Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

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munga
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby munga » Mon Oct 13, 2014 9:16 pm

EC***** serial = Europa Cycles

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munga
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby munga » Mon Oct 13, 2014 9:17 pm

missing decal is an Oria tubing decal.

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BradL
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby BradL » Mon Oct 13, 2014 9:52 pm

Thanks for that Munga. Be nice to ride something that isn't Tange for once!

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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby singlespeedscott » Mon Oct 13, 2014 10:26 pm

Nothing wrong with Tange. Tange tubing use to have a very good rep with frame builders back in the day. It certainly rides as nice as anything from Columbus and Reynolds.
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BradL
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby BradL » Mon Oct 13, 2014 10:46 pm

Thing is that I've only ever ridden Tange frames, apart from one Ishiwata EXO frame that I have. So, in practice I have no idea as to how these compare to other tubings. Will be interesting to see. A Reynolds 501 Peugeot is on the way too, so here's to diversity.

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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby singlespeedscott » Wed Oct 15, 2014 3:44 pm

I wouldn't get to excited about the 501. Tange 2 is better IMO.
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Kermit TF
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby Kermit TF » Wed Oct 15, 2014 7:53 pm

Looks nice...
Did you get the seatpost out ? If you where close by, Id have it out in 10 mins. :mrgreen:
When in doubt......mumble.

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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby BradL » Wed Oct 15, 2014 8:15 pm

Yeah got it out in under 10 mins - second time around, mind you.. :wink: Read a bit of Sheldon and was fully prepared to employ drastic dry ice/caustic soda/drano strategies, but all it really needed was a bit of grunt. Today I replaced the modolo brakes with Suntour Sprint from a donor bike and had a quick blast around the back streets. Really nice to ride. I'm not that taken with the paint job though, so I might consider a complete strip and repaint. Considering there's hardly any decals left on it I reckon I might as well start completely from scratch.

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munga
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby munga » Wed Oct 15, 2014 9:18 pm

you can source new decals from the shop, or cyclomondo online

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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby 8Track » Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:36 pm

Here's my Elan which I have owned since new in '89.

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BradL
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby BradL » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:06 pm

Happy snap of my refurbished Europa from a couple of posts back, at Victor Harbor just after finishing the 120 km Coast to Coast (Adelaide-Stirling-VH). Performed beautifully on what is my longest ride to date.

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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby ldrcycles » Thu May 07, 2015 6:43 pm

Just got my 2nd Europa :) . Very different from the probably-not-salvageable frame that's been in the shed for 6 years. This one is one owner from new (1976), 531 with a chromed Tange Champion fork. The fork was a replacement after he hit a dog and pretzeled the original forks not long after he bought the bike. Rack mounts front and rear which he took full use of when he rode to Alice Springs. His back doesn't agree with it anymore, so he gave it to me for nix on the proviso i take care of it :) .

Too dark for pics when i picked it up, but if it fits me i'll probably give it a bare metal resto for the Noosa Strade Bianche.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby singlespeedscott » Thu May 07, 2015 6:50 pm

ldrcycles wrote:Just got my 2nd Europa :) . Very different from the probably-not-salvageable frame that's been in the shed for 6 years. This one is one owner from new (1976), 531 with a chromed Tange Champion fork. The fork was a replacement after he hit a dog and pretzeled the original forks not long after he bought the bike. Rack mounts front and rear which he took full use of when he rode to Alice Springs. His back doesn't agree with it anymore, so he gave it to me for nix on the proviso i take care of it :) .

Too dark for pics when i picked it up, but if it fits me i'll probably give it a bare metal resto for the Noosa Strade Bianche.
And if it's a 61-62 you can sell it to me as I know you love riding midget's bikes. Even though your taller than I am :lol:
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby ldrcycles » Thu May 07, 2015 9:21 pm

Well i had to check then, you're out of luck, 56 top tube, 55 seat tube. You can have the Deore DX rear derailleur if you want :) . Forgot to mention before, it's got the longest points on the lugs this side of a Hetchins, and the rack mounts on the seat stays are WEIRD. Pics tomorrow i promise.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby ldrcycles » Fri May 08, 2015 8:44 pm

Only got one pic, forgot to take closeups of the lugs and rack mounts. The good bits- SR stem and Campy knockoff post (post is scratched to buggery though), Suntour power shifters, a nicely shaped Tange headset, Huret cable clamps, 600 tricolour pedals and the forks are in really good shape. Less good- the granny ring on those cranks had the tightest clearance i've ever seen, maybe enough to allow a piece of paper. So the chainstay has a few ugly marks on it. There's a line of missing paint around the underside of the downtube where it was straightened after the crash. The brakes are labelled "Super Olimpic 66" and one of the arms is bent.

I've already completely stripped it, bare frame is 2,210.5g and feels reasonably light. One thing i'm curious about is the decals, on the seat tube it has "Supplied by Europa Cycles" and on the seat tube and head tube it has the Campagnolo world map with "ABENI SPECIAL" around the outside.


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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby find_bruce » Fri May 08, 2015 9:43 pm

ldrcycles wrote:Only got one pic, forgot to take closeups of the lugs and rack mounts.
... or turn the cranks to 2 & 8, put the chain on the big ring, ... :roll:

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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby ldrcycles » Sat May 09, 2015 7:14 am

find_bruce wrote:
ldrcycles wrote:Only got one pic, forgot to take closeups of the lugs and rack mounts.
... or turn the cranks to 2 & 8, put the chain on the big ring, ... :roll:
:lol: . But seriously, the cranks are where they should be! The Rules don't mention 2 and 8 :-P.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby utedeej » Sat May 09, 2015 8:03 am

ldrcycles wrote:Only got one pic, forgot to take closeups of the lugs and rack mounts. The good bits- SR stem and Campy knockoff post (post is scratched to buggery though), Suntour power shifters, a nicely shaped Tange headset, Huret cable clamps, 600 tricolour pedals and the forks are in really good shape. Less good- the granny ring on those cranks had the tightest clearance i've ever seen, maybe enough to allow a piece of paper. So the chainstay has a few ugly marks on it. There's a line of missing paint around the underside of the downtube where it was straightened after the crash. The brakes are labelled "Super Olimpic 66" and one of the arms is bent.

I've already completely stripped it, bare frame is 2,210.5g and feels reasonably light. One thing i'm curious about is the decals, on the seat tube it has "Supplied by Europa Cycles" and on the seat tube and head tube it has the Campagnolo world map with "ABENI SPECIAL" around the outside.


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I'd be interested in pics of the lugs, etc. I've got an Abeni that has the same stickers. What size seat tube does it have? Will post some pics soon.

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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby singlespeedscott » Sat May 09, 2015 11:58 am

The stickers are standard for the John Abeni made bikes. Much better than your standard Europa.

Toss those cranks and the rear derailleur, they are a heresy.

Would look good with some early Suntour stuff. Definitely keep the centre pulls, just replace the bent one. they are the best stopping power you'll get on a vintage bike. Especially with some Koolstop pads.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby ldrcycles » Sat May 09, 2015 7:32 pm

26.6 seat tube, surprised me as i had just assumed 531 would be 27.2 but it was a custom build for the original owner, so maybe he specified thicker because he was intending on touring with it. Or maybe the thicker tube was cheaper :) .

I haven't decided if i want to go new or old with the build, but i don't think i have the time for old, so it will probably get Suntour. I do like centrepulls, so hopefully i have a pair of them in the parts bin still.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby utedeej » Sun May 10, 2015 7:36 am

Here's some pics of my Abeni. The seat tube takes a 27.2 seatpost, so I am assuming the sticker is real and that it is Reynolds. Interesting lugs on it - Japanese copy of the Nervex?? How does it compare to yours LDR with lugs, fork, etc?

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Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby singlespeedscott » Sun May 10, 2015 3:08 pm

I really love a fork with a nice rake at the tip. Much nicer than the old banana bend.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby ldrcycles » Sun May 10, 2015 5:32 pm

utedeej wrote:Here's some pics of my Abeni. The seat tube takes a 27.2 seatpost, so I am assuming the sticker is real and that it is Reynolds. Interesting lugs on it - Japanese copy of the Nervex?? How does it compare to yours LDR with lugs, fork, etc?

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Looks like the only differences to mine is the thicker seat tube, lack of ABENI decals and the top rack mounts (i'll try and get a photo up of them tomorrow). What is the finish like on yours? Having had a proper look over mine it's quite disappointing, the lug points are misshapen, the point on top of the top tube is off centre and there are a heap of runs in the paint. Also, is the cable stop on your seat stay a rather odd knurled thing?
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utedeej
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby utedeej » Sun May 10, 2015 7:22 pm

Yes it is knurled (the derailleur cable stop on the chain stay I think you mean). Brazing work isn't the best and the lugs are a bit agricultural in that the casting marks haven't been filed down. Paint is ok, without any runs, pretty even across the board. My lug points are straight though. Do you know when yours was built?

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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society

Postby singlespeedscott » Sun May 10, 2015 7:38 pm

The two Abeni's I had where well built.
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