This last weekend was a real winner in terms of finds. My neighbors were all having garage sales. We didn't get our act together to price up stuff to sell, so we ended up hauling a bunch of cr*p to the local thrift store. Now I stop at the thrift store on a VERY regular basis looking for bikes and didn't notice this one the other day when I was there. After dropping off stuff, I just happened to glance at the rack and noticed some bright yellow ramhorns. "Just a second..." I said to my wife. I wandered over and the first thing I noticed was the full grouppo of Shimano 600. "We are buying this bike" I said. Tires were flat, chain was dry. there are a bunch of scratches and a very minor dent in the top tube... BUT after all that is said, it is Reynolds 531cs with FULL Shimano 600 (hubs, cranks, brakes, changers).
It is a Trek 610 from 1983-1985, blue and yellow, it has a very "Swedish" look about it. The tires and tubes are new. The saddle is a throw away, but the pedals are vintage MKS. A real nice find. It is a 52cm frame with a 31" standover height. (For my friend at Starbucks this morning, this is the bike I was telling you about... measure your standover height - floor to, ummm... sorry no other way to say it, pubic bone, if 31" or greater, this will work for you) It needs some serious cleaning up and new bar wraps and gum hoods... it will be perfect for a shorter road rider.
When we got home, I drifted over to my neighbor's house to see what kind of scraps he had left from his garage sale. My neighbor has been a roadie for years and currently has a carbon fiber something he rides.
"How did you do on the sale" I asked.
"Not too bad, I had a couple mountain bikes that went for $40 a piece" he said.
I mentioned the bike I got at the Thrift Store. He asked me to wait and brought out a very (VERY) grimy bike.
"This was my first ride when I started getting into cycling back in the 70s. I put it away years ago thinking my son might pick it up. I was going to sell it today, but forgot to bring it out."
I stared at it. Under the grime was a Raleigh Competition GS, full Reynolds 531, Campy Nuovo Gran Sport changers, cranks, BB and hubs. The brakes are high end Dia-Compe alloy blocks with drilled levers...
"umm... what are you thinking of asking for it?"
"$25"
"Are you sure about that? This is a pretty nice bike."
"I'd be happy to see someone riding it that really appreciates it. It's yours if you want it..."
This is the Raleigh, now fully dis-assembled and on the rack. I've got the wheels off now. I want to take them in and have the spokes tightened. I'm putting on new tires, tubes and rim tape. The bike went down in a crash at one point and damaged the rear changer. I have a new one coming via eBay. Ditto with the brake levers. Although they worked, I figured a new set with no scratches would be worth it. Since I'm only $25 into the bike, I figure I can put some bucks into it and really make it nice.
My biggest question will be how to treat some of the areas where the paint has been scratched off. Underneath all the grime behind the crank/inner chainring, there is an area where the paint has been chipped off, probably due to some rough riding/dropped chain. I don't want it to rust, but am leery of painting it and ruin the vintage look. Since I plan on riding it for a bit (it's my size exactly - 59cm)
Campy changers front and back. I've got the rings off to clean them.
Reynolds 531 throughout - forks and stays included. There are a few decals where the edges are starting to peel a bit. I'm looking into what kind of glue I should use to re-affix them.
So I have a LOT of work going on with these... fun fun fun. I'm up to 21 bikes now between all the kids and my bikes... I need to sell off a few.
Charles
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