KatyCycles
Retro Newbie
A classic 1980s/90s touring bike in a very responsive steel alloy - £450
For sale again due to change in intended purchaser's personal circumstances.
This lovely bike was a lucky find secondhand in 1999, in south London (via Loot), on recommendation from my CTC group as a good off-the-shelf touring bike. It has been fantastic. I rode it regularly until 2008 (long summer day rides/light touring only, no commuting). It has been up big, steep hills with big loads, flown down big hills with big loads, and always a reassuring, steady ride. I’ve loaded it up so much that I can’t lift it off the ground, but it still rolls and rolls right up the hills. The ‘Lightweight tourer’ description is somewhat relative, but it always surprises people with its capacity to travel and its responsiveness (although it practically laughs if you try any heroism with the gears). Since 2008 it has only been used 2-4 times per year at most, mainly on 100mile + rides, due to children arriving, shorter rides, and other bikes. It’s been a ‘Sunday best’, as its strengths are all day rolling or on newly discovered hills (because I can guarantee it will get up them. Cleeve Hill, 25% for a kilometre, with a pannier with a bottle of cider brandy in it... say no more).
Features:
• Scarcely used Brooks B17 saddle (new 2013 or so)
• 3x21 Shimano Deore gears, (excellent low gears, and I personally have never run out at the top)
• Stronglight crankset
• Cantilever brakes
• Trademark spare spokes on left chainstay
• New seatpost (about a year or two ago, Condor Cycles, London)
• New bottom bracket and rear tyre (Arragon’s of Penrith, May 2019)
• shifters on the downtube, as I preferred this to the bar-end option that it came with
• Rear rack, mudguards (sadly not matching); rear mudguard has added classic spray flap very classily made from a squash bottle (this means you can ride in front in the rain)
• Pedals: I can’t find the originals; I must have given them to someone. If I find them, they’ll be included in the price.
• Please note that as well as never being thrashed on daily commutes, it has always been kept indoors, hung by its frame horizontally on two pegs.
Why am I selling? I had a bike fit, it’s just too big to be ideal, and I’m not using it enough. I’ve seen forum exchanges about fitting Campag parts to these bikes, so although I’d always been told by friends with Condors and Mercians that the Randonneur was too lowly, clearly you can spec it up if you want to. It rides as if you should – it’s been absolutely brilliant.
Now, please check the pictures.
For sale again due to change in intended purchaser's personal circumstances.
This lovely bike was a lucky find secondhand in 1999, in south London (via Loot), on recommendation from my CTC group as a good off-the-shelf touring bike. It has been fantastic. I rode it regularly until 2008 (long summer day rides/light touring only, no commuting). It has been up big, steep hills with big loads, flown down big hills with big loads, and always a reassuring, steady ride. I’ve loaded it up so much that I can’t lift it off the ground, but it still rolls and rolls right up the hills. The ‘Lightweight tourer’ description is somewhat relative, but it always surprises people with its capacity to travel and its responsiveness (although it practically laughs if you try any heroism with the gears). Since 2008 it has only been used 2-4 times per year at most, mainly on 100mile + rides, due to children arriving, shorter rides, and other bikes. It’s been a ‘Sunday best’, as its strengths are all day rolling or on newly discovered hills (because I can guarantee it will get up them. Cleeve Hill, 25% for a kilometre, with a pannier with a bottle of cider brandy in it... say no more).
Features:
• Scarcely used Brooks B17 saddle (new 2013 or so)
• 3x21 Shimano Deore gears, (excellent low gears, and I personally have never run out at the top)
• Stronglight crankset
• Cantilever brakes
• Trademark spare spokes on left chainstay
• New seatpost (about a year or two ago, Condor Cycles, London)
• New bottom bracket and rear tyre (Arragon’s of Penrith, May 2019)
• shifters on the downtube, as I preferred this to the bar-end option that it came with
• Rear rack, mudguards (sadly not matching); rear mudguard has added classic spray flap very classily made from a squash bottle (this means you can ride in front in the rain)
• Pedals: I can’t find the originals; I must have given them to someone. If I find them, they’ll be included in the price.
• Please note that as well as never being thrashed on daily commutes, it has always been kept indoors, hung by its frame horizontally on two pegs.
Why am I selling? I had a bike fit, it’s just too big to be ideal, and I’m not using it enough. I’ve seen forum exchanges about fitting Campag parts to these bikes, so although I’d always been told by friends with Condors and Mercians that the Randonneur was too lowly, clearly you can spec it up if you want to. It rides as if you should – it’s been absolutely brilliant.
Now, please check the pictures.
