Cleland Aventura no19 Frame and Bars

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370929043329? ... 1423.l2649

Description from the Auction:

"cleland advetura highpath off road bike frame no 19 rare piece of cycling history here we have a rare piece of pre mountain bike cycling history i have included a link to a site with more information"

http://clelandcycles.wordpress.com/history/

"this cleland is in good original conditon and is totally rideable as i was riding it today fitted with front and rear sturmey archer drum brakes shimano deore xt rear mech it even has its original nokia rear tyre fitted brooks saddle etc etc any thing you need to know please ask the front brake looks as though it has had a stady bar added to the front brake as its in red not black see pics i'm not sure how their frame numbering worked but this is no 19 so it may be an early one"

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In reality only the frame, forks, handlebars and probably the bottom bracket internals are original on this bike. Other components are more modern replacements including the stem, headset and wrong size 700c wheels and tyres. All Cleland Aventuras were originaly sold with 650b Nokia tyres and French Leleu hub brakes. Sturmey Archer' Elite drum brakes were never original equipment on Aventuras and were not yet available when this bike was made circa 1983. This explains the ill fitting red reaction arm on the front brake. The bike is also missing its original 'Bash Plate', 'Chain Guard' and mudguards. Clelands were never actually supplied with Brooks saddles, though many owners did retrofit them.

The frame looks to be in reasonable condition with its original black epoxy powder coat and original Decals. It appears not to have any sign of repair to the top of the seat tube where so many of these frames cracked due to stress on the un-reinforced tube. This bike should always be used with an extra long seat pin so as to minimise the chances of a future seat-tube failure.

How easy (or difficult!) would it be to obtain the original parts, particularly the hubs?

Cheers,
Andrew

andyz":318tv0fs said:

How easy (or difficult!) would it be to obtain the original parts, particularly the hubs?

Cheers,
Andrew

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Hi Andrew.
Because Cleland Aventuras were mostly made from 'off the shelf' parts finding correct parts is not impossible. The hubs came from French Mopeds and getting similar hubs is easy though getting freewheel compatible hubs with the correct fittings for the frame braze ons may be very tricky indeed. I do not currently know of a source for these hubs. Though finding modern 650b rims will be easy it may be very difficult to find the original Super Champion rims or even other age related 650b alloy rims.

You would also need:
*A first generation Shimano DeoreXT (Stag Head) groupset and brake levers.
*replacement period: seat post, stem, mudguards, headset and grips.
*Modified TA long triple chainset with teeth removed from the outer ring to form a guard.
*To fabricate the missing bash plate and chain guard. (I can provide patterns).
*And maybe original Nokia Hakkapelliita 650b tyres that have not been manufactured since 1993.

Below is an image showing an original spec Cleland Avenura
Apart that is for the Brooks saddle. Because Clelands were originally supplied with cheap Iscaselle sprung saddles.



Graham.

The Leleu hubs can sometimes be found often on Leboncoin from France.

Built Motobecane wheels go for around 30 Euros + Shipping, but as Graham says, the freewheel versions of the rear hub are rarer. Generally they have a larger sprocket fitting for a motorbike transmission. Look for the mobylette/cyclomoteur version, which has the screw-on freewheel.
Also hole counts can be as low as 28 holes, 36 is more common. I've not seen more holes for a while.

Log in as if you're anywhere in France, then pull down the Regions tab and select Toute la France for a national listing.

All the best,

OK, it might need a whole load of bits to make it orginal, but its mine!!!

Nice one Andrew, quite brave taking that on but it wil be worth it. Where abouts will this sit in the queue?

raidan73":jwpp0ela said:

Nice one Andrew, quite brave taking that on but it wil be worth it. Where abouts will this sit in the queue?

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Don't know yet, I might just ride it as-is to start with. It has some really ugly cheapo bits like the stem and brake levers which may have to go asap though!

Well in Andy, good luck with it!

Congratulations Andrew, a good price considering that I paid £100 for a damaged frameset back in 1984. It will be fun tracking down suitable parts and I am happy to help and provide details and photos. Also I could make and send some cardboard templates and specifications for the missing 'Bash Plate' and chain-guard.

The bike as it is currently configured will almost certainly ride less well than it should. In particular the excessive forward extension of the stem will make the steering vague and effect the control of the bike on hill climbs. The 700c wheels will reduce rear mud clearance whilst increasing the already high bottom bracket height. Not being able to put your feet on the ground whilst sitting in the saddle is quite normal with Clelands and you will get used to this and learn new ways of getting off the bike in an emergency that are made possible by the ultra upright riding position and high bars.

The bike was designed for use with 2" wide, 650b low pressure tyres fitted to narrow rims. Such modern tyres are readily available and are much lighter and faster than the original Nokia' Hakkapaliittas. To run as intended at low pressure they need to be fitted with extra wide inner-tubes. Only then will the full traction and capability of the design be realised. Remember that it is not actually a mountain bike and is not intended to handle or be ridden like one. It is in essence an alternative take on what an off-road bike should be and do.

Also, the the inner gear cable resting on the bottom bracket shell should be covered with a short length of outer Bowden sleeving. Teflon sleeved outer should work best.

GrahamJohnWallace":vdthmup6 said:

Also, the the inner gear cable resting on the bottom bracket shell should be covered with a short length of outer Bowden sleeving. Teflon sleeved outer should work best.

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I thought that looked all wrong!

Many thanks for the offers of help - I will definitely take you up on the templates etc.
I will be collecting it next weekend, can't wait!

Many thanks,
Andrew