Well I’ll be a monkeys uncle.

[Racing roadkill]

My old man croaked last week, he basically drank himself to death, and he and I really hadn’t been in touch at all for 30 odd years.

However, his house needs clearing a bit, and this is where it got really interesting. There were various odds and sods in there ( including a BBC basic 32K computer ) and I haven’t seen one of those for a long long time. Then I got into the garage. Well I nearly fell over with shock and surprise.

This isn’t just any old steel framed BSA Tour de France.

Check those lights out

Garmin, my backside this is how we used to roll

A bit of lube and that rear mech will be good to go I reckon .

This is my actual first proper road bike, I haven’t seen it in 34 years, and I had no idea it was living in his garage, and even stranger, it’s about 10 minutes from where Ive been living for the last 10 years. It’s actually not in complete disastrous condition either. The headset is still free moving, the BB is going to need replacing, but actually still turns, even the hubs aren’t seized. It’s a project I think, but just for old time’s sake I’m considering fixing it up, and getting it back on the road.

 

[Globalti]

I wonder when that was built?

I bet @Cycleops would know.

 

[Slick]

Just seems like yesterday that those lights were considered the bad boy must haves. Lol

 

[Racing roadkill]

Just seems like yesterday that those lights were considered the bad boy must haves. Lol

I thought they still were.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I wonder when that was built?

I bet @Cycleops would know.

I can’t remember exactly, but I think it was about 1985

 

[raleighnut]

 

[Globalti]

The redundancy of that technology is interesting. Everything on that bike is as old skool as compact cassettes and Morris Marinas.

 

[DCBassman]

The redundancy of that technology is interesting. Everything on that bike is as old skool as compact cassettes and Morris Marinas.

Probably more efficient than the Marina...

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Fantastic. I sold my 1980s racing bike in 2002 before vintage steel bikes were a thing.

 

[Slick]

I thought they still were.

As with most things, I'm sure the memory is much better than the reality.

 

[Globalti]

I had a steel Kona Explosif and I still have a romantic yearning for it. No idea why, I think it's because it seemed quite an exotic bike at the time in fancy Tange tubing.

Here's an interesting discussion on nostalgia for old steel bikes: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=326164

 

[bladderhead]

The only bikes I have are two recumbents made of aluminium, but I used to have a Claud Butler that was probably made in the 1950s. It had the logo that was based on the Olympic rings which meant that it was made when Mr Butler still owned the company. When the company was sold they were not allowed to use that logo. The bike had curly-cut lugs. At the drop-outs the tubes were as thin as my little finger. Gear mech on the BSA is Sachs Huret, like I had. Probably too rusty to be any use.

But lights were awful in those days. The batteries always seemed to be flat, and then the switch stopped working. On both my present bikes I have a Schmidt dynamo. I was willing to pay through the nose for lights which are not a bloody nuisance. And after using hydraulic disk brakes I think it would be pretty scary going back to Weinmann. And what a bloody pain it was constantly having to adjust them and then fit new blocks.

But I still have a romantic yearning for that CB. It was taken from me by thieves in the last millennium.

 

[pawl]

Just seems like yesterday that those lights were considered the bad boy must haves. Lol[/QUOTE

They would have been even better if there had been a sticker indicating where to kick it when it invariably stopped working.

 

[Racing roadkill]

The only bikes I have are two recumbents made of aluminium, but I used to have a Claud Butler that was probably made in the 1950s. It had the logo that was based on the Olympic rings which meant that it was made when Mr Butler still owned the company. When the company was sold they were not allowed to use that logo. The bike had curly-cut lugs. At the drop-outs the tubes were as thin as my little finger. Gear mech on the BSA is Sachs Huret, like I had. Probably too rusty to be any use.

But lights were awful in those days. The batteries always seemed to be flat, and then the switch stopped working. On both my present bikes I have a Schmidt dynamo. I was willing to pay through the nose for lights which are not a bloody nuisance. And after using hydraulic disk brakes I think it would be pretty scary going back to Weinmann. And what a bloody pain it was constantly having to adjust them and then fit new blocks.

But I still have a romantic yearning for that CB. It was taken from me by thieves in the last millennium.

The BSA weighs so much more than I remember as well. It’s got a heavy rack on it, but even without that, I’d forgotten what an absolute tank it was. It’s going to be fun trying to get some of the bits I need, but that’s what I like. The frame seems to be okay, but I’ll give it a very close look, before I start with new bits for it.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Just seems like yesterday that those lights were considered the bad boy must haves. Lol

Those rear lights used to shake themselves to bits on a stiff racing frame. On early season evening chain gangs at least one rider had to stop every time to gather up the various parts that had strewn themselves along the road, and over any sort of distance it ended up with only a few riders able to occupy the rear position because everyone else's light had packed up.