Schwinn Pixie Restoration

Restoration of vintage bicycles is a rewarding endeavor. Transforming an undesirable cast-away into a prized jewel is very satisfying - restoring a precious heirloom even more so.

Recently, a Cincinnati customer brought her own childhood vintage Schwinn Pixie for restoration. Though she might have found a new or better condition Pixie elseware, she wanted this specific bicycle restored for her daughter.

The Pixie needed a lot of work. The frame needed a deep cleaning, fenders and all other bright metal needed to be re-chromed. The saddle and grips would need to be replaced. The heavy hard rubber tires needed to be replaced with new wheels that used lighter modern tires & tubes.

To satisfy my own curiosity I started to clean one of the fenders and was surprised to find the original triple-chrome plating still in good condition. What a testament to American quality in the 1960's! It took plenty of chrome cleaner and elbow grease, but the the fenders started to shine. The underside of the fenders required a coat of silver zinc oxide paint to keep any future corosion at bay. After a thorough cleaning of the entire bicycle, I was ready for reassembly. The Pixie now looks and handles beautifully, and the integrity of the personal value of this bicycle was maintained.

Laura Wallace and her new bike

Laura was looking for some economical transportation and found this Free Spirit within her budget. Brought it in to Vics for an evaluatioin and to get it up and rolling. The origional drive train was rather primitive and needed alot of work. On the upside, the tires had been replaced recently and were ok. The decision was made to remove the shifters, derailleurs, and shift cables. Replace the 5 speed cluster with a new singlespeed freewheel, fit a new chain and brake pads. Laura is now enjoying her vintage singlespeed conversion that didnt break the bank.

Louisville Bicycle Maps are in!

THE Louisville bicycle map. Wondering where to ride? Want to know about the secret underground bike path that connects city hall with the river? Ok, that one is purely imaginary, but separate illusion from reality with a free map from Vic's Classic Bikes.

It's produced by Bike Louisville, and even includes a diagram (in picture below, lower left corner) on riding properly (in a straight line and at least four feet from parked cars or other obstructions) and gives all the local bicycle laws.

You can also see the maps here.




by John Wade

Double Tandem and Paul Newman!

Yesterday, at the latest free movie night at Iroquois Ampitheater, we spotted TWO tandems. This alone would have been enough to make this the coolest place to be on a Monday night in Louisville.

When you consider the fact that Cool Hand Luke was playing on a projector screen outside, we can definitely be sure that there was nowhere better.

Here is Luke after eating fifty hard-boiled eggs in only one hour:


by John Wade

Sunday Group Ride in Louisville

The ride today was relatively cool because we had good cloud cover for the whole morning. It was humid, but the sweat just makes it look like we are working harder!

We left Vic's Classic Bike Shop at around 9:15 and headed down towards the river.


Everybody's pumped up after the ride. Is that a double thumbs-up?

Speaking of pumped up, check out Bart Galloway and Perry Finely as they flex their calves for us normal people.

Here is the ride map, come out next Sunday:

View Larger Map

by John Wade

Sunday Group Bicycle Ride in Louisville

Come ride any Sunday morning!

As any bicyclist knows, riding a bicycle can be a joyful experience. Riding bikes together with friends compounds that joy, and dangerous car drivers can make it disappear. Group rides magnify and combine your enthusiasm with that of fellow bicycle enthusiasts while protecting you, to some extent, from unsafe drivers. So come bike with us, there's safety in numbers!

Lisa Todd will protect you!

Last weekend was another great Sunday morning ride starting at 9am at Vic's Classic Bikes on Baxter. Many different groups take it at different speeds on this leisurely, 22 mile route. This makes it perfectly suited to anyone who has always wanted to try a group ride but hasn't gone for it yet because they don't know if they can keep up.

Here is the map of the ride:

View Larger Map

There were many familiar faces from the Louisville Bicycle Club as well as some first-time riders and first-time bicycles, including this chromed-out Schwinn ridden by Justin Hughes and to be featured in a later post.

Come out and cycle!

by John Wade

Group Ride Sunday 9:00AM

The Louisville Bicycle Club will be meeting at VicsClassicBikes Sunday's at 9:00 AM for a 25 mile ride. Today was our 1st ride and we had 42 riders participate. We rode from the shop up to River Road then out to Lime Kilne Lane. A challenging climb up Lime Kiln a loop through some beautiful neighborhoods then an exhlirating desent back to River Road. Then in River Road to Indian Hills for another climb. Finally back through the Parks and back to the shop.

One Year Anniversary Party

Photos from the party - many thanks to everyone who came, drank, ate, won prizes, and shared their love of cycling.

Another (smaller) Guerciotti

Univega

Make: Univega

Model: Gran Turismo

Frame Size: 64cm

Frame Description: Cro Moly tubes, forged dropouts, braisons front & rear for fenders & 1 set watter bottle bosses on down tube.

Wheels: Normandy high flange hubes laced to Winnman alloy concave touring rims. Panaracer Pasella tires w/presta valve tubes. QR front & rear.

Components: Custom forged alloy tripple crank, Suntour Mountech derailleurs w/stem mounted shifters. DiaCompe center pull brakes w/single action levers.

Saddle & Seatpost: Specalized leather saddle, new alloy seat pillar by Uno.

Bars & Stem: Sinlung pantographed bars, New Nitto Technomic stem

Price: $550