nishikiroadace

I'd say 79464
Looks the same as I had, apart from 27,2 seatpost on mine.
Most of the parts were marked 1979. Front and rear Campa dropouts with eyelets.
Cableguides likely added on later. One ring only....... only bike with single cableguide I have is a 1982 Zieleman.

fabiofarelli

A 6 instead of 0, probably correct. And I don't know what I was doin' when I checked but this one is 27,2 too.

nishikiroadace

cyclezen

I really don't need, don't have space for another bike... But RIH is one of those which has always played with my 'roadie soul' since the mid- 70's (Frejus heads that list..)|
was scanning local CL, because I was too tired to do anything else... Page 3 of 'bikes for sale', I noticed a listing - Bike in the Santa Ynez valley - glance at pic and it seems to be a RIH!
1st reaction is a chuckle - someone is having fun, putting a few RIH decals on some old gaspipe...
...but I look at the listing... pics are reasonable enough for me to become interested... hmmm... it does look 'correct'... mish-mash components, but one might expect that for an older bike... I should take a closer look... called the owner... set up a meeting on Sunday in SY....
... so as far as I could determine, it IS a RIH... some really good, one serious issue... which the 'owner' acted dumb on... although he was honest and immediately pointed out the issue - more on that in a bit...
I bought the bike ! even with the 'issue'... think I can handle it...
Here it is.


Serial # 7947 - 23" ST (not cm...), 22.5" TT seems to have been built for someone with longer torso, HT angle is steepish (73.5 ?) and ST angle seems close to 72
interesting blue, slightly metallic, black panels would seem where the original DT & ST decals were... all the other decals are under the very light clear coat,
prolly original 126 dropout spacing (now set to 130...)
my best guess from the overall specs is '79-'80 vintage, especially since the braze-ons seem original and not later add-ons...
looks like some version of Bocama Long Point lugs, nicely brazed and hand feathered
Overall, the frame seems to have been well taken care of, prolly stored consistent environment of indoors
Comments from you all are happily accepted...


Components a real mix - some which are prolly original - like Gipiemme brakes, Italmane seatpost, stem and prolly bars... all-terrain grade Shimano 105 10 spd wheels, LOL!
Campy Centaur 10 spd triple crank, badly mashed Tiagra RD , I honestly can't figure out what the FD is, solid, bulletproof, un-marked... new Bontrager Affinity RL saddle.
Durace 10 spd indexed shifters
The 'Bad' - Ugly...

uuugggghhhh...
The owner said he had a problem... seems , somehow, the RD went into the rear wheel... uuugggghhhh...
He had the wheel 'repaired'... still a bit pretzelled, though... RD jockey was badly twisted and pretzelled... Right dropout was bent and severely bent down... uuggghhh...
. but I bought it anyway - I like challenges... I've worked worse condition dropouts... thankfully those steel dropouts are the same metal as the lugs and are readily 'workable, malleable' without serious compromise of strength. Bike will never again be 'raced', mostly be gently ridden by gentle riders... gonna be OK.
Pic here is taken AFTER, I did some dropout realignment and reworking the RD Jockey setup - enough that the drivetrain actually works smoothly now - and I've ridden it around the block a few times... 'ride' is very nice! very quick handling...
I have a cycling friend, she's 100% Dutch, typical tall almost 6 ft, rides same size bikes as I, this size... think this will be a wonderful Xmas present for her...
Would love to hear what you all think and have to say ! LOL!
Thx
Yuri

cyclezen

some work done... some more info found...


work done

so, just after yesterday's post, I decided the dropout repair was the primary thing to focus on, since that would determine the rest of dealing with the RIH and disposition.

After some examination and thought, I came up with 4 stages which needed to be done.

1. untwist and bring RD hanger in alignment with lower dropout arm - gross

2. Because the the lower dropout actually had 2 bends in it; start bringing the lower dropout arm back up into proper orientation with upper dropout body.

3. Shape a hardwood block to fit in and properly 'space' the dropout gap, when I make the final 'adjustment to bring the entire lower dropout arm back into alignment.

4. Make any needed final adjustment on the RD hanger portion of the lower dropout arm.

won't go into the deal of each process, and did finish thru Stage 2, the result in the image below...



stage 2 of repair - but rideable..

as noted, it is rideable... I also did further work on the Tiagra RD to get it re-aligned and shifting properly - now smooth as bud-da... but still will be replaced...

Took it out in the afternoon for a quick 25 mi. - moderate pace, small hills, a little bit of climbing and descending - I Likie !!! rides very nice, quick handling, good road manners!



well seasoned bike and motor... LOL!

now onto repair Stages 3 & 4... will report back


more new info found....

Found in BF, in a post by @non-fixie regarding another RIH, which has all the same characteristics as mine...

https://www.bikeforums.net/14253221-post28.html

all the same braze-ons, same 'unique' placement of bottle cage mounts, same lugs and fork, even the same stem...
so maybe mine is a 'younger' frame than I thought, could be late '80's - early 90's ???
looking at serial # on headtube lug, the 4 digits are in pairs 79 space 47 - significant ??? don't know...
any ideas, thoughts out there ???

Thx
Yuri

cyclezen

more...
took a look at the Bottom Bracket shell
here's a pic...

starting from top:
reversed facing numbers - both are 7
I believe the center alphas say "Davis Components" (Davos ...?) ???
Lower row of numbers, left to right are 60 and 62
mean anything ???
Thanks
Yuri

fabiofarelli

I saw this one on FB today ,,

LeoBoon

Hi Yuri
The Davis Components factory located in Four Oaks, Midland in the UK made sandcasted bottom brackets shells for 80 years (since 1928) Many Dutch, Belgian and British builders used their BBs. Your 79-47 RIH is probably a Cové factory built RIH bike. Number 47 of building year 1979. I have a 79-125 RIH here in Canada. Mr. Non-Fixie and I still are not sure of the origine of the 79-*** frames by RIH. There are lots of them on this forum. Have fun rebuilding this bike and getting some matching components.

nishikiroadace

I think this is not a '79 BB. 1981 looks more correct for cables under bracket.

non-fixie 

Thank you for your elaborate posts, cyclezen! Much appreciated! Like LeoBoon says, there has been some discussion about the "79-series" bikes. The ones we have seen here seem to all stem from the late seventies / early eighties era. Perhaps it was a series of bikes built by Cové before they launched their better-known models: Luxe, Mistral and Elan?

Anyway, yours looks very nice, and seems to be getting the love it deserves.

acob

I've been the happy owner of a RIH for some years, unfortunately shortly after I bought it I had a run in with a van — front forks, wheel, handlebars and seat post all replaced, I think the crank too, and replaced badly — I stupidly let the shop get on with it and they just threw whatever they had lying around on there, so it's now in very much un-original condition.

I'd like to try to get it back closer to original build — and wondered if anybody here might be able to point me in the direction of somewhere I could locate some period-appropriate parts?

In terms of age, I'm not sure. Have not been able to find a frame number, curiously, though it's overdue a cleanup so perhaps there's something under some grime in an unexpected place. It's a RIH Speciaal, with 'HOLLAND VENLO' on the downtube. If I find a frame number I'll update, and post some pics once I hit the 10 post limit, but if anyone has any pointers for me in the meantime that would be amazing

acob

Oh and forgot one important piece of information for spare parts purposes: I'm based in the UK

acob

Okay, have given it a bit of a clean, and can confirm there's no frame number I can find. Only markings seem to be '70' at the top of the head tube, and '71' at the top of the seat tube

acob

Me again!

Actually found one more marking, but still no frame number. This is just 'S1' – on the bottom of the head tube, but around the back side, not the front centre as I've seen most of the frame numbers in this thread to be

non-fixie 

Welcome, acob ! Glad you found us.

The RIH Speciaal was made by Cové in Venlo during the eighties. It was part of the line-up mentioned above, with the Mistral and the Elan. The Speciaal was the semi-race or super sport model, and often, if not always, came with fenders and lights.

I wouldn't be too concerned with originality. Build it with your favorite parts into a casual tourer, as that is what the Speciaal is best at.

My own Speciaal is a rather late one, and a bit too small, so it never got ridden much. As bought and ridden home:

nishikiroadace

Well, if it's an early '80s RIH, chances are the cranks are most likely "Solida" and they used Shimano Altus derailleurs and shifters. Handlebars and stem were mostly made by Sakae, SR Custom. Brakes could be Weinmann 500 or also Altus.

pre '80, Shimano 600 groupset, Cranks with guard, the stem, handlebars and seatpost are all Sakae, Weinmann brakes. Rims Weinmann and probably French hubs.

It's nice to get a bike up to original again, but if it works, don't fix it. Parts might be cheap and easy to find, it'll always turn out too expensive for the real value of the bike. My last original, old and battered but functioning RIH Speciaal costed me Ł 50, to give you an idea.

acob

Yes, I've got no intention of doing a showroom restoration! Just hoping to make a couple of switches to undo some of the changes that have been done to it over the years (it's a real frankenstein at the moment — Suntour rear derailer, but with an old Shimano clamp, Campagnolo front derailer...to name just a couple of things). Some of the bits need replacing anyhow, so that little breakdown you've given me above will be very helpful as a starting point to look at, thanks!

pullup

Not my Rih but I saw this one parked against my rowing club yesterday. It was an even better colour baby blue then my own and I thought it would interest Non fixie as it is the first 'model course' I ever encountered. Normally the Amsterdam Rih's are named ' Model Super Course' or ''Model Campagnolo'

non-fixie 

Nice! Mrs non-fixie would probably like this one.

I don't recall having ever seen a "Course" before. During the only conversation I ever had with the builder he told me that at some point he switched from true serial numbers to a semi-significant numbering system which included the year. So an educated guess would be this is a 1985 frame.The under the bracket cable routing seems to support that.

Thanks for posting this one, pullup ! Much appreciated.

fabiofarelli

Try Hilary Stone

velology

Hi,

I'd love to share my latest find but I don't know if anyone is reading this thread anymore. I definitely have a Cove RIH that I'm dating to late 60s or early 70s (based on what I'm reading in these forums) but the frame numbering is kind of odd. I've plenty of specs on the running gear and the decals are in great condition, but I'm just not sure if I can post pictures. I'm really keen to know what I have on my hands because the bike is supposed to go back to someone who has sort of scooped it out from under an old building and I'm fixing it up for them but they're not the most responsible or mechanically sympathetic of individual so I don't want it to just disappear unappreciated. There are two s/ns on the frame: one at the wheel bracket 4510 and one near the very top of the seat tube which is simply "71". The derailleurs are Huret as are the gear levers. Seat, Brooks. No apparent brand on the goose neck. The rest of the parts on the bike are either German or Belgian. Weinmann brakes.

Happy to provide more info and pics but doubt I'm allowed to post by the looks of the policies here.

fabiofarelli

RIH-Cové started in 1973 so ...
Could be a RIH-Fongers too but Fongers have the framenumber on the headlug. 71" is imo nothing more than the angle.
Why are you so sure it's a RIH-Cové?

non-fixie 

Welcome, velology ! Posting pictures in forum posts is allowed only once you have a post count of 10. Sorry about that, but this is an anti-spam measure that seems to serve us well. In the meantime you can upload pictures to your own album (see "Gallery") which we will be able to see and re-post here.

The "71" on the seat tube looks to be the seat tube angle, which is often stamped on the seat lug, and not a serial number. Frames from the Amsterdam shop and from the Fongers factory both have their serial numbers stamped on the lower head tube lug, so we can eliminate those. Cové stamped their numbers on the BB shell, but "4510" seems to be short of one or two digits for a Cové serial number.

Anyway, pictures would help a lot to determine what you have. Looking forward to those!

velology

That's okay. I totally understand. As far as the serial number is concerned, the shell is blank. The 4510/4610 I quoted to you is where the rear wheel slots into frame, opposite side to the cassette. From what I've learned recently the previous owner (Australian) rode it around Europe back in the 70s and must have brought it home. There are just none in Australia that I can see anywhere online. All the running gear fits ...the cove` decal... the Luxe Gitan neck... Is it possible to get a little more instruction on what you mean by "see Gallery"?

Thanks so much

velology

Hi Fabio, Because it has that decal on it under the gloss coat. I've figured what non-fixie meant by gallery. I'll try to post the pics there so you can know what I'm seeing.