texan1847

i am the original owner of 2 lotus bikes. a unique and a classique. i bought them in 1983. i lost the owner's manuels. Unique has Suntour BL components. Classique has Shimano 600 component.
anyone else have lotus bikes?

kerk

I have an early 90's Challenger that is almost like new.

pjbaz

I have had 2, but now only one...which is being donated to the special olympics if the guy ever calls me back.

It's an Excelle in good shape.

PJ

texan1847

your Excelle, what yr. model is it and how is it equiped.

kerk

Mine rides great. It's a 25" frame, too big for me so it I am going to sell it. I'm thinking about putting it on the online auction. Anyone interested before it goes to auction? PM me if you are.

pjbaz

I don't know what year it is but is has BioPace and Shimano parts throughout if I remember correctly. I haven't looked at it lately- it's just relaxing in my basement.

I'll look when I have a chance and post here with the specifics, etc.

PJ

MKRG

I use a Lotus Eclair for trips requiring prolonged periods of locking up. Running Shimano 600 it's a great bike that I pulled from a garbage pile.

kerk

Here is a picture of mine...

Tom Pedale

I saw this Lotus thread and wondered why it reminded me of something...and then it hit me.


Way back, probably early 80's (possibly earlier) Consumer Reports did some bike tests and put the Lotus at the top of their recommended list. All of a sudden, folks were running into their local bike shops trying to find this brand! Since this bike only enjoyed limited distribution across certain parts of the U.S., many would be buyers of this brand went away empty-handed...

zonatandem

Consumer report around 1983-84. My son owns a Lotus and it is an unsusual (for its time) color: irridescent yellow.

pjbaz

I read somewhere the guy who started the company is a professor at a college in upstate New York now.

PJ

patodon

I am considering buying a Lotus bicycle on ebay. https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3692709984 It is a Lotus Odyssey, with no year. Can anyone provide any insight?

kerk

Looks good, did you win?

Mr. Shadow

I have a Lotus Elan that is awaiting fixed-gear conversion. I paid $30 for it at a yard sale.

froze

Lotus with Suntour BL? I thought they only came with Suntour Cyclone and Superbe components? (when using the Suntour brand) I knew they also used Shimano 600 which was Shimano's top of the line back then, which is all Lotus used be it Shimano or Suntour.

MKRG

Rocked it at 40mph for around a 1/2 mile today. In some ways I like it better than the bike I paid $1100 for. Had a pedal strike today as well when I was going around a corner and after a nice skip the old skin grabbed and pulled me right on through. I wish i could have seen the sparks. I like my Lotus a lot.

kerk

Where did you do that? I was on the Loveland Bike trail yesterday and got up to 29.9mph. Do you ever ride there?

MKRG

I haven't been there at all this year. I keep meaning to go on Sundays but it never seems to happen. I hit 40 going down Gray Road on the way to Springrove Cemetary. Don't tell anyone but 2 interests that seem to go well with cycling are bird watching (yeah I'm a geek) and photography. Springrove is good for both. The roads in there need some new paving so it's a little bumpy. If you're not familiar with Gray Road, it has a good hill that helps with the speed. If I could hit 40 on the flats I would be racing

kerk

I know where that is! I might have to try that sometime. Is the traffic heavy?

MKRG

I have only gone down it that one time and I didn't see any cars. I was a little scared because i know kids probably race their cars through there. At least we did when we were in high school. Pavement isn't the best either. It was exhilerating and frightening at the same time. It's the best/safest route down the hill that I can think of. The other options are Winton or Hamilton. I'm sure you could go really fast down those but the traffic would scare me. I bet you could hit 50 at least down Winton

phillybill

I had lotus eclair in the early 80's, but it had to much frame flex in the bottom bracket for me. Otherwise it was a really nice bike. I have a friend that has 2 from the 80's and still rides them both with the original equipment .

Cranks

RE: Post #8 - Kerk's Lotus photo

What do you call those top brake levers you have on that bike? I bought my wife an 80s Trek and she's complaining about not being able to stop from an upright position.

Iffacus

When I saw this thread I though it was going to be about the Lotus bike used to win Olympic gold in 1992

kerk

Brake lever extentions. I doubt you can put them on an 80's Trek. Your LBS can put in the new "in-line" levers that are used when in the upright position.

rjelly2000

I have a blue Lotus Unique that I bought used in 81' for $200. It has Shimano 600 components on it. I hadn't used it for a long time since I was doing MTBing. I just dragged it out of the basement this spring and tuned it up. I have been riding it all this summer. I'm really glad to be back on the road.

The only problem I've had with it is that I keep breaking rear spokes (2 this summer). I had this problem when I first bought it in 81' but after having both the wheels rebuilt the problem went away. Until now.

Any ideas on whether I should have the rear wheel rebuilt again, get a new wheel or just keep replacing spokes as they go? I love the bike but don't have much cash to invest in it right now.

Thanks
Rick