1983 Cleland Aventura No. 5 ***SOLD***

[GrahamJohnWallace]

GOOD DAYS!

Geoff is in the middle facing the camera and the posterior on the far right, elbow raised pumping up a tyre, belongs to me. Not that I recognise my own bottom, but the bike is definitely my Cleland No.10 with its small gray Carradice panniers and circular Ever Ready rear light. Back then I lived in London and needed lights to cycle home from Harrow on the Hill Station.

I checked my diary and this was most likely the 5th of July ride almost exactly 25 years ago. "Pub stop/lunch at Fox Dunsmore. Too much cider."
I can still recall how amusing it was to ride off-road in a slightly inebriated state. And wondering whether it was illegal to be drunk in charge of a bicycle on a bridleway? :facepalm:

 

[Number 7]

As promised, photos of No 7.

Son picked it up on Friday and cycled home with a huge grin on his face. The seat is at just the right height for him and a good job too cos it hasn't been adjusted in over 25 years and isn't going to budge easily. That means I won't be able to ride it unless we apply some brute force - not sure I want to do that.

Dees replaced a brake cable, gave it a good lube and that's all! Astonishing for a bike of it's age that has sat in the garage for ten years or so.

Dave painted over the 'No 7' when he touched up a scratch and stencilled his name on it. There doesn't appear to be any serious rust (unless someone thinks differently - Geoff!).

We haven't put the long mudguards on yet, obviously.

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

Thanks for the showing the photos.

It all looks complete and original. The old photo bellow is probably the same bike especially as it has the same blue panels on the front hub brake.

The seat pin issue needs to be tackled carefully and I wouldn't recommend brute force as where the cluster of tubes join beneath the seat was not reinforced and most of these bikes eventually broke there due to repeated over stressing. If the seat post was well greased before assembly then it should be easy to remove and is only stuck because the grease has dried out. However, if it is rusted in then removing it intact may prove impossible with the only option being to cut off and then ream out the remainder of the aluminum seat post without damaging the bike frame. I have the old seat post from my Cleland which no longer fits as the seat tube was replaced with a thicker tube after I sheared it completely off it in 1988.

I would definitely recommend that a repair is carried out by a specialist engineer and not an over enthusiastic bike mechanic with a hammer.

Raising the relatively short seat post too high was the root cause of these frame breakages so I would strongly recommend the fitting a longer more modern seat post if taller riders are going to ride it.

 

[Number 7]

Yup, that certainly looks like it.

The old blue saddle is lurking in a box of spares - a spare set of tyres too.

We'll look carefully at the seat post - no hammers, I promise

Cheers, Graham.