This is my old 10-speed. I know it’s a 70′s Campania Sport, but not sure of the exact year. I found it on Craigslist while searching for a cheap road bike. It is a tad on the heavy side. That’s not that important to me as I was looking more for a commuter and not a racer. The brakes are Dia-Compe center pulls with Suntour shifters as well as Suntour GT rear and Suntour Sprint front derailleurs. There was some mild rust, so I decided to repaint the frame a bright red instead of the dull red it was orginally. The yellow cable housing and tires really sets it off. It certainly gets the looks around campus.

Hey Cam,

I picked up this lil’ charmer this morning. It is a Puch Meteor Luxe. I just finished a sweet Schwinn Le Tour this afternoon and the Puch is already on the stand! The derailleur is a Shimano Honor. It has “high pressure” 80 LBS. tires! The head badge has holes drilled in it for the rivits but it is stuck on..crooked! The rear wheel spins like there are no bearings back there! Under the grunge the paint looks great! Chrome seems decent, too. These old Puchs are hard to beat! I’m starting to accumulate quite a few of these them!

Thanks,

Bill

My name is Bradley Greene this is my 1974 Schwinn (approved) Le Tour. I bought it from the original owner for $100 bucks, had only been ridden 3 times (I have no reason to believe any differently) I replaced the wheels with STA-TRU 27″ alloys, with Continental GatorSkin Tyres (sic). I added a Brooks B17 Imperial, and Adarga leather handlebar tape. I ride this bike 10-20 miles everyday. Not too bad for the bike being 38 years old!!

1972 Grantsport Squire 10 speed I found this one late Winter night searching Craigslist in Central N.J. the bike is kind of heavy and rides like a ‘Varsity’ or a Ross ‘Eurotour’ has that big easy to take apart bottom end/ crank that needs no special tools. Dia comp. brake levers with SAC steel center pulls Shimano Eagle/Thunderbird control the chain Wald 6112 style pedals, SR stem, Troxel seat reads made in Moscow Tenn. U.S.A. Vittoria 1″ 1/8th tires were squeezed onto the stock no name steel wheels Pie plate & shifters both have that early ’333′ mark from the Shimano dark ages, Shimano Freewheel & big chain ring have a skip tooth pattern that points to Olney Illinois AMF plant as it’s birth place. W.T. Grants Dept. store went out of business around 1975-76 Who could resist a line up of Squire 10 – speeds outside a Grants store on a Spring day in 1972?

Mike P

Darrell’s 1971 Raleigh Sprite (Cyril)

Cyril started life as a five speed bike. He was a humble Craigslist find that I intended to just ‘spiff up’ a bit, but it wasn’t long until I disassembled the bike down to the frame and sent it off to the sandblaster. The bike has two of my first homebuilt wheels. The original Huret Allvit derailleurs are decent for the kind of riding I do on this deluxe townie. This is a great riding bike and one of my favorites. The 27 inch derailleur Raleighs are sadly overlooked gems from the seventies. I’d love to see more of these show up at Tweed Rides across the country.

Darrell – Arlington Heights, Illinois

• Frame — 1971 Raleigh Sprite — 21 1½ inch (~55cm)
• Fenders – Honjo 43mm Smooth Fluted
• Wheels — Homebuilt (Stock Sturmey Archer Rear Hub, Shimano Dyno Front Hub, Sun CR-18 Rims)
• Tires — Panaracer Pasela Tourguards 27 x 1¼
• Handlebars — Stock Raleigh Northroad
• Brake Handles — Stock Raleigh Self Adjusting
• Brakes — Tektro 800A Side Pull
• Grips — Honey Brown Brooks
• Stem — Stock Raleigh
• Crank — Stock Raleigh-Cottered
• Bottom Bracket — Stock Raleigh
• Pedals — Stock Raleigh
• Derailleurs — Huret Allvit – Stock
• Chain — Stock
• Saddle — Brooks Honey Brown B66
• Saddle Bag — Acorn Medium Large Saddle Bag
• Seatpost — Stock
• Rear Bags – Gilles Berthoud Special Small Panniers
• Rack — Velo-Orange Constructeur
• Rear Light — Busch & Muller
• Headlamp — Vintage Union
• Reproduction Decals — Cyclomondo & H. Lloyd

I have a iverson grand sport here of an unknown year. I found the bike in a trash bin in my neighborhood and being I had some parts laying about the house I decided to put it back on the road. After a major cleaning and regreasing I replaced the derailleurs,rims and stem. The tires were scrapped from the salvage yard as I did not wanna have money in a bike that is probably not worth it. Not the best resurrection but the bike is back on the road again and was saved from the crusher. Thanks

Year  ??
Make  Schwinn  Chicago
Model Varsity

A little bit about it:  I paid way too much for this one given its condition, but the seller extolled the virtues of the Varsity in his craigslist ad.   I also decided that I would take a shot at painting the frame.  It was yellow and it is still yellow.  My skills with a spray can are not great, but it does look better than it did.  I filled the hole in the chain stay with body putty.  The after picture shows a set of vintage Schwinn approved wheels and the original french derailleurs and freewheel.  I tried to replace the vintage kickstand but the one I bought on eBay stuck out too far and the crank ran into it.  During my restoration I acquired some spare wheels and I picked what I thought were the roundest.  The ones came with the bike were shinier but had a lot more hop, the jointing on the FEMCO rims was terrible.  Since then I recycled the original hubs and laced them to CR-18 aluminum rims.  It rides very smooth now.

As you may surmise the cost of the restoration was astronomical.  This will be a one time extravagance, I have vowed that all my other rescues will be low budget and low impact.

Rick S, Taylors, SC

1980 Motobecane Grand Touring

The Grand Touring was Motobecane’s next to top-of-the-line touring bike in 1980. With a fabulous sense of style in classic black and red, you couldn’t do better than the Grand Touring for comfort and reliability for the long miles ahead. This example is in amazingly original condition, with Weinmann Vainqueur 610 center-pull brakes, Suntour Vx derailleurs and “888 Vitus – tubes legers 8/10 pour Motobecane” frame decal. Only the wheels have been replaced w. period French Schwinn-approved high-flange rims.

Submission for OTS Bike of the Month consideration

Name: Jim G Year: 1975 Make: Motobecane Model: Grand Touring

Looking for a winter project, I purchased this bike from my local bike shop in December 2011. Seeing the layers of dirt and grime, there was no doubt this bike had been stored in the very back of the “back” room. Reminded of the story of the development of WD40, I settled on a new bottle of No.7 Chrome and Metal polish from the Nuts and Bolts hardware store to work some metal magic. The transition from dull to shiny bright exceeded my expectations of what was possible. It didn’t take long for me to see that the gold pin striping on the frame and around the lugs was the perfect setup for a new brown seat and handlebar tape. Performing internet research on this bike was as rewarding as the reconditioning. I discovered a 1975 Motobecane catalog that confirmed all the components are original, including a few upgrades from the Grand Jubile. The frame is fully lugged, “1020″ light steel tubing measuring 25 inches. This is coupled with a PIVO 120mm stem, making for a very tall ride. Both the headset and crankset (42-52) are Stronglight which are upgrades from the Grand Jubile. The MAFAC “RACER” brakes are upgrades from the Motobecane Tandem model. After replacing the cable housing and cables, the Sun Tour V.G.T. Luxe with stem power shifter began working as smooth as butter. The 5-gear cluster is MAEDA 14-32 on a NORMANDY hub with ATOM quick release skewers. I installed a new set of Michelin World Tour Gum Sidewall 27″x1-1/4″ tires on the WEINMANN alloy rims to keep with the French heritage. I was very surprised how well the LYOTARD pedals with CHRISTOPHE SPECIAL toe clips shed their surface rust. Now that spring has arrived, it is time to hook up with some club rides and show off this beautiful OTS!

Cameron:

It is an 8 speed, but this is a 1962 Raleigh Lenton Grand Prix, Reg Harris model that my dad bought new. It has been kept indoors all its’ life. 33” standover. 531 steel frame, Raleigh “Heron” design steel cranks (made by Williams), High Flange hubs, laced 32/40 front and back, Cyclo 4 speed rear cluster, Cyclo Benelux derailleurs (front derailleur rod-operated) Dunlop special lightweight racing rims, and, Titan adjustable steel stem and bars. All original except for seat, tires & tubes. Features Raleigh alloy kickstand, fork mounted headlight bracket, plastic fenders (the rear fender is cracked). Fresh tires & tubes, kept in ready to ride condition.  Too bad is is too tall for “vertically challenged” me.

Scott V