Ricardo Appreciation Society

[RicardoCampag]

G'Day Guys,

Just came across this thread when trying to research a little about the value of a Ricardo I have. I bought it new around 20yrs ago from The Bicycle Entreprenur in Belmont back in the day when riding with Northern Districts. The bike is similar to Thoglette's but has all blue fading but no model name, Columbus tubing and forks with Campagnolo GS components with Fiamme GI8 Rims (Singles)...Made In Australia sticker...I can post some pic's once i clear some room in the garage and get to it. Does anybody have any more info on these bikes?? Cheers.

[petie]

I went to the WA Police seized, forfeited, and unclaimed goods auction last week and found this Ricardo Elite.



The bike was found in Northam. 62cm seat tube x 58cm top tube so it's my size or maybe 2cm too large. It feels great to sit on but it's not going anywhere fast just now.



Serial L5E2839. It's a bit rusty as you can see. Most of the rust is on the frame.

• Kusuki handle bars
• Diacompe 500 brakes and levers
• Suntour ARX deraileurs and shifters
• Tange 5 tubing, Tange fork
• Sugino BT cranks
• Tange Falcon FL250 head parts
• Not sure what the rear wheel is but it has a Shimano 600 hub
• Front wheel has a Weinmann rim and Suzue 4k hub
• Sanyo Dynapower dynamo

My plan is to clean up the rust and convert it to a fixed wheel (how predictable?). Still have lots of research to do and important decisions to make (i.e. what colour).

no not fixed! too much history to waste! restore it to original and enjoy it

i know i'm probably too late though.

on a more selfish note, if you are ditching the rear hub i'd be VERY interested

[JeremiahGreenspoon]

My Ricardo up for sale if anyone's keen
Beautifully preserved specimen!

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=27777

[ben_is_fixed]

My Ricardo "Windcheater" conversion... *






*Which I no longer own.

Are they 27" Wheels?

[matho]

Hi..I am new to this posting business but hopefully I can have some success.
I have 2 older Ricardo Elites, each different years to each other and styles. They are both made from Tange 900 Co Mo Double Butted tubing and I would like to try and replace the relevant stickers...are they avaiable? Just a little detail I would like to take care of. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

[thelittlebattler]

Hey. Has anybody heard anything about "Leisure Cycles Aus." doing custom built frames around the mid 80s? My Dad's got one in the garage, made by Lesiure Cycles Aus. in Regency Park S.A. All the decals are only "Custom built", but it still has the warranty sticker stating manufacture in regency park. Any info would be awesome, and ideas on restoring it?

p.s If anyone's still interested in comparing serial numbers, this one is L4K6275

[billyj95]

last week i bought a red ricardo viva for $2, i fixed it up and it works really well.

[Stovepipe]

Hey dudes
here's my beloved Ricardo Elite frame. Don't hate on it/me cos I fixed it!I bought it as a frame only off ebay when looking for something for my first fixie conversion. It was stickered as a "Persuit", with the seller knowing nothing of it saying "probably some cheap taiwanese manufactured thing. Internet research led me to this thread viewtopic.php?f=23&t=12637&hilit=pursuit+persuit
where I discovered it was an elite and here I am. I love the paint colour it had, and have made no alterations to the frame itself, used the headset and BB that came with it. Here it is

[coulson]

Hi guys, I've got a Ricardo Racemaster frame. Don't know too much about it, but was wondering what kind of tubing it was made from? It weighs 2.9 kg for a 54 cm frame, if that's any help.

Thanks!

[brhawkins]

Hey great thread! Similar to many above I stumbled upon this thread in search of more info about Ricardo's...

I've just picked up this Ricardo which im going to do my first fixie project on.

I bought it mainly as Its a 62cm frame as im quite tall ( 6"4' ). Has a bit of surface rust but nothing serious...im going to strip the paint and respray it myself. It still has all the original lugs and eyelets which ill keep and ill be using the headset/stem/handlebars/forks/saddle that are on it now (saddle is the original Ricardo saddle) just putting on a new wheelset (flip flop FG/SS rear hub), new crankset and new chain, then just a single front break.

Did anyone ever come across some decals for it? I May look to create some and get them printed...maybe

Not sure how to upload pics...ill edit my post with some if someone can tell/show me how

Cheers

[drubie]

The great Ricardo Elite vs. Repco Olympic 12 battle royale is now happening in my garage. I should take some photos! The Ricardo seems very light - it's smaller frame than the Repco though.

[drubie]

Hmm. Frame is light, very light. Turbo copy saddle in beautiful white vinyl. Somebody put some Cinelli Splash bar tape on it at a later date - torn but useable.

Threw a set of wheels in it and rode it to work on Friday with the indexing turned off on the back cog. I kinda like it (it's a bit small for me), but I *really* like the Exage sport front derailleur. It looks like crap, but it has two click positions on it that when married to that Biopace crank make for a really excellent front shift. I mean, excellent. I wasn't expecting that!

I think, however, that the Repco is a better bike overall. Not as light, but clearly more durable. If I was evil, I would strip the Ricardo of that Exage Sport group and put it on the Repco and have a great rain bike. As it stands, the Ricardo is probably a bit surplus to me.

[Johnj]

Well, we've joined the society. Here's a photo of Cap'n John and Stoker Adelaide on board our Ricardo Twin Spinner, which Adelaide has chrisened "Limey". Still a few issues to sort out, such as the um "eccentric" cable routing for the rear brake. Also the derailleur, which selects gears in a lucky-dip fashion and won't select the lowest gear at all . I suspect this might be down to the Shimano thumb shifter combined with cable stretch issues.

It currently has a 27" wheelset, but we're probably going 700C, with a drum brake at the rear. Thanks to Drubie and others for advice on this. You might be able to see in the photo that there's not a lot of clearance for the 27" wheels.

[drubie]

eh, no johnj.

Nice lookin' tandem though. New cables are cheap and a good investment!

[Tonyj]

Hi all,
I've just won what I think is a " White Lightning" on ebay. The give away is that it's white, has a sticker on the chainstay the same as Ricardomans " White Lightning" and a Tange badge on the seat tube. Full shimano groupset with campy rims and all in pretty good condition. However, no decals. Could anybody help me with that please. Either if they have any, who may make them or perhaps send some extra good pics so that I can get them made.
Appreciate any assistance.
Regards
Tonyj

[BLU_FZ!]

Grabbed a few bikes from the tip shop on sat for the Mrs for 15 bucks,2 x Ricardo step through (exactly the same) and a Raleigh mixte 5 Speed.Im going down the SS path as the Mrs just dont like gears.

[HappyHumber]

Grabbed a few bikes from the tip shop on sat for the Mrs for 15 bucks,2 x Ricardo mixtes (exactly the same) and a Raleigh 5 Speed.Im going down the SS path as the Mrs just dont like gears.

Good score, Blu.. but sorry to tell you that aint a Mixte; more rather what I'd call a 'step through'. Mixte frames don't have a larger single top-tube; but rather two seperate smaller stay like tubes extending from the headtube, past either side of the seat tube down towards the rear drop outs. a-la

[BLU_FZ!]

I stand corrected, 2 step thoughs and a mixte Raleigh

[HappyHumber]

Oooh, Nice!

Though I could be reeeeally pedantic and say true Mixte's have the brakes mounted on the extended top tubes/stays, not the seat stays; but I'm not that much of a sod Besides, my rather cheaply made kerbside find Healing Mixte frame is the same as yours in such regard. Yours at least has lugs! The tubes on mine are sorta crimped welded. Anyway.. getting OTT...

Back to your regularly scheduled Ricardo adoration...

[VeryOldRicardo]

Hello All,

Newbie here, first post. Wondering if anyone can shed some light on a very old ricardo I picked up from a garage sale, quite a bit of rust, handlebars, brakes and pedals do not look like originals. Serial number on frame is 567951 if that helps. Would place photos on post but do not know how!

[drubie]

VeryOldRicardo - if you have less than 10 posts you can't post pics, but if they are in photobucket then post the link and I'll post the pictures.

[elStado]

Anyone from Perth looking for an old Ricardo to have as a project bike there's one on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... Track=true

The guy is located in Kwinana (he owns a vintage bike shop apparently and this was a spare). You might be able to pick it up cheap.

I'd go it just for fun but it's too big for me, so I don't see the point in putting money and time into something I wont be able to comfortably ride.

[jimi]

Anyone know what this model was made from or any other info on it?
I just got it for my wife and was going clean it all up and change out some/most of the parts
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j38 ... MG2221.jpg
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j38 ... MG2220.jpg
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j38 ... MG2224.jpg

[Tonyj]

Hi All,
I have just recently purchased a Ricardo with the intention of having a restored "AUSTRALIAN" steel bike from the ' 80's. Please find attached pictures of the bike. I have already had some help about the bike from Ricardoman but would appreciate any further info especially regarding the history of this model and if possible stickers. Ricardoman has a " White Lightning" which looks in excellent condition on his post and is possibly a similar model. I'm not sure about the paintwork. As can be seen from the pics it has a swirl/smoke effect on the rear and at steerer and forks. Would appreciate any help. Follow URL for pics.
http://s1134.photobucket.com/albums/m605/tjohn7/
Cheers
Tonyj

[drubie]

for Johnj.

(Biopace rings, exage sport parts, Ricardo Elite!)