This is a cute lil' commuter / townie bike I built up in the winter of 2011 for my girlfriend. I found an old Bridgestone MB-2 frame, a high-quality lugged rigid mountain bike from the early 1990's. It had a lot of scratches and small dents so I gave it a new coat of paint and a built-in top tube protector made of shellacked hemp twine. Read more after the jump…
Here’s a Pake “Rum Runner” single speed that I built for a friend of mine. It’s a 56cm frame with a KHS track fork, an Surly wheelset with flip-flop rear hub, front and rear brakes, and riser bars. The tires were the stock Avocet 700x32c skinwall slicks came from my RB-T, which should deliver a comfortable ride on broken urban pavement. Simple!
Sparton is a Chilean brand that was briefly imported into the USA from 2007-2010. They were initially sold via eBay for under $200 for a frame and fork. At first a handmade, lugged steel track frame at such a low price made a big splash in the fixed gear scene, but then a number of negative reviews came out. Most of the issues were concerned with the fit and finish, unsurprising considering the low price and 3rd world origin. They operated a retail store in South Carolina briefly, but now the store, website, and owner have all disappeared.
This particular example was bought used (frame & fork) from a girl who had been riding it for the last three years. It was marked 53×53 (the size of the frame) on the bottom bracket, and had the Sparton logo cast into the seat stay end caps.
It was notably heavier than other track frames I’ve seen, leading me to believe it was made from cheap hi-tensile steel as opposed to lighter and stronger cromoly steel. The only issue I noticed was that the seat stay bridge had been placed too low, preventing the rear wheel from being mounted all the way into the rear fork-ends. An amateurish but not serious mistake by the builder.
I built it up with a set of Alex wheels, a Sugino ALPS 144BCD crank which I think is identical to a Suntour Cyclone, stock WTB saddle from my Surly Long Haul Trucker, and the original Bridgestone tires that had come on my RB-1. It was purchased by a young art student from Paris.
Picture gallery after the jump…
The Surly Long Haul Trucker is considered one of the best modern, non-custom touring bicycles on the market these days. Introduced in 2004, it quickly became the “go-to” bike for riders looking for a reliable, no-nonsense machine for long, multi-day travels. It can also do double duty as a solid commuter or errand-runner around town, perfect for hauling camping gear or groceries.
This one is a 2009 model in their beige “Truckaccino” color, size 52 with 26″ wheels. I scored it off of Craigslist from a guy who won it in a radio contest and then never rode it. It came stock with a set of Ortlieb panniers and Blackburn racks. Since I’ve never been one to leave a stock build alone, I changed almost all of the components out.
Highlights of the build include a Gilles Berthoud “Aspin” touring saddle, Schmidt SON28 Classic generator hub with Supernova E3 light, BioLogic Reecharge system for the iPhone 4, Schwalbe Marathon tires, Deore XT derailleurs, Suntour Command shifters, Tubus racks, and a LOOK ErgoStem. More details and picture gallery after the jump…
The RB-T was designed by Grant Petersen to be a “sport-touring” bicycle, a fore-runner of today’s hybrid bikes. It’s intended to fill a number of roles, from putting in long rides on the road to tearing up off road trails, to weekend touring loaded with gear. It does all of these things quite well, and has a classic style that harks back to the French randonneur / audax bicycles of the 1950’s and 60’s.
This particular example was found on eBay in dusty but barely used condition. It’s a 1992 model, shown in the Bridgestone catalog here. I cleaned it up and added a lot of new parts. Like most of the Grant Petersen-era Bridgestones, the stock parts group on the RB-T is a well-thought out mix of reliable but affordable components. It’s hard to “upgrade” a Bridgestone, but I replaced the brakes, handlebars, and saddle with my own selections, chosen for comfort and style. Also, it needed racks and a new fork with the appropriate eyelets to mount them on in order to be truly tour-worthy. The result was a classy, easy-riding machine that gets a lot of compliments. Read on for details on the restoration and build.
I built this bike over the winter from parts I had laying around. The company I work for moved offices over the Christmas holiday to a building that doesn’t allow me to bring my bike up to my office. Instead, we have to store our bikes in a shady loading dock that’s open to 43rd street / Times Sq. So I needed an inexpensive “beater” to commute on every day. More on the bike build and additional pictures after the jump…
I just finished restoring this 56cm Cinelli Corsa, serial number M9141, after scooping it up on eBay. This is a fairly mysterious Cinelli for a number of reasons. First of all, I haven’t been able to find much information on it online, other than a post on the Italian MilanoFixed blog that didn’t shed any light on its origins. It’s made from Columbus Cromor tubing, placing it in the mid-range of Cinelli road bikes. This blog placed it as a 1989 model, alongside the “Deus Ex Machina” time-trial model which has similar lugs and pantographs.
The bike came with a mish-mash of parts which I replaced or upgraded (Shimano 600 cranks, 105 RD, Campagnolo FD). Now the bike has a full Shimano 600 tri-color groupset, with a Gipiemme seatpost and Cinelli bars and stem. Wheelset is Mavic Open 4 CD rims laced to Shimano 600 hubs. I replaced the original lime green Selle Rolls saddle and bottle cages with a new white Turbo and matching cages. I refreshed the lime green bar tape and cables with pink cork tape and cable housing.
The phrase “Mens Sana In Corpore Sano” means “a healthy mind in a healthy body” and is featured prominently on both sides of the top tube. It’s not a decal, but rather part of the factory paint job. All of the lugs are stamped with the Cinelli “C” as well as pantographs on the seatstay caps, fork crown, and cast into the bottom bracket. I think the nicest feature of this bike are the fork crown lugs, which have a swept-back “wing” shape.