Year of the Bike--Part 4-The Olmo

On my Thursday ride last week I stopped as usual at Pacific Coast Cycles in Oceanside to look at Chuck's collection of old bikes and sit on a stool in the work area while Chuck worked on a bike. I noticed that in the lower rack on the south wall of the shop there was an old rusty small frame that looked beyond recovery. The badge said it was an Olmo, which was a very nice Italian vintage brand. I asked Chuck about it and he said that someone had brought it in and traded it for some service on another bike. While it was pretty rusty, worn, and missing parts (like the orig Campy derailleurs, the chain, etc.), Chuck said that the stem and bar probably could be recovered as well as the crank and that he could probably ebay some of what was left.

Chuck's primary new brand in the shop is Felt, and he was working on a new bike getting it ready for the "floor" inventory. He was cussing the latest innovation in brakes, which was the addition of small pull levers in the middle of the bar so that the rider could brake while riding with his hands on the bar top without going to the levers at the front drops. He said that very often the cables at these "intermediate" levers crimped a bit and caused the cables to catch when the levers on the drops were used. When he got a bike like that he had to unwrap the bars and make sure the cables were properly stretched and installed through the smaller levers. I have a early 80's Japanese bike which has the old Dia Compe "safety" pull lever attachments on the brake levers and the new pull levers on the Felt reminded me of those. What goes around comes around I guess. I can't imagine that those new mini levers will last for long on the typical road bike. Real "roadies" won't buy into them!

Then, Saturday morning, as usual, I got up early, went to Starbucks for a Venti Bold, and was off on my garage sale excursion looking for bikes, fishing gear, and golf stuff while listening to the fishing show "Let's Talk Hookup" on the radio. The Abacore bite was on and causing much excitment among the fishing set. Maybe next year will be the "Year of the Fish"!

I hit a garage sale just a couple blocks from my house and saw a couple bikes. One was a small frame Olmo, the other an older mountain bike. I asked the seller what he wanted for the bikes and he said " $25 bucks for the small road bike and $40 for the mountain bike". I looked at the Olmo and it looked all original except for the seat and pedals. I said, "Would you take 20 for it? He told me that it needed a new rear tire and thought 20 would be good. So, as I handed him the $20 bill, he said, "It's Italian, you know!" I nodded. (I didn't let on that I was THRILLED!)

When I got it home I gave it a good bath. It had obviously been sitting in a garage for a long time and was dirty and greasy. It cleaned up pretty good. It had the complete Campy Nouvo Record Groupo on it. It also still had the original Campy hubs and Italian wheelset. The rear derailleur was stamped Pat. 81 which dated the bike to 1981. It was a real cool bike with a lot of pantographing on it. The front crankset was pantographed with the Olmo name around the rings in blue, and green, red, and white color insets circled the rings. The stem had Guiseppe Olmo's signature on both sides with color insets, and the seatpost also had "Olmo" on four sides with color insets. It had a 3ttt stem and bar wrapped with what seemed to be the original blue bar tape, matched by blue cable covers for the brakes. The fork was capped in chrome with Olmo stamped in blue on both sides of the top. Most of the decals were still in fair to good condition. The Columbus 531 frame sticker was mostly worn off. The frame was biege and had the typical scratches and chips one would expect in a bike of its age, and which was probably not all that "treasured" over the years. There had been some touch ups made in the past on some of the chips, and I had a close matching paint and did a bit more.

The tires were tubular and the rear Continental tire was done for. The front was a newer Vittoria and usable. I bought some new tubular Vittorias to install. I will use the good old one for a spare. It is only a 52 cm frame which is to small for me, but I think it is a real find and a good collectible which I will keep and pair up with the 1971 Mondia I just rehabbed and intend to "hang" in the den. The Mondia currently resides in the den awaiting a "hanging" date, and the Olmo is in the living room and fun to look at. The Olmo is probably the most collectable and "arty" due to all the pantographing and color on various parts. I would guess that each part producer must have made parts which were custom for these Olmo production bikes.

When I ride up to Oceanside this week and stop in to see Chuck, he is going to do what he usually does when I tell him about finding this bike for 20 bucks. He will just shake his head and mumble, "People got no idea what they have". I may even bring it up for him to check out one day. He is about 5'8 and it may be a fit for him.

Year of the Bike--Part 3--The Univega Moto

Last weekend I found a UNIVEGA MODO which was like new at a garage sale which had a tag for $175. It looked like it was a 56 cm frame which was a bit small for me, but it had a Columbus steel frame and Compagnola Veloce components. There was nary a scratch on it. Not many people are willing to buy bikes for that kind of money at garage sales. Garage sale shoppers are not serious about riding bikes. Since I look for road bikes I can fix, ride, and resell, that is a good situation for me.

I happened to have just over $100 with me, so I offered the seller that amount and said that was all I had. He hemmed and hawed and said he had only ridden the bike about 5 times, and then said he would do it, and took my offer. He said he didn't want to fool around with ads and phone calls. I thought it was a good deal, thinking the bike was probably worth $350-450 in the used market.

I googled the bike when I got home and found that it was a bike that was about 5-7 years old and had sold for a MSRP of $899 when it was new. Not bad! The Campy Veloce components were generally considered about equal to Shimano 105, and the riding reviews from people who had one were positive, indicating that for the money it was a very good riding bike.

I wondered if it was big enough for me to ride and determined to set it up for my regular Sunday morning ride to Del Mar. The frame was about an inch shorter than what I had been riding, but the top tube was about the same and the distance from the seatpost to the back of the stem seemed a good fit. I adjusted the seat post up a bit and measured heights and lengths and it fit pretty good. My bike guru Chuck at Pacific Coast Cycles in Oceanside told me that raising the saddle on a bike that is too short for the rider really doesn't make it a fit because the weight balance of the rider and the bike is not as stable.

I thought I would try it anyway. I have noticed that very good riders and the pros riding in the Tour de France seem to have very high seatposts in comparison to the position of the top tube and handlebars and ride in a more crouched position than us mere mortals. Presumably that means that an advanced rider who is equal in height to me would be positioned on a bike that would have a shorter frame and longer reach than would be a "fit" for me. I would be on a bike that is a 58 cm and riding more upright, while he would be on a 55-56 cm and riding in a more flat aerodynamic position.

Sunday morning I was off to Del Mar. I was hopeful that the bike would work because it had all the modern conveniences of integrated shift levers, 9 speed rear cassette, and a three ring crankset. Wow! 27 gears! It rode fine! I was comfortable riding. It seemed to fit, although I was conscious of the smaller frame. There was a bigger gap between me and the top bar.

I think that I will ride it for awhile and see how it goes! I may even ride it up to see Chuck to get his views on the matter, although he is a vintage bike guy umimpressed by anything built after 1985. He always is interested in my garage sale finds and just smiles and shakes his head when I tell him what I pay for my "finds". My $5 1971 Mondia Special frame is my most notable find. Next is my 84 Bianchi frame with the original Campy Nouvo Record shifters and derailleurs that I also acquired for $5. And of course, the Dave Moulton 1987 30th Anniversary FUSO I bought for $75. Unfortunately, only the Bianchi was my size. The Mondia is almost restored and ready to be "hung" in the den. (I had to buy Campy vintage derailleurs, shifter levers, A campy hubbed vintage wheelset, and a 3ttt stem and handlebar on ebay, and found a vintage Brooks saddle at a garage sale.) The FUSO is residing with a friend who was looking for a quaility Italian component bike and is very happy with it (Columbus frame/Campy Record groupo).

If the Univega doesn't work out, there will be a very nice bike on the market at a favorable price for someone who will be thrilled to find such a nice fit in a quality bike that is "affordable".

Bullshit! And Bush!

Today I was listening to Bush talking about the need to stay in Iraq or have our children face dire consequences in the future. I am getting really pissed off at that guy. I yelled BULLSHIT! three time at the radio.

I guess that was my primal scream today. I don't know if it helped, but it kind of felt good. When I got back to a computer I sent an email to both of California's Senators encouraging them to shut down the Iraqi War asap even if they have to impeach the sonofabitch and his vpsonofabitch.

Year of the Bike--part 2--Dave Moulton

I found a bike at a garage sale a few weeks ago. The seller had two of them--they were FUSOs, and I had never seen one and didn't know the name. But I recognized that the frames were Columbus and the components were Campognola. The price tags on them were 300 and 700 bucks, and I thought to myself that they were to much for me. The cheaper one had a bit of tarnish and pitting on some of the components, the front derailleur was broken at the clamp, but the frame was pristine and beautiful. I noted that " Dave Moulton, 30th Anniversary" was written on the left rear stay. I didn't know the name.

The bike was to small for me, but I had a friend who I knew was looking for an Italian bike like this, and I thought it would fit him. So I started to work on the price of the less expensive bike. It had tubular tires on it, which are a bit of a pain, I told the owner. (The more expensive bike had clinchers--much easier to handle) I also noted the tarnish and pitting on some of the components and the broken front derailleur. I got him down to $100 and told him I would have to think about it and I would get back to him. As I was getting his phone number I said, "I'll tell you what! I will give you $75 for it and won't even think about it. I'll just go home and get the cash and be right back. His wife piped up and said, "Oh Jerry, just get rid of it, it's been in the garage for 20 years!

So he agreed, and I gave him $20 to hold it for me until I got back with the rest of the money.

When I got it home I looked up Dave Moulton on the internet, and found that he had been a very well known frame maker who had started in England, and ultimately ended up in San Marcos, California with his own small bike building shop where he had turned out about 3000 FUSOs (his brand name) over the period from about 1982 to 1992. He built them all himself by hand with the help of a small staff and did them in lots of 5 frames at a time. They were sold primarily in high end bike shops in Southern California. The 30th Anniverary FUSO was built in 1987 since he had started in frame building in England in 1957. The bike I had cost $1500 in 1990, and the other one that had been priced at $700 was a more expensive model that had cost over $3000 back then. I was almost tempted to go back for it, but it had been small for me too! (In hindsight, I should have gone back for it and tried to get a price for it, though.)

I called my friend and told him of my find. I suggested he come take a look and see if it was a good fit for him. Bottom line, I traded it to him for the 1986 Trek Tri Series 700 he had bought at a garage sale for $100 a few weeks prior, knowing he was getting the better of me by far. But what are friends for. I sold his trade on craigslist for $260. His Bike shop said the FUSO might be worth up to $1000. Part of the deal I made with him, was that if he ever wanted to sell or get rid of it he had to give me a chance to buy it from him for $100. I think that bike will have a place of honor in his home for the rest of his riding days. I know that if it had been my size, I would have restored it by now and it would be my regular ride. When not being ridden it would be living with me in the den.

I emailed Dave Moulton through his web site and told him my story. He responded, and was glad to hear that I had rescued one of his bikes from a garage and got it back on the road.

He has a very good bike blog on Blogger and a web site. Google him up if you like bicycles.