Vintage finds

[biggs682]

@dimrub here you go

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1013206899752342/

 

[dimrub]

@dimrub here you go

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1013206899752342/

Sugar in my beer...

 

[dimrub]

Exhibit 7. Salut-S, a folding Soviet bike. Those were an unobtainable dream when I was growing up, a dream because it was advanced technology - it had a coaster brake, of course - all bikes had it, but also a proper rim brake. Some came with a dynamo! And a light! And, well, you could fold it, which was important in tiny Moscow flats. And unobtainable - because pretty much anything was in this category. You couldn't just enter a store and buy it - you had to search for it high and low, or know a guy, or buy it for 10 times the prices on a black market. And here it is.

The seller wants 127 euros, and it's silly, I won't buy it, of course. There's nothing interesting and exciting about it these days. Still, a piece of history. If I were given it for free, I would probably undertake fixing it up (not that it appears to need much of that) and donating it to the bicycle museum, but the way it is - nah.

 

[Gwylan]

I was in Moscow on occasions in the early 80s. Amazed how one day you'd see loads of people wheeling or riding bicycles. Then for weeks nothing.
Then another day you'd see loads of people carrying children's cycles, or wearing amazing overcoats in high summer.

My colleague explained that if I went to GUM and was lucky I would see whatever had arrived that day.

 

[dimrub]

I was in Moscow on occasions in the early 80s. Amazed how one day you'd see loads of people wheeling or riding bicycles. Then for weeks nothing.
Then another day you'd see loads of people carrying children's cycles, or wearing amazing overcoats in high summer.

My colleague explained that if I went to GUM and was lucky I would see whatever had arrived that day.

That's exactly right - and we were lucky in Moscow. The word was "to throw out". Someone would say "they threw out imported shoes at GUM" (central universal store), and everyone would leave work and come queue for whatever it was, no matter the size, the color, or whether one needed shoes at all - worst case one would exchange them for something else, barter economy. People outside of Moscow didn't even have that, would travel for hours to come to Moscow for shopping, would roam the city in search of pretty much anything. There were limits of how much of anything you could buy per person, so I would come with my out of town relatives to shop for meat, so that they can have my allotment too.

 

[Gwylan]

That's exactly right - and we were lucky in Moscow. The word was "to throw out". Someone would say "they threw out imported shoes at GUM" (central universal store), and everyone would leave work and come queue for whatever it was, no matter the size, the color, or whether one needed shoes at all - worst case one would exchange them for something else, barter economy. People outside of Moscow didn't even have that, would travel for hours to come to Moscow for shopping, would roam the city in search of pretty much anything. There were limits of how much of anything you could buy per person, so I would come with my out of town relatives to shop for meat, so that they can have my allotment too.

Well, I don't like it that life was so tough. But I recognise it.
It was all very different in the 2000's, for those who had money
Don't recall seeing many cycles.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Exhibit 1: a Peugeot Paris Express, I think they were making these from 1988 till 1990 or so. It's positioned as an ATB, a precursor for gravel I guess. As befits the era it's a 10-speed (2x5), it has a cool rear derailleur guard and cantilever brakes. The frame seems to be in a reasonable state, the rear wheel too, the front rim seems to be done for. The cable routing is problematic, one can do better. I think it could make a cool city retro bike, with new city tires.

The seller wants 850 shekels (206 euros) for it, which is outrageously overpriced, but seems to be willing to correct the price.

Looks a lot like a donated bike I've got at work.

 

[dimrub]

The volunteering project that I wrote about a while ago is wrapping up, and I've been asked to pick whatever my fancy. Too bad about the wrap up. Yay about the fancy. Though there aren't that many of interest there, 3 to be exact. One is the Starkenburg I wrote about already, one is what looks like a city bike for teenage girls (I'm doubtful about that one), and one is -

Exhibit 8.

MBK Country, a road/city/country (duh!) model by what became of Motobecane after they went broke and were acquired by Yamaha in 1984 (I'm guessing this bike was made shortly afterwards). It's in a pretty good condition, discounting for the fact that it is missing a rear wheel. If Alon expresses interest in it, I'll get a wheel from his reputedly endless reserves, then renew and donate it to him.

 

[Chris S]

The volunteering project that I wrote about a while ago is wrapping up, and I've been asked to pick whatever my fancy. Too bad about the wrap up. Yay about the fancy. Though there aren't that many of interest there, 3 to be exact. One is the Starkenburg I wrote about already, one is what looks like a city bike for teenage girls (I'm doubtful about that one), and one is -

Exhibit 8.

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MBK Country, a road/city/country (duh!) model by what became of Motobecane after they went broke and were acquired by Yamaha in 1984 (I'm guessing this bike was made shortly afterwards). It's in a pretty good condition, discounting for the fact that it is missing a rear wheel. If Alon expresses interest in it, I'll get a wheel from his reputedly endless reserves, then renew and donate it to him.

French bikes from that era use their own unique threads on the headsets, pedals and bottom bracket. These bits are difficult to get hold of outside France. It's definitely not a keeper.

 

[dimrub]

This god me excited. Exhibit 9, The Micro Bike.

Seems in a decent condition, seems like the original Micro, before it started changing hands (if I read the history of the brand correctly), if I can, I definitely get it, figure it out, and donate to the museum - I don't think he has anything similar to it on display.

 

[dimrub]

There we go, collected, almost folded and is in my trunk.

First impression: the gears are disconnected, the front brake is missing as well as one of the grips, the rear mudguard has a chunk bitten out of it, but other than that in a pretty decent shape. I snatched it ahead of many other potential buyers it seems. Seller's friend had it and was going to throw it out.

 

[dimrub]

It's been a while. I thought I'm done collecting junk, but this ad on FB caught me off guard.

I'm not going to share the asking price this time, I'm not a masochist - it's enough that I'm considering paying it, without going through the humiliation of sharing it. But it's the first time I've seen a proper road bike with what appears to be a campy groupset in what seems to be a reasonable condition (except pity about the fork - but instead of paint matching, it can be made black). I do want to know what I'm getting into though, so if anyone has an idea of what model/year this might be (aside from the fact that it's definitely after 1967) - please do chime in.

 

[dimrub]

Something I just noticed - a cantilever brake on the front and a caliper on the rear. Possibly a late addition? Also, the wheels seem to be much newer than the bike.

 

[dimrub]

I'm also thrown by the suicide levers. I don't see them in any of the Bottecchia's catalogues available on the web. Could it also be a late addition (and if it was, what was the guy thinking?)

In terms of the era, the style of the decals seems to point towards the 70s. I'm not an expert on lugs. It is possible that the determination of the model will come down to measuring the frame angles.

P.S. looking at the aforementioned catalogues, some of the models had a chromed fork. This may be the case here: perhaps all that fork needs is a bit of polish...