A couple of months ago, I wrote a 3-part series on the subject of 3Rensho’s various forays into aluminum bicycles. Their earliest product remains their most well-known, a collaboration with Sakae Ringyo to sell their Litage aluminum bike under the 3Rensho brand. You can learn all about them in this article. Today’s entry is a brief update to show off the finish build of the 3Rensho Litage I restored. Read on for more details and photos!
It’s been a few years since I’ve restored a bike older than the 1970s, and this Bianchi Sport was the perfect candidate. With a timeless, classic design and high quality details, it was born to cruise the streets in style. Mechanically simple, it retains a few distinctively Bianchi features that set it apart from the rest. Read on to learn about this lovely ladies’ bike and the restoration process.
This 3Rensho Cyclone is one of the rarest and most valuable bikes I have ever restored over the past sixteen years of collecting vintage bicycles. The story began for me on the docks of Red Hook, Brooklyn, but the story of this bicycle goes back much further in time. After extensive research, I’ve confirmed it was made by Mr. Koichi Yamaguchi in 1978 for the NYC Bike Show. This article relates the story of how it came into my hands, the restoration process, and some 3Rensho history. All images in the article are hi-resolution – click them to view the large version. Read on to learn more and check out the gallery of photos.
The Nagasawa marque sits at the apex of Japanese Kierin bicycles, recognized worldwide for impeccably designed and executed frames, each hand made by master builder Yoshiaki Nagasawa. This particular Nagasawa, built in May of 1985, came to me as a frameset by way of Yahoo JP auctions. It has a 53cm seat tube (center-to-top) and a 54cm top tube (center-to-center). It has a beautiful, but hard to photograph deep green / blue paint scheme with rainbow sparkles and yellow highlights. I built it up with a period-appropriate Shimano Dura Ace track group set. Read on to learn more about this bike and the back-story of Nagasawa bicycles.
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It seems as auspicious a start as any to kick off the revival of my bike blog with this recent restoration project that took me down the rabbit hole of Bridgestone’s Japan-only line of touring bikes of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Touted by Bridgestone as the “All-in-One Sports Bicycling System,” the Eurasia line consisted of touring, sportif, and road models supported by a cornucopia of racks, accessories, and apparel all designed specifically for the Eurasia. Click below to continue reading about the Bridgestone Eurasia and my experience restoring one!
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I restored this little blue Bianchi last year, starting with just a beat-up old frame and fork. It was a Bianchi Backstreet from 1990, an early “hybrid” that combined the frame of a hard-tail mountain bike with 700c wheels. It was constructed from good quality Tange tubing and was fully lugged.
After sandblasting the frame, I re-painted it a deep blue and gave it matching fenders. Then I added a brand new 26-inch wheelset with a Sturmey-Archer S-RC3 three-speed internally geared rear hub. I also added a brand new crankset with a single chainring. The handlebars were NITTO brand, and I added cork grips wrapped in deep red cloth bar tape to enhance the grip.
The result was a classy townie bike / commuter designed for cruising around the city in style. Mechanically, it was extremely simple: no brake levers, just a coaster (“kick-back”) brake and the gear shift lever up front. It sold to a petite girl at the beginning of the spring season this year, and I hope she’s still riding and enjoying it.
Click “Read more” to see a gallery of hi-res photos of this bike.
It’s been several months since I’ve done a write up on one of my restoration projects, but now I’m back and I have a whole stable full to show off. First in line is this 1980 Mercier Salève “velo de course”. A mid-range road racer as seen in this catalog from the early 1980’s, it features Vitus tubing and drop-outs. I like the paint and logo schemes of the early 80’s Mercier bikes more than any of the other eras. It’s restrained but the blue paint glows with a subtle sparkle. Read on for more…