Hello CR gang:
We were just in MN for the Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour. It was an absolute blast, even more so than last year when I went for the first time. I'm still organizing my photos and will get them online in the next day or two, then will post the link here.
On a related note, we visited my friend Gene Oberpriller's bike shop
in Minneapolis on Friday. A combo bike shop - art gallery - cafe,
this is one of the coolest places I know. (The basement is stuffed
with old bikes and they're all for sale.) Website: http://
http://www.oneononebike.com/
Gene had a matching pair of his and hers 1957-1958 Rabeneick 3- speeds. which we bought! Gene is shipping them to us here. We are totally stoked about them and will also be announcing some California 3-Speed Adventures soon.
The bikes are 90-100% intact, as far as I can tell, including lights, fenders, etc. The women's version evan has the panniers and the built- in toolkit with the original tools in it! Apparently some American GI brought them home from Germany and never rode them again.
Coincidentally, one of the 3-Speed Tour driving forces had photographed and written up these bikes for his darn nifty blog, so click this link and scroll way down to the appropriate section. There are some seriously cool little features in these bikes, even if you're not a 3-speed buff.
http://twocitiestwowheels.blogspot.com/
Of course, anything anybody can tell me about Rabeneick would be greatly appreciated! (I see they're still in business and I also see one Rabeneick road bike on wooljersey.com.)
Oh, one more thing about that trip: We visited Bob Brown. He's the frame builder recently featured in Bicycle Quarterly as a maker of stainless steel frames. (As a Delorean driver, I had to check them out.) He's a very nice, likable, young guy and we enjoyed meeting him. Take note: his lead time is currently a year or less.
All the best,
Chris Kostman