Lotus racer - worth restoring?

[Normski2]

A late reply regarding the Lotus 101 Road Bike. I bought one in 1994 for a small community bike shop that I ran but it didn't sell (I think I really only got it for myself). It follows on from the 1992 Olympics Lotus 108 & the Lotus 110 road bike.
I kept it wrapped in a large polythene bag in my house for nearly 30 years, it was my size but I couldn't bring myself to use it.
Still in perfect, new condition I sold it on Gumtree not long ago.
It was a beautiful bike with a full Campagnolo Chorus 8 speed group set including the hubs.
At least I still have the catalogue which shows it was a British Eagle product from Newtown Cycle works in Wales.

 

[jchawke]

Thanks Normski2 and BOBU for the additional information/history on this bike.
I'm ashamed to say that - two years on - it is still sitting in my shed waiting for me to decide what to do with it.
I got as far as replacing the right-hand shifter (which wasn't working after many attempts to resuscitate it) - managed to get the same one second-hand.
I also made some enquiries about getting decals made; there are couple of places, but none have existing templates, and they'd all have to make new ones up based on photos and etchings I'd need to provide.
I do think the main frame probably has enough paint damage to merit a respray, but this isn't something I can do properly myself.
That's as far as I've gone for now unfortunately.
Thanks again for all of the advice and insights!

 

[Mandobob]

A late reply regarding the Lotus 101 Road Bike. I bought one in 1994 for a small community bike shop that I ran but it didn't sell (I think I really only got it for myself). It follows on from the 1992 Olympics Lotus 108 & the Lotus 110 road bike.
I kept it wrapped in a large polythene bag in my house for nearly 30 years, it was my size but I couldn't bring myself to use it.
Still in perfect, new condition I sold it on Gumtree not long ago.
It was a beautiful bike with a full Campagnolo Chorus 8 speed group set including the hubs.
At least I still have the catalogue which shows it was a British Eagle product from Newtown Cycle works in Wales.

Newtown Cycle works: a former Ernie Clements factory when he was with Falcon and then when he left them to go into business on his own!

 

[Hideki ENDO]

I recently acquired this road bike in Japan, in a disassembled state. The sleek black frame looks great with the yellow Lotus decals—they really stand out. Is it common for these decals to peel easily? The brakes have been replaced with Sachs ones, so they’re not original, but I’m eager to assemble it and take it out for a ride.

 

[Nothin-fancy]

That's a sweet bike. I've seen the Olympic funny bikes but never a Cinelli wannabe bike like that. I've only run across mass production models like the Eclair and Legend. Lotus bikes are definitely a sleeper bicycle brand that doesn't get the love they deserve.

The Lotus Legend I had was a funny bike. It was made of Columbus SL tubing with Suntour dropouts front and rear and the fork had SL blades with a Tange stamped steerer tube. It also had a relaxed geo with a wheel base on the longer side of sport geometry, which would have made it perfect for a commuter, but it had zero braze-ons for a rack and had a really tight bridge clearance and could barely run a 23c tire. It had such tight clearance that some short reach brakes were too long a reach. Almost track bike clearances.