Sat Jan 31, 2015
I spotted this, and knew I had to get it, a low profile track bike which I was in my size. This was the ad’s picture. It didn’t come with a seat post nor cranks as the owner moved them between this and his normal track bike. This was a standard 700c rear wheel with a 650c fork and front wheel. I decided to make it legal for use by chucking on a 700c fork and wheel.
The seller, Mr R. Edwards ordered this frame through the shop back in Nov/Dec 1989, made from Reynolds 531, and received in in early January 1990. Paint scheme is the team colours of the Hills Wheelers, the seller’s club. The green is supposed to be grey, but the painter stuffed up. Trained with it a couple times, and rode it in the qualifiers of the 4km state title pursuit on the Friday night. He unfortunately did not make it to the top 8, due to being overgeared, which Jim agreed as he was there that night too. Since then, he took it to Merrylands for a couple laps, and it has been sitting in his garage for the past 20 odd years, partly due to the changes in the UCI ruling, and mainly due to family commitments.
I noticed no one had a specific date on when funny bikes were banned by the UCI. So I did some research to find out. Watching some pursuit races on Youtube, it seems funny bikes were used up to the 96 Olympics and track champs. Couldn’t find anyone using them from 97 onwards. So with further searching, it looks like it was 1998 when the two wheels had to be the same size. The 8th October 1996 Lugano Charter, which the UCI adopted, states that cycling is a sport which relies on the athletes, rather than the equipment. The 97 rules reflected that charter. So the main changes were a triangular frame, and 25mm min/80mm max dimensions for the tubing sizes.That basically meant the end of the superbike era. I believe it wasnt until the week from 13.7.98 – 19.7.98, that the ruling on wheel sizes was that they had to be of equal diameter. This was stated in the UCI News Week 29 Newsletter, which is the earliest mention of that rule that I could find. Im not sure when the rules regarding the configuration of the frame were around, but since at least 2000, the rules stated that the horizontal slope of the top tube must not exceed 16cm in difference, as well as a straight line must be able to pass through each tube. This meant that the curving tubes of some funny bikes were illegal, and some of the larger funny bikes wouldve had a slope greater than 16cm. My bike comes very close to the limit, standing at 14cm with the 650c wheel, and now 10cm with the 700c wheel and fork. These rules were created to return everyone to a level playing field, not due to the bikes being dangerous.
Anyway, as I took it out of the car, I spotted that the right seatstay was cracked. 😦
Wed Feb 25, 2015
So Geoff Scott to the rescue again, and got that crack rebrazed. I got the frame back on Wed morning, and got it built up with spare bits ready for training that night. I wanted to at least get to ride it as a proper funny bike once. I wasnt allowed to train with the others on it, as the coach thought that they were banned due to being dangerous. Plus drops were required, as if I were to use bull horns, they’d be the first things to stab into the rider in front. Note: I was wearing an invisible helmet. 8) And wow, what a position it puts you in. It pretty much feels as if I’m heading downhill all the time.
Cleaned it up, and got it ready for painting, which turned out really well. The new yellow is a touch brighter than the old yellow, but with time, the paint should age nicely, and possibly end up matching even better.
While I was at it, I asked for a 700c track fork, and he dropped off a Jim built Columbus fork too. This was hard to paint match. The front end of the bike would’ve been a nice pure white originally, but over the past 25 years the clear has yellowed, and the white is more of a cream looking colour. I ended up with a very slightly brighter shade of white, but it should age nicely.
So I ended up with this as a semi temporary build. Basically all the parts came off the Hopkins and over to this. I am planning on running a standard stem, but ran into issues with my Nitto which hit the Columbus ridges inside the short steerer. Ill most likely scab the shortened Nitto from my Cadex, and put it in this bike.
Sat Mar 28, 2015
I was invited to ride in the vintage track race at the 2015 Sydney Classic Bicycle Show. So I brought the Jim Bundy out with a HED disc wheel and a Zipp 3000 tri spoke front wheel where I managed to place third.
VillaVelo 