August 2009 Archives

This was a very nice surprise I stumbled onto via a Craigslist ad.  With this picture:...and the words Cannondale loaded touring bicycle.  It turns out the bike was not only my size, but in remarkably great condition with complete upgrades of all running components (Deore, etc.) and a full set of racks, panniers, a couple alternate-gearing rear gear sets, a 6-speed era shimano freewheel tool and a new chain.  I will update this with more information as I gather it, but I'm looking foward to putting this bike through its intended paces doing some light touring this fall. 

I believe this bike started out as a 1990 T400, but with virtually all the components being changed, it's hard to tell for certain.  As photographed, it's geared like a goat;  it was set up for some serious loaded touring in the Colorado Rockies and parts of Canada.

Finding a road bike for someone who is 5' or under is not necessarily a simple task.  The task is even further complicated when one doesn't really want to plop down $600 or whatever on one of the nice,new 24" wheel junior road bikes made by Trek, Felt and whoever else.   I was delighted when a 47cm classic, lugged steel Faggin frame showed up on the local Craigslist.  Well, to be fair, it was a frame, fork, seat post, brakes and bottom bracket.  Since the bottom bracket is Italian threaded, having a nice one there to simply rebuild was handy.  The fork had been replaced due to a mishap with the previous owner.  So, the fork it came with (which is the one on it now) is a little goofy since it's cut long for the headset.  It's also made for 27" wheels, so I figure for now I will leave it as it is and wait to find a nice chrome 700c fork that I can cut to fit properly if need be.  The fork does not accomodate recessed brake mounting nuts.   When I brought the bike home, I stuck the wheels it was going to use on it and it looked like this:

 After patiently waiting its turn in the project queue, the Faggin re-emerged looking like this:
I had a 1993 Specialized Allez with a full RSX100 group to donate the wheelset and running gear.  The appropriately narrow handlebar came from a 1976 Fuji (which was a 58cm bike, oddly enough).  The seat was my son's selection and, obviously I suppose, the fit is still "just barely" there and thus the low seatpost.  Here are some detail shots of the frame.  This is a really beautifully constructed frame and it is fully chromed beneath the paint.  I do not know what kind of steel tubing it has, but there is no doubting the quality.