My Europa...it WANTS to live.

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Birdman
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Postby Birdman » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:44 pm

Okay so i measure the rear stays roughly this morning. It looks like it is about 126mm which Sheldon Brown says is a 6-7speed. Which i have.

So why wont it fit like it previously did???

I have a spacer and a washer left over after i have put the whole bike back together...Richard said that was normal...maybe it is a spacer for the wheel.

I am dropping it off to a now defunct bike shop, he is going to respoke my front wheel and have a look at the rear for me. Hope it doesn't cost me too much.

Mitch.
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKYS. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Until next time...

Hawkeye

Postby Hawkeye » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:12 pm

Birdman wrote:I am dropping it off to a now defunct bike shop, he is going to respoke my front wheel and have a look at the rear for me. Hope it doesn't cost me too much.
Erm, reading that I think I'd be more concerned about getting it back. :lol:

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Birdman
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Postby Birdman » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:47 am

j.r.hawkins wrote:
Birdman wrote:I am dropping it off to a now defunct bike shop, he is going to respoke my front wheel and have a look at the rear for me. Hope it doesn't cost me too much.
Erm, reading that I think I'd be more concerned about getting it back. :lol:
No he is a good decent bloke, he had to close the shop because the complex was doing reno and when they reopened the rent would be too high. So he now does little jobs from home and works as an electrician. So, nothing to worry about.

Mitch.
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKYS. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Until next time...

Hawkeye

Postby Hawkeye » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:36 pm

Birdman wrote:No he is a good decent bloke, ...
Oh, I'm sure he is, or you wouldn't be risking your baby.

It was just the phrase "I am dropping it off to a now defunct bike shop" that sounded funny. :wink:

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Birdman
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Postby Birdman » Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:53 am

Okay, so i found where the problem was with my rear wheel. The 2 parts which were left over were actually spacers for the rear axle. So the QR skewers weren't tightening because the axle was too thin, until now.

I have another problem also. I have read the book i won from this site, the sutherlands book and the barnetts book that tallywhacker found. I want to know how to align my handlebars with my forks. I pulled it all apart (but couldn't get the forks out of the frame) but to no avail.

Does anyone know how this is done???

Mitch.
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKYS. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Until next time...

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europa
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Postby europa » Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:55 am

Birdman wrote:Does anyone know how this is done???
Yes, but we're not going to tell you until you've sacrificed a goat to the god, Horus 8)

Richard
I had a good bike ... so I fixed it

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woteva
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Postby woteva » Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:57 am

Hi Birdman

The information that you are after is in one of the books that you can download.

Try chapter 12 of Illustrated Bicycle Maintenance, that should tell you all you need to know.

A.
1981 Mongoose Kos Kruiser x2
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Birdman
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Postby Birdman » Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:18 pm

woteva wrote:Hi Birdman

The information that you are after is in one of the books that you can download.

Try chapter 12 of Illustrated Bicycle Maintenance, that should tell you all you need to know.

A.
Thanks A...since Richard is being a twat cause he cant fill out a standard enrollment form :shock: (pokes his tongue out :lol: ).

Mitch.
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKYS. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Until next time...

inaminit
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Postby inaminit » Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:02 pm

europa wrote:
Birdman wrote:Does anyone know how this is done???
Yes, but we're not going to tell you until you've sacrificed a goat to the god, Horus 8)

Richard
Brilliant....I laughed and laughed and laughed! :lol:
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Birdman
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Postby Birdman » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:12 pm

Just looked through a little list on the interweb which shows the manufacturers and builders and in which time periods they worked. I wanted to find some information about my bike the europa and who made it and what out of.

Pretty interesting stuff.

Europa Cycles and Pulteney St Cycles, Adelaide SA

by Frank Kovacs

Elan was Pulteney Street Cycles own brand from around 1986 until around 1993 when they ceased trading in South Australia. Pulteney St. Cycles were the trading name for Abeni Corp. Australia, previously trading as Europa Cycles, at Morphett Street Adelaide, from around 1978 to 1985. In between the two moves, they were located in a small shop on Pulteney Street, near the south east corner of Rundle Street, for about a year, trading as Pulteney Street Cycles. The Abeni, Europa, & Elan, were quality lightweight steel racing frames built in-house in Australia, by Abeni. These frames usually used
Reynolds 531 tubing, and were custom built, generally equipped with quality European parts such as Ofmega, & Campagnolo Gran Sport, Triomph & Victory, with the Elan, being the latest incarnation, more likely to be equipped with Shimano. These components were also equipped to Italian made Technotrat frames with Falk CroMoly tubing, that continued to be marketed as Europa, alongside Elan, when they moved to Pulteney Street. They were the largest retailer of new Colnago frames & Campagnolo equipment, in Adelaide, and always had a large amount of stock on show, which made them a very interesting shop to visit.

I think i got onto a good bike here. Now from my little to no experience, isn't Reynolds531 the good stuff???

Anyway when i get it back from having the wheels trued ill have a look and see if it has anything about what it is made of on it. There was actually a phone number on the seat tube Europa Cycles ...blah blah. I'll see if i can take a picture of the sticker (might try and salvage it if i get it resprayed).

Mitch.
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKYS. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Until next time...

idleflow
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Postby idleflow » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:51 pm

excuse the ignorance but can someone please tell me what makes the europa such a special machine?

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Kid_Carbine
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Postby Kid_Carbine » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:06 pm

Oh that's easy, ... it's the bu**sh*t factor. They really have absolutely nothing to distinguish themselves over many other machines. LOL

Some people have a favorite brand or favorite type of bike, favorite era, or even a favorite material from which they are made.
Within these groups you will find that some have more fans than others & some are better at promoting their preferences.
As for me, I'm completely neutral.

[gag, guffaw, choke, gasp while gripping sides & rolling on floor laughing]
Carbine & SJH cycles, & Quicksilver BMX
Now that's AUSTRALIAN to the core.

idleflow
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Postby idleflow » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:44 pm

is that all.. reason i asked is because my dad has one in his garage, its been sitting there for years and years... he asked if i wanted it but i guess if it ain't that special i can tell him to include it in his tip list.


[gag, guffaw, choke, gasp while gripping sides & rolling on floor laughing]
Last edited by idleflow on Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

stryker84
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Postby stryker84 » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:51 pm

This may be the hoarder in me speaking, but just because a bike isn't "special" doesn't mean it should go to the tip.

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Birdman
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Postby Birdman » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:30 pm

The reason i picked this unit is because i went to my local recycler bloke...i said you got any road bikes, he said "700c or 27inch", to which i said bring out your dead. He brought out a repco (newer), piece of rubbish, bad forks, no gear, no wheels and rust ridden. And the Europa, pretty average knick, wheels no tyres, gears average working order and only 2 or 3 spots of surface rust.

He seems it odd and has never heard of someone picking a bike for its material and structural stability. He has now.

Mitch.
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKYS. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Until next time...

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Kid_Carbine
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Postby Kid_Carbine » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:43 pm

idleflow wrote:is that all.. reason i asked is because my dad has one in his garage, its been sitting there for years and years... he asked if i wanted it but i guess if it ain't that special i can tell him to include it in his tip list.
It's not the brand name per se' that identifies a good'un from the rest but the specs. Making bikes is simply a business like any other & all manufacturers try to cover the market so they offer basic, low cost entry level machines where low price takes precedence over low weight & precision high quality, as well as machines that start to approach the stellar levels of custom built machinery, but at a competitive price. Just about everything in between is also covered & in some cases, the good quality frame is spec'd down to a price, or spec'd up to cover a higher segment of the market.
A very early example of this was the Malvern Star 5 Star which, while being the premium production frame, could be bought with components that were one step removed from a basic roadster.
These bikes, & their more modern day equivalents are great candidates for projects since the basic foundation, the frame, is the one high quality part that you must have in order to end up with a great finished product.

Europa, along with many others would have done just this, with medium & better quality frames available in cheaper variants to fill a position in the market place. If you know just which bike models had the better frames you can either find one & restore/ride it, or use it as the foundation of a custom built special.

My personal bias is toward bikes from Australian manufacturers, often bespoke manufacturers, where the frame was actually built here, sometimes by independent frame builders as a sub let job.
My preference is for pre 1980's, with non Japanese/Chinese/Taiwanese components & Europa doesn't really fit into this profile for me, so I can afford to be cheeky about these & many others.

In reality, I am probably one of the more biased, bigoted, snobbish & elitist members in this forum when it comes to my favourite bikes & bike components, but you'd never notice from my rantings, ... errr, ummm, I mean, my writings.

So don't reject the Europa in your fathers shed just because it has a particular name on the frame. If you reject it, then do so because it doesn't fit the profile of what it is that you are looking for, ... but if it does fit the profile, then embrace it with both arms.
Carbine & SJH cycles, & Quicksilver BMX
Now that's AUSTRALIAN to the core.

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europa
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Postby europa » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:16 pm

idleflow wrote:excuse the ignorance but can someone please tell me what makes the europa such a special machine?
Mitch and I own them :D

They're special because they were an Australian brand. Some were made here, some were mass produced frames that were rebadged and sold here. In either case, they are special because they are part of Australia's cycling history.

For an answer on where they fit in Australia's hierachy, may I remind you that Mitch and I own one and for us, what else matters :roll:

Richard
I had a good bike ... so I fixed it

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Birdman
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My Europa...it is definitely TRYING to live !

Postby Birdman » Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:34 am

Sorry guys but this is a long running saga...

I am trying to finish my Europa but for some reason the chainring to the cassette has an odd angle. Something seems out a little.

The spacing of the rear forks is the right size for the gearing but it as if it is moved out of symmetry frmo the front half by atleast 5cm??? As if it looks like this [ y ] instead of this [ Y ]. Silly thing.
Considering taking it to my LBS to have them finish it???

The reason i found it was i had it all done and was setting my limits for the RD and FD and just sounded REALLY REALLY clunky in the FD (rubbing on the cage instead of a smooth line), so i had a look and voula it is F*#ked up. Should i attempt it meself?

Anyone experienced this.

Mitch.
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKYS. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Until next time...

MountGower

Postby MountGower » Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:42 pm

Birdman

I can only do what anyone else can and that's guess. If there are spacers, you may have them on the wrong side. Check the line of the rear wheel. Just because the front of the rear wheel is centre of the stays behind the bottom bracket, doesn't mean that the wheel is straight. It could be well out to the off side at the back.

Also, assuming on an old bike you have cup and cone type rear hubs, you may not have the axel centred propperly. When I remove an axel I only unlock one cone so the other one remains where it was. When I reassemble, it's a case of just setting the bearings by adjusting up the side I removed.

If the axel or spacers have been removed when the wheel has been taken off, I may be on to something, but I also may not be.

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Andrew Grace
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Re: My Europa...it is definitely TRYING to live !

Postby Andrew Grace » Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:50 pm

Birdman wrote:
The spacing of the rear forks is the right size for the gearing but it as if it is moved out of symmetry frmo the front half by atleast 5cm??? As if it looks like this [ y ] instead of this [ Y ]. Silly thing.
Considering taking it to my LBS to have them finish it???


Mitch.
5cm is a massive figure to be out by, or do you mean it's 5mm?

When I spaced my rear forks, I set each side individually, but I started with a straight frame, so it was easy.
I'd probably take it to someone to get it straight if indeed that is the problem, it maybe wheelspacing like MG said.

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Birdman
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Postby Birdman » Mon Apr 07, 2008 4:43 pm

Thankyou so much guys i didn't think of that.

I don't think i have removed the cup/cones completely from each axle yet so....who knows. I will have to find time to have a look at it on ...wednesday :( . If i can even find time then.

Thankyou again. It is hard to get things done quickly without Richard hovering over the site like the old days...no offence to anyone else.

Mitch.
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKYS. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Until next time...

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