Bikes Classic & Custom

These are what I believe are bikes of interest to bike collectors and aficionados that have come through our doors sometimes as simple repairs or complete rebuilds. Some of these bikes are customer’s bikes and are probably not for sale. Others are store project bikes and may be for sale.

Kirk Revolution

This Kirk Revolution mountain bike is a one-piece molded magnesium frame that was made in England from about 1989 to 1994. It was brought to me by the owner as a frame only. I built it up using Deore LX group of parts of approximately the same vintage as what we believe to be a 1992/3 frame. We were lucky to find the one missing unique part a front derailleur hanger from an English web site dedicated to Kirk bicycles.

Bianchi Osprey

When I came in possession of this nearly mint 19”- 1991 Bianchi Osprey Tange-cro-mo frame set I decided to build something interesting. I would now call it a commuter or light-touring bike with cross-country capability you can go a lot of ways by just changing tires. It weights in at about 25lbs add 1lb for classic Blackburn alloy rack. Tires are 26x1.25 Avocet Cross rated at 95psi. All the drive train is new or like new with a modern one piece BB, alloy 46-36-26 crankset, cassette is a Shimano HG90 13-30, shifters are Shimano EZ Fire index one of the most trouble free shifter I have seen.

Peugeot 7 speed (was 3speed)

This was a 1970’s vintage 56cm 3 speed Peugeot that came into the shop with a bent rear rim and broken shift mechanism. When I gave the owner an estimate of what it would cost to repair it he figured buying a new bike was more sensible, and left this bike with me to dispose of. Somehow I could not just throw it away, aluminum fenders and chain guard in such good shape for it’s age, so it sat at the back of my storage area for a over a year. Around that time Shimano came out with a 7-speed Internally Geared Hub and I thought this old Peugeot would be a good bike to try it out on and also a good winter project. Unlike all the English 3-speed I have worked on this French bike was setup for 700C wheels which gave me the opportunity to use decent alloy rims and put higher pressure 700x32 Avocet tires on it which really made it roll. The generator system worked with the original tail light but the head light was missing so I found a headlight that would work with this generator system and mounted on the stem not on the front fender as the original had. While I was at it I replaced the bars with a slightly more swept-back touring alloy one. Of course the saddle had to be updated since the saddles of that period were notoriously uncomfortable.

GT OUTPOST LITE TOURING

This GT Outpost seemed quite light as a mountain bike with its’ chromoly 4130 tubing. I thought it might make an interesting light touring bike so I swapped the MTB tires for Avocet 26x1.5 cross tires, touring alloy handlebars and slightly cushier saddle. The bike then weighted in at about 26 pounds and is quite speedy. It is just a 16” frame but with this bar, stem and seat post combination it will work for a wide size range of riders.

1988 Centurion Dave Scott Ironman Expert

A couple of years ago I asked myself what was I going to do for a new high speed commuter bike since my Ironman 12 speed had become seriously dated I really wanted 9 cogs in the back with more convenient index shifting and aero wheels. The more I thought about it I had found the perfect combination of saddle, stem and Scott DH bars on the Ironman which fitted me just right. The tricky part was the 9 speed index shifting. When I worked out a way to use Shimano 9 speed Dura Ace Bar End Shifters on my Scott DH bars I was ready to order the wheels. I settled on the Spartacus wheels from Velocity they are more defiantly more aero and a good deal stronger than the originals wheels with wolber rim. So for a little less than I would have spent for a new bike I had a new bike and kept my old friend. I always liked the feel of chromoly frames and now it seem as if in the last few years there has been a resurgence in new chromoly steel bikes so I am thinking I was ahead of the times when I under took this project. I use it almost every day in the summer on my commute to the store.

1960 J.C. Higgins Racing Bike (made in Austria)

This J. C. Higgins was an 8spd-racing bike made for Sears Roebuck by Daimler-Puch in Austria about 1960. The Austrian made J.C. Higgins bikes were probably decent chromoly-steel frame. This was my first racing bike having four cogs on the rear wheel, two sprockets on the crank. It came with the worst Simplex derailleurs ever, but how did I know that they were the first derailleurs I had ever seen, 60 years ago. I found out when the rear derailleur wrapped itself inside the chain around the freewheel. Which lead to my first bicycle component upgrade. With 26x1 3/8 tires it was a little slower than the 10spd-bikes with 27x1 1/8 tires that I moved up to a couple of years later. I kept the J.C. Higgins maintained for a number of years as a back up and loaner then it sat in the back of the garage rims rusting, tires rotting. In fall 2011 I was looking around the shop for a project and remembered the old J.C. Higgins sitting at home in the back of the garage, but what would I do with it. The fixie or single speed track type bike has become very popular in some parts of the country as a commuter bike so why not make something like that. I found I had a wheel set with 26x1 3/8 alloy rims with an old Sachs Torpedo 3spd Hub, I thought this could be more interesting one gear. I found a cartridge bottom bracket that would work and a more modern crank that I put a new 42 tooth chain ring which seemed to work pretty nicely with the 17 tooth on the 3spd hub. Made a time trial style handle bar along with a newer adjustable angle stem and mounted the shifter just below the right brake lever, a very convenient position. A new saddle and alloy post with quick release completed the new look. Of course new cables, brake pads and pedals.

1934 Raleigh Tourist

This Raleigh Tourist was made in Nottingham England in 1934. It has a Sturmey Archer three-speed gear hub with the gear shifter mounted on the top tube instead of the handlebars. It has 28” wheels, a chaincase that covers the chain on all sides, rod brakes witch pull the brake pads up to the rim instead of gripping the sides of the rim, and the tubes that go from the seat to the back wheel bolt to the frame they are not welded. Raleigh also incorporated the design of their headbadge witch is the head of a heron into the chainwheel with three depictions of it.

1967 RALEIGH SPRITE

This Raleigh Sprite is a 5 speed with the rare Sturmey Archer S5 gear hub. It has two shift levers on the top tube, the right side lever works gears 2,3,4, and the left side shifter works gears 1 and 5. To get 1^st gear you pull the left shifter down when the right shifter is on 2^nd gear, and you do the same to get 5^th when the right shifter is on 4^th gear. The gear cables go into either side of the hub, the right side is the same as a regular three speed and the left side pulls a paddle that pushes a pin like the shimano gear hubs .It has a Raleigh made rear rack that is the same color as the bike witch is a burgundy.