Repco Appreciation Society

[schuberj]

She's a ripper. Brave choice to go back to the (correct) pink outers too. I like it. Two D-locks should keep you out of trouble.

Thanks

Actually, one of the guys at work discovered a 20mm motorbike lock for $30 at the local motorbike shop that is long enough to go through both wheels and the frame, so there are about 10 of them in the bike parking area now!

Had to go with the pink, I think it really highlights the decals and as you mentioned, is just how they were! You may not have noticed the pink cable ends I went with as well BTW, you must be the world's foremost collector of Vertexes now with your most recent pick up?

[munga]

...BTW, you must be the worlds foremost collector of Vertexs now with the most recent pick up?

that's a novel thought!
just waiting to find a vicenza in 53 and i've got the full set. (sorry cray-)

[jesse_wg]

...

I truly believe that 1988 was the absolute pinnacle of Repco bicycles, with the later models moving to a mismatch of Suntour parts, cheap looking transfers and multiple fluoro colours that ironically seem to fit more with the 80s than the 90s they come from. Once again, this is according to my very subjective opinion however

Hmm it seems that I got the dodgy one. In all I'm super happy with the Eurosport Tri-A, even if it is pink. My only gripe is that I went to replace the stem as I need to get something a little longer/higher. After having trouble trying to fit the longer stem in I realised that the downtube hasn't actually been cleanly finished off and protrudes a little bit into the steerer tube...

[3type3]

Here are a few of my treasured Reppies folks. Will endeavour to shoot them somewhere nicer, and with something better than a smartphone, when the work monster relents a little and gives me a free weekend.


Roller on the right is my Ratty Tri A. Started life as 1987/88 fuchsia/pearl-white Eurosport Tri A frame covered in rust and chips. Nasties sanded back to bare metal, frame clear-coated to preserve what's left of its patina, all components cannibalised from a spanky but way too tall 1988/89 Eurosport. Looks used but loved, which is exactly what I wanted for a rainer trainer. Now has Conti GP Classics, just gotta cable, tape and tune before I can ride.
Identical year/colour frame on the left is minty fresh and awaiting a build-up. Possibly with Dura-ace 7400/03 STI, maybe Campag Athena silver, and with an emphasis on phwoar. Why two? You can never have enough pink bikes.


1988/89 Victory Tri A in limited edition smokey green/pearl-white. All original, from the tape to the Panaracer tyres. So nice to ride.


1987/88 Victory Tri A. All original like the other Vic but on another level condition wise. Tape, tyres, toe-clip straps and even the braking surface on the rims all totally perfect. It's like it was ridden once and then dry stored for 25 years. Sized for the good wife, but not so small I can't fold myself up and have a go.

There are others in the collection, not the least the lovely 1987/88 Olympic 12 (more pink!) that drew me to this forum and will be arriving soon (to complement an 1986/87 Oly - yep, more pink). And still I lust after an acqua/pearl white 1987/88 Eurosport Tri A (my fav colour scheme from my fav year, but oh so elusive) and a Vertex. Any Vertex.

Good thing these Repcos are cheap and I don't buy modern bikes any more.

[singlespeedscott]

A nice collection.

[Stepr]

I had note of those smoke green n white Tri As was a nice ride.

[cray-]

...BTW, you must be the worlds foremost collector of Vertexs now with the most recent pick up?

that's a novel thought!
just waiting to find a vicenza in 53 and i've got the full set. (sorry cray-)

All good, I should've grabbed that TT here in Perth. If it gets listed on Gumtree a third time I might have to re-consider his price.

...

I truly believe that 1988 was the absolute pinnacle of Repco bicycles, with the later models moving to a mismatch of Suntour parts, cheap looking transfers and multiple fluoro colours that ironically seem to fit more with the 80s than the 90s they come from. Once again, this is according to my very subjective opinion however

Hmm it seems that I got the dodgy one. In all I'm super happy with the Eurosport Tri-A, even if it is pink. My only gripe is that I went to replace the stem as I need to get something a little longer/higher. After having trouble trying to fit the longer stem in I realised that the downtube hasn't actually been cleanly finished off and protrudes a little bit into the steerer tube...

Very subjective indeed, many consider the introduction of the unicrown fork as the beginning of the Repco decline, but hey I may also be slightly biased.

[jesse_wg]

3type3 - I'm jealous

[munga]

yep, quite a nice set of repco's. you could start a 1988 bike shop!

[3type3]

yep, quite a nice set of repco's. you could start a 1988 bike shop!

That's kind of the plan Munga, if you're taking in man-cave terms.

[schuberj]

I have many times looked at the Fuchsia and Pearl White Eurosports in times when I thought I would never be able to get a Smokey Fuchsia one. I never quite went down the path for a few reasons, probably the main being that they generally had round handlebars, although I noticed yours has the "ergos". Were they original? I guess they were just slightly before my time too, although that definitely is a wicked collection!

...many consider the introduction of the unicrown fork as the beginning of the Repco decline, but hey I may also be slightly biased.

I may have mentioned this before, but back in the day we were a bit jealous of Olympic 12 riders with their unicrown forks!

yep, quite a nice set of repco's. you could start a 1988 bike shop!

I think I must be working on the '89 version

[3type3]

I have many times looked at the Fuchsia and Pearl White Eurosports in times when I thought I would never be able to get a Smokey Fuchsia one. I never quite went down the path for a few reasons, probably the main being that they generally had round handlebars, although I noticed yours has the "ergos". Were they original? I guess they were just slightly before my time too, although that definitely is a wicked collection!

Nah, the Ratty Tri A's bars and all other components were cannibalised from a too-big 1988/89 Eurosport, a smokey fuchsia one funnily enough. So in that respect - and the Araya rims being anodized grey rather than bronze - she doesn't conform totally to originality. But it's close!
Another thing I've noticed from poring over both 1987/88 and 1988/89 Eurosports is the former have rear dropout adjuster screws and the latter don't. Suggests Repco might have already looking for ways to cut costs on the Eurosport by the 1988/89 model year. Contrastingly, the 1988/89 Victorys were a big step up on the previous model year with their full Exage Sport rather than mix-and-match Shimano/Diacompe/Sugino combo. I've heard stories of Shimano playing hardball in its attempt for market dominance around this time, taking a short-term profitability hit to get bike brands over to a full Shimano setup in the long term. Could explain this inconsistency of Tri A development during these years.
Either way, I'm with the general consensus here that 1988/89 is probably where things started to trail off for Repco, though I have to admit I wouldn't turn down a 1989/90 Eurosport like the one shown here just recently, unicrown forks and all. Must be cos it's pink.

[schuberj]

Either way, I'm with the general consensus here that 1988/89 is probably where things started to trail off for Repco, though I have to admit I wouldn't turn down a 1989/90 Eurosport like the one shown here just recently, unicrown forks and all. Must be cos it's pink.

Interestingly the '89 model unicrown forks are CR-MO compared to Mangalloy for the '88 model so there was at least some improvement. I can't say ever liked the jump from standard silver to blue 105 components though.

[The Fixer]

Still having no luck whatsoever finding info on my red '74 Repco pictured on page 92.

OK, so maybe it's too 'low-end' and not 'flash' or rare enough to be of interest to most here, but it is
of interest to me to find out a bit more about it.

So, if no-one can help, can someone point me in the direction of someone who may have some info?

Can't find much at all online anywhere.

Thanks.


Mick.

[schuberj]

OK, so maybe it's too 'low-end' and not 'flash' or rare enough to be of interest to most here, but it is of interest to me to find out a bit more about it.

Whoa, don't think for a second that we are not interested. In fact a bike that old in that kind of condition is probably far rarer than many of the other bikes on here! However '74 is a long time ago and I think it is just a lot harder to get information on bikes of that era. Personally, at 1 year old at the time, I definitely can't recall any of the details of this particular model

I have tried to contact (what is left of) Repco to see if I could get information on bikes in the past but unfortunately have never received any response from them. We might just be short of people old enough to have details on these. I guess my only other suggestion would be to try some local bike shops if there are any that you know have been around for a long time.

On to Repco claims to fame, has anyone mentioned before that Sheldon Brown had a Cresta in his extensive collection of bicycles?
http://sheldonbrown.com/org/bicycle.html#repco

[3type3]

I'll second schuberj on it probably being a generational thing rather than model/era snobbery. Wasn't even alive in 1974 myself and I've also found there's a real vacuum of solid information about the company before its final 1980s flourish that is so well documented here. I'd love to know how that bike fits into the family tree!

Ah, the Cresta. Always wanted one of those so I could just ride off into the distance for any desired amount of time but it's another Repco that doesn't seem particularly easy to find, or well represented here from what I can tell. Given the frame was still Oz-built right up to its final appearance in the 1987/88 catalogue, it should more historical significance than anything from that era bar the Vertex… certainly more than the locally built-up bag of imported tubes and bits that was the rest of the range during that era (not that I don't love my Tri As, Oly 12s and Superlites). Did all of those 1980s touring folk break them with their high mileages and heavy loads?

[wqlava1]

I'll second schuberj on it probably being a generational thing rather than model/era snobbery. Wasn't even alive in 1974 myself and I've also found there's a real vacuum of solid information about the company before its final 1980s flourish that is so well documented here. I'd love to know how that bike fits into the family tree!

Ah, the Cresta. Always wanted one of those so I could just ride off into the distance for any desired amount of time but it's another Repco that doesn't seem particularly easy to find, or well represented here from what I can tell. Given the frame was still Oz-built right up to its final appearance in the 1987/88 catalogue, it should more historical significance than anything from that era bar the Vertex… certainly more than the locally built-up bag of imported tubes and bits that was the rest of the range during that era (not that I don't love my Tri As, Oly 12s and Superlites). Did all of those 1980s touring folk break them with their high mileages and heavy loads?

3type3,
there's a blue one in excellent condition, not very used, good paint, that i saw at my local Bunnings last year. i stood there for a couple of minutes. So they are out there.

[3type3]

3type3,
there's a blue one in excellent condition, not very used, good paint, that i saw at my local Bunnings last year. i stood there for a couple of minutes. So they are out there.

I would have stood there for a couple of minutes too!

[rangersac]

Ah, the Cresta. Always wanted one of those so I could just ride off into the distance for any desired amount of time but it's another Repco that doesn't seem particularly easy to find, or well represented here from what I can tell.

I dithered over one on the bay last year because it wasn't a perfect size, but like 3type3 I've always fancied one of these for a tourer. They obviously have served their masters' well given the scarcity of second hand sales

[3type3]

...Given the frame was still Oz-built right up to its final appearance in the 1987/88 catalogue...

Should have said was claimed as being Oz-built in its final appearance in the 1987/88 catalogue. Earlier models were obviously rebadged Nishikis but by 1987/88 Repco was harping on about it "being made in Australia for Australian conditions". Only the Vertex gets a similar nationalistic plug, which makes me think there's something in it as any self-respecting PR/ad person would have leveraged the local-build angle again with other models if they could have. Tubing also changed from the 1986/87's combination of Tange No2 and No5 to Tange 900. Anyone know what was going on?

[munga]

i'll guess ricardo had something to do with it. any ricardo "cresta's" out there?

[singlespeedscott]

We'll never know until someone puts up a Cresta serial number.

[munga]

AD01251

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Vintage-Nish ... 7675.l2557" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[singlespeedscott]

AD01251

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Vintage-Nish ... 7675.l2557" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nice. To bad it isn't a 24"

[munga]

so does the 'AD' serial prefix lend any clues, scott?