Can you tell me anything about this skip find?

Hi,

I've just found a retro road bike in the bins outside my flat! It appears to be in OK nick depsite it's apparent age. It is an Emmelle and has Alpine 10 written on the frame. The back brake needs some work and a gear cable is missing. With a bit of attention I reckon I can get it back on the road in an ok state.

What I'd like to know is if this bike is any good? Should I spend a bit of money on it doing it up - so far its cost me nothing seeing as I found it! What year would this bike be from?

Cheers for any help you can give me.

Pete

Emmelle were generally considered to be a low end producer, all bog standard steel frames of no particular note in my humble opinion
I would spent as little as possible to get it rideable, if it goes then great you got yourself a virtually free bike, if planning on selling it on it probably isn't worth very much to be honest unless someone has put upgraded parts on it which i doubt.

Thanks for the speedy reply and the info. I had heard a few things about Emmelle not being great and this confirms it. I reckon its not gonna take much to get it going - I was cyclying it around the car park the other day and it felt fine -

It is stuck to one gear at the moment but can sort that out and adjust the brakes a bit then clean it up and I reckon its a goer

And it looks pretty cos its a retro white paint job!

Sounds like a perfect pub bike and one you can leave chained up without losing sleep about it getting stolen

Pete,

Treat the old girl with a bit of respect though! - I've just seen one go for seventy odd quid on the fleabay without breaking sweat. Bit of spit and polish and it could be paying for a couple of nights out as well as getting you home from them.

Good work btw - I am well jealous. Still keep turning up old doors and rotten carpet in every skip I check.

Thanks for the advice...I will treat her with respect her age deserves

I think she's pretty old - the gear lever is down on the frame, and the tape on the handle bars is kinda old clear plasticy stuff that looks like its starting to degrade a bit. Is there anyway I can date it? I cant find anything when I search for Emmelle Alpine 10.

27x1 1/4" tyres by any chance? Sounds like the basic sort of seventies low end "racer". No problem with that though if all you want is a working hack.

The trick with bikes like that is no to spend much money on them. If you can get it in working shape without spending on anything more than consumables then you'll be a happy bunny. The trouble starts when you end up spending a fortune on tyres, brake blocks, cables, chain, bar tape, tyres, bearings and so on. If you're not careful you end up spending more than the bike is worth just on getting it on the road. The main thing is to remember that it's a low end bike and so you should fit low end parts. No point putting £30 tyres on a £30 bike.

You can often buy cheapo bits from places you wouldn't expect. For things like cables, tyres, brake blocks try something like your local Wilkinson's store. You'd be surprised.

Good luck with it.