Hi all. After about a month or so of subscription to the CR list, it's time for an introduction.
I'm James Brodsky and I live just outside of Longmont, Colorado. I found out about the CR list from Mike Wilkinson (M4Campy) who I know from work-related pursuits. I've recently relocated to Colorado from upstate NY, and I'm very much enjoying the wide open spaces and array of places to ride in my new state (both road and mountain, but I'll keep quiet about my off-road pursuits, unless you want to hear about my steel-but-unlugged 1984 Fisher Excalibur).
I currently own three classic steel road bikes, and rotate through them regularly. I also own and ride two original Cannondales from the early 80's, but I'll keep quiet about those, too. The steel bikes are an Atala of unknown vintage, a late 70's Austro-Daimler Vent Noir, and the most recent acquisition, an early 80's Trek tourer.
Of the three, I'm actually enjoying the Trek the most. The frame is really "sport touring" oriented geometry, all 531 with Suntour dropouts and a Tange fork. I've been unable to place the exact model and year on the vintage Trek site, but when it came to me it had a Cyclone MkII GT on the rear, and Suntour "symmetric" shifters (but no braze on of any sort for any shifters). I outfitted it with all old NOS Superbe stuff, save the crank, which is Suntour Sprint. As you can tell, I'm more interested in building a bike that rides well with period parts than making sure it is true to original form.
The Atala is a cheapie - Columbus "Tretubi Aelle" and originally outfitted with Campy Victory components. I've replaced the front and rear derailers and the shifters with mid-70's NR, but everything else is still Victory. The frame's in pretty terrible shape cosmetically, but I don't think it is worth a restoration although it sure is fun to ride.
Finally, the bike with a part I'm curious about, my Austro-Daimler Vent Noir. This one's full 531 including the fork. Beautiful shape - a sweet, stable bike. The bike has mostly original Campy parts on it, also some Dura-ace and 600. However, it has an Avocet headset (in great shape), which I've never seen before on any other bikes from the era. Is this an original part? For how long did Avocet make parts other than tires, saddles, toestraps, and maybe I remember pedals from way back? Any information is appreciated, I'm more curious than anything.
I enjoy reading the CR posts daily, and I'm glad to be here.
-jb
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