Concorde Aquila brought back to life

It all began when I came across a rather sad-looking Concorde Aquila frame at a cycle jumble at Ripley last year.

It looked like it had seen a lot of life and come away from it second best, judging from the sorry state it was in. It had lost its forks (they went to the chromers and never came back, apparently), the paint was terrible, and the chromework was dull and suffering from mild surface corrosion.

But, looking on the bright side, it was straight and sound, the threads were good, it had no dents, the internal tubes looked in excellent condition, and it was my size. And with Columbus SL tubing and being built by Billato, it was a top-rate frame and well worth saving.

Here's what I started off with:

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The frame lay around for many months, but one day I came across a pair of Woodrup front forks that looked as if they might fit. Well, sort of. And that was the catalyst to get myself motivated andto bring this project to life.

So I got sanding and painting, and this is how it came out:

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I was fairly pleased with the way it came out, so looked out for some bits and pieces to hang off it. With plenty of period-correct machines in my little collection, I decided that this one would be built up with more modern stuff, and in particular with gears that actually work properly.

With that in mind, I looked at the ads in various forums and came across a mostly complete Campag Veloce 9-speed groupset with triple chainset and including a set of handbuilt wheels, based on Ambrosio Super Elite rims.

After a thorough clean and service, on went the Campag bits, along with Cinelli Campione del Mondo bars, a Cinelli 1A stem, Brooks Swift saddle and some old Lyotard pedals I had lying around, and here's the result:

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The revitalised Concorde Aquila rode pretty darned well, reminding me of my Ciocc Designer 84 that I once owned some years ago, and always regretted selling. No surprises about the similarity as they are effectively the same frame.

But something had to be done about the gappy front end. The Woodrup forks were originally on a tourer so had been built for mudguard clearance, and the Concorde just didn't look right, And besides, I couldn't use the Campag front brake as the forks needed a brake with a longer drop.

Having decided that the chances of finding a Ciocc front fork were pretty slim, I had began to look out for any suitable Columbus, but everything was either silly money or had too short a steerer, or both. But remarkably, no sooner had I painted the frame than a set of chrome Concorde forks came up in the classifieds in this very forum.

They were too short, but the chances of finding the correct forks to fit my 60cm frame was going to be a heck of a long shot, and a steerer tube can be lengthened. I swiftly despatched a message to JLS and a deal was struck.

When the forks arrived a few days later, I couldn't have been more pleased - they were like new and the chrome was flawless. Thanks John!

All I had to do now was to delve into my parts supplies and find an old set of scrap forks which would provide a length of steerer tube to extend the Ciocc forks.

Just like this:

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Now you might think that sticking two bits of steerer tube together might be a bit of a risky undertaking, but it's perfectly feasible if you do the job properly. Many years ago I designed and built a competition car, welding up the chassis and suspension myself. That didn't break, so I have no reason to suppose that welding up a steerer on a pushbike will be a problem.

The important thing is to prepare the tubes to be welded properly, to have everything jigged so it's all in alignment, and to use a decent welder. Oh, and of course it helps if you know how to use it.

The secret weapon is a length of 22mm copper water pipe, which fits very snugly down the two tubes. This holds the two lengths of steerer in precise alignment and, being non-ferrous, it doesn't end up being welded in there, and simply slides out after the welding process.

Here are the parts ready to be joined.

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With the Vee'd out area filled with weld, (tack-welding it first to prevent distortion) and the excess weld ground off, it looks like this.

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Here's the forks fitted to the bike. Much better, wouldn't you say?

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With the Concorde all finished, I took it out for a ride and it's a mighty impressive machine. That said, I rode my 1952 Bates the same day and was struck by how little frames have changed in so many decades, The Bates feels just as lively, it's probably just as stiff with it's 'cantiflex' 531 tubes, and the frame is actually a bit lighter than the Aquila's. The main areas of improvement since the '50s were in the gear changing and brake efficiency.

For now, I'll keep my 1980's Aquila with its 9-speed Campag setup, and I like it that way, but perhaps in the future it will get more period-correct componentry.

A couple more pictures:

Result! Looks great. Glad to see the fork where it should be.

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Great job.

A real beauty.