BOBCFL: 1983 Custom Bella

A quick note before I start:  These kinds of posts are kinda the reason I started this blog.  Hopefully one day someone will stumble onto a bike in a barn, read "Stella" under the dust, punch it into google and learn a little more about it.  We live in such a golden age for bikes that I'm sure people will be looking back for answers for a long time to come.

ANY WAY!
A couple things about this bike.  Looks like a great second or third bike for someone into the era like me.  Not really sure WHY he threw in an XT headset vs the SR but only cuz it kills the complete group...  I personally think it matches pretty well and probably a good bit more durable being a mountain headset and all... A couple little areas of surface rust, I think they look great against the paint, and I have mixed feelings about the wheels, but the bike is way to small anyway so who cares what I think.
EDIT: and it appears this guy is a DYI'er without the tools judging buy those looong uncut cable housings that are both routed behind...  I'd give the whole bike a rebuild

Check these nice photos, this is a "Good" ad
Text:
"Custom Bella road bike, made by Ed Blank and sold from Laughing Alley Bicycle Shop, Allston MA, 1983. I am the original owner. The frame is made from Reynolds 531 double butted chromoly steel, Cinelli Criterium handlebars, Campagnolo Super Record Groupo minus the headset which was replaced with a Shimano Deore XT. Excellent condition. Includes various extra parts..derailuers, hubs, crankset etc. Clipless pedals were switched to my new bike, but I have black campagnolo pedals available. The frame measures 57 cm (I'm 70 in and it fits great). This bike has never been wrecked and very limited racing. Always stored indoors. Ideal for someone looking for a vintage road machine. After 27 yrs I've finally upgraded to a new machine. 
Serious inquiries only."

Pics:

BOBCFL:1974 Holdsworth Super Mistral

Well here's a looker!  A '74 blue beauty with what appears to be an nice NR group.  I really love the long drop outs of the era.  I know they were obsolete these decades ago but aesthetically the long bent stripe of steel contrasting with the deep paint... it gets me.

And check that color coordinating, tape/seat matches headbadge/secondary color, nice.

BOBCFL: 1989 Huffy "Team-Issue Townie"

This bike is just dandy! DANDY!  It started out as a "Team Lowreys Huffy was built by Mike Melton" but now is some much more... eccentric.




I love if for its paint + Mavic starfish crankset and rd + Modolo brakes + good Shimano parts + IT IS A HUFFY! + my kind of cockpit

damn damn damn

BOBCFL: 1992 Specialized Allez

This one's hitting all the right buttons for me.  Mutted up components, sharp color selection, and it's steel.  Plus I have a soft spot for the brand for some reason, probably because they commissioned Miyata for some of their work in the early eighties.

Nice fork from the looks of it as well.

BOBCFL: 1970 Mercian Custom Superlight

It's been a while but what a way to start back up.  Really digging this bike! Normally cottered cranks turn me off but they seem absolutely perfect on this bike.  Plus the 3 speed corncob in back...

It's amazing how despite it's age and components you can still tell this bike was built for speed.

Timeless.

My Bikes: 1983 685mm Specialized Expedition

It occurs to me I haven't shown what I'm working with so I'll copy and paste part of an email I had sent to the MiyataSpecTour group after finishing this build.


Well todays the big day!  All the boxes have been checked, parts installed, and components have been dialed!  After a 2 years of looking for a frame my size, 1.5 years of finding the parts, and over 50 hours of polishing (since i was doing it on a budget most of my parts came pretty pitted and oxidized)/installing/tuning/modifying my build is officially complete!

Before I drop the link for pictures here's a run down of the bike:

• 1983 Specialized Expedition 68cm (thanks cliff!)
• Mavic A719 36 hole rims, Sapim(?) spokes (rear tied and soldered), Shimano XT M760 hubs (thanks paul)
• 2010 700x32c Gumwall Panaracer Pasela TG 
• 2008 SRAM 990 Cassette 11-34t
• ~1985 Shimano XT 50-45-28t 170mm Crankset (FC-6206)
• 2010 128x68mm Shimano UN-54 bottom bracket
• 2010 Dura-Ace 10 speed bar end shifters
• Campagnolo (not sure of the model) Brake Levers
• 1981 46cm Nitto Randoneer handlebars
• 1987 ~100mm Nitto Technomic Stem
• Dura-Ace Headset (not sure of the year)
• ~1992 Dura-Ace AX 26.6mm seatpost shimmed to 26.8 (thank you Pabst!)
• Shimano XT canti's upfront, new Tektro CR720's in the rear (actually a really decent brakeset with good looks)
• 2008 Green B17 w/ Hammered Copper Rivets
• New Dura-Ace cabling throughout
• 2009 Nitto Nice Rack (front)
• 2010 Axiom Streamliner DLX Rack (rear)
• 1979 and 1981 Kirtland TourPak panniers (I have a matching handlebar pack and mount but not sure if I'm going to use it just yet)
• MKS Pedals w/ NOS Cages, Christophe leather straps

'

Yep, I love my bike

And yep, I'm 6'6" w/ long legs.

Tutorial: Installing Alloy Fenders with Weather/Noise Proofing

When installing the fenders on my bike I decided to use some weather stripping to seal up the fork from the elements as well as using the stripping for vibration dampening.  I've since ridden a couple hundred miles on the bike and everything is holding great.  I was nervous this would not be a durable solution but it has proved to be quite effective.

I used aluminum fenders and don't see the point of risking breaking plastic fenders to do this.  The fenders are some generics I bought at a DC swap meet for $10 including hardware.  All and all, counting the sheers, the total came to just under $25.

You'll need

• Weather Stripping

• Metal Sheers

• Aluminum Fenders
• Permanent Marker
• Optional: Pliers or small hammer

Step 1:

Posses a frame that has at least 30mm of clearance between the fork blades, and chain/seat stays as well.  My fork had ~35mm of clearance for reference.

Step 2:

Gently place your new front fender between for the for blades and mark each side on the fender with a permanent marker so you know how wide your cuts have to be. Then use your eyes to estimate how deep into the fender you will have to cut out to fit the bike.

Step 3:

Once both sides are marked make your cuts.  Remember to always cut short of your marks the first time in case your markings are too big. The whole key here is too make a good even flap.  You will not cut out all that you marked. It's a real good idea to file these cuts down.  Here's what my final markings and first flap looked like:

Step 4:

Cut 2 pieces of the weather seal that are each long enough to wrap around the fender.  Looking back on it now it is completely feasible to use one long piece but no biggy.  Now place an end of each piece of sealer under one of the flaps you cut INSIDE the fender.  Fold the flap down on top of both of them, I ended up tapping it down with a trim hammer to secure it.

Step 5:

Now wrap each piece of sealer over the outside of the fender and underneath the opposing flap.  Be sure to cover the corners as to not scratch the bike.  Pictures do a much better jorb of explaining. 

Step 6:

Mount your newly improved fender!  I also went ahead and put a strip between the fender and it's frame to cut down on noise.  Also it's a good idea to do this to where ever the fender mounts to the frame so I put some between the rear fender and it's frame mounts.

 

Safe travels!

BOBCFL: 1980's Miyata 615 Shorty

Another rare bird!  24" front wheeled 615?!  I didn't know they offered that!  45cm tourer!  COOOOOL

CLAotW: 1978 Austro Damlier Vent Noir II (Richmond)

 This one you should just read.  Really nice to find one of these popping up.  I'm gunna bold what Sheldon Brown had to say, cuz it's that interesting:

 

1978 Austro Damlier Vent Noir II 56cm Full Campy Gran Sport Gruppo - $900 (Richmond)

This is a 1978 Austro Daimler Vent Noir II in excellent original condition. (I am not 100 percent positive about the year but AD only made this model for three years and I think this one is a 78, later ones were normally equipped with Shimano) The only deviations from the original build are the following: new brown leather bar tape, new tires, new saddle, and new brake pads. It is fully equipped with Campagnolo Nuovo Gran Sport group. I had it professionally restored and overhauled by a vintage bicycle mechanic in town. The finish is a gorgeous gray-silver chrome coined "smoked chrome" by Austro Daimler that you really must see in person in the sunlight to truly appreciate. The Vent Noir (means night wind or dark wind) is so named because of its dark or "smoked" chromium finish. These are beautiful riding bikes given their nicely lugged Reynolds 531 frames. Sheldon Brown who worked for AD had this to say about the Vent Noir's finish

"The company also introduced the Vent Noir. A step below the Team frameset, it had a very unique feature. The frame went through a "secret process" which made it impervious to scratches. It was not painted. From what we could tell, it was hard-chromed (the type of chrome you use on engine crankshaft journals, not the kind for hubcaps), and then some sort of anodizing on top. You could take a knife or a file, and you couldn't scratch it. The factory never did tell us what they did. But it worked!
I left Steyr-Daimler-Puch of America in 1980, as the moped market was on the decline. I left the industry at that time."

Bars and stem are Cinelli Olymian, Zefal Leather toe Straps, all other components are Campagnolo Nuovo Gran Sport in excellent working condition. All dust caps, cable housings, bushings, bearings etc are original and pristine

To save my own time, I'll let the pictures speak for the bike, with a little research you can find out a lot of information on this rare bike. 

 

BOBCFL: 1940's (?) Bugatti Touring Sport

Not much to say about this.  Probably super rare.  Awesome rear rack that matches the paint.  Decent price for a classic like this.

BOBCFL: 1990 Bottecchia Sprint

Another one from the great cold state.  This Bottecchia has been restored and appears to be in very good condition.  A price like this would be a steal in any other locale.  Someone should really start moving these to the coast.

BOBCFL: 1980's Team Miyata

 

 The rare bird flies out west today!  Talk about a museum piece!  Thanks B-Det, you da man!

BOBCFL: Late 70's Early 80's(?) Motobecane LeChampion

Here's another nice find.  This time it's a French bike (ew la la) with heritage, class, and looks to kill.  Another plus is that it is complete because restoring a french bike is akin to water boarding in terms of sourcing the correct parts.    This LeChampion is a really really nice bike.

Remember when the name Motobecane used to mean something?