Sport - side on

M. Routens - side on

with Viscount/Lamber ring

The new steed is a "Falcon"

check out the
fully-tricked out vintage-retro-Eames-era photo.
no it's not a real Falcon
like the bikes who sometime shared the use of
phoenix 1027 aerospace tubing


warning: video will induce sea-sickness

but some "random" decals
some "random" owner stuck on some
"random" frame, after they had done a
"randomly" bad, home paint job.
but that was all long enough ago now that even the home paint job is "vintage"

by the way
what makes people put "random" decals on a bike?
well I think I found out
when I asked an easyBay seller-dude why his "Columbus" bike
had a "Reynolds" decal on it.

Well buddy, my brother just put that sticker on from a different bike just to make it look cool.

in light of that statement, am I the only one to be un-reassured about that bike's provenance? 

obviously said dude's brother thinks Columbus tubing is some kind of gas pipe.

and note to said dude: don't start your correspondence with the salutation

"buddy"

it sounds like you're about to engage in fisticuffs.

back to the Falcon.
what I liked about it was its lazy angles
its bolt-on seat stays
and its fork ends.
it used to have a Sturmey-Archer 3 speed hub.
i've replaced that wheel for the day when I have time to get my head around
servicing those things.
now has a cheap alloy rim and coaster brake hub.

otherwise going for the all-steel look.

the bike is not worth it
but I'd love to put a set of these on it.

chater-lea steel crankset

Could almost be a Viscount tandem

maybe it's just the colour
or maybe it's the era of components
but this old Schwinn gets my motor running

mmm, delicious fillets...

did a bit of google-jutsu and found out that the Paramount

unlike 99% of Schwinn's output

was not some 

beater

as they say in Nth Mexico

but a handbuilt, top-end frame

the guy on easyBay want's $1600 for it
I can't imagine anyone in Oz putting a buyitnow price
on something like this
not unless it was $10,000
check out the shimmy on that seat-tube

so here's what I'd get rid of:
nasty seats
nasty cockpit
all of it
nasty cantis
nasty pedals
if you've been reading this blog at all
you should know by now what kind of components I'd replace that lot with.

and there are those Phil Wood hubs again.
isn't that always the way?
you see something once
then you see it everywhere

fave decals 3 - jo Routens

nuff said

fave decals 2 - Velocity

precious few Aussie companies
make an impact in cycling
so hats off to these guys
and love the red, sky blue and flesh tone livery.
right up my aesthetic

DC cantis go salmon

sometimes fleabay is not worth the trouble
these lovely brake blocks by kool stop
needed old Mafac brake block holders
fleabay said 20 bucks plus shipping from the old world
ask around locally
one pair = free
the other pair = one dollar

Vive le Tour!

it's not long to go now
but it will be nothing like this:
riders stopping off at bistrots to scavenge bottle of beer and wine for the ride
sharing an ice-cream with your team-mate
riders getting off their bikes to refill water-bottles

a short film by the likes of Louis Malle and Georges Delerue

oh and the bikes...

Old school Dia Compe "DC" cantilever brakes

lovely simple design

only problem is its extremely hard

actually impossible to get the whole brake pad to contact the rim.

any tips from friendly DC folk out there

would be gratefully received

You know those "Gios" hubs...? take 2

they really are phillywood hubs

favourite decals - 1

a lovely old codger

in the uno bycling shop said

Jo's tubes were 531 with nervex lugs.

well that's good enough for me

so I went and bought me some fake decals

in French of course.

this post is the fifth-in-a-row with no views.
shooting for ten!

Rodée main selon a D. Rebour

finally an Ideale TB90 on my bike.
the sensation after 100km
is of there being nothing under your bum at all
just air.

Morning ride with Dr K

like a still from Carol Reed's

The Third Man

I waited for Dr K...

shiny components pick up all the light

antithesis of stealth

after a tour of Studley Park

Dr K and his Colnago

he's a mate so he's allowed to ride crabon

with impunity

that and it has the full 

dura ace groupset

the flavour of the sky was

rainbow paddle-pop

when I made it back to the hood.

Sunday morning ramble - tour of bridges

left at 6 this morning

to burble along Bell st

swerved at the Tulla fwy

along Moonee Ponds Ck path

dodging under pylons and overpasses

out to Docklands

which is like the set of the Truman Show

or Thneedville.

they even have a wall that is the boundary of their world.

beyond this you can see what used to be.

and some tiny signs of life —

a pair of robins resting on a beam

which is more than can be said for the

town square

with the giant screen broadcasting

morningtelevision

to no-one

sanity was restored with coffee under a tree

next to a ramshackle

but sufficiently groovy café in st kilda

where owls guarded my bike.

Tour D'Eltham

seriously bloody picturesque
and a pretty gnarly 33km loop that has more than a couple of
18% hills.
amazing what lies just outside suburbia

Viscount Aerospace Supa Sport, Lomo-ish

what better way to further fetishize
your favourite steel object
than with blogger's new
app-like play-tools.
this one is meant to be like a lomo camera.
I think this blog is about to have
new life
breathed into it.

of course the picture is really bigger than this.
you know what you should do.