Roy Thame is here

and it's a fine thing, albeit more of a single purpose device than I had hoped.
Frame geometry is 74.5 degrees parallel, and there is only a righthand downtube shifter boss, suggesting that the frame was built exclusively for TTs, not a pastime that I have engaged in for about 15 years, nor ever shown any aptitude for.

On the positive side, it is as feathery light as you would expect of a 531SL frame, and devoid of rust and dings. Even the Campagnolo Nuovo Record Pista headset seems to be useable.

A previous owner has used a pair of clamp-on shiftlevers, and rigged up a front derailler cable guide under the BB, and being no latter day Alf Engers I will do the same.

July Retroride

retroride0807
Originally uploaded by bensondoc

Converted to black and white to make Sammo's new Pinarello look period correct

The devil is in the details...

gazzetto
Originally uploaded by bensondoc

...and if you are wrapping your spare tubular, it should be in the pink newsprint of La Gazzetto dello Sport

RT v1.1

Yesterday's assertion that I have a couple of "a couple of incomplete (Suntour Superbe) groupsets" turned out to be wildly over-optimistic.






What I've got is a pile of deraillers, a pair of LD-2000 clamp-on shiftlevers, and a brakeset that is currently on another bike. Of course, I am only assuming that the RT frame takes a short reach brake...

The rear deraillers are a mix of basic Superbe RD-2100, with steel hardware; and about 1-7/8 Superbe Pro RD-3100, with aluminium pivots and pulley bolts.






There are a couple of OK looking Superbe FD-1500 hinged clamp front deraillers, and I think that a little more rummaging will eventually expose one of the weird band-mounted Superbe Pro FD-2000.


I have two pairs of brake levers, without hoods.
My one spare set of hoods is earmarked for Team McCall, so I will get a set of white Olympic hoods from ebay which will complement the black/white colour scheme.

My Superbe seatpost turns out to be Sugino Super Mighty, which is OK with me, and the Super Mighty crankarms have a decent set of factory-drillium 50/42 chainrings.


Suntour and Sugino catalog pictures from Mr Gami's catalog scans page

The Roy Thame Masterplan, V1.0

Dan Rosser, whose CBAD makes my own look benign, asked about my plans for the Roy Thame frame.
To the unafflicted this is an ill-advised and frivolous purchase, but while pondering Dan's question I realised that the RT is the ideal recipient for some early 80s Japanese kit I have been hoarding.
Early Suntour Superbe is fairly uncommon nowadays, but I have accumulated a couple of incomplete groupsets.
Sugino Mighty cranks are near enough to be good enough, and I have a hollow SR Royal Extra Super Light stem that is too cool to leave in a box.
Wheels will be Araya 20A clincher rims on small flange Suntour Superbe hubs. Back in the day we used to frown on 20As, but for this project their silver finish and low weight cancel out any concerns about durability.

A black frame with white graphics demands a white saddle, which puts me in the market for Turbo or a Rolls. To offset the monochrome paint, I will fill the flutes in the seatpost and crank spider with red paint, and use red brake cable.

Crankset_______________Sugino Mighty 170mm
Deraillers_______________Suntour Superbe
Shiftlevers______________Suntour Superbe or Simplex Retrofriction
Brakes_________________Suntour Superbe
Brake levers____________Suntour Superbe
Hubs__________________Suntour Superbe 36h
Rims__________________Araya 20A 700c clincher
Seatpost_______________Suntour Superbe
Stem__________________SR Royal Extra Super Light
Handlebars_____________SR Road Champion
Pedals_________________MKS Sylvan or Suntour Superbe Pro

Roy Thame Campionissimo

Another totally unnecessary ebay acquisition from Hilary Stone:

"Offered for sale is a beautiful 23·5in ctt c1978 Roy Thame Campionissimo frame in very good condition. Top tube length is 22·5in and rear dropout width 124mm. It is almost certainly built from Reynolds 531SL tubing. This frame has some beautiful touches - the lugs and bottom bracket cutouts are modelled on Colnago - Reg Collard who built many of the Roy Thame frames openly acknowledged the influence of Colnago on his frame building. Roy Thame was the brand name of the F W Holdsworth shop in Putney during the second half of the 1970s "

 According to Norman Kilgariff's Holdsworth website, Reg Collard, who also built CTB's splendid Holdsworth Italia, was the 'specials' builder for the Holdsworth retail stores which in 1964 became a separate entity from the manufacturing and wholesaling business.
The shop-built frames were branded Roy Thame in 1975 (after one of the owners) when Holdsworthy Ltd withdrew permission to use the Holdsworth brand.

While the lug cutouts evoke Colnago for some, the motif of three overlapping circles was used by other English builders such as W.B Hurlow and Stan Pike.

Ride with the Dinosaurs

7:30am tomorrow at Bike Central 3 Britomart Place, to ride the truck-clogged streets of Central Auckland, presenting an alternate viewpoint to that of the Road Transport Forum and Auckland's mayor, as seen in today's Herald.

If anyone wants to bring suitable banners or costumes, feel free to do so.

Cabin Fever will make you do stupid things

Today's plan was for bi-modal* semi-epic in the Waitakeres with my lawyer**, who wants to test out her new compact crankset.

Yesterday, in view of the forecast for thunderstorms, we downgraded to a ride on our fixies to to eat doughnuts at il Forno, but this morning's weather didn't meet my lawyer's stringent trackie criteria for going out at all.

After a couple of hours of housework and sulking I figured decide that things didn't look as bad as the forecast, and headed for the hills on the fixed gear Ritchey.
I got as far as the Hunua Gorge before I had to don my rainjacket, which stayed on for the subsequent climbs over Sky High Rd and Twilight.

I surprised myself by getting over the first two climbs without imploding, though my plan to knock off Sky High Road in the saddle will have to wait for another day.
Twilight was not in the original plan, but I was still feeling good as I rolled into Clevedon, so I thought 'Why not?'. My body had different ideas though, and I crawled, numb-legged, to the top.
From there onwards, it is flattish, and the wind was less obtrusive than I expected, until just south of Papatoetoe when it was all I could do to maintain forward motion. By the time I got my lunch kebab from Lil Abners it had died down enough for a dignified return to the neighbourhood.

Tomorrow will be interesting. I'm predicting sore legs, but a good mood. Might try for a light spin on a bike with gears.
Monday: legs OK, but irritable.

* featuring trains and bicycles
**you never know when you might need one, especially given that its frowned upon to get about with a handgun or a trained attack dog. And if you do either of those things, you'll definitely be needing one sooner or later.

Okoroire Mid Winter Ride in 4 weeks

The Okoroire Winter Fun Ride is on July 27th. A report on last years ride is HERE.
The terrain is rolling but fixed gear compatible.

Usually there is a small but congenial Retro Grupetto.
If you are planning to join us this year, email me so that we can arrange to rendezvous before the start.

Details and a downloadable entry form are at http://www.funcycling.net/documents/okoroire_2008_entry_form.pdf

The only interesting bike race before the Tour of Lombardy

My friend Simon Kennett is racing the is the Great Divide Race, which started last Friday.
GDR is a solo, unsupported(ie carry your own stuff) race from the US-Canada border to the US-Mexico border

At the moment it looks like he is in 5th place, about 5 hours behind the leaders after 480miles (775kms) and 12,000 metres of climbing.

For updates, go to Simon's blog which his wife Sarah is updating. From there, you can also link to other sites, like the Race Updates Blog or the Progress Board.

Kate's Fixie

A quick and dirty repurposing of Kate Mullarkey's Foster track bike for street use.


Frame__________________Foster 48cm
Bottom bracket__________Shimano UN72 107mm
Crankset_______________Suntour Cyclone 160mm
Brake caliper____________Suntour Superbe
Brake levers____________Shimano 600
Front hub______________Campagnolo Chorus
Rear hub_______________Surly
Rims__________________Wolber GTX
Tyres__________________Conti Super Sport 700 x 28
Gearing________________46 x 19 (65.4")
Saddle_________________Fizik Vitesse
Seatpost_______________Easton EA50
Stem__________________Cinelli 1a
Handlebars_____________Cinelli 65/40
Pedals_________________Shimano by LOOK

Fiddling while Rome burns

Part 3 in the Procrastination Trilogy

True to my word, gentle reader, last night I put the Breakaway fixie together, without neglecting my domestic obligations.
Yes, the dishes were washed, dried, and put away, and the dogs got their walk.
I even took a shower.

The finished product already looks a bit dirty.
In my frenzy, I didn't bother to clean the wheels, which last saw duty on the broken Holdsworth, and the early 70's Sugino Mighty 171mm crankarms came from the bottom of one of my less-frequented parts bins when the intended Dura-Ace 7400 arms wouldn't allow a good chainline.
The chain is the first one I found in a mystery pile of chains deemed not awful enough to throw away.

I'm going to use the red Ritchey decal kit that came with the frame, which hopefully will look OK with the red Alex Singer style Cateye cotton bar tape. The white brake cables came from Simon at Multisport Bikes.


Frame_________________Ritchey Breakaway SS/Fixed 60cm
Fork___________________Surly Steamroller, 1"
Headset________________Ritchey WCS 1" in Wheels Mfg adapters
Bottom bracket__________Campagnolo Veloce 111mm
Crankset_______________Sugino Mighty 171mm
Brakes_________________Suntour Superbe
Brake levers____________Campagnolo Athena (early 90s)
Front hub______________Phil Wood tandem
Rear hub_______________Surly
Rims__________________Campagnolo Omicron
Tyres_________________Rivendell Ruffy Tuffy 700 x 27
Gearing________________47 x 20 (63.5")
Saddle_________________San Marco Rolls
Seatpost_______________Suntour XC Pro
Stem__________________Ritchey WCS 4-Axis 12cm
Handlebars_____________Nitto Model 176 Dream bar 44cm
Pedals_________________Crank Brothers Quattro SL

Procrastination is the mother of necessity.

On Friday I took the day off work, and decided to get my Breakaway fixie frame painted.
The plan was to paint it white, like the stock colour scheme, but after pondering the twenty different types of white in the DupliColour stand, I wigged out and went for the fixie-bogan default option of Metallic Black.

By Saturday afternoon the frame was looking pretty decent, so long as you were not strictly sober.
Most of the paint was smooth and sparkly, but there were a few rough, dullish patches. It seems that you need to spray a fairly thick layer of paint to get it to flow out smoothly instead of going orange-peely. Fortunately, the rough bits polished out with White Lightning Metal-Brite, which is not intended for use on paint, but is much gentler than automotive polishes which tend to destroy the gloss on DupliColor.

My masterplan was to leave the frame for a few days, to allow the paint to cure, but last night I fitted few components, in solidarity with CTB who had come round to finish off his Ron Kitching.
Needless to say, neither of us got finished, though Chris managed a test-ride.

Now, the challenge is whether I can get a rideable unit before bedtime.

Procrastination, sport of kings

The recent upsurge in workshop productivity, not to mention bloggage, has been in lieu of more important tasks that require real application, hopefully for real rewards.

Not to worry though.

As well as winterizing the Benson, I got the Ritchey Breakaway back together.
Without the mudguards that I had on it last year, its a fair weather Luxocruiser with Gran Bois Cypres 700 x 30s for a plush but fast ride.
Succumbing to the nagging voice of my inner racer-boy, I cut 2cm off the fork steerer- not totally irrevocable,as flipping the stem will raise the bars by the same amount.

It took a couple of rides to get comfortable.
I seemed to be sitting further to the rear, though the Brooks Swallow saddle was set in the same position as the Swift on the Benson.
After a couple of adjustments, my souplesse, such as it is, seems to be regained.

Frame_________________Ritchey Breakaway Road steel 60cm
Fork___________________Reynolds 531, Pacenti crown, 1"
Headset________________Ritchey WCS 1" in Wheels Mfg adapters
Bottom bracket__________Campagnolo Ultra-Torque
Crankset_______________Campagnolo Veloce CT 175 mm 34/48
Brakes_________________Cane Creek SCR-3L
Brake levers____________Campagnolo Cobalto
Shift levers_____________Campagnolo Record 10speed bar end
Front derailler___________Campagnolo Centaur QS
Rear derailler___________Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed medium cage
Hubs__________________Campagnolo Veloce 36h
Rims__________________Mavic MA3
Tyres_________________Gran Bois Cypres 700 x 30
Cassette_______________Campagnolo Veloce 10s 13-29
Saddle_________________Brooks Swallow Titanium
Seatpost_______________Ritchey WCS V2
Stem__________________Ritchey WCS 4-Axis 11cm
Handlebars_____________Nitto Model 177 Noodle bar, 44cm
Pedals_________________Crank Brothers Quattro SL

Don't cry for me Imelda

I know I'm mixing up my fascist dictatorettes, but the grief of binning two of my favourite pairs of cycling shoes is almost overwhelming.

On the left, my Sidi cyclocross shoes, bought from Belgium 20 years ago.
Used for a few years of mountain bike riding, and then for commuting, I reglued the soles more times than I can remember.
Recently I replaced them with a pair of crappy Diamant cross shoes from Ebay, which are not as comfortable, and probably less durable, but there is not a lot of choice when you are still commuting with toeclips.

The Diadora Euro TCK (size 43.5 in case you have a pair you want to part with), were my #1 pair of road shoes from 1998 onwards, being demoted to retro riding duties when I went back to clipless in 2001.
I stopped using them when the sole started peeling off, and Ebay eventually provided a pair of Marresis that I am growing to like.

This could hurt...

CTB came by yesterday to convert an old Ron Kitching into a ride-to-work fixie.
It seemed like a good idea to take the fork out and inspect the steerer tube for damage, and just this once, caution paid off.
The steerer had broken a couple of inches above the crown, been brazed up by some handyman, and a steel plug pressed into the ID.
It could last forever, or or ruin CT-B's good looks first time out, so we dug up suitable replacement from the back of the shed.

'Nice winter bike'

The last time I rode the event formerly known as the Pack'n'Pedal 100k, an English gent in our bunch described my 1995 Benson as a 'nice winter bike', which made me somewhat unreasonably defensive. I pointed out that Auckland is a rainy town, and that I thought it sensiblefor a non-racing person to ride year-round with mudguards. Then I blurted out that I had lighter, shinier bikes for more meteorologically auspicious days, which pretty much proved his point.

This year, I've stopped trying to deny it.
The Benson is back, in trad winter bike guise, with new Bluemels mudguards and the Schmidt dynamo and Bisy light.

Headset________________Ritchey WCS threaded
Bottom bracket__________Shimano UN72 107mm
Crankset_______________Ritchey Logic 175 mm 110bcd 34/50
Brakes_________________Cane Creek SCR-3L
Brake levers____________Cane Creek SCR-5
Shift levers_____________Campagnolo Record bar end
Front derailler___________Campagnolo Veloce CT
Rear derailler____________Campagnolo Veloce
Hub (front)_____________Schmidt SON28 hub dynamo
Hub (rear)______________Campagnolo Veloce
Cassette_______________Campagnolo Veloce 9s 13-26
Saddle_________________Brooks Swift Ti (Swallow pictured)
Seatpost_______________Nitto Jaguar
Stem__________________Nitto Pearl 12cm
Handlebars_____________Nitto Model 176, 42cm
Pedals_________________Crank Brothers Eggbeater (with short Ti spindle)

Busted

Riding the demountable home through the Otahuhu Railway Yards tonight, the rail on my best Brooks B17 broke.
Bought in 1998 from Rivendell Bicycle Works, I was hoping for a couple of decades more riding.
The dilemma now is whether to buy a new one, or to press into service one of the Brooks Professional lingering in the shed. I would have bought a Pro back in 1998 if they had come with saddlebag loops, a shortcoming that I have since addressed by making a couple of stainless steel brackets.

Delux Mixed Terrain sled

Check out Andy Hampsten's bike on cyclingnews.com

You can take him anywhere once...

... Wayne Sullivan, that is, whose email report of the excellent Broomie's Wall Ride eclipses anything I could have composed myself.

Some names have been omitted to protect the innocent.

Subject: THE WALL - BRAGGING RIGHTS
Hey Monkeyman,
This short correspondence to keep you up to speed and advise you of what you missed out on.

We did it as promised while you lay comatose in your lovers arms.

It was a loose pelican of riders that trundled South and wound our way around some nice country roads to the base of the Bombay's and over a few small lumps (some of which I thought were a bit "wall like") until at last there it was, rising before us like a gray curtain on a green wall. Indeed it was a wall. Fuck!

As we approached this cyclists nightmare I swear I heard an announcement which said "fat people or old people line up at the back please", so I did, and stayed right there until the top, coming over the final crest a sad and sorry last. (But Hell man, it was nothing, I'd do it again tomorrow.)

As I cleared the last bit I swear I heard another voice, this time from somewhere above that said something like "blessed are the weak for they will provide us with mirth" (I think it was a sign from God.)

After this part of the ride I "came right" and rode with some aplomb, and back at Ramarama the bunch stopped for a banana and a beer, but Gaz and I being latish for our tea party, rode on alone (except for a beautiful young escort) The three of us powered all the way back to Otahuhu at a good clip, with my brother in the van for the whole distance and us two (me and the babe) hanging on for grim death.

To summarise I have to say "we done it Mr Monkeyman" and you didn't, now harden the fuck up.......

Kind regards as always.

Richard Branson.

MORE PHOTOS

'No Record' Record

In anticipation this weekend's ride up Broomie's wall, I decided that the Hurlow needed some lightweight wheels. This proposition won't stand up to critical scrutiny, but the pair of 28h Fiamme Red Label wheels that I got last year from Cycle City have been preying on my conscience for 9 months, so I needed only the slightest excuse to disinter them.

The hubs are early Campagnolo Record, known in vintage bikenerd circles as 'No Record' because the hub shells are marked only with the Campagnolo logo.
From 1963 the hubs were also marked RECORD.

Rims are Fiamme Red Labels with the Cerchio Fiamme "helmet" logo.

To further enhance my hillclimbing, I swapped out the TA Cyclotouriste cranks for a set of Zeus 177.5s with 36/49 rings.
Combined with a 14-26 Suntour Ultra-6 freewheel, this is right on the limits of the Zeus Criterium derailler's meagre capacity.

Broomie's Wall Ride Sunday 18th May

A message from Kate Mullarkey:

Hi all,
Having never completed the Auckland icon that is “Broomie’s Wall” I thought I would try and get a group together to tackle it alongside, or more realistically, well in front of me!

Sunday 18 May. 7.45 am leave from top of Meadowbank Road (will make the round loop about 110km); or 8:15 am from 16 Ngaio St, Otahuhu (for those from South Auckland or wanting a round loop of 75km).

Please feel free to invite anyone else who may be interested, as long as they do not half wheel anyone, or consider it acceptable to attack the bunch at any point other than at the base of the wall !!
For those of you who have also never completed Broomie’s wall , a well known Auckland cycling personality describes it below:

"Broomie's Wall, named for legendary coach and 60s roadie wildman Jack Broome, is the 2km steepest pitch on Hillview Rd, Ramarama, as it heads south towards Bombay.
Most Auckland cyclists have seen it from the Southern Motorway and wisely resolved not to investigate further. Whilst Broomie's long-suffering proteges would have made multiple ascents on 42 x 18, a 39 x 25 or compact gearing will be more congenial.”

There has also been rumours that there may be a post-Wall beer stop at a yet to be determined venue.

Trackies rain* rules (i.e. we don’t go) apply.

Cheers

Kate

*defined as any amount of precipitation that continues for long enough to make your shoes wet, or that requires the wearing of rain jacket for longer than a five to ten minute shower.

Okoroire Mid-Winter Fun Ride entry forms are out..

Downloadable from http://www.funcycling.net/documents/okoroire_2008_entry_form.pdf

The day after

Paying the price for yesterday's mixed terrain fun.

Cecil stood up the abuse pretty well- except for a bit of chainsuck, everything, even the 1970's Campagnolo Record brakes, worked better than I expected.

For the next outing I'll fit bar end shifters, and change from a 50/47/32 triple to something like a 47/32 double.

Once I have Cecil dried off and relubed, there are a yet a couple of unclean singlespeed in the shed from the NZSSC last weekend.

Riverhead Mixed Terrain Ride

The plan was simple- a dirt road christening for Adam's Breakaway Cross bike. Since he's a westie, Riverhead Forest looked like the best venue.
Invitations were emailed out, and despite fairly miserable weather, eight of us set out this morning from the Swanson Station Cafe:

Adam Lovell____________Ritchey Breakaway Cross
Hugh Calder ___________Kona Jake
Allister Worrall _________GT cross
Peter Alexander________MTB
Kim Sinclair ___________Bauer MTB
Chris Tennent-Brown ___Ritchey Breakaway fixed gear
Glenn Selwyn __________Nakagawa
DB___________________Cecil Walker

By the time we reached the forest, CTB had peeled off with a sore knee, and Glen called it quits, having forgotten his inhaler.
The rest of us rode into the forest at Browns Road, for the first gravel leg to Ararimu Valley Road via Strip Road.
After turning back into the forest at Campbell Road, we took a wrong turn off Whakatahi Rd that fortuitously took us to the best part of the ride- a muddy four wheel drive track descending to Deacon Road. Thence we guessed our way to Forestry Road, only a couple of kms from our planned lunch stop at Hallertau.

All the photos fit to show your mother

Click on the button for a map

A weekend in Rotorua

For most of the week I have been operating at about half speed, after an excellent couple of days riding in Rotorua, in the company of Kate Mullarkey and Gaz.

On Saturday Kate and I rode the Rotorua-Taupo 100k Flyer, while Gaz took care of the Nzo stand in the finish at the Taupo Events Centre.
My plan had been to ride Team McCall, the fair weather performance option; but a forecast for rain made me reconsider and refit the guards on the Hurlow. Needless to say the day dawned fine.
Although the course map promised a detour through the Whakarewarewa Forest, we barrelled straight out of town along Highway 5, over a series of draggy uphills that soon showed that I had started with a group that was too fast for me. Eventually I settled into a decent group, where I remained until they unloaded me about 5kms from the finish.
Retro Ride regular Mark Skelly made an appearance in the group somewhere before Reporoa. Despite his 81" fixed being a bit big on the climbs, and too small on some of the tailwind declines, he stayed in the bunch to finish a couple of minutes ahead of me.

With the NZSSC but three weeks away, it would have been madness not to ride in the Whakarewarewa Forest, so Sunday morning saw the three of us at the Waipa Mill carpark for a couple of hours singlespeeding.
We weren't alone- in the carpark we met Mike Metz, lately moved to Rotorua to start Bike Culture with Rob Smail, and Zib Campbell who for years kept Nzo on an even keel. Their posse had gears and were heading for the high ground, so we bid them adieu and made for singlespeed compatible territory.
Gaz took us through various Pondies and the Yellow Brick Road, while keeping up a running commentary on trail conditions and world affairs. The only time either of us got close was when I banged my front tyre squarely into his back tyre, tipping myself head first off the low side of the trail.

My unrequited desire for a Tom Ritchey road frame

The arrival of this frame (Item number: 130210111168) on ebay yesterday reminded me of the tragic lack of a handbuilt Tom Ritchey road frame in my collection.

If you have a 60-63cm frame like this (lugged or 'fake lugged' head tube & seat cluster; lugless bottom bracket with the parkbench chainstay bridge), don't think twice, email me now.

International shipping is not a problem.

My Flickr gallery of Ritchey road frames, variously culled from ebay and other sources.

Adam's Breakaway Cross

Adam Lovell's Ritchey Breakaway Cross, hastily snapped on Friday afternoon as he hustled out the door with his just-finished new toy.
Intended as an allround commuter/tourer/cross sled, and built from a mix of new parts and drivetrain from his old BMC Streetfire.

Frame_________________Ritchey Breakaway Cross 56cm
Headset________________Ritchey WCS Logic
Bottom bracket__________Campagnolo AC-H
Crankset_______________Campagnolo Veloce CT 34/50
Brakes_________________Avid Single Digit
Brake levers____________Cane Creek Drop V
Shift levers_____________Campagnolo Record 10 speed bar end
Front derailler__________Campagnolo Veloce CT
Rear derailler___________Campagnolo Veloce
Wheels________________Fulcrum Racing 5
Tyres_________________Continental Contact Reflex 700 x 37
Sprockets______________Campagnolo Veloce 13-26
Saddle_________________Fi'zi:k Pave
Seatpost_______________Ritchey WCS 27.2mm
Stem__________________11cm, something we found
Handlebars_____________Ritchey BioMax 26.0mm

Next Critical Mass, March 28th

Taking stock

On the Breakfast Ride this morning, Amy Taylor interrogated me as to exactly how many bikes I have, and I was unable to give a definitive answer.
As far as I can remember, this is the current inventory:

Modern
1995 Benson nowadays with 9 speed Campagnolo
Ritchey Breakaway, currently disassembled to touch up the paint
2002 Benson Demountable

Vintage
1969 Gillott
1969 Hurlow
1963 Condor Italia a neglected size Small Retro Ride loaner
80's Echelon Spectra, aka Team McCall
1981 Cecil Walker

Off Road
2007 Gt Peace 9r singlespeed

Incoming
Ritchey Breakaway Fixed/singlespeed

In stasis (mosly frames):
1956 Holdsworth Whirlwind (with broken seat tube)
1956-ish Holdsworth Zephyr
1952 Claud Butler Olympic Sprint
1958 Flying Scot
50's JRJ road/track
Esposito the mystery Italian
A putative Rory O'Brien
Olympic mystery Australian road frame
Some manky Legnanos

Seen at the March Retro Ride

Gary Ulmer's Zeus, originally belonged to his father Ron who represented New Zealand at the 1938 Empire Games.

Later, Ron Ulmer was the owner of Bluebird Cycles in Petone, whose shop sticker can be seen on the Zeus' downtube.
Gary rode this bike when he returned to racing in the late 80s, before passing it on to daughter Sarah who began her illustrious career on it.
MORE PHOTOS

Vic Crutchley has owned this Carlton Franco-Italia bike since 1964, a reward from his father for passing his O levels.
Most of the parts are original, though Vic fessed up to swapping the 27" high pressure wheels for Fiamme Red Label tubulars after a couple of years.

MORE PHOTOS

Mark Battley's Frejus

Mark Battley has, more or less, finished the Frejus Super Corsa that I sold to him (misidentified as a Tour de France) a few months ago.
You can see his before and after photos here.
He can't rest too long on his laurels though, because he has the ex-Bruce O'Halloran 1968 Colnago that caused a brief frenzy on the CR List earlier in the year.

See you there...

Click on the photo for big.

BMX, Wine & Food

On Sunday, CTB and I took a jaunt via Swanson and Riverhead, to watch some BMX racing at Albany, and finishing up at the Devonport Wine & Food Festival.

My day started on the train from Otahuhu to Newmarket, whence I rode to CTB's subdelux bachelor accomodation at Waterview.
By 9:30am, CTB was out of bed, dressed in appropriate gear, his Hillman fixie was suitably festooned with baggage, and the coffee machine was warmed up.
Our route took us along the North Western cycleway to Swanson, where CTB dropped me like a stone on the climb up Birdwood. So much for his assertion that he was handicapping himself by riding the fixie.
At Riverhead, we stopped at Hallertau for a beer before climbing Ridge Rd to the top of Highway 18. Descending into Albany, the boot was on the other foot as CTB ran out of legspeed while I coasted.
We spent long enough at the BMX watch a few races and inhale a hotdog each, then headed to Devonport for the Wine & Food Festival. There we ate yet more, sampled a few glasses of wine, the highlight being the Thornbury Pinot Gris, and were entertained by Hello Sailor and The Lady Killers.

We returned to Auckland on the ferry, parting at Britomart where I caught another train home to Otahuhu.

Toei 'British Lightweight Model'

Found during my daily websurfing routine:

A Toei British Lightweight model, on Mr Akuta's 'My Cycle Touring with Toei' website (here mangled by Babelfish).

As you can see from Mr Akuta's own steeds, and those of his friends, most Toeis are in the French style, so an English-inspired Toei is something of a departure.

This bike features the bilaminate construction and lug design of an early 50s Claud Butler Avant Coureur, with the 'Greatest Hits of the 50s, 60s and 70s' component choices that are almost compulsory on English frames.

More NAHBS

Rich Pinder has put the show catalog online: http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~rpinder/Show08.pdf

NAHBS 2008

Burn up a few hours of corporate broadband ogling some pix from the 08 North American Handmade Bicycle Show:

Bike Portland's Flickr album

Clockwork Bikes downloadable NAHBS album, is now also at Wooljersey

Alex Wetmore's photos

Pegoretti Luigino photo from Clockwork Bikes

Italian Mystery Frame, part 2

In between the various annoyances and outright calamities of last weekend, I did manage to finish painting 'Esposito', the mystery Italian frame.
Its obvious that lug lining is not one of my natural talents, but I have seen much worse.

I'm not sure what to do with this frame.
The demise of the Holdsworth calls for a new fixie, which would probably be the sensible outcome, but I have a hankering for a 60s style Italian road racer.
I already have most of the parts for such a bike, including the 1968 Nuovo Record rear derailler that came with the frame.
Campag bar-end shifters and Universal 61 centrepulls would definitely feature.
Although they are a few years older, I have a pair of Campagnolo Gran Sport hubs that are too nice to keep on the shelf forever.
It could be just the ticket for a return to l'Eroica

Please email if you have any thoughts as to the identity of this frame.