Tag Archives: randonneur

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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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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Jo Routens 650B randonneuse

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New grail bike acquired – a 1960’s Jo Routens randonneuse bicycle.  Jo Routens was the father of Jean-Paul Routens, who built a 1970’s “cyclosportif” bicycle I featured recently.

I bought this bike from a French seller on eBay France, and these are the original auction photos.  I’ll have my own up in future articles, but I wanted to post these now to show it in the original condition I received it in.  After re-assembling and servicing the bike, I’ve been riding it daily.  Read on for more…

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1970’s Peugeot UO-8 Restored

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A couple months ago, I found a Peugeot UO-8 frame by the side of the road in Brooklyn.  I lugged it home in the pouring rain, eager to strip off the MAFAC brakes and leather saddle, which have become hard to find.  After I cleaned up the frame in my workshop though, I realized that it was in fantastic condition!  Immediately, I knew this Peugeot was going to live again.  Read on to learn about the restoration process…

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650B Sporting Randonneur Bicycle

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Here’s a lovely French 650B randonneur bicycle from the late 1940’s – early 1950’s that I restored over the winter months.  It’s a rare marque, called “Sporting.”  I haven’t ever seen or heard of this brand before, but it’s very similar in design and components to French brands like Mercier, Motobecane, Automoto, St. Etienne, etc. etc.  Update (11/02/2015) – I think the brand may be “Sironval“, after seeing a photo of the Sironval Sportplex bike in Michael Embacher’s wonderful Cyclepedia book.  Both bikes use the same Star of David logo and color schemes, but I haven’t been able to confirm the connection.  Read on for more details on the bike, the restoration, and components…

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C.N.C. Special Randonneur

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Cycles C.N.C. is a fairly obscure French brand that hand made exquisite custom bicycles for over fifty years, starting in the 1930’s.  This particular example is one of their finest,  with an all-Reynolds 531 frame and crisp lug work.  I restored it over the holiday season, taking my time to get all of the little details correct.  Read on for more information and history on this gorgeous bike! Continue reading →