Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
- drubie
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby drubie » Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:34 am
but really, that's rubbish. We get none of it because the choices are illusory.
- mark field
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby mark field » Sun Oct 20, 2013 3:14 pm
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby HappyHumber » Sun Oct 20, 2013 6:30 pm
Hit me up via the BNA dm; I'll get an alert. If y'know, you know.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby TDC » Sat Nov 09, 2013 2:43 pm
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Vintage-Aben ... RTM1430835" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby PatNZ » Thu Feb 27, 2014 6:28 pm
Its missing the front brake caliper and the brake handle for the front appears to be a little damaged as well. So the brakes are the only thing that need to be sorted before I can ride it. The headset looks straight to me as far as I can see.
I'd never heard of Elan before. But I found this at a garage sale and it looked like it was worth saving. As far as I can tell the drive train seems to work well with out any slipping on the few test rides i've done.
I'm looking forward to getting this thing going .
I'll try to post links to photos below.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/ ... bc3067.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/ ... 473316.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/ ... 3dc7af.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/ ... 5a34ee.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby commando » Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:25 pm
I posted a quick shot of this Abeni Triathlon in the 'Hard Rubbish' thread and thought I'd throw a few more up here to see if anyone can tell me a bit more about it, such as an approximate year model. Aside from the Shimano 105 pedals and Mavic wheels, everything appears to be Campy GS. Sticker on the frame says Reynolds 531 butted tubing.
Whaddya think?
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby singlespeedscott » Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:25 pm
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby morini » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:34 pm
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby drubie » Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:41 pm
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
but really, that's rubbish. We get none of it because the choices are illusory.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby commando » Thu Mar 13, 2014 6:10 pm
Can anyone narrow down the year?
- Saro28
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby Saro28 » Thu Mar 13, 2014 6:45 pm
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx? ... 3&Enum=108" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
if the're campag hubs the locknuts have a year/date stamped. GS from mid 70 > mid 80, frame would be...................?
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby cage » Thu Mar 13, 2014 6:48 pm
Take a look at these...
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx? ... 7&AbsPos=0
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx? ... 5&AbsPos=0
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx? ... &AbsPos=34
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx? ... &AbsPos=21
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx? ... &AbsPos=28
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby commando » Thu Mar 13, 2014 7:27 pm
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby Scott2468 » Sat Mar 15, 2014 11:04 am
That is a 980. Campagnolo released this in Sep 1980, thus with incredible imagination, they called it the 980. It was in production to 1985.commando wrote:Excellent link, thanks guys! Looks like the rear is either a 990 or 980, but I'll have to get the bike out this weekend and take a closer look at everything.
Your bike appears almost identical to mine.
Well worth restoring for the experience, fun and end result.
Scott2468 wrote:This is the Abeni I was given. It has early to mid 80s Campy gear throughout except the crankset and brake levers.
So I bought these on ebay to keep everything original.
Then I stripped everything down. I glass blasted the frame and then etched and primed in two pack urethane.
During this process I stripped, cleaned and polished everything up.
Finally I top coated the frame in 1982 Vauxhall Green two pack.
Then I had a bit of fun and put everything together.
I have ordered the vinyl decals but they have not yet arrived.
Last of all I am hunting around for some Campy wheels to match the set. At the moment it has shimaNO 105 hubs on it.
The bike rides like a dream. Yesterday I couldnt take the smile off my face.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby cage » Sat Mar 15, 2014 11:51 am
One thing I've noticed is how on most ABENI's the decals have yellow lettering with a black surround. Mines the other way around, same as Scott2468 but commando's bike look's to has one of each type.Scott2468 wrote:
On the top tube of mine I've also got this decal
...and the head tube decal is different to the repro's, one I haven't seen before.
I'm going to get Cyclomondo to reproduce them but he's about to go away & winding down his custom work atm. Wont be back till late May so i'll just have to wait I guess.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby rogerrabbit » Thu Mar 27, 2014 10:11 pm
This is a cheapie ($80) I picked up off Gumtree a couple of weeks ago. I have cleaned it up and it has alternative wheels on it for now until I can respoke the originals. It came with a rack, dynamo and chain guard like the one at the start of this thread. I had assumed they were fitted later but I will probably refit them now I can see they were original figment. The frame is a bit tatty in areas but all the parts are really clean.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby Lots of steel bikes » Tue Apr 01, 2014 9:23 pm
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby Kermit TF » Thu May 01, 2014 8:43 pm
Last week I caught up with an old friend and frame collector Franco who I think is in his mid 70s. Im buying an Abeni 1982 frame off him, and I asked him about Abeni having both been into cycling in Canberra in the 1970s.
Franco told me that Giovani lived in Canberra and setup a cycling shop in Braddon in the 70s, at some stage he founded the famous canberra made bike called Spokesman , in the early 80s Spokesman moved to the O'connor shops. ( I frequented this shop in 81-83 )
During this same period he also made the early canberra europas. At some point whilst in canberra he was also responsible for a frame called the Pegasus. The spokesmans where all made to order, from cheap to elite , no 2 Spokesmans where made alike, most of these where Tange frames. (Ive owned a few)
Around 82-83 he decided to move to Sydney and made aluminium frames with the prospect of selling these to European market, "apparently" It didnt go as well as he intended.
Franco told me Giovanis self "branded" frames where up there with the best in Australia, and made the Bundys , Ken Evans etc look cheap.
He also told me what he thought of his personality as it appears they knew each other well in the old days.
If anyone wants to fill in the gaps between 1982 to late 80s that would be great, and / or correct my info.
On my next trip, I will interview Franco some more. ...his knowledge of Italian frame builders is incredible. I worry about him as he lives by himself and smokes 2 packs a day, anyway Ive built up a repoir, where he slowly tells me about the good ol days.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby ironhanglider » Fri May 02, 2014 9:23 am
Pegasus frames were built by Keith Davis.
Cheers,
Cameron
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby Kermit TF » Fri May 02, 2014 5:41 pm
John Rae also did tell me that Pegasus Bikes was a Canberra product, but he never told me who owned it.
Cameron, did Keith "work" for John Abeni perhaps ?
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby ironhanglider » Fri May 02, 2014 8:50 pm
I never had any first hand dealings with Keith, although I did have a second hand 531Professional Pegasus for a while that was built for a friend of mine and is now with another friend.
It is quite possible that Keith had some other arrangements since I was not involved in the business, just a rider and window shopper.
There weren't that many shops then, Big B was owned by Paul Burgild, Canberra Cycles was owned by John and Elaine Harvey, but for the life of me I can't remember who owned/ran Europa cycles. I can remember that he brought his bike out to the races on the back of an MG Midget.
Cheers,
Cameron
BTW Steve the Uni student's family name is Hodge.
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby BradL » Tue May 27, 2014 11:41 pm
Picked up this Elan for $45 a little while ago. Nothing particularly special I guess, with low end suntour gear, no integrated derailleur hanger and a clunky sugino crank that I swapped out for something slightly less crappy.
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a63 ... f0391b.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Rode nicely for what it was though. I forgot about it for a while and rode other bikes, but ended up pulling it apart and reconfigured it into - dare I say it - a single speed...
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a63 ... b4bdf6.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Now I ride it every day. Rain hail or shine. No car, so this gets me to the shops, work, the pub, everywhere. I'm intrigued by the frame. The dropouts are weird suntour popped out things with no hanger, which I thought was a sign of crappiness (only a couple of years in to this compulsive cycling thing so am still learning), but overall it's quite a bit lighter than a similarly proportioned hi ten Super Elliott that I had. Maybe not hi ten perhaps? Regardless, the thing just makes me want to ride
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby ldrcycles » Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:48 pm
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby find_bruce » Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:59 pm
Any bike that makes you want to ride is a good bikeBradL wrote:New 'round these parts - in terms of posting, so I don't think I can post pics yet.
Picked up this Elan for $45 a little while ago. Nothing particularly special I guess, with low end suntour gear, no integrated derailleur hanger and a clunky sugino crank that I swapped out for something slightly less crappy.
Rode nicely for what it was though. I forgot about it for a while and rode other bikes, but ended up pulling it apart and reconfigured it into - dare I say it - a single speed...
Now I ride it every day. Rain hail or shine. No car, so this gets me to the shops, work, the pub, everywhere. I'm intrigued by the frame. The dropouts are weird suntour popped out things with no hanger, which I thought was a sign of crappiness (only a couple of years in to this compulsive cycling thing so am still learning), but overall it's quite a bit lighter than a similarly proportioned hi ten Super Elliott that I had. Maybe not hi ten perhaps? Regardless, the thing just makes me want to ride
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Re: Europa / Abeni / Elan appreciation society
Postby BradL » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:44 pm
The five bikes I own are all too small for me. I've known this for a while, but have been unwilling to accept it. My body is now forcing me to accept this. Each new purchase must now be a 60cm frame, and must replace a smaller frame.
This came up today at an auction. Saw the Europa sticker and thought it might be worth a crack. Overall good nick with a bit of light surface rust and a few chips and scratches. Here it is as purchased.
From reading the rest of this thread it seems that it's difficult to work out which frames were made by Europa, and which were re-badged. Hard to read in the photo, but the washed out part of the sticker says Manufactured by Europa Cycles. I guess that could mean any number of things..
There's also the remnants of a sticker that may or may not be tubing specs.
Unfortunately the seatpost is stuck. I've sprayed it with plenty of Inox and will leave it to percolate before I attempt to remove it again.
Frame number is EC0503 I think. Does anyone know if this is the format of a particular frame manufacturer? Europa?
Lugs look nice
It's fitted out with 6 speed Ofmega friction shifters and derailleurs. I don't know anything about this stuff but it seems to do what it's supposed to do. The brake levers and calipers are Modolo Corsa and are some of the ugliest things I've ever seen. They will go. The crankset is Stronglight. I think that's a keeper.
I'm considering moving some 7 speed Shimano 600 gear to this from another frame, and swapping out the rather plump seat for another. New cables/outers etc. From here it should be good to go I reckon.
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