The usual internet searches have thrown up nothing at all in the way of identifiing this lovely little road bike. Which I think is pretty odd, someone must know something about it. I keep looking at it, and I think the crank didn't come from it, when we found the
bike the crank was on the floor near it, so I popped it on for the photo
more than anything. However there was a box in the corner, and that had
some random parts, grips, bearings and a crank that looks a far more
likely fit, so I have fitted that crank now, and it looks far more
likely to have been the one that was meant for the bike. Heres some more
pics...
My feeling is that the handlebars are probably upside down, but I don't think
it looks too bad, and it's actually pretty comfortable to ride like
this, which is something I've never been able to say about traditional
dropped handlebars.
Brake
lever is plastic, I've not come across one like this before, I've seen
plastic brake levers on kids bikes before but this is very much larger
than a childrens bike brake lever, but like the other crank, I'm not too sure that this was originally on the bike when it was first built. Anyway, there's only one brake on the
bike, so obviously at the other end of this brake cable is this...
I
have never seen one like it, it's very unique, but it seems to work ok. My feeling is that this brake caliper set up is from a different era to the brake lever, and I wonder why.
The tyres are good, as are the wheels. Frame isn't bad either. I find the
detail on the front forks to be very interesting.
I
really like this, but I'm unsure about how strong it might be. Having
said that it has so far taken my weight, so I'm guessing it's probably
up to the job! I've wondered if these forks hold the key as to the whole
bikes manufacturer. There can't be too many bikes out there with front
forks like these can there?
As for the rear derailiuer, yep it has one, it's a five speed Suntour unit, and there is a lever to select your gears...
Its
a Huret piece, and it's probably not located where I'd put it if I were
building the bike as I find it quite awkward to use where it is. But my
guess is this was probably built by someone a lot younger, and a lot
thinner than I!
The
saddle is a SelleRoyal piece, quite comfortable despite being shall we
say, under-padded! I'm not sure what the yellow and blue plastic
trim on the saddle signify? I wonder if it means anything at all, or is it just trim to make
it look pretty? Oh, and one other things to note is look how thin the seatpost
is. I've never seen one so thin, even childrens bike seat posts are
fatter than this. Again, I feel that this somehow holds a clue to the
original manufacturer of the bike, or indeed it's age. You can also just
about see the gear lever in this picture, just below the seat, probably
wont be comfy should you have a crossbar incident! Anyway, I've given
it a quick wipe down, and put some new wind in the tyres and had a bit
of a ride, and it rides ok, infact it's so ok that it's bordering on
good! But as good as it is, I think I shall get it re-homed at some point, although I would like to know more about it first!
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