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The Dilecta was an upper-middle range of bike, made in Le Blanc, on the Indre. This bike was bought directly from a Gendarmerie Captain in Nice, along with his police bike (I sold that unrestored Urago on here last year). This was originally a Parisian-type 'porteur' bike, with a huge front rack. When Capitaine Barbe got his other bike for work, the rack was then removed and he used this as his recreational bike, outfitting it as a randonneur/cyclotouring machine. Hence the Milremo stem and handlebars date from a few years after the rest of the bike. I do not have the porteur rack, before you ask!
When I brought ithe bikes home, I dismantled it and had the frame professionally stove enamelled. The colour is similar to Bianchi Celeste, but less garish, more subtle. The head tube remains in its original cream, to keep some of the bike's provenance intact. The lugs are lined in light bronze. Each component was carefully overhauled and the bike was rebuilt using nearly all its original parts. I even sourced new old stock screws and nuts (most of which are brass) to keep the look authentic. The only modern parts on the bike are the chain, the inner tubes and brake wires, the outer cable housing of the front brake, and a few screws in mostly hidden places. New old stock cloth tape is fitted to the handlebars, finished with twine binding, and a few coats of shellac, in the traditional French way. A matching top tube protector is fitted, again as a traditional French touch. It serves to protect from locks, or from leaning on trees, posts etc. New old stock Michelin Semi-Confort tyres in 584-44 size were a real 'find', and are in perfect condition, having been stored flat in the dark.
The frame is 54cm centre to centre, made from Reynolds Speedy tubing. The brakes are ultra-rare Maxi drums, gears are the popular Cyclo, which are the very devil to refit if you don't know their ways, but i will give the buyer a copy of the guide that I used, written by Jan Heine in Vintage Bicycle Quarterly. It made it easy! There is a 3-speed freewheel fitted as per original, but there is plenty of room to fit a 4 or 5, which was a common modification back in the day. Those lovely mudguards are made from Duralinium, the saddle is by Wolber, and the toolbag is about ready to fall apart!
The bike rides beautifully, but is too small for me (I ride a 60cm so it's quite a difference) or I would not be selling it. The ride is silky smooth, the brakes not bad at all for a vintage bike, and the gear change is very smooth once you are used to a 60 degree 'throw' of the lever for each change. All part of the vintage charm!
As for faults, well the paint has had a couple of chips touvhed up, but nothing obvious, and I will give the buyer a little jar of touch-up paint. There is slight pitting to the chrome of the hubs, the rear wheel rim and wheelnuts. The seatpost is in the original dull finish, and the front alloy rim has been a replacement in the 60s. Certain spokes have been replaced with stainless items also. Those lovely pedals have been overhauled and the metal repainted, where they would have been chromed originally. Their rubbers are fine but half worn. I painted the handlebar stem, and I understand it may not be to your taste but it will easily come off with stripper.
One final though. Although this is qquite a light bike, and really goes like the clappers once you give it the legs, you will find that going anywhere takes a long time, because everyone wants to look at it, and ask questions! Take it to your local cyclists' cafe, and you will not need to buy your own cakes all day!
PLEASE NOTE, THE BIG PANNIER 'SACCOCHE' BAG IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE SALE. THE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN ON A RECENT OUTING.
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I've now finished the bike's refurb. Basically just a good clean-up. i've sourced a rear lens, too. Latest photos on www.flickr.com/photos/velocipedinarian. The bike is now officially For Sale at £650 plus postage.
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Bianchi Ghisallo, Campagnolo Valentino 10-speed, everything on the bike is utterly original, just with 40 years of storage chips.
An amazing find, and about as rare as you'll get in this country. This bike was ridden once, for 2 miles, then put away, never to be ridden again. I haven't ridden it yet, as I'm about to give it a sympathetic going-through, but it's a little too small for me so it has to go. It's about 22".
More details can be had on request, but i'm only just finding out about the model, so I haven't fixed a price yet. Get in early with a sensible offer and you might get lucky!
Anyone comtemplating painting it Celeste will have the hounds set upon them!
Seems the photos didnt load, so here's another bash...
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Cornelius Backfoot, you say it better than I ever could. It has been heartening to read the quality and positivity of contributions to this topic. If there is such a thing as 'fixie culture', it's a great one! Long live LFGSS!
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I.m not taking up any sort of position on this, merely throwing out the gist of a conversation, to gain a new perspective from those actually involved in Fixed-gear culture in Britain. I love the variety of bikes, and own about 30, all different.
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Moving closer to home, thewhole phenomenon of BMX forms an interesting contrast - beginning as a kids dirt sport, hitting the streets and estates like a tsunami, then dying out everywhere except a few skate parks, only to be reborn as big as ever among a new generation of kids, alongside the adults who grew up with it.
Now I see only a few BMXs in London, mostly ridden by hipsters, yet 'Oop North', in the scuzzy town where I have been marooned of late, about 70% of all bikes ridden and sold locally are BMX (The rest are almost all cheap supermarket MTBs -
A discussion with some American friends recently, prompted me into posting this (after a two year abesnce from LFGSS) to see what real-world fixie people think about it. It would be particularly interesting to hear from anyone with an academic view.
The general concensus in the US seems to be that fixies lost approximately 80%of their credibility factor the day that Walmart started selling them. Now they are dying out at an astonishing rate, with fixie riders being seen as rather juvenile and silly, among the new wave of riders on their Linus, Public and Civias, sneering over their leather-clad porteur bars grips and cream Schwalbes. The concensus is that they will continue to be ridden by those afficianados who hae always ridden them, and become another little curiousity in the wide world of the bicycle.
We then went on to discuss niche cultures and trends historically. A distillation for your perusal.....Cultural trends, particularly those which begin in a somewhat underground way,have historically,descended through the social strata before an inevitable demise, with possibly a nostalgic revival years later, when the 'naff' factor has dissipated.
The 1960s Mod culture is a good example, morphing as it did in short order, from Italian suits and Modern Jazz, to Parkas and fighting. The Mod revival of later decades reflected the latter incarnation of the culture, rather than its origins.
Smoking and growing weed was once the preserve of the hippie intelligencia but is nowadays the activity of choice for the teenage Jeremy Kyle clientelle.
The concept of "Designer" (particularly in the form of mass market clothing rather than the work of the original creator) really began as an offshoot from those Mods, being reborn in the Yuppie era, before descending into its modern place in the mail-order catalogues and shopping malls of working-class suburbia.Now Halfords are selling fixies..... Discuss.
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Will the person who enquired about the bike last week, please text me again, or PM me, as I failed to save your number!
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Just to update, Im collecting the bike from Leicester this week, and it will go onto fleabay next week, internationally. Lets see what she makes?
Thanks for all the comments. Its good to have vigilant folks like wheelnut on the forum, to stop the chancers fleecing us. -
Well, for the sake of clarity, I should point out that I bought this bike from a well known person in the V-CC, and and officer in the Yorkshire club, Bygone Bikes. The chap is a well-respected cycling historian, and collector of fine machines. The other Club members and officers at the sale all knew the bike. There is indeed a braze-on, but the historians seem satisfied that this was a generic boss, and does not signify a roadster.
The bike is currently on show in Cyclemagic's premises, under the eye of eminent cycling historian Roger Lovell, who likes the bike very much.
At this year's V-CC week at Ampleforth, lots of memebers were very appreciative of the bike, and it was admired. They reckoned it to be worth about a grand on fleabay.
Hope that eases any doubts. -
PM-er couldn't complete transaction, so back on sale. Next year's Tweed Run, anyone?
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OK, they are all packed away in the house move now, but I'll PM you as soon as I can get to them.
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Thanks chaps, now I just need someone to get their wallet out!
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Probably the final item in the mass cellar clearance (unless those last boxes reveal anything).
My beloved and much-admired Path Racer. Maker unknown, but Raleigh forks. The forward-sloping top tube proves it's not just a faked-up roadster like many. Frame size is approx 22 1/2" but sizing is different on these bikes. Basically most adults over 5'7* will be fine on it.
Chater Lea rear hub (flipflop)and crankset, stirrup front brake with dinky little lever, wooden grips, period but good condition 'Johns' saddle. Stainless steel rims (later than the frame). tyre size is 26x1 3/8, so I'd recommend fitting some creram Schwalbes if you're planning to commute, or do a long ride, as these tyres look correct but are elderly. Black paint is 'presentable' and with a nice patina, but don't expect pristine new enamel.
So basically this is the original of which the Pashley Guvnor is a copy. It goes as fast as it looks, too. Ive commuted from Canary Wharf to St Johns Wood on it, and blown a few hipsters into the weeds on their Charge Plugs! A 100 year old rarity that you can do the FNRttC on with no worries, and completely outclass any new fashion-bike!
Sadly, the lamp is on permanent loan to me, so cannot be sold with the bike.
Asking £700, which is considerably less than it would fetch on the open market, so I'm not prepared to haggle unless you have a very interesting p-ex. (Carrier bike, Xtracycle kit, Brompton, 23 or 24" classic tourer, old French bike).
The bike is currently on display at Cyclemagic's museum in Leicester, so it's collectable from most places, or I can bring it to London by arrangement.
Since the photos, the grips have been varnished, and the tyres have got a little bit of dirt on them, but otherwise WYSIWYG
PM me, or text 07761 401829.
Those who like to complain about asking prices, go away and read up on the facts. I'm not a speculator, and this is a dearly loved posession. I just need the money right now.
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Wow! I come back after 3 days and a whole new eposide of my favourite soap has been played out in my absence!
To clarify, yers, the Ordianry is a 'penny farthing', and the Skyride was fab, andthought the 'penny' and tallbike riders were the first to be hit by the downpour.
Incidentally, this is a closed-road event, at low speeds, and we were sent off first at the start. My second and third runs, before clocking on for my work shift on a try-out show, were on more conventional bikes, with the suual number of braking systems.
goog point about trikes, lucifer. Two brakes on one wheel is still legal. My Ex's touring trike has caliper and drum on the front. -
BTW I will be doing the Skyride this sunday, on a brakeless fixed-wheel. It was built in 1888, and is a Challenge 'Ordinary'. Now there's a bike which demands care!
MY girlfriend however, will be riding a carrier bike, with two very good brakes, cos I luvs her. -
I don't think Chris is putting MONEY before his girlfriend's safety. I think he's putting his desperate need to be right, and his ego's craving not to have his girlfriend look 'uncool'in the eyes of his peers, before her safety.
Everyone's special, but some are more Special than others. -
ahh... there we go with the old sartorial considerations again. How very London! In the Yorkshire Dales we dont give a fuck what it looks like as long as it works.
Actually its one of the joys of my double-life. functional rufty-tufty bikes up north, and cool poncy bikes in London!
I might be off to Portland in new year, permanently, so i'll have to up my game sartorially! -
fruity boiled sweets from the 1960s?
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...and are wearing sandals, which is not unlikely if you're a fuckwit on a brakeless bike.
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No pets were harmed in the making of this thread.
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Hippy has PMd in geltlemanly fashion. No more war of owrds for you all to follow! HA!
LFGSS
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This is a classic mid-80s Bianchi, in the 'right' colour. (Pantone 233 Celeste) and a nice bigg size. I'm 5'11" but I ride a 60 in vintage sizing. It was never a top of the line model, so I took the nasty disraeli gears off and it makes an awesome dual-brake singlespeed.
New Cinelli bars & stem, with Fizik celeste tape. Ambrosio wheels. Conti tyres. Shimano 'arabesque' crankset, running a shaved outer ring as a guard. New Jagwire celeste cables. Shimano cage/spd reversible padals, but can be omitted if you prefer.
Condition is nice but does bear a few nicks & chips, all touched-up, slightly off-match (current version of Bianchi's own paint toucher-upper pen thing). However there are no dents and the bike rides perfectly straight and true.
Currently I have some SKS mudguards shoe-horned in there, and an old fave B17 saddle. You can opt to have or omit the guards, but I'm keeping the saddle. The bag in the photos is a keeper too of course. With open-cable brake levers, the bike would be a blast at L'Eroica!
I apologise for the crap photos, and I will send detailed images to anyone interested, including details of the paint imperfections.
£275 + £15 shipping from 'oop north'.