My latest steed.

My latest restoration from the forrest of old steel.

I think it was summer of last year, I traded a pair of ESGE fenders and a Wald handlebar for the completely partsless frame of this '74 PR-10. It didn't even have a fork, But I figured that it might be as close as I ever come to having a PX-10. See http://www.cyclespeugeot.com/ for more information.

The parts hunt was typically epic, old French bikes are not for the faint of heart, or those looking for fast resolutions. Nothing is standard, it sometimes seems. The fork was the easiest, and least correct part. It was a replacement living on a 70's Batavus frame I picked up. The headset is now english, thanks to the new fork. The bars are Pivo's, french and period correct, a lucky find on e-bay. the stem and Mafac Racers came from a UO-8 I snagged for parts a few years ago. The levers came from a friend, another friend sold me the Stronglite 93 crankset, factory would have been a 49. The seatpost, in it usually oddball 26.2 sizing, is a cheap Kalloy, until I can find something more appropriate. The saddle, is a Norex sourced from the same UO-9 that provided the stem. The drivetrain is mostly 70's Simplex from the parts pile, plastic levers, plastic FD, hopefully still holding up, and a ca 1984 SX610 borrowed from my distressed PH10L, all connected by a n.o.s. Sachs chain. Pedals are my favorite Lyotard 36's and chrome Christophe cages from e-bay.

I'm proud of the wheels, I built these, Normandy HF hubs laced to 80's Araya's sourced from a garage sale Schwinn, tied together by SS spokes I got in a castoff box at a swap.

Nothing new under the sun.

Ok, yes it's old news but I just got around to looking at it. Not bad, too bad they didn't go all out and make it a lugged frame. Steel endures.

From: http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45678&eid=4350&menuItemId=9256

Farewell Cannondale.

Still hurting from the news of months ago. Cannondale to end frame production in Pennsylvania. Sad and unfortunate. I will never ever buy a C-dale without "HANDMADE IN USA" on it. Say goodbye to my future $$.

Still tinkering, and thinking.

About old Steel and future projects. Picked up a Peugeot PR-10 to build as close a copy of a PX as I can from an affordable bike, changed my '71 Raleigh Super Course to Campagnolo and generally tinkered away.

Out on the old steel.

Of all my old bikes I have one I never really wanted to ride, it is my size, there is nothing explicitly wrong with it other than it's age, and the components it's built with.

Bottecchia's are not common here in the states, for every Bott sold there must have been a thousand Peugeot's. My Deluxe is the realitive equal of a Peugeot UO-8, just with a lot more Italian panache.

When the plastic Simplex gear self destructed, I took it upon myself to replace it all with period Campagnolo Valentino gear. I repacked the bottom bracket, and eventually put the factory wheels and hubs back on. It's pretty much period perfect to 1969/70, and gives the feel of a machine from the mid 50's. The white cotton tape and leather saddle lend to the vintage feel.

Last night, faced with the sobering prospect that I was now moving into older, and even more eccentric bicycles, I had the notion to go down stairs, pull the Bottecchia off it's hook and go for a ride. So I pulled on my shoes, slid into the stirrups and away I went, my mind obsessing over every creak from the aged Campag gear. All was good until about a half a mile outside of town, where the chain (new) parted ways with its self , and I and the Bott came skidding to a rather abrupt halt. I walked back to town, bike in one hand, chain in the other.

Thirty minutes later, chain repaired, and liberally lubed I rolled south again towards the farm. Carefully increasing my cadence to see how well the ancient machine would hold up. Happily it preformed rather well. And I reached my destination without incident.

I'm not sure the Bottecchia will have a fixed spot in my rotation, but it's no longer mentally off limits.

My first trip to a Velodrome.

Can not tell you how much I admire the pure skill these folks have to ride the banked boards.

And no, I did not try it.

My trip into Michigan,

Was a blast!

The Ann Arbor gang live in a true hotbed of interesting classic steel. A second Bobet touring model followed me home, thanks to my Buddies John and Matt, John also happened to score for me one of my "Grail machines, a '62 Raleigh Gran Sport!