Vogue X Cycle Aki Road Bike with Suntour Superbe

Posted on June 14, 2024 by naptrax

The latest vintage restoration from my shop is this stunning Vogue road bike, built up with its original Suntour Superbe components. It was a surprise find on Yahoo Japan Auctions, sold complete except for wheels and cranks. It was coated in layers of grease, grime and dust. Once I removed the parts and began to clean the frame, a masterpiece of a bicycle came into focus.

Vogue is a true connoisseur’s brand, rarely seen outside of Japan. In the USA, the marque is more often associated with Keirin track bikes. Road versions of Vogue bicycles are very rare. This particular one is a collaboration between Vogue and a Japanese bicycle store called “I Love Cycle Aki” which had a contract with Oriental Kogyo (“Industries”), the formal name for the frame builder behind Vogue, Hiroshi Takahira. Takahira-San made these bikes as one-off customs for Aki customers. It has Vogue and Aki engravings on the seat stays and fork crown. Read on to learn all about Vogue and this bike! Continue reading →

Nagasawa Special NJS Track with Suntour Superbe Pro

Posted on December 8, 2023 by naptrax

In December of 2021 I wrote about a Nagasawa track bike I restored. It was actually my second Nagasawa; this article is about my first one. I acquired it in early 2017 as a lucky eBay find; only $800 complete! Based on the serial number, it was made in 1984, and I think it had been repainted at least once in its life, since the paint was in excellent condition. It was built up with cheap parts which I quickly discarded, opting instead for an all-Suntour Superbe Pro track build. I also had an additional challenge: I don’t ride brakeless fixed in the streets, but I also did not want to defile one of Nagasawa-san’s forks by drilling it for a brake. Instead, I purchased a fork from a different NJS bike that had already been drilled, and which used the same fork crown and dropouts as the Nagasawa. I acquired new decals and sent it off to Allan Wanta, who did a marvelous job matching the pearlescent yellow paint of the original. Read on for more info on the build, plus a cool interview with Nagasawa-san from 1983! Continue reading →

3Rensho Modeulo Katana Road

Posted on November 26, 2023 by naptrax

This is my “personal” 3Rensho, the one I bought specifically for myself and have spared no expense to restore. As the article title states, this is a “Modeulo Katana” model, likely from the late 80s / early 1990s. It has the signature lugs, webbed bottom bracket, 3Rensho “SuperEnds” dropouts, and the same aero fork crown as also seen on my handmade tribute pista. The straight fork blades are a clue to dating its age, as it is likely inspired by the Colnago “Precisa” straight fork that strongly influenced bikes of the period. It’s built up with a mix of 8-speed Shimano Dura Ace 7400 and 7410 components, with about half of the parts original to bike.

Read on for the full build details and riding impressions! Continue reading →

Custom 3Rensho Cranks by La Vie Velo Classique

Posted on October 14, 2023 by naptrax

3Rensho pantograph (and photo) by La Vie Velo Classique

When you’re so close to perfection on a classic bike build, how do you “take it to the next level”? The answer, my friends, are pantographed parts. These are components that are custom engraved using a pantograph milling machine. Usually the brand name of the bicycle is engraved, although sometimes a bicycle owner will also have their own name added. It’s considered a “lost art” nowadays, making it nearly impossible to get new parts engraved. Vintage examples are usually expensive, often costing two to four times the price of the same component without engraving. Parts engraved with rare marques like 3Rensho command astronomical prices when they appear on the market.

That’s why I’m excited to have discovered La Vie Velo Classique! Based in Hungary, master craftsman Ábrahám Zsolt uses a traditional pantograph machine to create new and beautiful works of art for vintage bicycles. He recently made the above 3Rensho pantographed crank set for me, and I was blown away with the finished results. The quality of his work is absolutely top-notch, and indistinguishable from original vintage examples. Read on to learn more about La Vie Velo Classique and the lost art of “panto parts”.

Continue reading →

Cannondale Bad Boy G-Star RAW Edition

Posted on October 1, 2023 by naptrax

Does a bike from 2008 count as “vintage” or “Gen Z”? Either way, in the cringe-inducing world of fashion brand bicycle “collabs” the RAW Cannondale has aged well. Limited to only 500 bikes and based on the Bad Boy series of urban commuting bikes, Cannondale’s collaboration with the Dutch denim brand G-Star dropped in January of ’08, first appearing at the now-defunct Bread & Butter streetwear fashion fair in Barcelona. At over $2,000, it was far outside of my grad student price range. Two years later, I snagged a used one eBay for $800 and it became my favorite commuter bike for the next decade. More people complimented this bike on the street than any other I’ve owned, which says a lot if you’ve read this blog before. Read on to learn more about the RAW Cannondale. Continue reading →

Schwinn Paramount P13-9 & Sprint with curved seat tube

Posted on September 25, 2023 by naptrax

Taking a time machine back to the year 2011, here’s a very rare frame set that passed through my hands. It’s a 1975 Schwinn Paramount P13-9 with a curved seat tube. This was referred to by Schwinn as a “sprint style” or “short-coupled” frame, and was an option when ordering a custom frame in 1975, 1976, 1977, and 1978. The feature was available on the P14, P10 and the P13 models (and the T22 tandem). The good folks at Bikeforums’ Classic & Vintage message board helped me identify it, especially member Scooper, who shared the original catalogs and order form. This particular one was customized in several ways. Read on to learn more! Continue reading →

3Rensho XR-7000 Lo-Pro Pursuit Funny Bike

Posted on September 17, 2023 by naptrax

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!