rBoTM RBotM September 2024 - Open Month - Entries now Open!!!

[Jamiedyer]

Welcome to RBotM September 2024 - Open Month - All welcome!

Entries are now open so dig deep in the shed, take the unicorn down off the wall and dust of the commuter.
Get them out on one of the sunny days that I am sure may come by the end of the month and take a few snaps (2), post them up here with a brief description of what it is and what it means and post a link to a build page or web page so those interested can get some more information.
Then sit back and watch the fame and popularity pour in, you'll be sitting with the cool kids soon enough
Entries are open until the last minutes of the month.

Jamie

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

 

[3wheeler7]

I'll go first then!
1984 Raleigh Record Ace, built from a cheap Ebay frameset. Just completed yesterday and only ridden around the local park this morning.
Surprisingly no adjustments required and rides lovely.
Obviously a non-standard colour but it had been professionally re-painted at some time in its past so it was a matter of adding a set of the correct H Lloyd decals and rustling up some period(ish) components.
Very pleased with the result - for not a lot of cash outlay.
A short build thread with some more pics:-
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/1984-raleigh-record-ace-build.484902/

 

[Foreigner]

Spurred on by the bike above sporting non-drops....

1959 Dave Davey that came to me with drops, but I fancied 'a jump on and off to shops' type of a ride. Nothing spectacular about it, but it just feels spot on. Original colour, some period parts and some not, as many of these type of bikes always are built with. Oh, and that saddle is the most comfortable of all I have, not Brooks, but forgot what it is - never mind, my behind is in love with it

 

[pigman]

I'll go first then!
1984 Raleigh Record Ace, built from a cheap Ebay frameset. Just completed yesterday and only ridden around the local park this morning.
Surprisingly no adjustments required and rides lovely.
Obviously a non-standard colour but it had been professionally re-painted at some time in its past so it was a matter of adding a set of the correct H Lloyd decals and rustling up some period(ish) components.
Very pleased with the result - for not a lot of cash outlay.
A short build thread with some more pics:-
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/1984-raleigh-record-ace-build.484902/
View attachment 883914View attachment 883915

nice colour. The original greeny champagne colour was always a bit uninspiring (to me anyhow)

 

[Harvo]

I'll stick my name in the hat.....

1988 Raleigh Banana 531c. Owned since new. Raced competitively originally and given a light restoration in 2021 by myself. Original paint/components and only cables, bar tape and tyres replaced. Here's to the next 36 years of ownership! 2nd pic was taken circa 1989 at 15 years old with my (sadly departed) racing buddy.

 

[non-fixie]

That Banana is really nice.

But I'll help make up the numbers anyway, and enter my ~'76 Union "Rini Wagtmans".

In 1976 Dutch bike manufacturer Union wasn't in a particularly good shape. Business wasn't going well and a big fire had just burnt down their plant. So what does one do in a crisis? One goes racing.

Rini Wagtmans, whose own racing career had just ended, was asked for help. He obliged, assembled a team and used his contacts in Italy (Gianni Motta to be exact) to have team bikes made, as Union themselves only made Dutch bread-and-butter bikes.

This is a postcard of the Union team, with Rini Wagtmans at the far right:

These bikes were also commercially available, but never sold in large numbers. And they also tended to rust very badly. So when I found a decent frame in my size as well as the correct team colors a couple of years ago I could not resist.

I built it up with mostly Campagnolo parts from my stash and rode it at several events. It easily outclassed my other racing bikes.

 

[sjcprojects]

That Union is rather lovely – it would be nice to see more photos of it, though I guess you'd need to put those in a different thread. It must be a pretty rare thing.

I also love that typically awkward team photo!

 

[Jesper]

1986 Batavus Criterium
I just got this a couple months ago, barely finished rebuild 2 weeks ago (still 10% unfinished due to component change), used as a hill climber to train for Mt. climb and used for that same climb (successful), crashed at VERY LOW SPEED (<5mph), and frame retired due to threads stripped on fork steerer tube (headset [Tange Levin] is fine).
Reynolds 501 frame (fork tubing unknown), Campagnolo 980 rear mech (note: could not switch 28t cog) Tipo hubs & cranks, Sun Tour Vx front mech & Cyclone brakes, Forte (LOOK type) pedals. Weinmann rims.
Note: This bike rode EXTREMELY WELL when ridden under adverse conditions (gravel, grass, tarmac, etc.; it was fitted with 30mm tires as bought & rode; tires barely fit into rear fork!), and high speed (40 to 50 mph) descents. Not sure when fork went bad, but it was tight and rode true upon purchase and later; steerer thread damage looked older than the 200 miles (max.) that I rode it. I might have a "scrap" fork for replacement. Apologize for poor photos from when using it as an "off-road" bike in the wild these past couple of weeks

 

[dutchie]

A 1978 Superia restored a while ago. Former Belgian brand of Rik van Looy, Patrick Sercu and Eddy Merckx in the beginning of his carreer...

 

[amoto65]

1995/96 Pinarello Paris with flat bar conversion, Mavic Ksyrium SL Ssc limited edition tour de France wheels, 18 speed with 42/34 chainrings for the Peak District hills. Coming in at 8.2 kg.