Re: [CR]A fun recent vintage project bike

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Avocet)

Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:19:16 -0400
From: "David G. White" <whiteknight@burlingtontelecom.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]A fun recent vintage project bike
References: <BAY114-F36D2039A75A759F723D14EE9FC0@phx.gbl>
In-Reply-To:


Ray,

Beautiful bike! What a fun project!

How did you do the pinstripes on the tubes and the panels? Is your hand really that steady?

Best,

David

David G. White Burlington, VT

Ray Barron wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Pictures of this bike can be viewed at:
>
> http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?collid=352290462111&UV=839521658449_678840462111
>
>
> And an explanation of what I was trying to accomplish is in the
> following story:
>
> The \u201cBarron\u201d Bicycle Story
>
> One day I was looking at bike parts on eBay and happened across a new
> pair of fenders for sale. They were absolutely gorgeous and I
> instantly knew that I had to build a bike up around them. These were
> the Honjo brand, hammered, aluminum, fenders. These fenders, that are
> handmade in a small Japanese factory, are reminiscent of the fenders
> that came on some of the French road bikes of the 50\u2019s & 60\u2019s. In
> fact, I had once owned an old Rochet touring bike that had a set of
> fenders nearly identical to these.
>
> Not wanting to spend a small fortune bringing this vision to fruition,
> I started thinking about what I may already have in my possession that
> I could work with. I had recently acquired a 1978 Schwinn Super LeTour
> 12.2 that was all in parts, being ignored, in my basement. So this, I
> decided, was going to be the starting point for this project.
>
> I stripped the all decals off the frame so that I had just the white
> painted frame and fork. I then masked off the head tube and seat tube
> areas and painted some black, contrasting panels. With another old
> French bike as a reference, I then added some gold pin striping
> details on all the tubes of the frame & fork. I had a friend make me
> up some decals for the down tube and head tube using my last name as
> the \u201cbrand\u201d for this bike. The resulting appearance was that of a
> vintage Raleigh or Motobecane, and was exactly the look I was after to
> go with the fender set that was now on its way to me.
>
> The only original parts that I used from the LeTour were the bars &
> stem, crank, and one rim. Since the frame was nothing special in terms
> of tubing, I decided to use vintage, mid-level, components to outfit
> this bike - some of which I had in my inventory, some of which I would
> acquire from bike dealers that I call on in my job a sales rep for
> Pacific Cycle, and some of course, from eBay.
>
> Having refurbished vintage bicycles before, I found this project to be
> a particularly fun one because I wasn\u2019t restricted to having to come
> up with an exact part, or necessarily even an age appropriate part.
> The resulting bike is very international \u2013 with parts on her from
> Japan, England, France, Belgium, Italy, and the US. As well as being
> made up of parts ranging in age from approximately 40 years old to
> brand new!
>
> The parts list:
>
> 1984 Schwinn Super LeTour frame & fork \u2013 U.S.A.
> Honjo-Koken hammertone fender set \u2013 Japan
> Brooks B-17 saddle \u2013 England
> Huret derailleurs and shift levers \u2013 France
> Universal center-pull brake calipers \u2013 Italy
> Mafac drilled brake levers \u2013 France
> Dia-Compe cable hangers - Japan
> Rigida 27 x 1 ΒΌ front rim \u2013 France
> Weinmann rear rim - Belgium
> Wa pedals \u2013 Italy
> ALE toe clips \u2013 Italy
> Lapize toe straps \u2013 France
> SR bars & stem \u2013 Japan
> Sugino Super Maxy crank set \u2013 Japan
> Normandy (Schwinn Approved) hubs \u2013 France
> Reg handlebar mount water bottle cage \u2013 Italy
> Peugeot rear carrier - France
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Ray Barron
> Oak Park, Michigan U.S.A.