After a couple of months in the hands of a clubmate who has a sideline in restoring old bikes, today I picked up this beauty:
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More importantly, it was the first road bike I ever rode, about 40 years ago. Belonged to a school friends dad, a 1982 Du Toit bought in Cape Town when he worked over there. Mike passed away 3 years ago, and as it's too small for my mate, he offered it to me last year.
Mechanically it was pretty sound, despite not being ridden for several years, though cosmetically it needed quite a bit of work. An original longer cage mech was sourced so a bigger cassette could be fitted to make it more user friendly.
Delighted with the way its turned out, looking forward to some sunny summer rides to do it justice.
RIP Mike.
I’ll jump in first. That looks lovely!
Much better pics on Martin's Velo Phoenix page:
Right nice that! 👍
Stick to the lanes of south Derbyshire and you won't need to change the gearing - head into the Peaks and you'll be coughing your guts up!! 🤣
That’s better gearing than I was brought up with in the edge of The Peak District, it’s just a question of being either young, or practice!
Gosh, shifters on the Down tube, no indexing. I’d forgotten all about that!
Your clubmate has done a terrific job there, lovely looking bike, enjoy!
looks fab, apart from the cross chaining 😉
Cross chaining was left by Martin.
Now running a 6 speed cassette, giving me 39-32 as the easiest gear. So I can ride up near the-muffin-man - once I've figured out downtube shifting, poor brakes, twitchy steering....
Looks lovely!
downtube shifting, poor brakes, twitchy steering….
Good luck with all that! I'd be wearing two pairs of shorts and two pairs of gloves on its maiden ride if it was me. 😉 I'm just soft
Lovely !! Partial to a retro bike me 🙂