Ricardo Appreciation Society

[HappyHumber]

Hi All,
I am lucky enough to have a Ricardo 600 Ex as my daily ride.
I hope that you enjoy the pictures.
Cheers,
Erik.

Very very nice indeed! Best Shimano spec'ed Ricky I've seen. Even more excellent you're the original one owner and kudos to you for keeping it in such good nick. Just my size too - so if you ever feel you've had a gut full of it...

[baldie_77]

Hey thanks for posting that photo.

Last night I replaced both tyres (a little perished), I have adjusted the saddle to adopt a more 'pleasant' position
and tightened a few of the spokes.

Inaugral ride to work was very pleasant.

I am still not 100% on the type of model (I imagine it was supplied by a bike shop with the serial stamped on the BB)
so if anybody can help clear that up for me I would be happy.

Winners are grinners

[Steve F]

So I've been looking at what I would need to do to bring my '89 bushbike back to new and now I'm wondering, do I restore back to factory (needs paint and shifters are wrong along with all new decals) or do I just replace the busted bits and pieces with newer gear and do a sort of restification (half retore half modify). I'm leaning towards the restification and just having some fun on it

Cheers
Steve

[singlespeedscott]

Do what grabs your fancy. The bike is yours.

[Steve F]

Do what grabs your fancy. The bike is yours.

Dont worry I will, but still curious on opinions And I cant decide at the moment......

Cheers
Steve

[Ricardo600ex]

Very very nice indeed! Best Shimano spec'ed Ricky I've seen. Even more excellent you're the original one owner and kudos to you for keeping it in such good nick. Just my size too - so if you ever feel you've had a gut full of it... [/quote]

Apologies if I get this reply wrong...1st time

You know, as much as I would like to get a new bike, I am so comfortable on this one that I cant see the point. Both my sons race and have nice carbon bikes, it is pretty cool going for a ride with them on the old classic.
Probably close to 30 years ago I did a couple of the Hash House Harriers West Lakes triathlons with it, those were the days.
I am pretty sure that I wont be parting with the bike, even if I do succumb to a new one.

[Steve F]

Don't know if anyone can help but I'm looking for a Bushbike front wheel, mine does not have the original on it and although most wont notice and I'm not doing a factory restoration I'd like to pick up a stock front wheel to match the rear, if anyone has a spare they'd be willing to part with let me know. It's a 26"x 1.75" Weinman concave alloy wheel.

Cheers
Steve

[Steve F]

Decided to reproduce the transfers on my bike with decal paper, it's the same sort of stuff they use on model planes etc, you wet it and the decal slides off. The only difference is because it is printed on an inkjet you need to spray a few coats of clear laquer over them and let them dry before they go in the water or the ink will run. Anyway, knocked up my first replacement logo. Slight colour change to factory but it will suit the new bike colour.



Just need to get some decent pics of the other logos so I can do those as well

Cheers
Steve

[HappyHumber]

Looks schmick, Steve.

[Steve F]

Thanks, almost to the point of printing up the decals and putting them on

Slowly stripping old paint off, polishing and reassembling after it's new powder coat went on You can probaby see this is no restoration but rather a rebuild and freshen up, more of a restification (restoration/modification)





Cheers
Steve

[vargtimmen]

So about 6 months ago, maybe longer, I got an email from a good friend of mine who came across an advertisement on the Adelaide Cyclists forum that he thought would interest me. Over the past 2 years I have made a hobby out of converting tired old bikes into newly refurbished Fixies. I’ve done about 6 or 7 fixie conversions of old Malvern Stars, Repco Racers and a Ricardo. The advertisement he sent me was a bloke GIVING AWAY an old Ricardo race bike, my friend thought it would be a good one for me to convert to a fixie. I thought the same thing when I first read it and arranged to pick it up form him. Then I saw it…. This bike was an absolute beauty. She looked as though she had only been ridden a handful of times in her time then left to sit in someone’s garage for the last 2 decades (the tyres even held pressure). I knew straight away that this bike deserved more than the same old fixie “upgrade” that I was used to. This old girl needed to be brought back to life as a real racing bike.
And so my journey began. I took about 6 months to research, collect parts and decide on the best way to go about a full restoration.
One of the things I absolutely loved about the bike was that beautiful Spearmint green pearl colour that coated her frame. I knew that when I had the frame powder-coated I would have to keep it Green, unfortunately I could not get anything as light as the original but I am happy with the peppermint green I went for.
The original running gear on her was Suntour however most of it was rusted in place or completely worn out. luckily I managed to collect New or reconditioned parts from the era (late 70’s/Early 80’s) including some BRAND NEW IN BOX Shimano Dura-Ace EX downtube shifters, a BRAND NEW IN BOX Shimano Dura-Ace EX front Derailleur, a Reconditioned Shimano Dura-Ace EX rear derailleur and a reconditioned set of Shimano Dura-Ace EX Brakes. I figured these would have been top of the line at the time this bike was built.
Fortunately the wheels and tyres were in really good condition. All I did was dismantle the wheels, polish the hubs and rims and replace the spokes with new ones. I also replaced the rusted out wheel skewers with some great Anodised Green skewers to match the frame colour (while this is not original I think it had to have some sort of modern bling to it).
I kept the original bottom bracket and axle as they were in perfect condition, I just cleaned and re-greased it all. The original Cranks were pretty good besides some dirt. I took them apart and polished them up to re-use.
The Headstem and handlebars were in amazing condition and all I did was polish them up to be re-used. The headset was rusted so I replaced it with a Chrome one to match the headstem. The original brake levers were in terrific condition however the hoods had perished. I toyed with the idea of re-using them but instead I went for a set of Aero levers to tidy up the cabling.
To finish off the job I added some white bar tape, white cabling, some whitewall tyres and a new white saddle. I even had the decals re-created to make sure everybody knows that this bike is an original Ricardo. I even had the “Made in Australia” sticker reproduced with the original Ricardo Factory address on it.
It actually turns out that my Father-in-law (Who originally got me into cycling) used to work at the Ricardo Factory here in Adelaide. He was working at the Malvern Star factory for a couple of years then briefly moved over to Ricardo on Pirie Street before getting married. He came with me to pick up this bike originally and he knew when he first saw it that she was a beauty. I have since purchased another Ricardo bike (a Ricardo Medallion) which I am going to restore as a gift to him. I will keep that one posted on here also.
Photo’s of the nearly complete project can be found at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... fa4d717c64

I will add Before shots and final assembled shots when I get around to it.

Let me know what you think!

Hi. I just saw your photo album with the Ricardo Bike Restoration and I am super impressed. I'm trying to restore my dads old bike which is just a similar model as yours. The paint does not look any good anymore and I have to paint it new but I do want to keep the Ricardo print. I did a bit of research myself with Ricardo decals but couldn't find much so I was wondering if you could help me out. Where did you get your decals from? It just looks awesome!
I sent you a text on facebook with a picture of my bike.
Thanks,
Richard

[Steve F]

I think you'll be pushing to find any decals, I made some for my bushbike and they would work well on a light coloured frame for a factory look but not on a dark frame. I did just make these as well though and printed them on white water slide paper, they should look as printed on any colour frame. Making your own might be the solution.



Cheers
Steve

[flash739]

Hi Guys,

New to this forum and i have to say appreciate the riccardo information. Am contemplating embarking on my first Ricardo rebuild.

Currently looking at a 1986/1987 Ricardo Road Bike, from you forums i have been able to ascertain it is running Viva level components, Z series shimano, Tange 900 frame.

Wondering if anyone has catalogue /brochure information on the build specifications for Viva. I have found the 85/86 brochure and the 87/88 brochure but just need the one in the middle. Main things i need to determine is what type of seat was supposed to be fitted to this bike. The seat appears to have been modified.

Now the interesting bit. It has Americas Cup 1987 Australian livery.... Except Australia sank in 1987, so not quite the celebration model ricardo were hoping for. What i need to know is how hard/costly is it to get decals remade from scratch? I can find all decals except the "Americas Cup 87" script sticker which is unfortunately sliced lengthwise on both side of the bike in multiple places. Each decal will come off the bike in atleast 5-8 pieces if i try and lift it. So whats the best way to reproduce? can it be done. or do i cover over and respray the rest of the bike??? Bike needs to be blasted back to bare metal and resprayed. It has 10-20 rust, heave around seat tube.

Thoughts?

[The Fixer]

Hi, everyone, I'm Mick, and I've just become a member.

I was browsing the forum on an unrelated matter, and got started reading this thread as I
have recently acquired a Ricardo 'Blitz' for my 'stable' and thought you may like to see it.
It's in 'as found' condition after having hardly been ridden since new, then stored. It is original
(except for the seat) down to the tyres and brake-pads. To get it rideable, I put air in the tyres
(yes, they held air), oiled the chain, and freed a sticky front brake. I then rode it home.

Since then, it has had a full service and check-over (no wear was found, anywhere) and a wipe-
over with an oily rag (needless to say it was filthy, and covered in dust). It rides like a dream!

Oh, and I should also add, it was free!!

Maybe not everyone's idea of a classic, or 'keeper' but the good original condition appeals to
me. I won't be restoring/repainting it, but will be replacing some components (rims etc) with
higher-quality period items. Other than that, it will remain 'as-is'.

[ldrcycles]

Maybe not everyone's idea of a classic, or 'keeper'

Hey it beats walking! .

[HappyHumber]

Maybe not everyone's idea of a classic, or 'keeper'

Hey it beats walking! .

+1 We all started somewhere. Use it and enjoy it for what it is to you. If you get the itch to upgrade somewhere down the track.. so be it! Besides.. it's best to learn on the simple stuff.

[The Fixer]

Not so much a matter of learning, as I'm no newbie to working on bikes, it's more a case of working with what I have, and what's available/findable.
As a kid growing up in the 1960s, my Dad had a Speedwell (and later Malvern Star) dealership (my first 'full-size' bike was a metallic green & chrome Speedwell 'Flash'), and I've ridden, on and off, for the last 10 years or so (after a break of over 30 years), and I do volunteer work refurbing old and unwanted bikes for charity and for donation overseas to 3rd-world countries.
Yes, I find the occasional gem like the Ricci, but they're mostly junk people have tossed because it's cheaper to replace the bike than it is to fix it.

All good.

[mxmort]

[quote="Ricardo600ex"]Hi All,
First time posting on the forum.

I am lucky enough to have a Ricardo 600 Ex as my daily ride. I bought it new from the factory at Regency Park in the 80's. I was all set to buy the Elite model, when they showed me the 600EX for a couple hundred dollars more. Back then it was around $1000. Complete with Shimano 600 groupset.
Original wheels still keep on turning.
Pictures of the bike can be seen at this link. https://www.dropbox.com/sc/m6ro1sfqwakhrko/gKpuW_OE0_" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Obvious changes to the bike have been some new tyres, bar tape, a comfy seat (still have the original rock hard blue seat) and pedals.
I still get on it 2 to 3 times a week to keep up some fitness.
I hope that you enjoy the pictures.

Cheers,
Erik.[/quH

Hey lads
I am in the process of restoring the same Ricardo but i havnt got any wheels
Does any know how many gears it would have had??
I sent pm to Eric months ago but with no response i was hoping someone else could help with my restoration
Thanks

[munga]

2 x 6

[cloudy]

I have a factory black 27inch Ricardo `Z` series in very good order, even the original seat , I have just recently replaced the original gumwalls on it, alloy neck and pedal arms shimano gears ect. rides quite well , I picked it up at a garage sale for $5. It has good paint and good decals.

[mickk]

My brotherinlaw has a Ricardo Nouvo and it is a classic "garage queen", I doubt that it has been ridden more than five times and most of those would have been just round the block.

It has a Tange Champion No2 frame (made in Australia according to the sticker), full Shimano 600 group and Araya 700c wheels.

I have threatened to clean it up for him to see if he can still ride it!!

Ahhh, beautiful. This was my first real bike. It cost about $1200 but I think Bugsy Beltrame charged me $999 in 1987 ish. It was the same lemon colour, although the "Nouvo" wore off very quickly. Cycling was going through another of its rejuvenations and it was an Australian made frame assembled here and was considered fairly expensive at the time. Top of the price range for an off the rack bike. The Ricardo brand was a very good solid product in its day. You see them popping up all the time. The frames seem to last forever.

It had Shimano 105 pedals, with beautiful steel toe clips that took number 12 marine thread screws from memory, so if anyone ever wants screws, go to a marine chandler. They also had nice leather straps. The pedals did aboout 30,000k before I got the money to go clipless. When you wore a pair of Specialized road shoes with them, they were as good as clipless. Better for me as I was doing a lot of touring.

The white handlebat tape was very good, it lasted forever, a good 2 years. SIS gearing on the downtube was very smooth, everything on it was Shimano 105. It was a very good groupset that was worth around $700 at the time here from memory. The bottom bracket wasnt sealed so the water ate though that pretty quickly but that was the technology of the day.

The saddle was made of a one piece molded rubber with Ricardo written on the back in white. It was very comfortable. You are able to insert lugs into the triangle above the rear drop outs to fit a pack rack.

I loved this bike, it clocked up well over 150,000k. The Biopace chain rings were super cool and I believe to this day that they worked. They lasted about 15,000k before looking like sharks teeth and slipping. I went for the Look red clipless pedals and mavic MA40 rims from memory in the end, I should know, they are still on the bike!!! so is the saddle, I love it, Im so used to it. All terrains, all weather, every state in the country, I know its reliable, I can trust it.

Yes I still have her. The frame was badly sand blasted in the 1990s with coarse grit and powder coated a horrible blue but that meant I could find it in a crowd and the head stem gear replaced. The frame is as good as new and it has seen some beltings I can assure you. The seat post and saddle are original as are the brakes and front derailleur. Gear levers original too. Crank arms are orinal too I think. The real derailleur was stood on so I had to replace it and of couorse, numerous chain rings over the years and rear clusters. I would love to find a set of NOS Biopace one day.

I still ride it. With the 15mm tyres pumped up to 160 it goes like a rocket. I used to love its original gearing, might have been 56/11 or something. It was so well set up it was easy to change gears on the downtube without missing a beat going uphill in a pack. The tyres have been on it for ten years, kevlar whatsit, bever had a problem or a puncture touch wood.

The frame Tang 2, remains remakrably light weight and when its assembled, its weight still gives modern bikes a run for their money.

It came with factory fitted white bidon cages and a little tool bag for under the saddle. It came with caged bearings that I swapped in the shop for loose ones.

$1200 full retail at the time, I think I would pay 3 grand now if I could find a mint one. I miss the paint job and the biopace.

Back then a grand bought 50 slabs, now those 50 would cost you two grand. So in todays money, it would still be a superior product.

The only thing I want more than a new Nouvo is a NOS pair of Duegi Intercooler shoes. I still have mine from the era but they are a bit small now. They are still perfect though, a few stitchings and regluings but thats all. They have been through the works for over 20 years, wet, dry, wet for a fortnight, baked in the Aussie sun. They have faded in colour. They were jet black, electric blue and fire engine red new, the hottest and most expensive shoes the Italians made. They have built in reflectors in the heels and tabs that to this day stand out at 500 metres like no other. A built in pair of flashing red lights that should be compulsory in all bike shoes.

Kangaroo skin, Buffalo hide, Kevlar, Arcylic and with good heels. $360 in australia in the 1980s, $120 in Australia imported from the back of Bicycling Weekly magazine, we were getting flogged back then.

So that is my talke of the Ricardo. I will post some pics on the weekend.

[mickk]

My brotherinlaw has a Ricardo Nouvo and it is a classic "garage queen", I doubt that it has been ridden more than five times and most of those would have been just round the block.

It has a Tange Champion No2 frame (made in Australia according to the sticker), full Shimano 600 group and Araya 700c wheels.

I have threatened to clean it up for him to see if he can still ride it!!

Ahhh, beautiful. This was my first real bike. It cost about $1200 but I think Bugsy Beltrame charged me $999 in 1987 ish. It was the same lemon colour, although the "Nouvo" wore off very quickly. Cycling was going through another of its rejuvenations and it was an Australian made frame assembled here and was considered fairly expensive at the time. Top of the price range for an off the rack bike. The Ricardo brand was a very good solid product in its day. You see them popping up all the time. The frames seem to last forever.

It had Shimano 105 pedals, with beautiful steel toe clips that took number 12 marine thread screws from memory, so if anyone ever wants screws, go to a marine chandler. They also had nice leather straps. The pedals did aboout 30,000k before I got the money to go clipless. When you wore a pair of Specialized road shoes with them, they were as good as clipless. Better for me as I was doing a lot of touring.

The white handlebat tape was very good, it lasted forever, a good 2 years. SIS gearing on the downtube was very smooth, everything on it was Shimano 105. It was a very good groupset that was worth around $700 at the time here from memory. The bottom bracket wasnt sealed so the water ate though that pretty quickly but that was the technology of the day.

The saddle was made of a one piece molded rubber with Ricardo written on the back in white. It was very comfortable. You are able to insert lugs into the triangle above the rear drop outs to fit a pack rack.

I loved this bike, it clocked up well over 150,000k. The Biopace chain rings were super cool and I believe to this day that they worked. They lasted about 15,000k before looking like sharks teeth and slipping. I went for the Look red clipless pedals and mavic MA40 rims from memory in the end, I should know, they are still on the bike!!! so is the saddle, I love it, Im so used to it. All terrains, all weather, every state in the country, I know its reliable, I can trust it.

Yes I still have her. The frame was badly sand blasted in the 1990s with coarse grit and powder coated a horrible blue but that meant I could find it in a crowd and the head stem gear replaced. The frame is as good as new and it has seen some beltings I can assure you. The seat post and saddle are original as are the brakes and front derailleur. Gear levers original too. Crank arms are orinal too I think. The real derailleur was stood on so I had to replace it and of couorse, numerous chain rings over the years and rear clusters. I would love to find a set of NOS Biopace one day.

I still ride it. With the 15mm tyres pumped up to 160 it goes like a rocket. I used to love its original gearing, might have been 56/11 or something. It was so well set up it was easy to change gears on the downtube without missing a beat going uphill in a pack. The tyres have been on it for ten years, kevlar whatsit, bever had a problem or a puncture touch wood.

The frame Tang 2, remains remakrably light weight and when its assembled, its weight still gives modern bikes a run for their money.

It came with factory fitted white bidon cages and a little tool bag for under the saddle. It came with caged bearings that I swapped in the shop for loose ones.

$1200 full retail at the time, I think I would pay 3 grand now if I could find a mint one. I miss the paint job and the biopace.

Back then a grand bought 50 slabs, now those 50 would cost you two grand. So in todays money, it would still be a superior product.

The only thing I want more than a new Nouvo is a NOS pair of Duegi Intercooler shoes. I still have mine from the era but they are a bit small now. They are still perfect though, a few stitchings and regluings but thats all. They have been through the works for over 20 years, wet, dry, wet for a fortnight, baked in the Aussie sun. They have faded in colour. They were jet black, electric blue and fire engine red new, the hottest and most expensive shoes the Italians made. They have built in reflectors in the heels and tabs that to this day stand out at 500 metres like no other. A built in pair of flashing red lights that should be compulsory in all bike shoes.

Kangaroo skin, Buffalo hide, Kevlar, Arcylic and with good heels. $360 in australia in the 1980s, $120 in Australia imported from the back of Bicycling Weekly magazine, we were getting flogged back then.

So that is my talke of the Ricardo. I will post some pics on the weekend.

[The Fixer]

A nice little original '86 Ricci 'Medallion' which I have the opportunity to score for very little dollahs.

A mate had one of these, new, and is interested in this one if I rebuild it.. but I might keep...dunno.

That Nuovo looks lovely!!!

[calmlikewind]

hey guys im a newbie to this site and im looking for a bike to commute to uni, can anyone tell me if this is worth it's price and what i should look out for?

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/largs-ba ... 1032146802" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ldrcycles]

hey guys im a newbie to this site and im looking for a bike to commute to uni, can anyone tell me if this is worth it's price and what i should look out for?

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/largs-ba ... 1032146802" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That would be a good commuter, but WAY overpriced. It looks like just a basic hi-ten frame (note that they can occasionally actually be alright, but usually they are heavy and ride poorly), it's not in great shape and steel rims are the kiss of death. I wouldn't pay more than a couple of redbacks for that thing, and even that is generous. I would also recommend against the Maxxis Detonator tyres it has, I've found them to be very susceptible to punctures, though I know other people who like them.