Photos of some really neat bikes found their way into our in-box this week.
Andrew's wood porteur is really beautiful. More images on Flicker. It's really a sweet build, and I want to know more about the frame.
Justin sent photos of his "Faux Constructeur" based on a Schwinn Voyager. This is a super example of what you can do with a little imagination and the right part. Here's Justin's description:
I'd like to share photos of my 1981 Schwinn Voyageur 11.8 with you as your site and products were inspirational in outfitting the bike to my liking over the past year or so. Additional thanks to my local VO dealer, Vic's Classic Bikes.Beth Holladay gets credit for the photos. BTW, I think a BB 2mm spacer will solve the chain issue.
The Grand Cru crank is arguably the pièce de résistance. I installed it yesterday. On the lowest two or three sprockets, however, the chain just nicks the inside of the crank arm. I'll have to install a spacer. Note that I did order the 118mm Grand Cru BB as recommended, but it's not wide enough to accommodate the 8 speed SRAM cassette.
Other VO parts inlclude:
SS housing (I had to use brake housing for under-bar wrap shifter routing as this is a tall frame).
La Paon fenders
Gran Compe levers and calipers
Grand Cru crank
Spanninga tail light (this does not function as advertised BTW)
Moderniste bottle cage
Constructeur rack
105/Diagonale rear wheel
Shimano 3N-80 32h hub laced to Diagonale front rim (built by local wheel builder)
Ostrich handlebar bag
Other things:
Long cage Ultegra RD
Schmidt E6 and VO light bracket
Crane bell
Brooks honey Flyer Special and bar wrap (I also love your sew-on wrap but wanted to try the wrap - VO's version was out of stock)
Ruffy Tuffy tires
Technomic stem (turned to 21.1mm by a local machine shop)
Nitto Noodle bar (44cm)
The only part original to the bike is the headset. If the size/configuration looks a bit odd it's because I have long legs and limited movement in my lower back from multiple vertebrae fusions.
Also note that the Ultegra triple FD is too wide for this crank on my bike. It is shown for mock-up purposes. It will be replaced by the double version.
Justine sent photos of her lovely Mercian step-through. She writes:
It's a custom "Miss Mercian." On it are the following VO item
- Porteur bar
- Stem
- Guidonnet levers
- Bell mounted on steerer tube
- Hammered aluminum fenders (The undersides of the fork crown and brake bridge were drilled and tapped for the fenders. Yay!)
- Retro cage
- Toe straps
- Toe clip leathers
Aaron did a very nice job building a Polyvalent for his wife and is looking forward to building one for himself. There are more photos on flicker.
Thought you'd like this photo of part of our warehouse after receiving the last shipment.
We'll be exhibiting at Interbike, in Las Vegas, in a few weeks. It's one of the three big industry bike shows, along with Eurobike and the Taipei show. Amazingly, almost everything for our 20' x 20' booth fits into an 8' x 4' x 4' crate.
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10 comments:
I love that Schwinn! And the wood bike is fantastic.
Very impressive stuff. You guys seem to have grown and expanded a lot over these past years. Congrats!
Nice pictures. You guys seem to have grown a lot over these years. Congrats!
Chrome bikes are sooo cool!
I saw Justin's bike in person last weekend. The pictures just really don't do it justice.
I'd be tempted to steal it, but the stand-over height would hurt me. :)
I just picked up a Super Le Tour, and seeing this is inspiring me to go to town rando-nizing it! I had also wondered about turning a Technomic stem down to 21.1mm...question answered.
At Interbike is it true you're gonna have super-models in high heels serving us espresso and signing VO cheesecake posters ?
They are all jolly good cracking bikes. Check out how long the seat tube is in proportion to the top tube. I may be wrong but usually I think the two have a fairly close ratio to each other. I'd like to know what the standover height is? I honestly think it looks to be 37" or more... so it is a show bike, put the goods on display on this bike since only the few daddy-long-legs around can ride it, that's why tall men's vintage bikes. Very clever but I saw through it!
"At Interbike is it true you're gonna have super-models in high heels serving us espresso and signing VO cheesecake posters?"
Sure! she will fit in that crate with room to spare, she could be the padding between a couple of frames or something....
When I die, I'd prefer to be cremated. But short of that, I'd like to be buried in casket packed much like the box in the last picture.
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