The R3V Bicycle Thread

[LateFan]

My old Gitane TdF. Reynolds 531 frame, Stronglight crank, Simplex derailleur.
This bike has been in the family since 1973. My wife's brothers bought two of them new, one is gone. They rode them for many years as teenagers and college age. This one ended up in CO where it at some point got straight bars, a big coil-spring seat, fenders, and was a commuter. I was in Seattle and wanted to buy or build up a bike, so he sent me the frameset. I scrounged up used and vintage parts to make it back into a road bike. Used Campy brakes (they are filed up to fit a 700 wheel ??), used bars and cheap brake levers, a new Campy record seat post, and I had a local Seattle shop build the Campy / Mavic wheels. Has the original crank and chainrings. Fatty Clement tires now.

I commuted in the rain for many years with it - fenders with mudflaps! SO much water. Rode on some long supported tours with lower gears for the Continental Divide.

Once I got a new bike, my son took this to school in Seattle and Wash DC, then back to Seattle. Too many years out in the weather. Now he has it at grad school to commute with.

We just found out a guy in Australia worked with the factory and sells authentic reproductions of all the stickers, including the foil. $45! So we're thinking we'll strip it sometime, de-rust the chips, paint / clear / stickers. Do bike frames have clearcoat?

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The dark in all the lugs isn't rust or grime, it's pin-striped gold paint. He almost took a scrubber to them! We'll have to learn how to do that.
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[leegf]

Cool bike. I've had some Frenchies including a Mercier 300, Peugeot PSN-10, and Motobecane Le Champion so can appreciate this. Personally I would leave it with the nice patina.

[LateFan]

I read in a vintage bike blog that this sticker had an old frame type or date on the bottom before 1972. So in 1972 they just cut off the bottom flat and kept using them!
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This was my favorite bike shop co-op in Fremont in Seattle. You joined and could use their bike stands and tools, take bearing classes. They had a glass case with a vintage Campy parts shrine. Eat, Shift, and Die!
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[LateFan]

Personally I would leave it with the nice patina.

Is it patina, or rusting away? Those pics make me a bit sad - it used to shine. I locked it to a parking meter in front of the old Smith Tower every day.

[geovangelist]

Very nice. I never heard of the S24O but I'd like to try it.

For sure! Normally we would haul our lightweight sleeping bags and a stove and a tarp and split our rides into a shorter out (camp) and back. This time 'round it's just a quick out and back with light bikes and then grab a hotel for a 2nd ride. Then back home - in the E30! It's a cool concept and there are lots of rides here in the PA/MD area.

[wworm]

I made a bike in Japan and I'm getting into road cycling. Riding around the bay area means every ride has a gnarly climb and an even gnarlier descent and with this bike and its twitchy front end its wicked fun.

[superj]

I bet, sf has no level areas, ha ha ha

[ST1G]

Oh yeah, got a new fixed gear.

[LateFan]

But it only has...one gear...

BTW, we're trying to teach ourselves to say "Boy-see" instead of "Boyzzee."

[ST1G]

But it only has...one gear...

BTW, we're trying to teach ourselves to say "Boy-see" instead of "Boyzzee."

Its a hard habit to kick. Its nice because I can spot a transplant right off the bat

[JasonC]

Fiancée and I picked up some cruisers. Nothing special just $100 Wal-Mart bikes. I couldn't leave mine alone. Added some doodads and whitewalls to mine. We figured it would be a nice way to get out and get some exercise.

[beta14ok]

My old Gitane TdF. Reynolds 531 frame, Stronglight crank, Simplex derailleur.
This bike has been in the family since 1973. My wife's brothers bought two of them new, one is gone. They rode them for many years as teenagers and college age. This one ended up in CO where it at some point got straight bars, a big coil-spring seat, fenders, and was a commuter. I was in Seattle and wanted to buy or build up a bike, so he sent me the frameset. I scrounged up used and vintage parts to make it back into a road bike. Used Campy brakes (they are filed up to fit a 700 wheel ??), used bars and cheap brake levers, a new Campy record seat post, and I had a local Seattle shop build the Campy / Mavic wheels. Has the original crank and chainrings. Fatty Clement tires now.............................

I love this bike! A treasure!

I'd keep the look and just make sure it stays mechanically sound, upgrade parts when necessary, but leave the frame majestic in it's historical spendor!

[LateFan]

I made a bike in Japan and I'm getting into road cycling..

I just realized there's a link in there - those pics are fantastic! I love this. Those frame jigs are very cool - all you need are the secret Italian head tube angles!

So is it all hand filing to get from the heavy brazed joint to smooth and faired? Do the tubes warp at all from the heat? You have that brake bridge / seat stay fork sitting right on the tire, don't you.

The links at the bottom are all your work? Very nice. I love the idea / fabrication / prototype process.

[LateFan]

beta from the sulphur mines -
Thank you. We love this bike, and 4 family members have personal ties to it. I love old cars with some age and wear - I just haven't seen it in a while and it looks pretty sad. Mostly concerned about rust spots in the paint nicks.

Some things I'd like to fix, too....The braking sucks. It has cheap used brake levers mismatched with old Campy brakes, whose pad mounting holes have been filed to match the rim dimension of a modern 700 wheel. So I think the leverage is all wrong - you have to just stand on it and wait to stop. Imagine it in the rain!

You know how they always tell you to change your chain and your cassette rings so the wear is matched, and check your chainrings on the crank? Well this thing has perfectly half-circled teeth on the original chainring from all those years and rain and grit. So you just live with pretty good shifting and enjoy it. I never noticed it skipping.

[wworm]

I just realized there's a link in there - those pics are fantastic! I love this. Those frame jigs are very cool - all you need are the secret Italian head tube angles!

So is it all hand filing to get from the heavy brazed joint to smooth and faired? Do the tubes warp at all from the heat? You have that brake bridge / seat stay fork sitting right on the tire, don't you.

The links at the bottom are all your work? Very nice. I love the idea / fabrication / prototype process.

Hey thanks man! Lots of hand shaping each joint. I'm working on reverse engineering those jigs to make one myself. (one of our teachers spoke english and is sending me the files of them so I can make them here in the states)
Next frame I build will probably use a few more lugs to save some time hand filing the brass fillets.
And yeah, they warp a bit here and there, takes years to master fillet brazing to the point where you barely warp the tubes during the process. We used a big alignment table to check/fix everything after each brazing session.

Ha! yeah that wishbone seat stay is CLOSE. I wanted it to be tight, but I filed a liiiiitttle too much off one of the stays and had to even it out. Looks rad, but is definitely a little silly haha.

I'm a designer (graduated 2 yrs ago) and thats a working version of my portfolio so yes, all work on that site is mine. Just slightly disorganized and unclear lol