Hello Group, A good friend recently allowed me to trade him out of a bicycle I have long admired in his collection: a Jean Aerts bicycle, previously owned by Wheelman Nolan "Piston Legs" Bay. Nolan is much beloved by the Wheelmen, but has fallen on hard times, and is now in a nursing home. He was a rider and collector for many decades in California (note the water bottle logo on the bike). The bike in the photographs is built just as Nolan last used it, with a mish-mash of French and Japanese and Italian parts. The oldest (and, I think, original) parts are the LAM brakes and levers, the steel-barrel large flange Campagnolo hubs, perhaps the TA triple crankset, etc. Nolan probably added the Suntour bar end shifters, deraileurs, etc. Can anyone on the list identify the maker of this bicycle? What is the approximate age? Dale, if you are reading this, I remember once reading that you own a Jean Aerts.
Keeping our recent discussion on conservation/restoration well in mind, since the photos were taken, I could not resist removing the cheap Atom pedals, the cheap Italian bottle cage, the Blackburn rack. Nolan would give me permission, I am sure, to build the bike as I want it...but I prefer, at least for now, to leave it basically as he rode it, with the Araya rims, Suntour shifters, adjustable stem, and so forth. I love the color and the patina of the bike most of all, and would not think of altering the finish, of course. I apologize for the large format photos...I am a computer novice, and haven't yet learned how tor reduce the size of the photos. Any insights or advice on the origin and/or care of this bicycle will be most appreciated.
Daniel Dahlquist
Galena, Illinois