Howdy, all...
I just scored a c.1960 Viking track/path racer ('The 25 Model' is proudly e mblazoned on the toptube, just aft of the Nervex headlugs) from it's origin al owner, via craigslist; I would love to hear from anyone on the CR list w ho can tell me more about this particular bike.....I bought the frameset on ly, and have set it up with all French & British parts. The seller says t hat it originally came with steel cranks (most likely Williams?); I have so me Durax cranks that would look nice on it, but all of the compatible cotte red-type axles that I own are too long to get me a good chain line, so I am looking for a cottered-type BB axle that will work for a pista setup, or a complete Williams (or BSA) crankset.......sweet parts available for trade (or filthy lucre, if nessecary). Bonus points (or dollars) for having the r ight cotters; I hate grinding them........:)
I will be posting pics of this bike (as well as some mystery frames that I would appreciate help in identifying; I know some of you guys LIVE for this sort of thing...) over the next few days; keep an eye out....
The joys of working in a bike shop:
Got to do a frame repair on a beautiful Maurizzio 'Gran Prix' today; gorgeo us late 60's-early 70's road bike- I have seen only one other of these bike s...this one got t-boned by a car on it's first ride after being stored for almost 20 years, I am very proud of being able to make the damage complete ly disappear; and I will post pictures of the bike once I have the owner' s approval...another customer came in today, looking to build up a batter ed & bent Peugeot UO-8 frame into a fixie- pretty typical request around he re, except for one thing....crammed unremoveably into the frame's steerer t ube, was a steel Cinelli road stem (with badge!), in good condition, that h ad to date to the late 50's or so. The customer "likes the long reach", and absolutely refused to part with the stem, or the frame it is fused into... .I also got to rescue a mid/late 50's Frejus 'Tour de France' frame fr om fixie purgatory; so the week wasn't a total loss!
Swap Meet @ The Recyclery July 13th; lots of on-topic stuff generally shows up. Link to http://www.TheRecyclery.com for more info....
Cheers to all,
Larry Myers,
Portland, OR, USA