Monday, October 03, 2011

Red October

No need to hunt. The "red" is here! Two bikes of two very different sorts with one thing in common showed up yesterday. Let's have a look see...........

French red
First up we have the bicycle referenced yesterday that I said no one would guess at. Well, no one did.

This came from someone that is selling off a collection of older bikes. It is  (we think), a 1973 Lejuene Champion Du Monde. (Could be a '72 as well.)

This bike has what we are sure are all the original components. Campagnolo Nuevo Record drivetrain, high flange hubs, Campy pedals with Christophe toe clips and leather straps, and Cinelli bars and stem. It also has a Campy seat post with a Unicanitor plastic saddle. The rims are tubular and the tires are rotted, of course.

It'll need new tubulars, new hoods, and new bar wrap, some TLC, and that's about it. This will be a winter project. I want to find some big, fat tubulars for this. It's got the clearances for them, and it should ride pretty sweetly. I will also probably get a Brooks Professional for it as well.

Oh yeah.....it fit me perfectly. Seat height, spot on, stem- perfect. Weird, huh? I can't afford a classic car, but this'll do.

Candy Apple Red.
Speaking of classic- My Dad always wanted me to paint my old '65 Chevelle Candy Apple Red. Now I know why.

This Milwaukee Bicycle Company 29"er is made from Reynolds 853 and 520 tubes, but the really cool thing is the paint job. This paint just "pops" in sunlight. I can't capture what it does, but trust me- It's the "ooo! Ahhh!  kind of sparkly red. Really good looking.

The rest of the bike ain't too shabby either! Hayes Prime brakes, Sun Ringle' Black Flag wheels, and Manitou Tower Pro fork. Carbon Answer bars, and Answer aluminum stem. Thomson post and seat collar. Ergon grips, WTB SST saddle. Oh yeah! This is one sweet test scoot. Pretty darn light too. I have not weighed it yet, but it can't be more than 25lbs or so. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels light.

 The Lejuene will have to wait for awhile to get ridden, but this Milwaukee 29"er is gonna get dirty. Soon!

6 comments:

Wally said...

I've been looking at the Milwaukee 29"er for a while so I was stoked when you mentioned one coming in for test. When you said Candy Apple Red, I couldn't contain the drool. Thats the color I have been thinking of. I cannot wait to see what your take on this bike is. Get it dirty GT.

mw said...

both nice bikes no doubt. i love the proportions on the roadbike.

my preference is for trackstyle drops but they are not for everyone, for some reason.

Rich said...

Nice classic road bike! I sold my old Paramount and wish i had it once in a while. It looked great, it did not ride so nice though.

On a family note, my son went off road with me last week and loved the trails! He wants to go back to the woods and rip it up!!

Guitar Ted said...

@Wally: Should have some impressions up soon. Stay tuned...

@mw: Thanks! The road bike- "not more than a fist full of seat post", I think was the old rule. Yeah- it'll stay that way too with the way it fits me. I'm happy about that part.

Guitar Ted said...

@Rich: Thanks! I don't know how this will ride, but with big tubulars, it can't be too bad, can it?

blackmountaincycles said...

I suggest leaving the Unicanitor on for a bit. It's actually a pretty comfy saddle. Give the Parigi-Roubaix tubulars a try - big fatties!

Super nice find!