| E. G. Bates Pennine |
Bianchi B.a.S.S |
Bianchi Brava |
Bianchi Osprey |
Bridgestone CB-3 | Sheldon Brown | Cannondale SR800 |
Cannondale ST500 |
Columbia 5 Star |
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| Elgin | New! Greenspeed Recumbent Trike |
New! Gunnar Street Dog |
Hercules | Hetchins Magnum Opus |
New! IRO Jamie Roy |
Mead Ranger (1916) |
Motobécane Grand Record |
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| Moulton MK III | Moulton Stowaway |
O.T.B. (63 speed!) |
Peugeot PX-10 (PX-7) |
Peugeot PX-10 (PX-27) |
Piccio Tandem Fixed-gear |
Quickbeam (Rivendell) |
New! Raleigh Cadent 4.0 |
Raleigh Competition Nexus 7-speed |
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| Raleigh/Baylis Professional |
Raleigh International |
Raleigh M8000 |
Raleigh Lenton Grand Prix |
Raleigh Sports (SW) |
Raleigh Superbe Roadster |
Raleigh Twenty Folder (5-speed) |
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| Raleigh Twenty Rigid (5-speed) |
Raleigh Twenty Folder (fixed gear) |
Rambouillet (Rivendell) |
Repco/Nishiki Cresta |
Robin Hood | Rochet | Rudge | ||
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| Schwinn Paramount | Raleigh/Raleigh Homebuilt Tandem 1 |
Raleigh/Raleigh Homebuilt Tandem 2 |
Rudge/Dunelt Homebuilt Tandem |
Thorn Raven (Rohloff 14) |
Torpedo | Univega/Alan |
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This was a major source of spending money for me when I was in junior high and high school. I was (and am) a compulsive tinkerer, delighting in putting things together that were not made for each other.
In 1959, when I was a sophomore in high school I got my first "serious" bike, an Elswick "Tour Anglais", with 630 mm (27 inch) wheels, drop handlebars and a 4 speed Sturmey-Archer gear hub-very hot stuff for the place and time! I almost immediately made it into a 12 speed by adding a derailer and three sprocket cluster to it.
I took my first tour on that bike, from Marblehead to Alfred, Maine, about 120 miles each way. My scoutmaster and I did it two days up and two days back, including camping out in a graveyard the first night, for want of a better spot.
Also while in high school, I built my first tandem, by attaching two old Raleigh 3 speed frames together. The Mark I was held together by slipping the head tube of the rear frame over the seat post of the front frame, and lashing the front seat stays to the rear down tube with rope. This didn't work too well, so after a couple of weeks I went to a local welding shop and had them brazed together. It worked! I have since then built a dozen or so tandems this way, now doing my own brazing. I have an article about this on this site.
I apprenticed for a couple of weeks to a Chicago frame builder named Robert Myers, learned the basics and built myself a criterium frame from scratch. This was a very valuable experience, because I had been considering going into frame building as a profession. After a couple of weeks, I learned that the working conditions are not the way I want to spend my working life.
I have worked off and on in the bicycle business, primarily as head mechanic, at one point for a chain of 15 bike shops. I also have written extensively on (primarily technical) bicycle matters, first for Bike World, then for several years with Bicycling, and most recently American Bicyclist, a trade magazine that goes to every bike shop in the country. I wrote for them both under my own name and the nom-de-plume "Christopher Joyce." American Bicyclist was recently sold, and the new owners canned everybody, so I am between magazines.
I am tech guru and Webmaster of Harris Cyclery in West Newton, Massachusetts.
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| Istanbul, 1974 Typical of the bikes I saw in Turkey, this bike has no pedals (just the axles remain) and no brakes. Unusually, it has two tires, which both appear to hold air. |
Paris, Montmartre, 1988 This wooden-wheeled antique was parked on the street. | London, 1989 This old delivery bike was solid with paint and rust, and had turned into a sign. |
Someone fished this old Schwinn out of the Charles River. Although the spokes and most of the chain had rusted away to nothingness, the rear tire was still fully inflated! Can you explain it? I can. |
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| This picture of the Green Planet Special 2 was taken in 1973 or '74. | Bridgestone Blouson, an unusual Japanese-market shopping bike. | This 1950's Renata tandem moped was my transportation when I visited a friend in Belgium for a couple of weeks in the mid '70s. | The second tandem I built, in the late '60's. I couldn't always find a stoker. Note, this position is very "aero." |
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| Another of my homebrew tandems. | We got hitched December 2, 1979. This lovely chrome Paramount belonged to a friend. |
I built this tandem by brazing two BMX frames together. | The day before our hosteling trip to Cape Cod. The head transplants were not permanent. |
1957 O.T.B.French racing frame, possibly built by René Hérse. For many years my number-one bike. Originally came with a Rosa 48/30 crankset and a 14/16/19/26 freewheel, with Fiamme 622 mm (700c) rims.Currently, this bike is set up as 63 speed, with a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub, 7 rear sprockets and 3 chainwheels. Specialized "Saturne" lightweight 559 mm mtb rims. |
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This camouflaged Robin Hood was born a 3-speed, but became a 5-speed. It was my primary utility transport for several years in the 1970s. Click on it for more details and a larger ../image. |
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I built this in the late '60's from two Raleigh Sports frames brazed together. It was originally configured as a touring bike, but I later reconfigured it as a mountain bike. The chain tensioner is made from a kickstand and a rear derailer. |
1954 Columbia 5 Star
3-speed/drum brake springer ballooner. An early off-road machine. I used to cruise the sand trails of the Cape Cod National Seashore on this bike, back in the '70's. It was kind of scary, because the old Sturmey-Archer AB drum brake was fairly pitiful.
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I built this criterium frame while apprenticing to Robert Myers, in Evanston, Illinois. It has 6-speed Dura-Ace levers, which index pretty well with the Sun Tour Cyclone derailers and Regina Oro 12-22 freewheel, Sugino crankset with 28/42/52 Biopace chainrings, Campagnolo Record hubs (high-flange rear, small-flange front), Phil Wood bottom bracket, Brooks Swallow saddle.
This bike has been through a lot of changes since that photo was taken in 1989. Click here to see the current incarnation and unique handlebar set up on this bike. |
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24 speeds: 72/47 chainwheels, Sturmey-Archer AW rear hub, 4 sprockets. I had the 72 tooth chainring made specially for the Moulton Deluxe that I used to own.
The Mk III was the only Moulton model built by Raleigh. It is considerably sturdier than the other "F frame" Moultons, but always felt heavier and slower to me. Part of this was likely the rear suspension, which uses a rubber ball as the shock absorber, and it's a bit too soft and too highly damped. I later learned a pretty good trick for improving this...wrap a worm-gear hose clamp around the ball, this provides an adjustment for the suspension. This was the first brand new bike I ever owned, but I didn't keep it stock very long. The original rear hub had a pitiful small-diameter drum brake. I replaced this, and installed a Mafac centerpull on the rear triangle. There was no appropriate bridge for to mount a caliper to, so I brazed the studs to the stays. This made a Big improvement to the braking. John Allen has an album of photos of this bicycle. |
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Now a "PX-7": Shimano Nexus internal hub (I love it!); Bullhorn bars, front brake (Mafac) has dual controls. With light 622 mm rims, this bike also has Ritchey 32-622 Tom Slick tires. This bike has its own page. I also own another PX-10 rigged as a hybrid. |
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Originally a 10-speed, second from the top of the Raleigh line, the Reynolds frame is unusually light for its type, and it has nice chrome-plated Nervex lugs.
Newly reconfigured, it now features a Shimano Nexus 8-speed internal gear hub. I used to have it set up as a fixed gear (42/15), with Scott AT-3 LF bars, Sun 14A rims, Campgnolo Record high-flange hubs, 28/24 spokes, Brooks Swift saddle, 165 mm Shimano 105 cranks (with a Biopace chainwheel, which most people will tell you is impossible...it isn't, it's merely improbable! |
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Road 5 speed with a T.A. 64 tooth chainring, 15-34 cluster. This bike originally had tubular wheels, but I later switched to 630 mm (27") wire-on. I courted Harriet on this bike, recently passed it on to my nephew and his bride. |
| This bike has a flip-flop hub with a fixed sprocket on one side, and a 2 speed freewheel on the other. This gives me three different gears, but I have to stop and move the chain (or reverse the rear wheel) manually to shift. It has 559 mm (26" mtb) wheels, Shimano 105 cranks, straight bars w/Haro add-on unit, Tommaselli motorcycle brake levers, walnut-grain contact paper finish, very strange indeed! |  |
This bike is currently mothballed, because I took it's wheels and saddle to equip the E.G. Bates.
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1950's Raleigh Sports
Light 630 mm (27x1) wheels, chaincase, rare Sturmey-Archer SW 3-speed, Flexstem. A "Q-ship", this bike looks slow, but is fast. The SW hub is lighter, more efficient, and quieter than the normal AW model, and has a wider range. Unfortunately, this model had a very high rate of defective units, so they only made it from 1956-58.
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Yet another fixed gear. This had a modified Haro BMX fork with an extended steerer, Zoom Brahma bars, Araya 7x aluminum rims with 28 mm Continental Grand Prix tires, Sugino cranks, Normandy large-flange hubs, Dia Compe BMX brake.
Featured in Bike Rod & Kustom E-zine!The skinny 120 psi Continental tires were too jarring in the small wheel size, and, though this bike was quite fast for a folder, I found myself rarely riding it, due to the harsh, uncomfortable ride. I recently solved that problem by installing an SR suspension fork. It made all the difference, and since then this bike has been getting regular use. See my Raleigh Twenty Page |
Subsequently, however, I made it into a fixed gear. It came with an old-spec 151 mm BCD Campagnolo Record crankset, and I got a deal on a 26 tooth 1" pitch chainring for that BCD. It is currently set up with block chain...but still has the Ergo brifters on it, probably the only bike in the world with that combination of parts!
It has old-fashioned mtb tires with big squarish knobs that seem to work quite well on snow-covered pavement.
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I replaced everything but the frame, headset, and luggage racks, using modern aluminum parts. It has a 53/12 fixed-gear, which is not as impressive as it sounds, since it has 349 mm (16 x 1 3/8") wheels.
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My oldest bike, mostly dating to the time of The Great War.
Originally built for wood rims and 28" single-tube tires, mine's got modern-ish 27 inch wheels, and is surprisingly fun to ride, with a 26/8 fixed gear. |
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A work of art, this frame combines characteristics of a track bike (rear-opening fork ends, round fork blades) with characteristics of a road bike (fender eyelets, lots of tire clearance, drillings for brakes and general road geometry.)
It has very ornate lugwork. I had it set up with the Sturmey-Archer ASC 3-speed fixed gear hub that used to be on my Lenton Grand Prix. I have a separate page about this bike. In 2005 I stripped this frame down and put the ASC wheel on my Gunnar Street Dog . Haven't decided what to do with the Bates frame, which is really too small for me. |
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I've lusted after one of these for many years, finally found an affordable frame in my size on Bay! Purists will be aghast at some of the parts I've put on it, but I don't care, they don't have to ride it. |
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My first 21st Century bike. Have I gone over to The Dark Side with this dual-suspension, hydraulic disc braked motorless motorcycle?
Most people think of me primarily as a road cyclist, but this isn't strictly true. I've gone through periods in my life when I've done a lot of off-road cycling, and others when I stick to the roads. Lately, i.e., the last decade or so, I've been pretty much a pavement rider, but maybe my new bike will inspire me to get dirty more often. In any case, I like to keep up-to-date with bicycle technology, and I got a great close-out deal on this high-tech Raleigh. |
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Singlespeed Mountain Bike built up from a bargain frameset, an absolute joy to ride.
This bike has a flip-flop hub with a fixed gear on one side, a two-speed freewheel on the other. This frame inherited the parts formerly residing on my Bianchi Osprey frame. |
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A wrecked and ruined 1974 Raleigh Professional, rendered better than new by Brian Baylis, including a "heart transplant."
It is set up as a fixed gear with anachronistic parts. A thing of beauty and a joy to ride. |
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This bike is a sort of homage to the classic black Raleigh Sports/Superbe, attempting to put its spirit into a higher-tech bike, with superior materials and technology. Click here for more. |
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Lugged steel frames are not obsolete! This beauty was made in 2002
Thanks to the new White Industries eccentric hub, I was able to rig this up as a fixed gear even though it has vertical dropouts. However, after I got my Quickbeam , this was redundant, so I made it into a 7-speed, probably the retroest Rambouillet going, with its 27 inch wheels and down tube shifter! |
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Aluminum frame, originally a fixed gear, now with Shimano Nexus 8 speed hub, and 584 mm (650 B) wheels. |
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This damaged-in-shipping frame is a new home for the parts that had been on my Cannondale fixed gear.
Just as a hack, it is set up with the chain on the left side. It features an unusual headlight mount, using the lowrider boss on the fork. New! Now with Sturmey-Archer ASC 3-speed hub, still driving on the left! Click here for more. |
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I've been a fan of fixed-gear bikes for many years, generally preferring "road" geometry but with some trackish features. In many ways the Quickbeam from Rivendell is the answer to a longstanding dream of mine.
It is designed specifically as a high-performance single-speed machine, without any derailer-related doodads, but unlike track bikes, it has geometry and tire clearance that make it very versatile and comfortable for road use or even off-road as long as the trails don't ge too "technical." |
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My first recumbent, also my first adult tricycle.
This thing is an absolute blast! |
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| A newfangled "Performance Comfort Road" bike, part aluminum, part carbon fiber. My first such bike, also my first with a 10speed rear end, first with a two-piece crank, first with 31.8 handlebars... |  |
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The Thorn Raven is a heavy-duty touring bike built around the fabulous Rohloff Speedhub 14 speed rear hub.
This bike also has two sets of handlebars, for an unusually wide choice of hand positions. I sold it in July, 2007 to a cyclist from Louisiana.Read all about it! |
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I sold it to a cyclist in Los Angeles in June, 2007. This was the first bike I had to part with due to my health problems, and it was very hard to say goodbye to it.
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1959 Elswick Tour Anglais| Originally a 4-speed Sturmey-Archer, I converted the hub to 5-speeds, added a 4-speed cluster and double chainwheel. I took this on a solo guerilla camping tour from Boston to Montréal in 1969 or thereabouts. |  |
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This 1950's Gnôme-Rhône was made of aluminum tubes riveted into steel lugs. The manufacturer was an old French aircraft builder. The frame was falling apart, it was partly held together by hose clamps. I converted it from a 3-speed to a 12 speed, to use as my mountain bike while I lived in France. |
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The first of many Raleigh 20s I've owned; I bought this one used in the early '70s, and did many modifications to it over the years. In this photo, it was still fairly stock, except that I'd converted the 3-speed hub to 5-speeds, extended the seatpost, and installed Lyotard platform pedals and a Brooks B66 saddle.
I did quite a lot of off-road riding on this bike, before real mountain bikes became available. Later in its life, it acquired aluminum rims, Cinelli handlebars and stem, a Campagnolo Nuovo Record crank set, Phil Wood bottom bracket, and other goodies. I sold it for $300 in a weak moment... |
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1985 Fat Chance
This one was probably built by Gary Helfrich. It's a bit small for me, but I got a good deal on it used, and the top tube is my ideal 22" size. It has a Tioga elastomer fork, and a Brooks Conquest saddle
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 I gave this one to my brother. |
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10 speed-Stock: Campagnolo NR gears, TA 3-arm cranks, all 531, Nervex, Super Champion 58, Normandy HF Luxe Compétition hubs. One of my greatest yard-sale finds. I sold this bike in August, 1999...it was just that much too big for me. |
I have a separate page about this bike.
Rochet "Super Special" touring bike
This beautifully-preserved classic French tourer dates from 1958, had some very unusual and choice parts.
If only it were a bit larger! |
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An bit of an experiment. This bike has truly vertical dropouts, but I wanted to set it up with a flip-flop hub: fixed gear on one side, two-speed freewheel on the other. The vertical dropouts didn't allow chain tension adjustment because the axle was a snug fit in the slot. I solved this by cutting the axle off short, so that it did not extend past the cone locknuts. Only the quick-release skewer went through the dropouts. Since the skewer is thinner than the axle, this allowed some front-to-back adjustment. I never had any problems with this unorthodox rig, but I carried a spare skewer, just in case.
When I got a good deal on a Bianchi B.a.S.S. frame on closeout, I moved the parts from this bike to the lighter, more versatile B.a.S.S.
1993 Cannondale ST 500I discarded this frame when I acquired my Gunnar Street Dog, which inherited the parts from the 'Dale.
I assembled it for her in the winter of 2005.
Cinelli BMX
