Greetings:
I have just joined the CR list and would like to introduce myself. I am a rider and hobbyist with a current interest in pre-Nuovo Record era lightweights, principally British and French.
Current restoration projects: 1958 Carlton International Clubman and 1959 Hetchins Brilliant Circuit of Britain.
Some of my other bikes: 1965(?) Carlton, all chrome with Sturmey Archer hub brakes (not original equipment!); 1981 Appel built for me with Haden lugs, 531 tubes and recently repainted by Chris Kvale and converted to a 3-speed with drop bars (I think of it as a single speed with help at either end); 2000 Heron road with Rivendell lugged stem and 1970's NOS drivetrain (Sugino Mighty cranks, drilled rings and first generation Superbe derailleurs); 2000 Atlantis with 700C wheels, moustache bars and Rohloff 14 speed internal hub; 1995 Bianchi CDI with mixed cheap Campy (my ride-it-anywhere, anytime indoor/outdoor trainer); 2000 Colnago Dream Plus with Record 10 (my Sunday wheel). There are others with even less interest to list members, but no mountain bikes and no Shimano.
Bikes I bought new and wish I still had: 1971 Gitane Tour de France (orange); 1976 Bob Jackson (full Phil, including CHP pedals); 1977 Trek 700 (531, Haden Europa crown, Campy ends, gold metallic); 1977 Meral, a French sport tourer built with Vitus tubing, Bocama lugs, Stronglight 49D cranks, Mafac Competition brakes and Simplex Super LJ 5000 derailleurs (gold label, not the later 5500).
As a side note, I was employed at Trek in 1977 and 1978, when the company was a small production shop building 120 to 130 frames a week. I worked mostly on forks and rear trianges. This involved cutting and preparing blades and stays and brazing in fork tips and dropouts. I also brazed caps onto the seat stay ends and finished the edges on a belt sander. We used pneumatic sanders to put a radius at the fork tip and dropout joints. Back then, Trek's line consisted of four grades of road frames, sold separately or as complete bikes. They were the 300 (seamed Ishiwata tubing), 500 (Ishiwata 020 cromolly), 700 (Reynolds 531) and 900 (Columbus, I believe SP). The 300, 500 and 700 series were touring oriented and sized for 27 x 1-1/4 wheels, while the 900 had racing geometry and 700C wheels. Amazingly, from the bottom to the top of the line they were all handbuilt and handfinished using the same silver brazing methods for the lugwork. Even the Japanese pressed steel lugs were common to all of the models. Each frame was hand sprayed with Imron.
My weakness for things French in bicycles started in 1976, when I worked as a mechanic in one of Mel Pinto's shops in the Washington D.C. area. Pinto was a major Gitane importer at the time. We sold the Cyclo Pans freewheel kit recently discussed on the list, along with many other French oddities. Incidentally, does anyone know where I can get a CLB-2 centerpull brakeset?
Very truly yours,
Chris Cleveland