Parts , bikes and project bikes

[SteelNipple]

1968-1972 DBS Super Sport badget as Fennia(old latin word for Finland).
Nervex Professional lugs, crown. Reynolds 531 frame and fork. Huret dropouts. 27.0mm or 26.8mm Titan seat tube.
But this one had 144 BCD Campagnolo Strada crank and Gran Sport rear derailleur like on the better Competition model with same frame.
Got the original 630mm wheels with Nisi rims, Maillard hubs. Brakes were Weinmann Vainqueur 750.
Missing the original Titan stem and bars. The bike was somewhat a barn find, forgotten in a barn, covered with dust and droppings. Custom build for the family that owned the bike shop.
Before I went to pick up the bike I asked if the seller(grandson of the founder of the shop) would still have the original cockpit, he told me that in the 80s when he still used the bike, he wanted to swap the bars to upright bars and promised to look around if he could find them. And when I went to get the bike he said he went to the gas/service station that had sold moped and bicycle parts and whatnot, where he bought the new bars 40 years ago, but to his suprise the building was not there anymore... I don't know if he was really joking, I think their shop still existed at that time so why not get the bars there.
He said that in the 70s they had the first titanium bike in Finland, probably a Speedwell Titalite, in the shop window and that he knew where the bike was now, but it was not for sale.

 

[SteelNipple]

1996 or 1998 Marin Larkspur. 53x58cm, 55cm C-T. Wheelbase is 110cm.
"Marin Custom Triple Butted Cromo Tange" -tubing. Frame takes 27.0mm seat tube.



2" mtb tires fit nicely (front in pic is 35mm).

 

[SteelNipple]

Got a new bike today

Plane in the picture is related to the construction of the bike


Maybe @juvela can guess what it is

I will reveal the bike if nobody guesses what it might be in a reasonable time

 

[juvela]

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wonder if letter L stands for Linkoping, home of Swedish Air Museum

...perchance an MCB product...

have seen them employ three badges: Crescent, Monark & Skandia


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[SteelNipple]

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...perchance an MCB product...

have seen them employ three badges: Crescent, Monark & Skandia


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flygstål

 

[SteelNipple]

Yes, a Monark no.303 Blå Blixten, Blue Lightning
From late 50s. Frame is fillet brazed, tubes are left over stock? from Swedish fighter plane production during the WW2.

Was lookin the local online marketplace to see what prices are for old bikes because I need to sell some... And of course I saw this ad "old racing bike". Two poorly lit pictures from non-drive side, but right away I could tell that its a Monark Blue Ligthning with Stronglight crank , but above all with Titan stem and bars

The ad for this had been up for 4-5 monts already and I was sure it had been sold, but for my suprise it was still for sale.
The seller said it's her fathers who raced with it in the 60s, but he's old and has dementia and he's moving to a nursing home so they need to get rid of some things.
So I went to see the bike. To this block of flats and to the underground parking, in the corner of the parking hall, a small service room with couple of bikes inside. But where's the one? The seller asks... The bike had walked away!
She calls to the property manager, but he's on vacation for some time. So don't know if its been stolen, gone to trash or relocated. A month later I got a call that the bike is still there and I can get it if I still want to.

Stronglight Competition No. 55 cottered steel crank, but sadly the original chainrings are gone.
Also missing the stock wheels with Campagnolo hubs.


Bi-plane fork and Universal Extra brakes


Campagnolo dropouts (bent mouth), Campagnolo Gran Sport RD


Missing the original Campy push rod GS/S/Valentino FD (Shimano fd-ty20?)


Levers also bent for function?

 

[SteelNipple]

Well it was just the added chainguard that got me sad
Lets hope the threads for the rings on the spider are still good

 

[juvela]

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expect a metric shell

bent shift levers

campag shift levers of this era have this problem chronic

they have not eno' meat at the "neck" and nearly always get bent

it took years but in due course Tullio et Cie eventually recognized the weakness and added some "meat"

interesting to see the cottered three-piece chainset rather than one of the Briga one-piece fellows

headset may be Agrati - MCB employed them on a number of models, in company literature they were sometimes referred to by house name

Union pedals later than cycle

as you are likely aware, Titan stem has unique clamp size of 27.0mm, needs to be kept in mind if one contemplates bar change

anterior hub appears to exhibit Gnutti skewer

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[SteelNipple]

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bent shift levers

campag shift levers of this era have this problem chronic

they have not eno' meat at the "neck" and nearly always get bent

it took years but in due course Tullio et Cie eventually recognized the weakness and added some "meat"

Did not know that, thanks!

interesting to see the cottered three-piece chainset rather than one of the Briga one-piece fellows

Fauber?

Union pedals later than cycle

Sadly yes.

as you are likely aware, Titan stem has unique clamp size of 27.0mm, needs to be kept in mind if one contemplates bar change

Thats why it caught my eye while scrolling through the local online marketplaces bicycle ads. I wanted to get Titan cockpit because of the DBS Super Sport I posted earlier is missing one.

anterior hub appears to exhibit Gnutti skewer

Didn't really look at it, but I think it was a Maillard with the plastic wingnut, I think the hubs are Normandy.


By the way your username sounds oddly Finnish so I googled it and it's either a Swedish gluten free bread sold in UK or a somewhat uncommon Finnish surname...

 

[juvela]

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yes, front hub appears Normandy Sport, the oval flange holes mark it as later than cycle by some years

lugless bottom bracket shell may be NERVEX Ref. 3300

nice that it is late fifties, that makes it a "MONARK MONARK" made in the Varberg plant; IIRC the year of the merger was anno domini MCMLX

workers leaving Varberg plant at end of shift MCMLVI



an iron dated by caretaker as MCMLX -



machine dated by human as MCMLIX -



didst thee knowest that there are/were amazonian Monarks?
knowledge of the Lusitanian tongue needed to operate?



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