Fine Hand Built Bicycles and Making New Friends

Recently, I rode my 650B World Voyageur conversion to the shop. As I dismounted and went to roll my bike inside I spied a beautiful orange bike locked to the lamp post in front. I walked in to meet the owner and ask about the bike; obviously not something I see everyday.

Inside I met Negishi, a distinguished looking gentleman in a driving cap. Negishi's English is not perfect, but we had no trouble discussing fine bicycles. I asked him if I could photograph his bike (I had only my cell phone) and he politely obliged. Gishi, who is from Tokyo, has been in Louisville for two years. Gishi, Vic and I spent over two hours discussing vintage bicycles, fishing and food. I got such a kick out of hearing Gishi "oooh" and "ahh", searching for the English word as he pointed at bikes in the Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles. I asked him how many bikes he owned and Gishi answered "Two."



"Only two, huh?", I asked. "What is your other bicycle?". He explained that his other bike is a Gary Fisher klunker replica. "Cool!", I exclaimed. We exchanged contact info and promised to meet up for rides and perhaps some fishing soon. It's always nice to meet someone much like yourself and it seems even more so when that person is from a different country and culture.

As we were outside the shop looking at his bicycle Parkside Bikes owner, Ben, rolled up on his gorgeous Merckx. Wow! Three orange bikes!



Here is Gishi's Alps 650A machine built by renowned Japanese constructeur Hiroshi Hagiwara. It's purpose built for hill climbing. He pointed out several of the features to which I was naturally drawn. He explained that the pump is positioned behind the seat tube to make portage easier and that he chose to have if fillet brazed rather than have lugs as he preferred a simpler look. Pretty neat, huh?

A Bike Built for Dad

My dad has been increasingly interested in my bicycle builds and a few months back decided that getting back on a bike was how he would shed a few pounds and get his heart and lungs in better shape. He left all the details to me. I built this bike with the idea that this would be his only bike and that it should be comfortable, reliable and versatile. He can use this bike for short jaunts, long rides, picnics and hauling things to and from his workshop. Mostly, it’ll be a comfortable perch to ride along the rivers and lakes near his home.

I delivered the bike to him in western Kentucky--where he and my mother live--this past weekend. He hadn’t seen the bike. He loves it. It fits him well and he’s a big fan of the bar setup and 8-speed indexing thumb shifters.

The frameset and racks were powder coated locally by JHF Finishing.

We had a great weekend of visiting and riding the local roads. Happy riding, dad!

Frame: 1985 Trek 620

Headset: VO Grand Cru sealed bearing

Racks: Dajia Expedition and VO Pass Hunter with integrated decaleur

Saddle: Brooks B72

Cockpit: Soma Oxford bar, Nitto Technomic stem, Sturmey Archer levers, Dia Compe knob, VO elkhide leather wrap and PDG leather grips

Drivetrain: VO Polyvalent crank (46/30) and Grand Cru sealed BB, SRAM PC-870 chain, Ultegra 6500 deraileurs and 8sp indexing shifters mounted to VO thumb shifter mounts

Pedals: VO sealed bearing touring pedals with MKS deep half clips

Cables & Housing: VO braided stainless housing and stainless cables

Brakes: NOS Shimano SLR BR-M732 with Kool Stop Eagle pads

Rear wheel: VO 36h Grand Cru Touring hub, Sapim Race spokes, polished Sun CR-18, 11-28t SRAM cassette

Front wheel: Sanyo H27 dynamo hub, Sapim Race spokes, polished Sun CR-18

Tires: Soma Xpress terra cotta 700x35

Fenders: VO Zeppelin 700c 52mm

Lights: Lumotec IQ Cyo Senso R (dynamo) and Spanninga Plateo (battery), custom made mount



By Justin Hughes

1998 Bianchi Trofeo 57cm NOS

Having bought over 400 vintage bikes in the last 5 years this only the 3rd one that I have found in this condition. This bicycle was bought new in 1998 at Highland Cycles in Louisville KY by a bike enthausist who owned several other bikes. A computer was installed which shows just over 300 miles. The rest of the time it sat stored in a spare room in the house. 1998 was the last year that Bianchi frames were hand braised in Italy.

Specs are as follows;
Years this model was made: 1995, 1997, 1998
Bicycle Type Road/sport
MSRP (new) $819.00
Sizes 49 cm, 51 cm, 53 cm, 55 cm, 57 cm, 59 cm, 61 cm, 63 cm
Colors Fire red, silver
Item ID 79115
Frame & Fork
Frame Construction Lugged
Frame Tubing Material Dedacciai Zero/Tre
Fork Brand & Model Bianchi
Fork Material Dedacciai chromoly, butted, unicrown crown
Components; Campagnolo Avanti
Brakeset; Campagnolo Avanti dual pivot brakes, Campagnolo Avanti levers
Shift Levers; Campagnolo Avanti Ergo
Front Derailleur; Campagnolo Avanti, bottom-pull/braze-on
Rear Derailleur; Campagnolo Avanti
Crankset; Campagnolo Avanti
Bottom Bracket; Ofmega Axis, 119mm spindle
BB Shell Width; 68mm English
Rear Cogs; 8-speed, 13 - 26 teeth
Chain; Sachs SC-20, 1/2 x 3/32"
Seatpost; Selcof, 27.2mm diameter
Saddle; Selle Italia Future Race
Handlebar; ITM Super Europa
Handlebar Stem; ITM
Headset; 1" Miche Trofeo
Wheels:
Hubs; Campagnolo Avani Rims
Rims; Ambrosio Super Elete clinchers
Tires; 700 x 25c Vittoria Roma
Spoke Brand; Inox stainless steel, 2.0mm straight gauge
Spoke Nipples; Brass nipples

This fine bicycle is available for purchase for $950.00

Meet Perry

Meet Perry Finley, AKA Our Hero, AKA Super Perry, AKA Perry Finley Internet Sensation. Perry comes in when he wants, contributes what he wants, and, as Vic plainly states, "We are blessed to have him as a part of the shop." He has helped Vic improve the products in stock, and he is a mainstay, go-to consultant for any project.

To Perry, bicycles are simply "A wonderful way to get around." When asked what first made him interested in bicycles as an adult, Perry says he never got away from bicycles so he didn't ever have to come back to them. When everyone in high school was getting cars and motorcycles, Perry got into that too, but he never stopped riding the bicycle either.

Perry has ridden his bicycle across the USA from Astoria, Oregon to Norfolk, Virginia. When he got done, he still felt like riding his bike, so he rode around the that part of the East Coast a little bit, going to Virginia Beach, then up to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and back down to Washington DC! He has also been a daily bicycle commuter for 25+ years. Perry has been involved with the Louisville Bicycle Club for the past five years, where he is an enthusiastic ride captain.

To Perry, Louisville is a great town for bicycling. He enjoys working on his bikes, as well as working with Vic, Justin and Beth at the shop. For the past three or four years he has become a fixed gear enthusiast. He says, "The fixed gear bike and the rider become one, and you have more feedback with the terrain." He also managed to survive this.

Perry works at the University of Louisville and is from Louisville. He is married to Anita Finley, who he has been with for 37 years! They have two children, Perry IV and Tilly.

By John Wade

Centurion Pro-Tour

"The Pro Tour also appeared in the late 1970s and survived 

into the mid-1980s. It is a gem, perhaps the nicest 

mass-produced touring bike ever..."

-Ashley Wright,  writing on Sheldon Brown's "Harris Cyclery"

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/centurion/index.html

This bicycle is 59 cm center-to-top. It is in like-new condition. We even have the original owner’s manual!
It has braze-ons on either side of the forks for the centerpull brakes to attach--this feature is not often found in production bikes, and it decreases arm flex as the brake grabs the wheel. The calipers and levers are Dia-Compe.
This bike has a SR Apex triple crank with a half-step between the first two rings, and a "granny gear" for serious touring. By the way, Gary Fisher says "Someone gave a lot of thought to this bike."


This bicycle has a SunTour Cyclone rear derailleur and SunTour bar end shifters. These were top of the line in the height of SunTour awesomeness. These components could go up against any other company's components from the same year (yes, SunTour is a great component company. Read their story here).

The whole bike is chrome under the pain--you can see the chrome lugwork. And check out that pin striping!

This bicycle is in like-new condition. The vintage saddle will be exchanged for a new Brooks B17.

You can also read about the Centurion Pro-Tour on Wikipedia

This bicycle is available for purchase. $1,400. That is in like-new condition, for about what it cost new, adjusted for inflation.

By John Wade

Schwinn Paramount from OUTER SPACE

This Schwinn Paramount is a 56cm center to top. It has a 32.5" standover height. All of its component and geometry information can be found at the bottom of this post.


The Schwinn Paramount is literally the best or "paramount" Schwinn frame. All are collectible. This is a Japanese-made model, and it has a large "OS" decal which means "over-sized." This tubing was over-sized in order to make it with less steel but the same strength. It is about a half pound lighter than comparable frames, according to Schwinn.

The paint job is a blue with bright red speckles. It is pretty awesome. There are double Paramount decals running down the front of the fork.



This bicycle is available for purchase. $850.

by John Wade

Cycle Safely!

DISCLAIMER:
In the following few tips on riding safely with automobile traffic, it might sound like we think bicyclists are the ones usually responsible in a bicycle-automobile crash. Far from it! We know that bicyclists tend to be more alert than automobile drivers--they have to be.

And that is just it. A bicyclist, like any individual, must be conscious of the fact that s/he is responsible for his/her own safety. The bicyclist must control their part of the road, so that--like any vehicle--they can scan the road ahead and make their way along in a straight line. Don't weave in and out of your "safe zone" in traffic, and don't bet your life that car drivers will be good citizens. With defensive riding habits, you can stay safe!


Here it is in three rules:

-Be as visible as possible.
Wear lights at night, stick your hand out, wave it around, do whatever necessary so that you know that you are clearly visible to bored, distracted automobile drivers.

If there is ever a car behind me and I do not think it is safe for them to pass, I stick my left arm out at a 45 degree angle and point at the ground. It is unfortunately a not-quite turn signal, but it lets drivers know that I consider that area my space.


I have found that even the most aggressive drivers will come only as close to my outstretched hand as they otherwise would to my body. Just like that, my worst-case scenario for a car coming from behind and passing me on the left has gone from them squeezing me off the road or hitting me, to them hitting an outstretched hand. Don't play the odds that a driver will have good judgment, make sure drivers are aware that you expect them to follow the law in Kentucky: three feet to the side to pass a bike. If you are anywhere in the lane, they should basically be changing lanes to pass you.

-Ride predictably, signaling violently where appropriate.
Only move out of the lane and to the right if you have enough future open space, and traffic is light enough, that you will be able to move back into the flow of traffic without having to ask a new car behind you to yield and let you in. It is great that you consider yourself a bicycle ambassador. We want to win the hearts of automobile drivers, but do not let your considerate nature get in the way of your safety. Better to just stick well in the lane and try to go as fast with traffic as possible than to weave in and out of traffic and get squeezed to the right.

-Know your "safe zone."
At least one and a half feet away from any obstructions to the right, or in the same position relative to any potential future obstructions, based on your knowledge of the type of road you are on. If the obstructions or potential future obstructions to the right are parked cars, then the bicyclist should be a full car door's length away from those cars/potential future cars. Do not compromise on this basic principle; the lane is your birthright as a vehicle!


Remember, know the law! If you use your good judgment, chances are the law will be on your side, although you might have to remind the police.

For those of you interested in better, more comprehensive instructions, see this great page on bicycle safety, with cartoons that show how bike wrecks occur and how to avoid them.


Remember, stay out of bike lanes if there are parked cars to the right of them!



by John Wade