1983 Alan Richards (Tower Cycles Birmingham)

[PeterPerfect]

Very nice; gosh that's a long seat post.

Can't beat a bit of Suntour. Very underrated imho.

Bought out by a competitor who wanted it gone as it lasted too long !

 

[sjcprojects]

Very nice; gosh that's a long seat post.

Can't beat a bit of Suntour. Very underrated imho.

Bought out by a competitor who wanted it gone as it lasted too long !

If you think that's a long seat post, you should see my other bikes...(but don't worry, it is well within it's minimum insertion mark)

Yeah, vintage Suntour road parts still seem underrated – no doubt because people now associate them with the cheap forks found in Halfords. When I was looking for a vintage RD that could take a wide range, the Cyclone GT was the obvious choice – they can still be found for decent money, and are really nicely designed (the cable routing is particularly neat). And they look the part, too.

I recently replaced the saddle with something more appropriate, and replaced the white hoods which I just couldn't live with, they get dirty so easily. These brown ones are not a perfect fit, but they are close enough, and also more comfortable than the originals.

Here's one final scenic photo for the road, on the climb up to Burbage in The Peaks on a lovely sunny day yesterday.

 

[pigman]

Burbage is lovely, but a beast after a hard day out. Although it's nowhere near as long, on a hot day it somehow reminds me of an alpine climb.

 

[sjcprojects]

Burbage is lovely, but a beast after a hard day out. Although it's nowhere near as long, on a hot day it somehow reminds me of an alpine climb.

Yes, Burbage is a pretty long one, and I know exactly what you mean. On my way home I generally avoid it and go the longer but easier way via Fox House. This time, I'd only done 25 miles beforehand and it was worth it for the views and less traffic.

 

[sjcprojects]

A few small notable updates – first of all, new drilled brake levers. The Exage ones were not really in keeping with the rest of the bike and I ideally wanted some drilled levers to match the chainset. As it turned out some drilled aero ones were being sold on here, so thanks to @Old gh bug I now have some new ones fitted. To add an interesting bit of history, I was told they once belonged to Paul Curran who was a very successful amateur racer in the 80s (plus winner of two Commonwealth gold medals).

The new ones definitely make the bike look more purposeful, although unsurprisingly I have sacrificed some comfort for looks – descending a steep hill with these is not that kind on the wrists (and the levers can't go higher up the bars due to the holes drilled in the bars) . Mind you, in my experience most levers up until the early 90s aren't exactly ergonomic, anyway.




I also got some new decals, as the old seat-tube one literally started washing off when I got caught it a rain shower last year due to being the old-style water-slide type rather than vinyl (I try to avoid this bike getting rained on, but then I live in Yorkshire, so that's not going to happen). The down-tube ones were pretty tatty as well really, so I replaced those too.

 

[sjcprojects]

I've made a few small tweaks recently, most obviously some different brake shoes with guides which I felt would be a nice added detail for this bike. I've also upgraded the pedals to some lighter (and shinier) Ultegra ones. Obviously the pedals are not period correct at all, but I only really like riding clipped in, and these ones are polished so they fit with the overall look better. I also polished up the brake levers a bit but I didn't want them pristine considering they have an interesting history.







This is currently my favourite bike to ride, it's just got a lovely feel to it. Pretty much whenever I'm out on it I spend a bit of time thinking about Alan himself and the history of the bike – not that I know much of the actual history of this specific bike, mind you.

It's undoubtedly a slightly eccentric build in various ways, but for me now that's part of the appeal – I could of course do a complete period-correct build with more standard parts, but then it would lose much of its character for me at this point.