Category Archives: Vintage bicycle

Tina’s Benotto

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While I have known my friend Tina for decades, I didn’t know she was a bike racer back in the day until a few years ago.  Probably all of us have done some interesting things in our youth (some best forgotten), but I was really impressed to discover that Tina owned this beautiful Benotto, which she acquired new back in the 1970’s.  She competed in the races of the time, in her home state of California, on this extraordinary 20 lb full Nuovo Record Campagnolo machine, riding tubular Fiamme rims laced to high flange Campagnolo Nuovo Record hubs.

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When she stopped racing, she swapped out the wheelset for a more useful clincher set with a wider gearing ratio, shown below.  The bike is 100% original, except for the early Terry saddle added later, and these photos show its condition, unrestored, after decades of storage.  Amazingly, it is still lovely and appears easily restorable to its original glory.

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Extra clincher wheelset – Wolber T430 Alpine rims laced to Shimano 105 hubs

Since Tina doesn’t ride this bike any more, she asked me to evaluate it, and to see if any of my readers were interested in buying it from her.  Such a bike, if sold on eBay, would simply be stripped into its separate parts and re-sold at a profit, because it is now true that a complete bike is worth less than the sum of its parts.  But, not for Tina.  She would like the bike to go to someone who will keep it intact and enjoy riding it.  And that’s where I come in.

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I have no prior experience with Benotto’s, so my first task was to determine its provenance and date of manufacture.  The bottom bracket shell shows a 460 serial number.  Unfortunately, I learned that Benotto serial numbers, much like Peugeot’s aren’t really reliable for determining the model year of the frame.  Other clues included the chromed, forged Campagnolo drop-outs, the weight of the machine (20 lbs), the style of the fork and head lugs (chromed lugs, with chromed sloping fork crown), and the appearance of the components. Unfortunately, there are no tubing stickers present on the frame.

At first, I thought this bike dated to the late 1970’s, but Tina wasn’t quite sure in what year she purchased the bike. The above photo shows that the Campagnolo NR rear derailleur has “Patent-73” stamped into its body.

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This derailleur style was later replaced in the late 1970’s.  The presence of cable clamps provides further proof that the bike is earlier than late 1970’s because at that point, all the higher end Benotto’s had brazed on cable guides.  So, it is likely that this is a mid 70’s model.  But what model is it?

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Chromed head lugs with blue accent paint

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Head tube badge in great condition

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Seat tube logo

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Chromed sloping fork crown, blue accent paint, Campagnolo NR headset

Fortunately, I recently discovered some new information on the web that helped in my quest to correctly identify this Benotto. I think it is most likely a Model 2500 or 2000 based on the fact that the seatpost size is 27.2, which means that the tubing used is Columbus SL, a theory further supported by the incredibly light weight of the bike.  Although I haven’t found any catalogs which show this particular bike as configured, the chromed head lugs and fork crown indicate that it was one of the higher end models. Here are photos of the components:

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The frame size is 54 x 54, with a 100 cm wheelbase.  There are single eyelets front and rear.  There are no other braze-ons or bosses.  Components are:  Campagnolo NR:  brake levers, brake hoods, brake calipers, pedals, seatpost, cable clamps and cable guides, headset, bottom bracket, shifters, derailleurs, crank arms and rings, hubs, and quick releases. The shifters and quick releases are color matched with Campagnolo red covers. Other components include 3TTT bars and stem, Christophe toe clips and straps, a  Regina 5 speed freewheel, and of course that beautiful and iconic blue Benotto bar tape.

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There are some condition issues with the bike.  The Benotto logo on the down tube is in bad shape, and there is paint loss around the seatpost clamp. Overall, this bike is in amazing shape for being 4 decades old, and unridden for a couple of those decades.

I welcome any assistance on further identifying Tina’s Benotto.  If you are interested in purchasing it, please contact me – I have included a widget below to allow you to send me a private email.

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Thank you for your response. ✨

A 1940’s/50’s Mercier Meca Dural

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2015-12-31 002

This French Mercier bicycle has captured my attention.  It is made from “duralumin“ – the same stuff blimps were made with – by Meca Dural using a unique procedure to join the tubes with aluminum lugs and wedged steel internal expanders.  The Meca Dural company produced aluminum frames from the 1930’s through the 1950’s on behalf of a number of cycling manufacturers, Mercier being one of them.  A Mercier Meca Dural is included in the Embacher collection (which was sold in its entirety at auction, earlier this year).  The blackbirdsf site also has photos of a variety of duralumin frames of various manufacturers, including Aviac and Barra, as well as Meca Dural.

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This Mercier Meca Dural is a “ladies” bike with a step through frame, although it is not a mixte frame as it lacks the set of extra chain stays typically used to stiffen the frame.  Depending on many factors, this may or may not be a good thing.

The bike features a Stronglight crankset with 46 teeth, CLB 700 brakes with useful and ingenious quick release mechanism, Atom hubs, Samir Saminox 700c rims, Huret plunger/pushrod derailleur, a 4 speed freewheel, and a serial number on the left side rear drop out – 16822.  Here are some photos of the components:

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Huret derailleur with plunger/pull chain mechanism – for 4 speed freewheel.

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Stronglight 49D crankset

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Tank pedals

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Atom hub with Huret wingnuts

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Very nice CLB 700 brakes

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Mercier headbadge, with upper round Meca Dural headbadge missing

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Crankset lettering – Louis Verot chainring with 46 teeth, bottom bracket connector bolt

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Rear drop out with SN 16822

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Beautiful lug design which includes cable routing braze-ons

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Ideale Leather Saddle, Model 80

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Alloy porteur bars, CLB Guidonnet levers, Sufficit grips, Luxor headlamp, Dural Azur stem

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Luxor 65 headlamp

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Samir Saminox 700c steel rims

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Bottom bracket lug, joined below with bolts

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Hammered Le Martele Lefol fenders, hammered rear lamp.

Mercier fork

Steel fork with lugged chrome fork crown, amateur paint job, Stronglight headset

The bike has a number of issues which will affect the restoration process.  The steel fork was horrifically spray painted gray  – so the paint will need to be removed.  Upon closer examination, I have concluded that the wheels are not original to the frame.  There is a 1975 date code on the Atom hub, and not only that, their diameter suggests that this bike was built for 650b wheels and not 700c – the fork crown and rear brake bridge daruma bolts foul the 700c tires.  Clearly the bike was built for 650b wheels, which I confirmed after measuring the CLB 700 brake reach.  And, some features are missing –  the fenders show that the bike originally had a rear and front rack, and the fork mount dynamo is absent, as well as the original chain guard.

Even so, I am looking forward to restoring this machine and to its first test ride, as I want to experience the feel of the aluminum frame and steel lugs, and to judge the frame stiffness for myself.  Stay tuned!

1968 Sears Catalog

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2015-10-02 003

The arrival of the Sears Christmas catalog in our household inspired an array of emotions and behaviors – excitement, confusion, secrecy, sorrow, but most of all, fascination.  The catalog was huge, and packed with every kind of consumer good that a child (or adult) could imagine – electronics, entertainment, books, toys of all kinds, sports and hunting equipment, power tools, clothing, and of course, bicycles.

I remember especially the reel-to-reel tape recorders, microscopes, portable radios, and cameras.  Oddly, I also remember the amazingly stylish men’s clothing – something of a surprise for stodgy old Sears & Roebuck:

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Nehru collars and fancy scarves…sweetly gay!

So, in a nostalgia moment, I recently acquired a 1968 Sears Christmas catalog on eBay, which was in surprisingly good condition.  I have been enjoying perusing the pages and studying the specifications, as well as noting the pricing on many of the items in the catalog – very high given the wage and price levels of the 1960’s.

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The color TV console pictured above (with awesome NASA spacecraft featured on the screen) is listed at $629.95.  That translates into $4,314 in today’s prices.  Similarly, a desktop Hi-Fi with detachable speakers went for $117.95, which would be $808 in 2015.

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The highest quality bicycles in the catalog are those listed above – “touring” bicycles, made in Austria for Sears by Puch.  The 5 speed bike has a gear ratio of 38 to 88, according to the specifications, and includes caliper brakes, chrome fenders, rims and hubs, a rear rack and headlamp.  The $57.95 price would be $397 in today’s buying power.  That seems quite reasonable, and definitely at odds with the prices of the electronics in the catalog.  Manufacturing efficiencies for bicycles were much more fully realized, having been around for nearly 80 years at this point, even though low wage manufacturers such as Taiwan and China were not serious players at this point in time.

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Accessories included multi-colored tires, proving once again that there is nothing new under the sun, for the most part, when it comes to the world of bicycle manufacturing.  After all, index shifting was first introduced in the 1930’s, and while many components have been perfected and tweaked over the decades, the basic design of many cycling components has remained unchanged.  Derailleurs are a good example of this.

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Sears was not a company to miss out on trends, so these “Spyder” bicycles are prominently featured in this two page spread, and in the photo below.  These were comparatively expensive bicycles – costing more than the top end touring bike, with the highest end model going for $534 in today’s prices (again – not bad).

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With their suspension and rear knobbies, these bicycles seem more ancestral to the mountain bike craze than the Schwinn Excelsior modified by Joe Breeze.  One of the higher-end models was an auto-shifter with 5 speeds and dual rear brakes – wow!  The ten speed model was also built with dual rear brakes, and maybe that’s why us kids thought we should blast down hills as fast as possible – something I did on my own green sparkle model!

Raleigh had its own version – the Chopper, which was designed for popping wheelies, and had smaller front wheel, but also included the ape hanger bars and sissy bar saddle.  The Raleigh version is now highly sought after as a collectible bicycle, whereas the Sears Spyder models are not so much.  However, the Sears-Puch 5 speed touring bike was a decent machine for what it was, and there are still enthusiasts out there who appreciate them.  Here are some color photos on an enthusiast’s Facebook page for your enjoyment.