Tag Archives: randonneur

Schwinn Paramount P13-9 & Sprint with curved seat tube

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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 →

Zunow KYGM 650B Randonneur

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Two years ago, as the COVID pandemic was sweeping across the country, I began searching Yahoo Japan auctions daily, purchasing items via their Buyee proxy service as a way to distract myself and pass the time.  I’d done this before, from 2011-2016, stopping after I began a new job that left no time for bicycle collecting and restoring.  In April 2020, I was working from home for the first time during the scariest, and at times surreal, period of history I have ever lived through.  The daily treasure hunt was a welcome respite, and soon I found a twin of my “Zunow grail bike“.  Read on to learn more about it.

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The First Zunow Catalog: KYGM 1973

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Last year I scored an original printing of Zunow’s first catalog from Yahoo JP Auctions. The catalog is for master builder Takeru Kageyama’s line of full-custom bicycles branded “KYGM” (pronounced “Gee-mu”).

It offers a window into the early days of the Zunow brand, when Kageyama-san was producing French-inspired randonneur, road, and touring bicycles. The catalog is in Japanese, which is a challenge for a non-speaker like myself. With the help of some translation tools and my experience with bikes & bike parts filling in the gaps, there are some interesting learnings to be had. Click “Continue Reading” below to learn more and download a free copy of the catalog.

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Vivalo Touring, Sportif and Road Bikes

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I’ve always been fascinated by non-Keirin bikes built by Japanese frame builders who are famous for their track bikes. All of the most well-known builders of NJS track bikes began their careers in the late 1960s – early 1970s, when the bicycle touring craze was sweeping the world and Japan in particular. They apprenticed in shops that built road and touring bikes, and many of them built these kinds of bikes early in their careers. Touring and sportif bikes are often custom-made for clients, and are expected to include the kinds of beautiful details and high level of finish common with this kind of luxury item.

Shuichi Kusaka, the master builder behind the Vivalo brand, built a number of road, touring, and sportif customs. In the past 15 years, I have only seen a handful, and in this article I’ll be highlighting a few of these lovely bicycles. Read on to learn more!

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3Rensho Rarities from the Cyclone Days

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Have you ever seen a 3Rensho cyclocross bike? I had not, until I came across the bike pictured above, on auction at Yahoo JP auctions. I thought about throwing in a bid on it, but rather narrow-mindedly decided that a 3Rensho that doesn’t have the logo engraved into a seat stay cap or fork crown wasn’t a 3Rensho worth buying. Man, was I wrong! I regret it now, as I’ve come to learn that engraved logos do not a 3Rensho make.

I’ve been diving into the history of Cyclone LTD (the Yoshi Konno’s brand that later became 3Rensho) as I’ve been researching the provenance of the custom 3Rensho Super Record I recently restored. In the course of that research, I’ve dug up a few interesting rarities to share. Read on to learn more!

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Bridgestone Eurasia Sportif – Part Two

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A few weeks after I purchased the Eurasia ES-1 frame and fork that became the base for the first restoration I did, I came across the same model of bicycle on Yahoo Japan auctions, in its complete and original configuration. The bike was in rough condition, and the price accordingly low. I snatched it up, but this was in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, and it was impossible to ship items to the USA from Japan. So it sat in a warehouse in Tokyo, where it would be joined by several other frames and complete bikes I would go on to purchase, until shipping would again be possible. That would turn out to be over a year later and cost several times over the auction price of the bike. Lesson learned! When it finally arrived in my shop, I was excited to return this bike to its original glory. Read on to learn more about this restoration and check out the photo gallery.

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Jo Routens 650B Restoration

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JR_02

In the fall of 2014, I acquired one of my “grail bikes,” a Jo Routens randonneur.   I wrote it about it here, after it arrived from France and I had ridden it around the city for a few months.  Then in the summer, I took the plunge on a full restoration, with the goal of bringing it to the 2015 Eroica California event in Paso Robles, California.

JR_05It was quite an undertaking, and definitely the most expensive and technically complex restoration I have ever embarked on.  The results were spectacular!

I began by having the frame, fork, stem, and front derailleur re-chromed.  These were all hand made by Jo Routens, just for this bike.   I had the chroming work done at Epner Technology, in Greenpoint Brooklyn.

The guys at Epner did a perfect job, and at a very reasonable price.  For $500, they chemically stripped and prepped the bike, gave it a bright chrome finish, and polished it.  The chrome is exquisite, with no flaws anywhere.  I highly recommend their services!  They did try to up-sell me on a 24 karat gold finish for $5000, but it just didn’t seem right for this bike.

Read on for more details on the restoration and the hi-res picture gallery.

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