Tag Archives: aluminum

3Rensho XR-7000 Lo-Pro Pursuit Funny Bike

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3Rensho XR-7000

After three years, I finally finished my restoration and build of this 53cm 3Rensho XR-7000 bike.  I acquired it from Japan as a frameset, and discovered it was made under license  by Yamakuni.  Check out this prior article for the history and background.  I had the fork re-chromed, but left the main triangle as-is.  I bought a barely-used Georgina Terry Despatch from 1988, and stripped it for the 6-speed Suntour Cyclone 7000 groupset and the 24″ front / 700c rear wheelset.  I’m aware the 3Rensho catalog showed it built with a Shimano 600 group, but they also sold it as a frameset.  Cyclone was Suntour’s second-best group in the same way that 600 was a notch below Dura Ace.

The rear Araya rim had a crack in it, so I re-laced the hub to a brand new Araya RC-540 rim.  The stem is a NITTO S65 Crystal Fellow with NITTO RB-021 bullhorn handlebars, matched to the NITTO S66 seat post.  The 3Rensho saddle finishes off the build in style.  Read on for more photos and ride report! 

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3Rensho Aluminum Bikes – Part Two: Yamakuni

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Translation: “With a basic weight of 8.9kg, the 7000 series aluminum frame produces the lightness and stiffness required for racing.”

In the early 1990s, TIG-welding was rapidly eclipsing the “screwed and glued” method of aluminum bicycle frame construction. At the same time, aluminum frames were enjoying peak popularity among professional racers, being ridden to victories in the Tour de France and other major events.  This was the era of stiff, lightweight aluminum race bikes with extra-skinny tires, and 3Rensho was not going to be left behind.  Enter the Yamakuni 7000 bicycles, which would replace the SR Litage in the final years of 3Rensho.  Before we get there, let’s dig into a brief history of welded aluminum frames after the jump.

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3Rensho Aluminum Bikes – Part One: SR Litage

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In this multi-part series of articles, I’m going to explore one of the more obscure corners of the 3Rensho story: aluminum-framed bikes.  The 3Rensho brand is generally associated with steel-framed bikes of the highest quality, often hand-made and utilizing proprietary lug designs that make then instantly identifiable.  However, from time-to-time, aluminum frames with 3Rensho logos surface in online sales or fan pages.  This typically leads to a rambling debate about whether they are “legitimate” 3Renshos and who manufactured them.  I can say with 100% certainty that they are legitimate, as they appear in multiple 3Rensho catalogs that I’ll share here, as well as shedding some light on their background.

In this first part of the series, I’ll focus on the most common aluminum 3Rensho: the Sakae Ringyo Litage.  Read on for more info and photos!

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Vitus 979 Restoration

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Vitus979_01

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the ol’ blog, and a whole bunch of bikes have passed through my workshop since last fall.  First up is this gorgeous Vitus 979.  This particular example was purchased “new old stock” about ten years ago from the back stock of a Manhattan bike shop. The logos and paint have been professionally removed to expose the beautiful raw silver of the underlying aluminum, which I hand-polished to a nice shine.

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1988 Cannondale SR500 Road Bike

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cdale_r500_01

Remember that song called “I’m A Believer” by 60’s boy band The Monkees?  This bike had me singing it the first time I rode it.  Why? First, some personal history:

cdale_r500_03In the past, I’d always looked down on vintage Cannondale bikes.  Having ridden an aluminum fixed gear for three years in NYC, I came to conclusion that aluminum was not a good choice for city riding.  This, combined with a distaste for the fat tubes and incongruous steel fork of vintage Cannondale road bikes, left me wondering how they rose to become one of the big three bike manufacturers.

Then one day I picked up this frame set, a 1988 Cannondale SR500.  Their entry-level road bike model, it has the same frame as its pricier siblings but with the Shimano 105 groupset.  When I got it, only the cranks and headset remained from the original component set.  So I dug around in my parts boxes and rebuilt it as a flat-bar city bike.

I added Campagnolo Veloce front and rear derailleurs, and a set of Suntour LD-2800 thumbshifters.  A reliable and smooth-shifting blend of old & new.  Some new wheels (with matching white Suntour Ole hubs), a Modolo stem, riser bars, and a Selle San Marco saddle finished off the build.

I took it for a first ride and… WOW.  Yep, I’m a “believer” now.  The aggressive geometry and light weight of the bike allow for quick acceleration and handling, while the steel fork mellows out the ride.  As soon as you ride one of these bikes, it becomes clear that Cannondale had a unique and very impressive product in the otherwise steel-dominated 1980’s and 90’s.  I’ll be on the lookout for these frames in the future!

Check out more hi-res photos of this bike after the jump…

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