched reproduction.

During the past couple of days I've decided that I'll send gugie the fork and stem to modify it to my preferred height, will have the stem re-chromed (or nickel-plated perhaps) along with another stem I need done on my Claud Butler, and that I'll put together the bicycle with fresh grease and consumables throughout and enjoy it like that or else be able to decide it's not my cup of tea while it's in an ideal configuration. In any case, I think it should present well enough!

Okay, unless if there are any direct questions then I plan to hold off on returning to this spot until there's something picture-worthy to share. Cheers!

-Gregory

Force 

Thanks for the update and good luck! Keep us posted on your progress. I believe you can get a head badge from JP Routens. He has a page on Facebook and I recall a post about new head badges and decals.

Kilroy1988 

Okay, I couldn't help but dive in after the new tires, cable housing, brake pads and bar tape all arrived at once this morning... I spent a few hours also cleaning it up a bit all around as I applied that stuff... No more fresh grease, but as mentioned in the first post the hubs and bottom bracket are spinning smoothly as is. Afterwards I took it for a six-mile ride around a big country block with 45 psi in the tires (still have the old tubes and they're rated for 35mm so I was afraid to go overboard on the 42s) and it felt pretty darn good! I suppose I forgot to mention above that this is also my first foray into riding on 650b wheels and tires wider than 35mm on a road bike. There's definitely a different but appealing sort of feel to it!
​​​
-Gregory

gomango

What a lovely bike!

I think I would break my "no new bikes" rule for this charmer.

Reminds me of a vintage version of my wife's MAP.

poprad

Gregory,
Congrats on this gorgeous find. I wouldn't change a thing about that stem if you can make the fit work for you, that patina is fantastic!

Also, In case you didn't know Ideale has been re-created and their new saddles are spot on spec to the originals. Just a thought...
Ideale Saddles

The one on my Singer feels just like my early 2000s Brooks Team Pro to me, but I believe the leather is a thicker grade.

bwilli88 

Oh man, I keep coming back to this every time I see it on the board. One of the nicest bikes here.
Just wondering if my count is correct, Chainrings 49x32 and freewheel 16, 18, 20, 22, 24???

52telecaster

Wow is that just excellent!