2006 Campi Centaur 10 speed. Compact crank.Totally bullet proof.

 

My wife and I did that same ride last summer, amazing area in the summer. Stayed at the Palmer House and rented a tandem bike.

She loved the ride, I suspect I did most of the pedaling though...

 

I do not really buy bikes anymore. I am over 50 and I have 27 vintage bikes… But sometimes there comes an opportunity to buy a bike that I just cannot resist. This one is such a bike.

It came up for sale a week ago at a local buy&sell and it was paired with another old race bike. The picture was rather bad but yet intriguing. The colour was Legnano green/yellow and in Sweden that can only mean one thing – a Champion. I have already shown my mid sixties Champion Strada (Legnano Roma Olimpiade) here on OF – and told the story of Thord Lönnquist and his pro bike shop, his team and his importance to the Swedish bike culture:
https://omegaforums.net/threads/beautiful-day-to-ride-a-bike.24070/page-7#post-324100

As I wrote in my previous piece, his team – “the green team” very probably got their colours from him buying Legnano bikes and rebranding them. He later bought and rebranded Uragos and Torpados and/but the colour was now a part of his brand and even if not Legnanos anymore but other brands – they got the Legnano green treatment.

This bike is in a wonderful state. Sold by its original owner. It has its original paint and most of its original equipment. The brake handles are Shimano but I got the original Universal Super 68: s along with the bike. Early in its life it got the NR rear derailleur substituted. Now it has a pat -74 and what stamping it had from the beginning is not known.

I have compared it to other Champion Strada Torpados and it is likely this one is a 1971-72 frame. The frame is a top quality build - Columbus tubes and with thinned lugs with cut outs. The BB shell is lightened and it has drilled rear drop outs. The seat cluster ears are filled and the brazing at fork ends is top notch.

The bike is as found – no cleaning or detailing done. It will get some TLC, its Universal brake handles back, correct cable routing and white cotton handle bar tape.

OK – I should not buy more bikes but this one I could not resist.

 

If you fill the tires and frame with helium that bike would practically float away, it almost looks light enough to do that already.

 

Beautiful. I love old bikes. Perhaps this watch thing is because I don't have space for bikes or cars.....

 

Wow, a beautiful bike, and very cool history to go along with it.

Congrats on this one... I'm sure Thord would be quite happy for you, too!

 

Great day in central Ohio

 

Beautiful day, and primary elections day, so I rode my new MTB to the polling place:


No mountains to climb on the way , but here's some pics from the inaugural ride a few weeks ago:


She's a Trek TopFuel 9.8SL, a 1 x 11 (10-42) carbon 29-er that is truly a blast, whether on the road, the trail, or the bumps (where she really shines!).

 

/styggpyggeno1

That is truly a top quality frame! With such aggressively drilled out castings and those huge BB cutouts, I would personally hesitate to take it out for a long ride haha (well over 100kg now). Do you think it was for strength that frame builders eschewed braze-ons for the top tube cable guides and downtube shifters?

 

Road the Revolutionary Ramble through Morris County NJ yesterday. Terrific ride, well-organized, and just jaw-dropping scenery. I did the 68 mile route instead of the century and I was glad I did, as my clydeness was caught off guard a bit by the 4,200 feet of climbing.

 

Great day in central Ohio.

 

Another perfect day.
Came across a llama farm...


And a memorial of all of our wars...




Forgot to take a picture of my watch.

 

Knocked out 55 on the Discover Hudson Valley ride today. Nice route, not nearly as organized as the Ramble 2 weeks ago. Wound up getting started about 45 minutes late, so I cut the ride short from the original plan of 75 miles, mainly because I live 90 minutes away on a good day without Jersey shore traffic, lol. Still really enjoyed the ride. The pics are of the longest footbridge in the world, located in Poughkeepsie. We had to stay under 10 MPH while crossing it, though.

 

I tried to get out before midday heat set in...

The cooling waters of the Chattahoochee River were a temptation near the end... I resisted...

It was a beautiful day to ride a bike!

 

I rode my fat tire over to an annual 4th party and stopped on my way home to snap this:

 

When I went to Europeiska Cykelimporten (ECI) in the end of the 80ies Thordan stood behind the counter. He had just got some frames home from Geliano. I, of course, thought them being Italian. The name was to blame. It sounded really Italian. Thord soon took me out of that misunderstanding – telling me they were French and that they were really special. The prices put them far beyond my reach at that time. I was also very much into “less is more” and thought their paint jobs were tasteless.

Now many years later I still like clean and tasteful design but have with time come to realize that life can be more fulfilling if allowing myself to also like the more flamboyant sides of design also. Sometimes it can be “less is a bore”.

I have been interested in researching the history behind Geliano for quite some time. The touring bike I have since the early 80ies is a Meral. There is a close connection between Meral, Geliano and CYFAC. The connection is Francis Quillon. He was a racer turned framebuilder to the big names. Framefit and aero is his thing. Here is some info on him:
http://cyfac.fr/cyfac-history/
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/France ... /Meral.htm

I first understood the connection between Meral and Geliano when going to ECI and finding a Geliano tourer with many and special details being the same as on my Meral. This was before the internet. Too many to be a coincidence. They were clearly constructed and built by the same man/team. The connection to CYFAC came with the net and all info that suddenly was available.

I have tried to find a Geliano for quite a while. Seen some on the bay but none in my size, the condition or otherwise to my liking. Here in Sweden I knew of one that could be for sale. This one:
http://www.cykelhobby.com/geliano.html

But - a bike with a straight front fork has no chance of getting under my roof. Ever. Of that I am (almost – as per above I am not totally a stranger of change of mind – enough time passing) certain.

A while ago this one surfaced on a local buy&sell.

Sellers pic:


The seller was a really nice guy but there had been a lot of interest and he had guys coming over as we spoke. Some time passed and one day he phoned me up and offered me the bike to the price he had in the ad (the equivalent of approximately 600 USD). Went over to his place. Bought it.

The bike is in splendid condition. It had been his late father’s and he had used it for six of our Swedish annual 300km “Vätternrundan” and the training leading up to them. The seller himself had used it for a short while as a commuter but did not find it fitting his needs.

With the bike came five wheels – one pair with Mavic 550RD hubs, one pair with Dura Ace hubs and a single wheel with a Campagnolo Record hub, a couple NOS tubular tires in their original wrapping, some NOS Campag brake blocks, a period correct Scott tempo/triathlon handlebar with Campag brakehandles and some other small bits and pieces.

The original receipt, dated april 1990, specifying the model as 115 S and the frame number (putting it at 1998-9 as far as my investigations has reached so far), equipment as C-record and lastly also a note from the bikes first service at ECI. The price was extreme for its time but the exact amount I do not remember right now.

My own pic from when I got it home:


C-record but for the brakes and hubs. Knowing a little about Thord I presume the Mavic hubs came with the bike originally. The brakes might be “cobalto”. There are some clues that support this and some against. The brake arms are of the script variety and the infill is blue. Both the nuts with the blue cobalto stone are missing – I have never lost a brake nut during my years of biking so they have probably been stolen at some time. Why steal the nuts if they were not special? The blue stones would also go with the overall blue theme of the bike. Against cobalto speaks – the barrel adjuster rubber rings are black and the brake handles are normal Super Record. Difficult to know what exactly and the seller had no idea. I do have cobalto nuts in a drawer though…

The frame is in my size and that is a criterion that (normally) has to be filled for a frame/bike to get into my stable. I really enjoyed getting this bike and it is a very nice addition to my collection.

What is in the future for this one? Restore it as it is (taking away some small parts and decals that do not belong on it, some cleaning, waxing and detailing) – or? I do have an almost complete Mavic group… NOS starfish, ZAP, etc. The only things missing is a seatpost and a headset. I would not want to use a round profile and black Mavic 330 seatpost on this frame as it would not go with the aero profile and the color scheme. A 305 headset would however be nice. It would be a (almost) tout Francais or tout Mavic. And that can never be a bad thing…

I have not really made up my mind yet. C-record or Mavic? Guess my options could be worse...

 

Took the new Tarmac out for a shakedown ride. My pics don't give the candy apple red sparkle paint justice, unfortunately.

 

All nice bike posted and two of my vintage bikes that I cruise around on

 

As per the thread post it certainly was, a great day spent in a certain area of France September '12 keen eyes may deduce where.
Sorry for the image quality.
Always was a climber so nothing to strenuous but the decent was amazing especially if you joined a few others who knew what it was all about