1977 Jack Taylor 650b Tandem

2014-09-21 001 031 1977 Jack Taylor Tandem

This is an unrestored Jack Taylor Touring Tandem, built for 650b wheels.  I had it shipped from England several years ago, but haven’t started work on it yet.

Even in its present state, it’s quite a pretty bike.  The frame color is silver, but with plenty of bright highlights that include red, yellow, green, blue and white.

The frame is built with Reynolds 531 tubing, and is fillet brazed.  It features a sloping top tube, giving 23″ and 21″ seat tube lengths for the front and rear positions.  Components include Maxi-car hubs, Campagnolo shifters and derailleurs, Weinmann 650b rims, Taylor Bros hammered fenders, front and rear constructeur racks, Mafac cantilever brakes, plus a front Maxi-car drum brake.

2014-09-21 001 010

Double front brakes – cantilevers + drum; Mafac levers and hoods in great shape.

2014-09-21 001 045

Jack Taylor transfers in really nice condition

2014-09-21 001 003

 

2014-09-21 001 007

Smooth brazing and a U.K. touring club sticker

2014-09-21 001 042

Simple cable stop,, elegantly brazed seat stays

2014-09-21 001 001

2014-09-21 001 008

Reynolds transfers in great shape

2014-09-21 001 009

Pin striping is still in really nice shape

2014-09-21 001 006

Maxi Car hubs, Campagnolo dropouts – with SN 7183

2014-09-19 001 001

TA crankset – there are two cranksets and each has at least one chain ring mounted on each side

2014-09-21 001 005

A type of presta valve I hadn’t seen before – there’s nothing under this cap – just an open valve – but I popped my presta fitting on anyway and pumped air into the tube.

2014-09-19 001 005

TA triple crankset with 50/40/28 rings

2014-09-21 001 041

Eccentric bottom bracket plus internal routing for the dynamo wiring

2014-09-21 001 026

Redundant chainring on the drive side front crank

2014-09-21 001 047

Campagnolo front derailleur

2014-09-21 001 049

Very cool Zefal pump

2014-09-21 001 046

Mafac cantilevers

2014-09-21 001 020

Campagnolo Rally rear derailleur, with Suntour Perfect 14/24 freewheel

2014-09-21 001 013

Color matched Milremo stem, Stronglight headset

2014-09-21 001 012

Dynamo and wiring

2014-09-19 001 006

Brooks saddles – a B-72 in the back and a B-17 in front

2014-09-21 001 022

2014-09-21 001 043

Some pitting in the top tube’s stoker section.

2014-09-21 001 039

Fork blades feature brazeons for the drum cable routing.

One of the things that surprised me about this bike was how similar it is in many ways to my 1973 Jack Taylor.  That bike is is also fillet brazed, and sports the exact same lighting system and rack design as this tandem.  In fact, its rear reflector is also broken, just like this.

2014-09-21 001 011

Another broken reflector

However, this reflector got broken in the shipping process.  One thing that I did was to have the bike shipped intact from England.  It boarded the Rio Mediera in Southampton, but was detained when it reached port in New York as suspected contraband.  The large container, built by Sheffpack, bore a suspicious resemblance to an arms shipment, and so it had to be x-rayed before it could continue its journey to the Port of Portland.  Consequently, the bike spent many weeks inside its shipping container, before it was finally literally broken open by port workers using hammers and tire irons.

However, it is safe and sound now, and with the fall and winter months looming ahead, this might be the perfect project to occupy the colder and wetter days ahead.

1970’s Austro Daimler Inter 10

1970's Austro Daimler Inter 10

Here is a late 70’s Austro Daimler Inter 10.  It is built with Reynolds 531 butted tubing and has an unusually nice mix of quality components.  I have overhauled and restored it in my usual way, which involves removing all components for cleaning and mechanical overhaul, cleaning and waxing the frame, treating the frame internals for rust, then putting the bike back together with new: cables, housing (if needed), tubes and tires and of course a rebuild of hubs, bottom bracket, and headset.  With its high quality frame and excellent overall condition, this is a bike to keep as original as possible.

2014-08-13 001 005

Campagnolo Nuovo Record Long Cage Derailleur

2014-08-13 001 003

Campagnolo Front Derailleur

2014-08-13 001 014

Top end Red Label Normandy Lux Competition Hubs

2014-08-13 001 017

Stronglight crankset with 42/52 rings – showing no wear

Not all Austro Daimler Inter 10’s were made with Reynolds 531 tubing, but they were mostly set up with components for light touring and sport riding.  This Inter 10 also has higher end components normally found on the upper level models such as the Super Light and the Vent Noir.

The drive train is geared for touring, with a 14/34 freewheel mated to a 42/52 crankset.  With this wheel size, the yields a gear inch range of 33-100.  That’s a pretty good range conducive for all types of riding.

2014-08-13 001 019

Rare and beautiful GB Maes bars in fantastic shape.

2014-08-13 001 016

Atom 600 pedals

2014-08-13 001 007

Weinmann 605 Sidepulls with quirky Mathauser finned brake shoes

 

Maillard 14-34 5 speed freewheel

Maillard 14-34 5 speed freewheel

I encountered just about every marquis existing in the bike world in the 70’s on this bike:  Reynolds, Campagnolo, Weinmann, Normandy, Maillard, SR, Atom, Simplex (the seatpost bolt!), GB, Shimano (forged chrome drop-outs), Stronglight, and Huret.  To clean the component mix up, I replaced the Huret downtube shifters with Campagnolo shifters from the same era.  I also replaced the Weinmann levers, which were in bad shape, with these Campagnolo levers also from the same era:

2014-08-13 001 012

Campagnolo downtube shifters

2014-08-13 001 021

Campagnolo levers – this style first introduced in 1976

2014-08-13 001 011

Campagnolo shifter cable guides

I also had a nostalgia moment when I removed these “extras” from the bike – an odometer, tire savers, and flick-stand.  These were de rigueur back in the day.  The flick stand is actually a very useful device that I will probably use for one of my bikes.  The Huret odometer shows less than 1600 miles on the clock – that seems about right given the nice condition the bike was in.

2014-07-10 002 002 2014-07-10 002 012 2014-07-10 002 015

All of the Austro Daimler’s I have encountered have been surprisingly nice.  The company had a lengthy and complex relationship to bicycle manufacturing.  If you want to know things you never dreamed of wanting to know about the company, here is an amazing manifesto on the subject.

This frame is built with Reynolds tubing. The sticker is missing on the seat tube, but still present on the fork.  This bike’s top tube is 57 cm, even though the seat tube is 53 cm.  Apparently, Austro Daimler just used the same top tube length for most of its bikes, regardless of seat tube length.  Fortunately, when the bike was built up, a short reach and tall SR stem was chosen, so the ergonomics on this bike still fit like a typical 53 cm bike.  The bike has an unusual seat post – a “G.S.” San Marco, which is actually very attractive and has the diameter inscribed in a helpful location.

2014-08-13 001 009

The build quality of the frame is extraordinarily nice, with Shimano forged drop outs, lined lugs, a chrome fork crown, and top quality finish work on the seat lug.  There are no braze-ons of any kind, but the clamp-on Campagnolo and Weinmann guides are very attractive.

2014-08-13 001 022 2014-08-13 001 018 2014-08-13 001 013 2014-08-13 001 010

This is another great example of a quality touring/sport-touring bike from the late 70’s.  Although a production build, the bike has survived quite well and has many miles left to go.

Update October, 2016:  Sold!  Congratulations to Bob in Pennsylvania.