Repco Appreciation Society

[slidetaker]

Looks like a solid ride.

Alesa Belgium rims in 22mm?

[Kermit TF]

Love the paint scheme Chocco...
Good solid (and lightish) setup..

[retrorepco]

That Superlite just needs some better period correct parts. Dura ace/ultegra/600 tri/cyclone or superbe.
Then again it might hold its value being original,
My Victory Tri-A is kitted out with superbe- originally edge 4050 accushift with terrible biopace hahaha just a slight improvement

[The Fixer]

Not that 'au fait' with Repcos, more a vintage Apollo man, but did once own one similar to this (but blue)...

It was donated last week at my local Men's Shed, the old guy who donated it has owned it since new.

Always garaged, and always maintained. And completely original.

Tyres are 27x 1 & 3 eights road tyres @60psi.

Frame No (on top tube) is N2157

Work needed: free a sticky front (Arai center-pull) brake.

Probably nothing special, and is only marginally lighter than the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

But she IS an Aussie-built Repco, and the condition for her age is superb. Literally everything is original.

Rides nicely, too, but the combination of a heavy bike and very tall gearing does nothing for it (or me).

EDIT: The Avanti 'Hurricane' on the balcony is a build-up from a bare frameset. Nearly finished! Delie lurks behind...

[Vance Legstrong]

G'day

First Post Here and my repco story...
Im 28 and have been getting back into mtb after a long time.. anyway one of my riding buddies got himself a flash road bike which had me remembering my step dads old Repco Monaco. I used to ride it when i was a kid. So i asked the question and presto it was mine!
It had been stored in a box under his house for the last ten years or so. All i had to do was reassemble, pump up the (original) cheng shin tyres and ride!
Bringing back heaps of memories. Like the time i cartwheeled it on the bitumen after drifting off the side.
The bike is in excellent original condition with the only scratches being from said crash and me being a lazy little bugger and leaning the top tube against fences etc when i was 15. It was bought new from Norfolk Cycles in Tasmania. I have the original pedals with toe clips.
So far i have straightened and polished the aluminium (made in Belgium) rims and given it a wash. It rides beautifully. The very positive shifting really impressed me. It runs suntour derailleurs.
Next on the list is to polish the bejesus out of everything without disturbing the cool retro graphics, replace the tyres (store the originals) and ride it to work! I also would like to get hold of some NOS lever hoods. The originals are torn up just a little bit.
I think it is a 1989-90 model? It still has the period correct bottle cage! I also remember it having a pump that wedged between a little steel nipple on the headtube and the seat tube, i think it was purchased new with the bike, hopefully it is still around.


Cheers!

[cray-]

Nice one, get some new tyres, tubes and brake pads, ride and enjoy. I wouldn't be too precious about the original tyres, I'm guessing they're getting pretty hard, maybe cracking and probably unsafe to ride. Ditch them and move on, this ain't no museum piece.

[Vance Legstrong]

Cheers Cray-
Yeah im certainly not worried about it being a museum piece, Just plan to ride and maintain it. However in 25 or 30 years it may very well be a collectors item and it would be cool to still have the original tyres, as old and crusty as they might be.... Gonna wrap em in cling wrap and store em in the dark
Took it out for a spin last night. I cant wheelie it as far as my hardtail 29er but it does sit on balance point quite nicely Only problem is reaching the rear brake lever if things go too far...

[HappyHumber]

Monaco's seem to be that strange mid-level point of the range that seem a bit under represented here. Plenty of the Gas-pipe Travellers/RT-Sports etc - and then the higher end Superlites/Olympics. Might have been the relatively small window of years they were offered as a model?

[landyacht03]

it was just mentioned about the lever hoods. is it possible to get hold of some new or good conditioned ones?
I salvaged a superlite at the tip a few weeks ago and after 36 hrs,5 spokes and a rear trueing ,rode it to a convincing last place at criterium practice. i do love the bike ,but had to pull the rotten hoods off. Its a keeper and would love to give it a respray and some sexy wheels for riding around town. but new hoods would be a start.
what is it with repcos. i have a ladies traveller,2 old 27's ,a mont blanc, (for sale ,no takers so far)a really small 27 and my daughters custom cruiser started as a repco 26mtb before xmas. and now the superlite
all tip bikes no less

[singlespeedscott]

it was just mentioned about the lever hoods. is it possible to get hold of some new or good conditioned ones?
I salvaged a superlite at the tip a few weeks ago and after 36 hrs,5 spokes and a rear trueing ,rode it to a convincing last place at criterium practice. i do love the bike ,but had to pull the rotten hoods off. Its a keeper and would love to give it a respray and some sexy wheels for riding around town. but new hoods would be a start.
what is it with repcos. i have a ladies traveller,2 old 27's ,a mont blanc, (for sale ,no takers so far)a really small 27 and my daughters custom cruiser started as a repco 26mtb before xmas. and now the superlite
all tip bikes no less

Re. the brake hoods. Just buy a new set of Shimano R400 brake levers. It will be cheaper.

The levers are the same shape and will work fine on the bike. The cheapest I could find them for is at c r c -

http://www.this link is broken/au/e ... -prod13672" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They should also come with some new cables as well, which I'm sure old Superlite could probably do with.

[landyacht03]

thanks for that,will put that on the list,for the fix up. I rode the bike today after doing a lap of town on a kojima ally bike , and then did a lap on the old repco. i think I prefer the repco the tiny bit of extra length in the frame feels just right for my old body

[Kermit TF]

Fellas , Ive just put my victory-tri up in the members marketplace.. Still gives me 2 repcos

[ldrcycles]

You can also get generic hoods from the LBS, I reckon they would fit those levers well. The last time I bought a set I think they were about $15?

[The Fixer]

Update on my red Repco pictured a few posts back.

Its gearing is unrealistically high for such a heavy bike, and turns any ride involving hills into sheer
purgatory. If you check the pic, that chain is actually on the SMALL front chain-wheel. The crankset
is the original, and is all steel with cottered cranks.

But this arvo while ratting in the shed for some odd bits for my Apollo III I made an interesting find.
An old but presentable and serviceable alloy Sugino crankset with far more useful gearing for around
my area. And they're from around the same period as the bike.

Although in superb original condition, the Repco seldom gets ridden for this reason alone, so once the
Sugino gear is fitted that should change as it's a very nice bike to ride otherwise.

[Kermit TF]

Fellas , Ive just put my victory-tri up in the members marketplace.. Still gives me 2 repcos

....well that sold quick !
3 wanted it from Canberra, ends up going to Melbourne to repcophille Johnathan..

[lobstermash]

Its gearing is unrealistically high for such a heavy bike, and turns any ride involving hills into sheer
purgatory.

Although in superb original condition, the Repco seldom gets ridden for this reason alone

Just a guess, but there's a fair chance that the unpleasant feel of the bike is to do with a poorly designed frame built of very cheap and nasty steel... Looks nice though.

[ldrcycles]

It certainly could just be parts that are the issue, I've had bikes that were utterly awful on hills when fitted with 165mm cranks and when swapped out for 170 or longer they were much more agreeable.

Or as a really good example, a Roadmaster Ultra Pro (most ironically named bike ever!) that was a complete dog with drop bars but when I converted it to flat bars it actually rode really well.

[The Fixer]

Its gearing is unrealistically high for such a heavy bike, and turns any ride involving hills into sheer
purgatory.

Although in superb original condition, the Repco seldom gets ridden for this reason alone

Just a guess, but there's a fair chance that the unpleasant feel of the bike is to do with a poorly designed frame built of very cheap and nasty steel... Looks nice though.

Well, it's certainly no lightweight, but actually feels quite good when you are riding it. There's a fair bit of scope for shedding a few pounds though.

No, its one annoying problem is the ridiculously high gearing. The old bloke who was the previous (original) owner would have been a big bloke when
he was 19 though, so may have liked it geared that high.

A bit more info about the bike...

Frame no (on top-tube) is N2157.

FD, RD and shifters etc are Suntour 'Spirit'.

Brakes are Arai center-pull, alloy.

Wheels are 'UKAIRIM 27x1¼ steel (Japan), Hubs are SIW. Crank-set unknown, steel.

Stem is 'WIN' alloy, bars are 'Kusuki' alloy (Japan).

It doesn't have a 'name' (Traveller, Super-Lite etc), just the REPCO transfers on the down-tube and seat-tube. A small oval sticker on the seat-tube
just below the top-tube reads ' Built by REPCO Cycle Co Australia'.

The Suntour date-codes on the derailleurs indicate a late 1974 build-date, so she's getting on a bit... .

[munga]

i just bought a repco track frame.
reynolds 653.
panto's (!).
built by ken evans.

[Miyata_912]

sweet, lets see the pics.

[singlespeedscott]

+1

[GUN METAL]

Hi all, first post !

Bit of Repco appreciation indeed.

I have had a few over the years but i still have 2 off them.


1) Purchased in 1984, first bike i saved up to purchase the trusty Repco Ranger, still ride it, does the BEST wheel stands, its heavy as sin, and harsh as hell but still heaps of fun.

2) Purchased in 1988, my first road bike, Repco Olympic 12, complete with unicrown forks and Biopace gears. I have been lending it to various people over the last 10 years to get em into cycling. Was still in great nick till i lent it to a relo who left it outside in near seaside .............SACRILIDGE. i NEARLY CRIED when i saw the rust and corrosion . I am currently in the process of doing a bit of a resto in the hope to lend it to someone else. I have since got it mobile again and took it for a spin to drop off / pick up my 8 year old son from school. It was a fantastic ride, gears are working great and brakes were not to bad either. it bought memories flooding back of winning crits at the local track back in the late 80s.........AWESOME. I had it resprayed in the early 90s, now i wish i didnt, it was great to see some pics in the thread of how it used to look. Once i get it a bit more presentable i will get some pics.

[cray-]

because we needed more reason to be jealous of your collection....#(AT)$%(AT)#%%

[Ferrovelo]

i just bought a repco track frame.
reynolds 653.
panto's (!).
built by ken evans.

Post a picture and I'll let you know whether I'll give you $500 for it

[munga]

previous owners images (frame is in transit)





mocked up