Dream bike that YOU made real...

[razinhellcustomz]

Hey thanks and I appreciate ya following along with the build!

Yeah, i really love what you did so far. It's all a labor of love and nothing beats the feeling you have when you can say"i did it my way". Razin.

 

[tacochris]

Yeah, i really love what you did so far. It's all a labor of love and nothing beats the feeling you have when you can say"i did it my way". Razin.

Amen! Plus blowing folks minds by starting with a bike no one would ever suspect would live again!

 

[Freqman1]

When I decided to enter the hobby the first thing I did was buy a bunch of books including Evolution of the Bicycle Vols I & II as well as many others. After going through these books I made a list of 24 bikes that I wanted if cost were no object. Just this past year I crossed off the last bike ('18 Harley Motorcycke). Of course there have been many others I've bought because I'm always running into cool stuff. The essential part of building any collection is the network of friends and relationships you build. Many bikes are bought and sold everyday through an email, text, or phone call and never see a for sale ad. As illustrated in the posts here people set a goal and worked towards it. Yea occasionally luck plays into it but I kinda like the old saying "The harder you work, the luckier you get". V/r Shawn

 

[dnc1]

I'd always wanted a Labor truss-bridge framed (or "cadre-pont") bike from France, but thought they were way out of my league. I couldn't warrant spending the equivalent of around $2K on such a thing.

I wanted to go to the big VeloVintage Anjou event in Saumur, France; a whole 3-day festival of all things cycling and vintage. My friend Ian and his wife had been before and we arranged to meet up on the first evening to explore the festival area on the banks of the Loire to enjoy some wine and food (Saumur is pretty famous for its wine).
Myself and Ian then decided to walk around the bike jumble (swap meet) for a while .

As we walked to the second big stall Ian jokingly said something like "look at that pile of rust, that's right up your street!". He knows I'm a lover of all things TOC and in the patina style.
It was a truss-bridge framed bike of some age. Very complete and original.
I took one look at it, walked over, quickly inspected it in the dark and enquired about the cost.
The stall holder mumbled something, I did a quick translation in my head, and thought he'd said 1,300€ (euros) and thought that was probably the right price. I repeated what I thought he'd said and started to walk away. He then said something like "Non Monsieur, 150€, you misunderstood the price!"
I have never pulled money out of my wallet so fast (by this time there were around 6 others crouched around the bike, inspecting it).

I was even more surprised when he gave me 20€ change. I had misheard him again and the price was actually only 130€!
I went back to my hotel a very happy man.
It wasn't a 'Labor', it was my 'Cycles Morot', an obscure French manufacturer from the West side of Paris.
So obscure that in the list of truss-bridge frame producers on the Tontonvelo website in France it wasn't even spelt correctly. It turns out that no-one had ever even seen one of their rumoured products!

I brought it back to England. I onlyhad to change the saddle which was beyond repair, freed up the rear hub, changed a couple of spokes to make it rideable and I've enjoyed it ever since.
Pictured yesterday......

It's a dream bike for me.

Every time Ian sees it he kicks himself, he spotted it first. It's not the thought of riding it and enjoying it that irks him (he's way too tall for it), it's the fact that he could have flipped it in the UK a week later and made a 1000% plus profit!!!!!

I hope to take it back to Saumur one day, there's nothing like riding with around 3,500 fellow enthusiasts over 30 miles and stopping every 5 miles or so for a glass of wine and a little 'amuse-bouche'. It's the best vintage cycling weekend in the world in my opinion.

 

[razinhellcustomz]

I'd always wanted a Labor truss-bridge framed (or "cadre-pont") bike from France, but thought they were way out of my league. I couldn't warrant spending the equivalent of around $2K on such a thing.

I wanted to go to the big VeloVintage Anjou event in Saumur, France; a whole 3-day festival of all things cycling and vintage. My friend Ian and his wife had been before and we arranged to meet up on the first evening to explore the festival area on the banks of the Loire to enjoy some wine and food (Saumur is pretty famous for its wine).
Myself and Ian then decided to walk around the bike jumble (swap meet) for a while .

As we walked to the second big stall Ian jokingly said something like "look at that pile of rust, that's right up your street!". He knows I'm a lover of all things TOC and in the patina style.
It was a truss-bridge framed bike of some age. Very complete and original.
I took one look at it, walked over, quickly inspected it in the dark and enquired about the cost.
The stall holder mumbled something, I did a quick translation in my head, and thought he'd said 1,300€ (euros) and thought that was probably the right price. I repeated what I thought he'd said and started to walk away. He then said something like "Non Monsieur, 150€, you misunderstood the price!"
I have never pulled money out of my wallet so fast (by this time there were around 6 others crouched around the bike, inspecting it).

I was even more surprised when he gave me 20€ change. I had misheard him again and the price was actually only 130€!
I went back to my hotel a very happy man.
It wasn't a 'Labor', it was my 'Cycles Morot', an obscure French manufacturer from the West side of Paris.
So obscure that in the list of truss-bridge frame producers on the Tontonvelo website in France it wasn't even spelt correctly. It turns out that no-one had ever even seen one of their rumoured products!

I brought it back to England. I onlyhad to change the saddle which was beyond repair, freed up the rear hub, changed a couple of spokes to make it rideable and I've enjoyed it ever since.
Pictured yesterday......
View attachment 1378492

It's a dream bike for me.

Every time Ian sees it he kicks himself, he spotted it first. It's not the thought of riding it and enjoying it that irks him (he's way too tall for it), it's the fact that he could have flipped it in the UK a week later and made a 1000% plus profit!!!!!

I hope to take it back to Saumur one day, there's nothing like riding with around 3,500 fellow enthusiasts over 30 miles and stopping every 5 miles or so for a glass of wine and a little 'amuse-bouche'. It's the best vintage cycling weekend in the world in my opinion.

Pretty rare and obscure bike. So what is "amuse-bouche" mean? Nice looking bike. Enjoy and RideOn. Razin.

 

[volksboy57]

I know a twin 20 is low on most people's wish list, but I had only ever seen photos of them before I got a chance to own one. I loved the bonkers frame design, the shroud, the crank pod, the fork over fenders... I paid way too much for the bike, considering how much was incorrect. If I like something, I will go for it doggedly. So, the bike was all clean and nice, but awfully incorrect. I have spent good time, money and effort to make it look worse than it started. I have a repro shroud, but have yet to mount it. Here are the before and current photos. Eventually I'll finish it up. All I know is that this bike has been work!

 

[1817cent]

I have been going to bike shows and swap meets for about 20 years or so and remember the first time i saw a Schwinn Aerocycle. That was 17 years ago at the Seattle swap meet that used to be held at the armory in Kent. The particular bike i saw was not complete but enough was there to know what it was. The bicycle also was orange instead of the more common silver and red version. I was hooked and knew i wanted to find one some day.

Fast forward 10 years and i was still looking. That year i attended a backyard swap meet in Kirkland WA and the owner of the property had one and it was complete and in original condition. He was, however, not interested in selling. A good friend of mine in Seattle who knew the owner better than i did also "kept a bug in his ear" about me wanting the bicycle. I also wrote the owner a couple of letters over the years inquiring about the bicycle and its status.

Last September my friend in Seattle sent me a note and asked me if i still was interested in the bike as he knew i aquired a restored one that July. I answered in the affirmative and found out the bike would be coming up for sale as the owner was ill and his stuff was going to be sold. I offered a fair price and 3 days later made a trip to Kirkland to pick it up.

Some things take time. In my case it took 17 years search but it was worth it. Very happy to have a nice original Aerocycle!

 

[dnc1]

Pretty rare and obscure bike. So what is "amuse-bouche" mean? Nice looking bike. Enjoy and RideOn. Razin.

It's just the French term for a little, bite-sized snack, also sometimes called a canapé.
Literally a "mouth pleaser"!
There were around 6 stops on our ride.
You got a glass of wine and a little snack at most of them, with a picnic lunch at the main stop.
Picnic tables with gingham tablecloths set up for 3,500 people in a field in the middle of nowhere was a sight to see!
The French really embraced the Iver Johnson truss-bridge frame design.
Labor are the famous French makers, Marshall "Major" Taylor raced on one of their versions whilst in France, but there were quite a few other French manufacturers, who made them much to Labor's annoyance, and were accused of being mere copyists.
As evidenced by their famous poster.....

People often say to me "Nice Labor", I tell them "It's not a Labor, this one was designed by monkeys!"
Ironically Labor copied the design themselves!

 

[lgrinnings]

My late father owned a small bike shop, was a Wheelman, and collected antique bikes. When I was young, I used to grab stuff for him whenever I could find it. We'd go picking together. It was awesome. In the early 90s, I moved away from home, got married, and started a family. My dad and I would still talk bikes all the time, but I had no time for them because my life was busy with work, babies, soccer games, dance classes, home upkeep, etc. When my dad passed away 7 years ago, it hit me hard. After a couple of years, my mother asked me to go through his collection and sell it (something I have yet to do). This is when the bug bit me again and bit me good. I started picking up prewar bicycles on a budget. Because my approach was so small-time, I never imagined that I'd own any prewar bikes of note. Messing around with antique bicycles was more about filling a hole in my life and less about building my own collection.

Fast forward to last year when I see a 1935 Westfield Streamline for sale on one of the Facebook groups. It looked to be in fantastic shape, but it was missing the tank which everyone knows are harder to find than hen's teeth. But I love the early transition balloon bicycles. Especially Westfields. They've got one foot in the motobike, boxy tank world and one foot in the streamline, aerodynamic design world, but they don't truly belong in either. They're unique and I have always loved them. So I buy the bike. At the time it's the most I've personally spent on a bicycle. I receive the bike and it's awesome. I'm lucky enough to have the few small items it's missing. I figured I may as well at least start the long and grueling task of tracking down a tank, so I reached out to @catfish because I know he's the king of Westfield. Not only did he have the tank I needed, which in and of itself is incredible, but it was a perfect match in color and patina which completely blew my mind. We strike a deal, Catfish meets me for lunch to make the exchange, and just like that, within a week I have my dream bike and, from a condition perspective, it's a really nice original.

That's when I realized that nothing is truly out of your reach if you work for it. And while luck certainly played into my scenario, it's like @Freqman1 said; "The harder you work, the luckier you get." My most sincere thanks to everyone who made this possible... folks like Catfish who sold me the tank, @tech549 who recently sold me a switched teacup light to mount to the stem, and the many, many members of the CABE community who purchased parts from me to fund my purchases. Thank you.

-Lester

 

[fordmike65]

Another dream bike I forgot to mention....my 1909 Racycle. Early on in my collecting, I had the pleasure of meeting local collector Blue @vw00794 . I went over to buy whatever lil trinket or part my measly new bike-budget could afford. The second I stepped into his garage/showroom....my jaw dropped to the floor. Eye-candy wherever you happened to look. Vintage cars, motorcycles and bicycles! His true passion were Racycles...and at that time I had never heard of one, much less seen one with my own eyes! I enjoyed them while there, and always kept that memory of my visit and those wonderful Racycles in mind. I'd never own one, so that day would be the closest I'd get....until years later when I get a text from Jason @birdzgarage. He sends me a link to a tall frame Racycle local to him. I race to send an email right away & don't hear back for several painful hours. Finally, I do, & we strike a deal. Luckily, Jason was more than happy to pick it up for me, forward me the dough & hold it for a couple of weeks until I was able to drive out & pick it up. I've had several inquire about selling it, but I just can't. Not after so many years of dreaming & the help from a good friend. I've enjoyed it since then in its current state, but plan to get it back on the road soon. Thanks again Jason. I still owe you...