Hard Rubbish/Flea market finds

[floody]

Original dealer decal





Picked this up from the local tip shop, $50 with no seat and some crappy wheels. Chucked a pair of lightly used 90s Campy Eurus 20 wheels and a spare Specialized Toupe on it straight away, the first pic is from the day I picked it up. At some point it was sold as frame only and had lost its 600 tricolour 8-speed group to end up with a 300EX group on it when I bought it, I fitted a pair of old 600 tricolour brake levers, current 105 derailleur I had spare and a pair of 8 speed downtube shifters, plus some round alloy chainrings in place of the pressed steel 300EX biopace ones. Also swapped the unbrando bar and stem for period Cinelli stem and criterium bars.
I did a few thousand kms on it then gave it to my dad. Its a super harsh ride (but utterly flex free under power, a real sprinters' bike) but handles nicely. Only thing which worries me is that now 16 year old Kinesis carbon fork...I'd very much like to replace it for him with a newer fork. Also would like to find a 600 8-speed groupset for it.

[vaeske]

that is such a nice pickup...yeah would seem "harsh" but quite interested in seeing how it rides.

[munga]

[ldrcycles]

+1

[frailer5]

Wow.... Would the vintage be late 80s/early 90s? Before the carbon craze/Taiwan ascendency/Specialized & Trek manufacturing StateSide?... I really like high-end bikes of that era/origin. You must have been an early bird on that one.

[munga]

i'm guessing early/mid-90's, up to '97

[floody]

Its a 1996, the last year Specialized manufactured in the USA, I think they were only doing the M2/S-Works frames in the states by then. I was killing time at the tipshop at 8am in the morning, still very pleased with that find.

[munga]

i have an s-works team edition mtb. must be about the same year as your roadie.






wasn't found at any shop for crazy prices!

[dayne]

Some early allez were built in Japan, some ltd ones even by rensho.

[RicardoBushbike]

Thanks for the tip, i can guarantee it isn't cromo, it weighs a tonne.

It's a shame. I picked up a Bush Bike just like it recently. Wasn't until I took it to my local bike shop to start the rebuild that I found out it was pig steel. I thought they were all the same, but there are some low speccers out there. Good spare parts though. Look for the Bush Bike GS model - it's a great bike to ride.

[BurtO]

Just picked this up today from tip shop ,1987 Mongoose Californian, I think its a good find , so I might give it a resto and see how it turns out. New bars for sure, dont know if the seat is original, anybody got tips for this project?



Cheers
BurtO

[floody]

Pork Chop BMX is a good parts source. Alexscycle have 80s style kashimax plastic saddles in stock but you could even run something like a Turbo and be reasonably period correct.
Black ano Dia Compe MX repro brake would look good on the back with matching lever. Period correct bar choices are huge for something like this, anything chrome would suit (I'd go s&m slams or powerlite powerwings).
Looks clean and original so you could probably OA dip and re-polish the frame and fork to fix pitting and re-decal it, bung on some new gumwall Comp IIIs (even colour matched ones to the decals), find some period grips on ebay (I'd go blue AMEs), find a nice front plate, and have a fun rig to cruise in summer or even race retro series on.

You've got nearly everything there which would make a resto expensive and hard otherwise (e.g. wheelset, stem etc) so its a good starting point.

OZBMX is a good site for info and classifieds.

[Slow6]

great find burto, might want to check on a bmx forum old mongeese can go for silly money.

[ldrcycles]

I know next to nothing about BMX and even i know that's a good find. Same age as me too .

[dayne]

If your not a BMX guy be very carefull restoring it.
You may do things that will lower its worth like painting it.
BMX guy's are the fussiest out there.
My opinion is if its not your thing sell it and buy some thing that is.
Its a nice bike i would hate to see it powder coated or some thing.

[HappyHumber]

Not even out crawling yesterday, but up for a ride in the Perth hills and I came across a nice 57cm square Tange Infinity frame. No obvious branding or even serial numbers apart from the tubing sticker. I'd say a generic Japanese example from the day.

Some serviceable bits on it including 105 7sp F+R Ders, oddly Golden Arrow brakes (may have been a retro fit - as bridge & fork are recessed). The RX-100 brifters are presentable enough with still smooth action. I reckon with a fresh battery & clean of the contacts the Cat-eye MITY3 computer could still be a goer. You blokes can keep your Garmins

Stripped it all apart from the invariably stuck alloy seatpost yesterday afternoon. Reasonably light. It's the first Tange Infinity I've come across. I'm a little bit concerned by some paint bubbling around the cable guides and directly under the TT. I am hoping it's just surface and not structural. The original assemblers must have packed the BB grease with an ice cream scoop; there was no shortage of it when wiping it out, with plenty of overflow into in the downtube.

What's your guys general take on trying to get some confidence with tell tale signs of rust? Sand back around the affected areas - see how deep it is?

[BRLVR.v2]

Sand back around the affected areas - see how deep it is?

That or wire brush on end of drill.

[LugNut]

There is a hard rubbish Facebook group in Melbourne where members share current hard rubbish locations and their great finds, I suggest joining it if you live in Melbourne as it's a good resource and pretty interesting to follow. I go and check it out whenever it's nearby to me, solely because I once remember a member posting a bike he had found looking for information - it was a 90s Paconi racer, Kevin Wingham built, Columbus SLX tubing and full Shimano 600 SIS groupset, and to top it off a perfect set of Campagnolo Atlanta '96 wheels! The guy was completely clueless. He ended up getting a few hundred for it on eBay. I've also seen someone pull out a nicely specced Cecil Walker.

Anyway, here's my best hard rubbish gem, a '75 Malvern Star Dragstar! Gone to a new home now.

[Wazza]

I was given this to save it from the tip. 58cm sq, 27.2 seat post, Tange Prestige frame. Forks are with it as well.






pretty good find I think
Waz

[CurbsideCowboy]

Just picked this up today from tip shop ,1987 Mongoose Californian, I think its a good find , so I might give it a resto and see how it turns out. New bars for sure, dont know if the seat is original, anybody got tips for this project?



Cheers
BurtO

If you want I'll take her off you hands. Or if you do restore it I'll give you 20 for the bars. Cheers!

[vaeske]

I was given this to save it from the tip. 58cm sq, 27.2 seat post, Tange Prestige frame. Forks are with it as well.



pretty good find I think
Waz

it'll look pretty smicky once you've cleaned it up and given it a wash! Throw it on the thread where you can trade your frames... i'm sure there will be someone with something similar to trade with you.

[hitchhiker]

I was given this to save it from the tip. 58cm sq, 27.2 seat post, Tange Prestige frame. Forks are with it as well.



pretty good find I think
Waz

Nothing wrong with that frame, good work on saving it from the tip. I was given a similar looking Centurion Cavaletto last year (Tange Infinity I think) and passed it on as it was way too big for me

I'll usually grab any decent frame I find regardless of size, someone always wants the frames that are too big for me.

Grabbed this Superlite off the side of the road earlier in the year and recently gave it to a tall mate looking to make a single speed

[Wazza]

Here we go again, a mate in Sydney had a next door neighbour who was going to throw out an old Centurian and I couldn't let it happen.

More details and photo's to come

Waz

[frailer5]

Any level of Centurion would be a shame to see as landfill. She be a big'un, that one.

[discrepancy]

Cruising through malvern the other day and saw this piece of 80's work. No idea what the frame is, I have looked all over it for some kind of clue (even pulled off the bb cable guide to see if there was a serial number) but no luck. Nothing on the dropouts either.

The only clue I have is that the seatpost bolt looks to be a period Zeus.

Other bits include suntour cyclone derailleurs, ofmega headset, dia-compe breaks. Rims are rigida and the saddle is a selle Mundialite. Cranks are sakae sx. Pedals and bar are Japanese. hubs are pelissier 1001. Freewheel is a suntour Winner.












Any thoughts? I am guessing (from an incredibly low knowledge base) that it's a Japanese copy of a euro. Set me straight my learned friends.