Is this the worst seat cluster ever?

there are lots of beautiful ways of designing a seat cluster
it's one of the places you can see the quality and sensitivity of a frame builder's approach to their craft
not here
this is the definition of agricultural
Ginat are the culprits

I's Bicycle visit report but not because JH went there, just because I'm a bit lazy and, well, because.

my boy approaching all hallows
be warned these are the BIGGEST pics I've uploaded yet
so click away

ive had his blog pinged to the sidebar for a while now
realised there are some good pics from visiting his shop last year
Mr I of Grand Bois fame
pic of Ernest Csuka of Alex Singer fame on the wall behind
Mr I is the one we have to thank for the lovely tyres

 

and now

in no particular order

some highlights

 

Barra's integrated lever front derailleur

the brazing is flawless

and despite my dislike of aluminium as a frame material

probably the single, sexiest bike I've ever seen

sexy in exactly the same way my blue, woolly socks in the mandatory shop slippers

aren't

 

Lefol Le Martele mudguards

they are not fenders

Cyclo rear derailleur

you can see the massive step between the big and small rings

 

the cover star of my blog

not spoke-wire instead of cable for the cantis

 

the cute little streetcar/tram/train/light-rail from Hanazono station 

which is the way to get there

 

this frameset was lying around

dunno if it was newly-made

or more likely

something old 

stripped bare

like the bride by her bachelors, even

 

as soon as I saw it 

I knew

it fitted my inner template for a new bike

brake bosses at centrepull

not canti

height

twin plate fork crown

fillet-brazed

 

bit fuzzy 

sorry

 

internal brake cable

love to know what it was

unfortunately there was some tool in there

who was monopolising Mr I's time with dumb questions 

and I had to dash

 

 

house upstairs

shop below full of steamy bikes

living the dream certainly

 

the ceiling

a Herse with my favourite mudguards:

Lefol Le Paon

and various bits of Italian shit

 

more Italian rubbish in the FG

although there may be some English lightweights down the back

I think I spied a vintage Mercian when I was there

noticeboard with participation medals from the Poly Japon
which I suppose is a randonee
as well as their custom catalogue
and a whole swag of medals from TOMs over the years
TOM = Toei Owners' Meeting

 

the packages by the door are

I would guess

their main business now

 the meilleur of fillet brazing

 

another massive step between small and big ring

proprietary Routens front mech

cable operated from below

 

Barra frame has ovalised top and down tubes

but they start as circular section where they join the head tube

that's some virtuosity in metal-forming

considering where talking 1940s or 50s

 

the whole sexy beast

with price tag visible

10 grand is reasonable I reckon

people pay more for shit like this

 

Jo through the window in the winter light
I's Bicycle is called
Cycles Grand Bois
in the online
go there and buy stuff
not a sponsor of this blog

Bike shed glamour twins

 

can you tell the quality of teaching in a school by the quality of the builds in the teachers' bike shed?

the answer to that rhetorical question is of course 

yes.

the step through is a locally-made, vintage NOS frame and fork set, still with crisp, hand-done box-lining.

the repco MTB has the amazing red fat franks, 62mm wide from memory.

massively heavy on steel rims but massively handsome.

digital filter fuckup courtesy the picasa-tool free app.

 

with Abandon

malvern star's marketing team back in '86
could never have known
how prescient the name of their new model

Shogun girls' MTB

an opp-shop find
lots of nice details for a budget bike
like biopace chainrings
exage hubs and araya rims
and Shimano 200EX long cage rear derailleur
love the cable routing through the down tube brace most of all.

a nice, relatively light bike

first encounter with high-end crabon

coz it was new and didn't have any pedals

they had to put mine on

hehe!

well amateur, that is.

verdict: meh

didn't rock my world

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

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

they really are phillywood hubs

Beautiful gift... with Gios hubs?

a few weeks ago I came home to find this stashed in the bushes of my front garden.
seems someone had been doing some
reverse-thieving.
since found out who it was
a lovely friend of mine.
but I don't have space for any more bikes.

pretty sure those hubs have just got stickers on them.
in spite of that they're pretty nice, sealed-bearing jobs.

so I gave it to one of the students at my school.

he has taught himself how to build up a nice bike from whatever

bits he can find.

don't think he's had anything as nice as this to start with though.

I left all the dust and grease on for him...

handlebars

 

these are the current family bikes in use

no two bar set-ups the same