Vic Attacked by Pack of Wilding Youths!

I arrived at my shop in the Highlands about 9:15 this morning looking forward to getting out for a 20 mile ride before opening the shop at noon. After taking care of a few chores, such as walking the dog, checking email, etc and I was out the door on the fixed-gear bicycle before 10:00am.

This ride takes me west on Christy to Barett, then a block north to pick up Breckenridge and continue west towards downtown. After passing under the railroad overpass on Breckenridge and continuing a few blocks through stop signs and lights, I was traveling slow at 5 to 10 mph. At about Shelby Street I noticed a group of 6 to 8 youths (late teens, early 20s) spreading into the street ahead of me.


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Their attention seemed maliciously focused at another youth on the other side of the street heading away from them. I heard some raised voices and shouting and things were looking like a disturbance of some sort.

I wondered if I should turn and avoid the street in front of me. I decided to veer to the left side of the street away from the group and proceed. As I crossed the intersection at Shelby, the attention of several in the group turned towards me and I heard one say,

"Get the guy on the bike!"

The young man closest to me was 2 or 3 strides away. At that instant I put everything I had into accelerating, veering to the left and ducking my assailants blow. He lunged and attempted a close line type manuever towards my throat. I ducked so the main force of the blow hit me in the helmet and sun glasses, and I felt him against my side trying to get a grip.

He caught on and was able to pull my new iphone from my hip.

As I broke free of him I heard several shoes hitting the ground just behind me as the pack gave chase. I suspect that if I had been on a geared bike instead if a fixed-gear, I might not have escaped.

I continued on at full speed looking for a policeman. At about 3rd street, I saw a city inspector getting into her truck. I told her what happened, she called 911 and soon there were 2 patrol cars there and a report to file.

I went back to the shop, got the car, and was off to Verizon for a new iphone.

All in all, a harrowing experience...I am lucky to be writing this from my shop and not a hospital bed.

Victor Miller

1973 Raleigh International Finds a Home

From Vic:

"This bike came out of my personal collection. I did not want to sell it, but Walt caught me as there was a Trek 950 road bike available that I just had to have (post coming soon). Oh what a collection I could build if there only unlimited piles of cash at my disposal..."



From Walt, the satisfied customer:

"Hi Vic,

The bike arrived at 1:30 Wednesday. Your packing job was very good. As I opened each piece, I was both pleased and thankful to you for the cleanliness.

As I sat on the kitchen floor and assembled the bike I was again pleased as I could feel the fresh grease in the bearings, the finely adjusted cones, the wheels true and round, the new tires mounted straight, the bar tape just right- overall, the superb original condition of the entire 38 year old machine...

The Int'l was quiet, stiffer than I expected, and just real fine.

Thank you for all your hard work and expertise. I appreciate your letting me have it.

Walt"

View on the website

Make: Raleigh

Model: International

Frame Size: 57cm

Frame Description: Carlton built. Reynolds 531 tubes & stays. Chain stays are the uncommon rapid taper style (round at the bottom bracket shell then a rapid taper to provide greater clearence for tires). Nervex lugs, head lugs chromed. Campagnolo dropouts (rear has adjusting screws) Additional chrome accents include trident fork crown, chain stay, seat stay, and fork ends.
Wheels: Campagnolo high flange hubs laced to Sprint alloy tubular rims with stainless steel double butted spokes. New Servio Corsa sew up tires.
Components: Full Campagnolo Nuovo Record with the exception of Weinmann 610 Center pull brakes and QR drilled levers, Carlton hoods. All other components are Campagnolo engraved including crank, bottom bracket, pedals, crank dust caps, derailleurs, shifters, seat post, seat post binder bolt, and headset.
Saddle & Seatpost: Brooks Professional Saddle, Campy seat post.
Bars & Stem: Cinelli

PUCH FORCE XII 1987

PUCH FORCE XII 1987 model Reynolds 531 tubing, Weinman 605 side pull brakes with drilled levers. Shifters, derailleurs, hubs, crank all Suntour. Saddle Selle Royal Sprint suede. Wolber alloy rims with eylets. World custom pantagraphed handlebar.

The unique thing about this bike is that it only had one other owner, olympic swimmer Rachel Komisarz. It was bought new in a size too large, ridden twice then placed into climate-controlled storage. The bike is therefore basically new. The rims show no sign of brake wear, tires show no sign of dry rot. A small tear on the leather bar wrap which I covered with hemp twine. A great bike practically off the shop floor.

This bicycle is available for purchase. $850.

by John Wade

Ironwoman!

Mey Tseng has ridden our 50cm Surly Pacer instead of our Nishiki to victory in the 2011 Louisville Ironman!



Mey raised money and traveled to Louisville to compete, as an amateur, in her first-ever Ironman. She successfully completed the three stages in under 17 hours, making her an Ironwoman!

Unfortunately, the Nishiki's new "brifters" just would not work perfectly. After going so far as to call Shimano, Vic just was not satisfied with the performance. The Tuesday morning before the Ironman, he ordered a Surly Pacer and then built it up by Sunday.

Mey says it worked out great, and she loved the bike!

by John Wade

Cruisin'

Recently I bought this bicycle with a matching woman's bicycle at a picnic. What a great place to buy a bike! It is a "Deluxe Sports Tourist" with a coaster brake! Remember the coaster brake from your childhood bicycle?

To set it up, I bought an extra-long quill for the extra-small diameter steerer tube, fixed the fenders and tightened the chain.

Bicycles are great because they are such efficient, simple machines. I like this bicycle because it doesn't have a whole lot of mechanisms and wires running all over it.

Also, it is not necessary to replace the drive train (chain and rear cassette) often, as is needed with geared bicycles that see a lot of use. It has fenders for the rain and will make a great, dependable commuting bicycle for under ten mile trips.

by John Wade

Steel for the Ironman

Vic is proud to announce that he has completed the bicycle build for Mey Tseng, who will compete in the Louisville Ironman on August 28.



He took the triathlon frame from a Nishiki Tri-A-Equipe' :

and put on the modern Ultegra components from his Mark Nobilette:


The Nishiki frame was built by Kuwahara, the "Carlton of Japan" (in that, like Carlton, they did a lot of business building bicycles for other companies, and had some bicycles released under their own name as well. This frame was obviously built by Kuwahara for Nishiki). You might recognize the Kuwahara built and branded BMX bicycle from the movie E.T.!


As far as components, Mey specifically asked for "brifters" (brake and shifter combination), so we put these on:


She might want a triple chainring with a "granny gear" for any hills around Louisville. Apparently, it is important in the Ironman to save yourself during the bicycling and the swimming portions so your body doesn't shut down for the running portion. I mean, I guess that is just pacing yourself writ large, but I can imagine that it takes a heck of a lot more calories to run 42.2 kilometers than it does to bike 180.3 kilometers, as you have to do in the Ironman (yes, I did just convert to metric, it is easier, but more on that in a later blog post).

GOOD LUCK IN THE IRONMAN MEY!!

by John Wade

Sunday Group Bicycle Ride

We had another special visit from Bitsy this Sunday!

The Sunday morning Louisville Bicycle Club ride starts just after 9am at Vic's Classic Bikes. Come out and join us, all life forms which can balance on a bicycle and wear a helmet (see below) are welcome!

Families that bike together stay together!

by John Wade

Bicycling Across Generations

Jonathan Capps found his Dad's old bicycle in the barn. He thought he saw a diamond in the rough, and he was right!

At Vic's Classic Bikes, we love it when quality bicycles see multiple generations of riders. Unfortunately, many consumer goods today, even high-end consumer goods, are not built to last nor to be repairable. This Raleigh Super Course was both!

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This week I went through a pile of old bicycles at my uncle's house (or more properly, his garage) and came out with these two bicycles for my cousins, who just left for college yesterday. The one on the right is a Trek 820 hybrid bicycle with 700 wheels. It actually has a sweet enough steel frame.


The male cousin will be riding Mom's old bike while the female cousin will be riding Dad's.

A friend of mine from the Netherlands lived in California for a year. A story he would tell me that was supposed to illustrate something about America was how, in California, he bought a used woman's bicycle and thought he got a great deal because it was only fifteen bucks. In the Netherlands, if a bicycle can move forward, it costs real money. Everyone cycles, so there is kind of an infinite demand for working bicycles. He soon learned a valuable lesson; in America, males will be made fun of for riding a woman's bicycle. He has never forgotten being constantly harassed for his purchase.

Real men can take it.

By John Wade

Ironwoman? Triathalon Build for Mey Tseng

Vic’s Classic Bikes is proud to announce that we are building a triathlon bicycle for Mey Tseng, who is competing in the Louisville Ironman competition.

In a couple weeks, on August 28^th at 7:00am, athletes from around the world will gather in Louisville to begin the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run that is the Ironman!

Mey is coming from Hawaii, the birthplace of the Ironman competition. If she can finish the three part competition in 17 hours, she will earn the title “Ironman,” which would be a highlight of any athlete’s career.

Crawling for fourth at the Hawaii Ironman, 1997.

Mey has been a commuter biker on and off since 1998. She has also competed in the 2009 and 2010 Honolulu Tinman competitions, and participated in the 2008 and 2009 Great Aloha Runs, the 2010 Honolulu Marathon, and the 2010 Northshore Swim Challenge as training for the Ironman. While getting her masters in Taiwan in 2000 and 2001, Mey won the two National Chung Cheng University 10 kilometer races.

She first started dreaming of completing an Ironman when she participated in her first Aloha Run for charity and signed up for information from a local triathlon and marathon training group. She went to their info session and decided that she wanted to do a triathlon, but wasn't ready to commit to the paid training.

Mey has been riding a Raleigh 500 bike she bought off Craigslist from a local triathlete in June before her first triathlon at the end of July 2009. The Kentucky Ironman will be her first Ironman. She used to be on her high school swim team, so swimming is the easier part of the race for her.

Look for a post in a couple days with details about the bicycle we are building for Mey Tseng, Ironwoman!

by John Wade

Bentley, Shop Dog

A little over a month ago Bentley became a member of the Miller household. With Laura off for the summer she has taken care of him through the day. But with the aproach of a new school year Mrs. Miller is back in the classroom getting ready for this years students. Well it just would not do for Bentley to spend all day at home alone. So off we go to Feeders Supply. Bead, collar, leash, Nylabone; from the basement a rug and a couple bowles for food & water. Then off to the shop.

Clear out a spot under the work bench and Bentley has made himself at home. Stop by and allow him to introduce himself.