Eppie

My Eddy Merckx is a mix of old school and new and the Bianchi is all old school.

Man that is beautiful, I am envious.

This is my recently acquired Eddy Merckx. Putting on a Campagnolo headset and a vintage handlebar. Will put some more photos once done, with a full description.

Very nice, good to see so many classic bikes in use.

Single speed Hansom in progress.

Did some further research on this bike and made an interesting discovery. The bikes fitted with Sturmey Archer English hubs can be dated by the hub. The year and month is stamped on the hub. So this is in fact a November 1983 model and not a 1960's one.

This should bring back some memories. It is a three speed Phillips, English make in the sixties from similar bikes on the net. This one however has a Raleigh South Africa sticker on so may have been assembled locally.

Lucky dudes, have fun, I will have to organise one for the Cape Town Classics.

Nice paint scheme, love the crank and pedals.

The only other place the boss lady of the house allows my stand is in the garage. The one on the photo is for stripping and cleaning.

Please share those pics. We should share more and build up our own database. When one look online for information on old and vintage bikes it is mainly from the UK or USA.

Found an old Hansom bike that someone converted into a commuter with heavy wheels. Frame still in pretty good condition. Stripped and ready to be restored to one of Oom Gotty's time pieces.

She is a beauty indeed.

I was just going to say stop showing off with all those vintage bikes in the background until I realised that this photo was taken at Woodstock Cycles and the Bianchi and yellow Eddy Merckx are mine that is in for a service . Picked up my Eddy Merckx this morning beautifully cleaned and serviced by Nils and the guys.

Sorry guys, me again still with the Alan. I am fascinated with the small details on vintage bikes so here are some pics of some of the small detail on the Alan I posted earlier. I cleaned the old white leather bartape with some handy andy and I was impressed with the condition. The young lady that I bought the bike from tells me that it was her grandfathers. Still had his last Argus number on G836 (1989)so I recon the tape could be 26 years old.

Two pics of the oval top tube. The flattening of the tube in the mid section is noticeable.

Will take some tomorrow with my camera and put on. My old Blackberry not so great at taking pictures.

Thanks EvanB, I was searching online to see if I could date the bike by the number. A light has just gone on. This is what I love about these old bikes, they all have a story to tell.

This is my new project. I was a bit sceptical when I first viewed this bike as it looked like the top tube was damaged. I said to the seller that I wanted to do more research. I then discovered that this frame was designed with a flat ovalized top tube as part of the Alan Cyclocross range. This lack of knowledge cost me some money as when I went back to buy the bike someone had already upped what I offered so I had to make a counter offer. This little bike is a real beauty. It comes with Campagnolo Record hubs and Ambrosio rims, Campagnolo headset and a mix of Shimano 105 and 600 components, Miche brakes, SR Laprade seat post and a Vetta saddle. The number engraved on the seat tube is ALAN 482. I will post more pictures once fully serviced and the broken spoke repaired.

That is very nice.

Those vintage Bianchis look weird with shocks.

That is the idea the 'worn out and aggressive look' was intended.

Wow, absolutely stunning. One can only dream about a bike like this.

http://veloaficionado.com/puff-dogs-197-carlton-chrome-track-bike/ I hope I have inserted this link correctly. This is a very nice steel frame story from my Veloaficionado newsletter.

Nice, what rims did you go with?