We restored this JC Higgins for a customer.  Frame and parts were powder coated in three colors, chrome was redone, decals replicated, and all built up as original, except for the colors.  The green looks kind of turquoisy in this light but it is really almost John Deere Green.  A fun project and a little different.

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Clark went all out to find the nicest Super Record parts for this including titanium bottom bracket and pedals, and had the derailleurs, shifters, and cranks milled and polished, and we did a nice paint job and put it all together for him.  One of the nicest Gios Torinos around and only a little over 18 lbs.  By the way, the blue is much more intense than it looks like in some of the pics.  It is a hard color to capture.  The shot of the left side of the bottom bracket look pretty accurate.

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A project I have been working on for several years.  Got this 1961 Cinelli frame from the UK.  It was originally sold in Singapore.  Needed some frame repairs, rechroming, new paint, and then I built it up with mostly NOS or mint parts of the period.  My own modified 151 triple crank and long arm steel record derailleur.   Looking forward to its first ride.  Planning to ride this in L’Eroica this year.  Think they will let it through?    Anyone know of any water bottles with old Cinelli logo?

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Here is one of the more unlikely restorations, but our friend Dale had had it since new and his wife gave it to him when they got married.  So he wanted it restored and then some, maybe like his fantasy bike from back then.  The most spectacular U08 ever, now with a full Campy gruppo.  Once 32 lbs, now a svelte 26 lbs.

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Possibly made by De Rosa for Eddy about 1981.  Note the dropout treatment with the De Rosa points.  Also, has signature seat stay caps instead of EM.  The frame in the back of this picture is called a 78 De Rosa Eddy Merckx and that is what we used for reference:

www.flickr.com/photos/oldcampy/352571960 3/

Here is another one made by Kessels

www.flickr.com/photos/veloremans/4876518 609/in/pool-96216…

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Alan ordered this custom from the shop he worked at in Arlington Heights Illinois and has kept it ever since.  Schwinn repaired and repainted it with the wrong decals some years later so we have brought it back to original color and decals.  He is quite happy with the result.

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This bike is all original and other than being dirty and having original grease in it, was in fine shape.  Rob sent this fine old bike to me for a little R and R.  Follow the progress here.   Just today I spoke with the original owner of the bike, who was the owner of Sport Cyclery in Stockton, the sticker on the bike.  He is a young 74 and still rides 60-100 miles a week.  He sold the shop in the 70s and it still exists, in Burbank California, as McCauley’s Sport Cyclery.  He is going to send me pics of him on the bike so check back.  Click on comments above to see one from him.  UPDATE.  The bike is now complete and back together, almost ready to ride.  A great looking bike and I’m sure it will work as good as the day it was made.  It was a very fun project.

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By Phillips.  Not the kind of bikes we usually restore, and will never be worth the price of restoration, but a fun project, and the original owner will be overjoyed.  All the crusty old parts shined up pretty nicely.  I overhauled both hubs and shined them up nicely and rebuilt the original wheels with new spokes.  The wheels were quite true so an easy build.  Watch for frame pics after painting, and then the complete bike.

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This 1980s remake of a 50s era Paris Tour de France (an English bike!) was restored by us at Elliott Bay Bicycles. My painter complained a lot about the ancient decals. There were three different types, and none wanted to work well. But he did a great job nonetheless. Here is a history of the marque which mentions the bikes of this era in the last paragraph. www.classiclightweights.co.uk/Paris.html

I understood this was made in 1980 but they say it started in 1981. Of note is the oversized 1 1/8″ top tube, way ahead of its time. This was accomplished by the handmade “bilaminate” lugs as Claud Butler called them. Condor is currently making a replica of the Paris Galibier, a very unusual frame. The Paris bikes were usually a bit garish with bright colors faded over the lugs. I wanted to make this a bit garish with the colors but in more of a traditional English pattern. Check back for the built-up bike. It will have mostly gold anodized French stuff on it, in keeping with the theme.

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I first bought this in 1978. It was my first Italian racing bike. I got it used and pretty beat for $500. All I could afford at the time. I rode it for 5 years, and meanwhile acquired my 1979 Davidson road bike, a Guerciotti track bike, and then my 1982 Italian Masi. So the Colnago had to go. Sold it to a friend who used it for many years as a beater bike. In 2008 he brought it back and said If I wanted it I could have it, as it was otherwise going in the dumpster. So I said sure I would take it. I did some repairs on the frame, and a nice paint job, in the color I always liked back in the 70s. Then hung my nicest vintage parts on it, including 1973 cranks and hubs, and a 1972 rear derailleur. I had found a nice panto stem for it and a fluted seat post. The post-CPSC brakes are about the only thing not period correct on it. Now I have not the old bike I remembered, but the perfect new Colnago I couldn’t afford back then. UPDATE: Maiden voyage Aug 7 a success, though it RAINED. The bike felt like an old friend after the first 100 yds. Spent an hour on the bike cleaning it up afterwards. From all the details listed here. I call this one 1973. Tangs in fork with holes not clubs, no shifter braze-ons.

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This is the 10th frame built in Chicago. The first was A10 and this is A20. Built in 1959 when Frank Greco had just started making the Paramounts. Previous ones were made by the Wastyns. Read all about the classic Paramounts here.

View the rest of the photo’s on rdf1249′s flickr page.