The Bond Between Bike and Rider

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Nola Wilken

Being a pragmatic person at heart, I generally eschew mystical explanations of purely mechanical matters. However, there’s no doubt that a special relationship between bike and rider exists when the bike in question has carried the rider over many miles and through rough terrain, dangerous intersections, and bad weather. Much like a shepherd and beloved dog will form a bond through shared hardship, a rider and bike seem to connect in an almost spiritual way.

I experienced this myself with my old 1976 Centurion Pro Tour that I rode for 20 years. The bike got me through some tough situations, and always carried me to my final destination. Even with flat tires, broken shifters, and a headset long overdue for a replacement, the bike soldiered on and I always arrived safely at my destination.

After I crashed my Pro Tour in 1999 I was at loose ends. I searched for a replacement and ended up buying a Cannondale T 2000. What a shocking disappointment that was. The brifters broke when the bike took a spill while parked, the Avid Shorty brakes were frighteningly unreliable, and the stiff aluminum frame was punishing on long rides. Not to mention its piggy 28 lb weight unequipped. I no longer enjoyed exploring new dirt paths, back road short cuts, and long meandering rides. I wanted to get off this bike as soon as possible.

The search for the ride quality that my old Centurion provided was a long one. Meanwhile, I modified the Cannondale substantially, replacing the brifters with bar end shifters, upgrading the brakes to IRD cold forged cantilevers, installing an SR Randonneur bar, and adding a custom Burley rear rack originally designed for a recumbent.

After these modifications, I was able to ride the Cannondale in a little more comfort. Replacing the harsh riding Continental touring tires with Panaracer Paselas helped. I also tried out some Michelin cyclocross tires, which were also quite a bit more comfortable than the Continentals, and enabled me to ride with confidence on gravel shoulders and hard packed dirt and gravel. Eventually, I ended up replacing every single original component on the bike except for the reliable Shimano 105 front derailleur. After that, this bike became my trusted commuter, especially in the winter.

But, I wanted a bike that I could comfortably spend more hours on and was more responsive. I missed my Centurion tremendously so when I found this Centurion Dave Scott Iron Man in my size, for a reasonable price, I purchased it without hesitation.

This was a road bike, not a touring bike, at all. Riding it was eye-opening. I could ride for miles and miles, never tire out, and the responsive handling made it fun to experiment without fast descents, track stands, quick transitions, and spirited climbing. After a while, though, I realized that without clearance for fenders, rack mounts and a taller stem, I would not be able to take this bike out on the touring adventures that I love. I realized that I needed the comfort and responsiveness of riding on steel framed bikes, and that I wanted to learn more about the physical and mechanical details of bicycles and their geometry.

That’s when I enrolled in my first bike mechanic class at the UBI facility in Ashland. Even though I had always done my own bike maintenance, back then I had not really spent any time understanding much beyond annual maintenance needs, which included rebuilding hubs and bottom brackets, truing wheels, and tuning shifters and derailleurs.

I had a great time in the class and met a lot of interesting people. The class opened my eyes to the world of mechanical possibilities and experimentation – I highly recommend UBI for mechanic’s training. Prior to attending the class I had already acquired a 1973 Jack Taylor touring bike and I brought it with me to work on while I was there.

1973 Jack Taylor Touring – before restoration

While this bike is a wonderful example of the Taylor brother’s work, after riding it for a bit I came to realize that it wasn’t quite right for me. I did not like the unstable feel of the single sloping downtube mixte frame – I could feel the front end flexing away from the back end of the bike while accelerating. I also did not like the ergonomics of the low head tube and short reach mustache bars.

I have realized that ergonomics are as important as frame material and components. And, I know from personal experience that steel is flexible and responsive on climbs and does not punish your body on long rides, as does aluminum. This is especially important for smaller riders whose frames are much more stiff than those for taller riders, due to their geometry.

It is clear that newer components are designed deliberately to last briefly and to be discarded when they no longer function. This has led me to go back to cycling’s past to understand and rejuvenate the contribution made by earlier builders and artisans.

A 1970’s Raleigh Gran Sport and a 1980’s Viner

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Nola Wilken

Simplex Super LJ and Campagnolo shifters

Sometimes I purchase bikes that I intend to disassemble. Often these are perfectly decent bikes, and sometimes very nice ones, that have suffered from what I call unfortunate upgrades.

Recently, a colleague asked me to help him to try out commuting on vintage steel which will be a nice change from his aluminum hybrid. My plan was to take a nice frame and build it up to his specifications. I purchased this 1970’s Raleigh Gran Sport that had gone through a few prior iterations, both good and bad.

1970’s Raleigh Gran Sport

The frame is full double butted Reynolds 531, with a Reynolds 531 fork, chrome stays and fork legs, with single eyelets front and rear. There is lots of room at the brake bridge and fork crown for fenders, even with the 27″ inch wheels it was designed for. So, converting this to 700c and adding some wider tires and fenders should work well.

The good upgrades included the Simplex SLJ front derailleur and Campy shifters shown at the top, which would have been upgrades from the ugly plastic Simplex models of this era. The spacing at the rear drop outs is 127 mm so we will have lots of options to consider for the wheelset – either vintage or modern. Actually, the bike was mostly intact from its original state except for some no name Aero levers (with shifter cables installed where the brake cables should be – yikes!), and some hideous bar tape. Because the bike looked kind of bizarre and was a bit dirty, it didn’t sell for much.

At the same time I spotted this 1980’s Viner that was even weirder looking, It sported some 1970’s suicide brake levers, ugly bar tape (again!) and a Shimano 105 headset shimmed into the head tube.

After just a bit of cleaning, the frame looks great. It’s an odd color – it looks black sometimes and brown/purple in low light. It is built with Columbus Cromor Tubing and is in great condition. These road frames from the 80’s can make nice conversions to 650c or 650b. It’s my size – 49 x 51. However, I am going to resist the urge to build it up for myself and will probably keep it in inventory until someone comes along who wants it built up.

There were a few nice surprises with both of these bikes. The Raleigh’s components were in great shape, and in addition to the Simplex SLJ and the Campy shifters, the prior owner had added a Brooks Professional Saddle (it would have come standard with a B-17). The original Stronglight crankset has many miles left on it and has the interesting feature of a built in chain guard. I may use this crankset for my friend’s build since he’s going to be commuting in his work clothes. The headset and bottom bracket are also original and very nice and will be re-used.

Sadly, the Viner had most of its original Campagnolo parts stripped off. Fortunately, though, the crankset and rear derailleur were left undisturbed:

The Viner also had a good wheelset – Maillard sealed hubs on Weinmann concave rims with stainless steel spokes – 36 front and rear. That seems like a much more robust wheelset than I would have expected, and the wheels will come in very handy for other projects that may come along. The bottom bracket fixed cup was in really tight. It is shown above with my removal tool still attached. Of course, it did help to finally figure out that the BB was Italian, so the fixed cup goes the OTHER way…

1947 C. Daudon

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Nola Wilken

I have had this 1947 Camille Daudon for a few years now, and have done nothing to it since first acquiring it from the prior owner who had done some of his own restoration work, including re-chroming the Vitus frame. In fact, the bike is so lovely in its current form, that I am reconsidering my plans to bring it back to its original state by adding period correct hammered fenders, front rack, lighting, and a chain guard, which is what it would have originally been equipped with. This Daudon was custom made for Irene Faberge Gunst, granddaughter of the famous creator of Faberge eggs, a special birthday gift from her husband. In 2006, this bike won the award for best French bike at the Cirque du Cyclisme show. As pictured, it weighs a mere 20 lbs.

The wing nuts were drilled to save weight. Double eyelets in the front, single in the rear. Designed to carry a front load.

The head tube shows a slight loss of lug detail due to re-chroming of the frame. Lam side pull brakes with plenty of clearance for fenders.

650b aluminum box style rims with surface pattern to improve braking.

Pelissier hubs.

Daudon’s customized shifter – everything bespoke on this bicycle. Shifter cable not properly set up – a one piece system is required.

Beautiful Stronglight crankset in very good condition.

Cyclo rear derailleur with wrap around cable.

Gorgeous Ideale Saddle – a bit dry and in need of conditioning.

The color matched crank arms are only still visible on the left side. Threading for all left side components is reverse, including the crank bolt, lock ring and bottom bracket cup.

You can see the slight loss of lug detail mostly on the head tube.

Perfect fork rake – a lovely bend close to the drop outs makes for a nice ride.

Re-chromed stem which is bolted to the steerer tube. All bolts are 8 mm heads.

Unbranded pedals – possibly also crafted by Daudon.

Irene Gunst’s engraved steerer tube cover. Beneath this lies the hidden tool kit.

8 mm nut heads on the seat tube clamp, simple but pretty stays.

Tool kit hidden inside the head tube.

Prior to re-chroming the frame looked like this:

As you can see, the chrome was seriously compromised. The prior owner decided that it would be worth it to re-chrome the frame and risk the loss of lug detail, rather than sanding it down and re-painting it. While disappointing in some ways, I think the overall impact of the new chrome outweighs the downsides. It’s nice to have these photos which will help me re-create the head badge and logos. There are other examples of Camille Daudon bicycles which can also help. Jan Heine’s The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles features two Daudons, and the latest Bicycle Quarterly features a Daudon that is somewhat similar to mine. As far as restoration goes, I still need to make the bike mechanically sound and rideable. The Cyclo derailleur uses a one piece shifter cable, and although I could have soldered a cable to work with this derailleur, I have finally located one that will work for this bike:

And, I am still in a quandary about whether to make this bike appear as it once did – as a touring bike with fenders, lighting and front rack. While I contemplate that, here are some of the parts I have put together – aluminum fenders, front rack which bolts to the fenders, and Simplex chain guard. I still need to source appropriate lights for the front and rear fenders, and a dynamo.

I welcome your thoughts and ideas about this amazing piece of cycling history.

Restoring Vintage Bicycles from the Hand Built Era

Portland, Oregon, USA

Category Archives: cycling

The Bond Between Bike and Rider

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A 1970’s Raleigh Gran Sport and a 1980’s Viner

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1947 C. Daudon

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