Raul Mesa Columbian road bike.

A couple of days ago a chap walked into

the Bookshop and asked if I buy bikes..

sometimes, I answered, what have you got?

Dunno, he replied, they are on the back of

the car, come and have a look.

Both bikes were covered in years of dust 

and grime, so difficult to assess.

 However I sort of liked the look of one of the bikes.

 and I could just make out the name Raul Mesa 

on the down tube which I had never heard of, 

and as I love a bit of bike detective work I 

couldn't resist.

Raul Mesa early in his career steering the Freskola team

motorcycle.

It turns out the Raul Mesa is the name of one of Columbia's

greatest Directeur sportif, who, after a brief career in the 
saddle found his gift for leading cycling teams 
and guided both the Cafe De Colombia and later the 
Manzana Postobón teams

to considerable success during the 1980's-90's.

Mesa with the Postobon squad.

It also turns out Raul has his own bike shop, and built bikes

under his own name and maybe at some point for the

RDM team.

All the information I have here is from the incredible

Alps and Andes Colombian cycling blog.

Here is the Raul Mesa after several hours of cleaning and

re-greasing.

A very nicely built frameset,with a almost full 

Shimano 600 RD-6207 EX group set, which dates the frame 

from around 1984-'86ish.

I am not sure what it is made of, but with the Columbus 
drop outs, and weight, probably Columbus SL.

Quite an unusual fork crown, not a profile I have seen before.

The seat stay caps also have a subtle difference of their own.

All in all a very nice machine,with a good back story

 and equipped with one of the nicest 600 group sets 

Shimano ever made in my opinion.

I will take it out for a couple of rides 

then pass it on and get back to my current vintage
English TT obsession. 

 Raul Mesa still active in Colombian cycling.

 

Roy Thame TT with O.M.A.S.

I have been obsessively  collecting after market 

component lightening items from O.M.A.S and

Cobra over the past couple of years, with the

view of building the mythical period TT bike

you might have built in the late seventies had you

the money and inclination.

This after market lightening gear was horrifically

expensive at the time, hence it's rarity today. 

Part of the O.M.A.S and Cobra collection.

Of course the big problem was finding the right frame set

to fit this gear to, it had to be something special, and

preferably a purpose built English TT bike...

When I saw a late seventies Roy Thame TT in my

size, well I knew the search was over.

I will expand on the Thame history when I have finished 

the build, for now let's look at the crazy set of parts that

will go into making up this straight line 

dragster seventies TT replica.

Roy Thames after refurbishment, including a decal

set I had made, I have to say I am really pleased with the 

colour, which I mixed from some leftovers.

 OMAS alloy head set

Cobra alloy chainring bolts

Cobra allot bottom bracket bolts

Full OMAS alloy replacment set for Campagnolo

Super Record seat pin.

 Full OMAS alloy kit for Campagnolo Nuvo Record

 

Regina Extra Superleggera hollow pin chain

 

Regina Alloy Superleggera Extra America Freewheel 

 CLB Professional brake set, one of the nicest and 

lightest on the market at the time.

Now all I have to find is a lightweight stop watch....

Welcome to the Future..Shimano AX/Shogun Aero

A few years ago, after reading a Shimano 

AERO dynamics brochure from 1981, 

and ogling a few Cycle magazine adds for the 

Lotus Aero with full Shimano AX Dura Ace group set, 

I was suddenly seized by a strong desire to experience 

for myself, the wonderful future that this aero bike

 and it's wind slicing component set offered us mere mortals

battling the wind on our old fashioned round tubed machines.

From the Shimano AX catalogue, actually not to far off 
what a few pommy TT riders looked like 
on race day in the early eighties.

Anyway, the chances of tying out one of these bikes

of the future seemed pretty remote as I don't believe

there where any importers bringing Japanese Aero bikes

into New Zealand during this initial aero moment.

Then out of nowhere this completely original 

Shogun Aero came my way, suddenly the future

was the present...so to speak.

These early eighties aero bikes were made by a number of 

different Japanese frame builders, it seems that 

tubing manufacturer Tange and Shimano must have worked in

conjunction to give the local builders a lead on the market with

Tange building it's complete Aero tubing set to coincide with

the release of the full group set range of AERO dynamics

components from Shimano.

 1981 Shogun Aero with full (nearly) full

Dura AX group.

In usual Shimano thoroughness, the bottle

and cage are integrated into the package, 

it is little wonder Shimano went on to dominate

the bike component industry with the kind of

money they must have dropped on R/D
during the eighties.

 Shimano seat pin is specific for the Tange Aero tube set.
 Seat cluster was a big disappointment for me, more thought

should have gone into it's finish and execution.

Must be one of the first top mounted gear levers?

Rear derailleur is thing of beauty, 

and works well to.

Very pretty Nitto Crystem blue stem, hidden brake

cables of course.

 Unfortunately bike didn't come with AX brakes,

which is a shame as these calipers are one of 

the highlights of the AX range for me.

Love the Shogun logo.

 Here are some overall shot to give you an feel

of how the aero tubes and components look.

 The bike rides very well, Dura Ace works well, of course.

I know this sounds stupid, but the bike did actually feel..

well aero, it certainly doesn't feel light and aggressive in

the English TT manner, but definitely stiff and pretty quick.

Maybe it could have saved you a second or two over

a relatively flat course, I don't know, but maybe just the 

the morale boost to know you where riding the bike 

of the future in '81, would have made the difference.

Comet Cycles Road and Track bike and sad news.

Sad news on Jackie Hayes, owner and frame builder of 

Comet Cycles frames since the early 1960's and son

of Comet Cycles founder Slater Hayes.

Unfortunately Jackie is now in a retirement home

after his condition of a dementia became to 

much for his wife to manage.

Comet add from a 1952 NZ cycle sport Magazine.

I was in Auckland a week after hearing this bad news,

so took the opportunity to track down a very original and 

extremely pretty mid 1950's Comet road/track

bike, that I had tried to buy several years ago. 

However the owner had wanted quite a bit to much 

money for it at the time.

Unfortunately the owner had in the intervening years

moved house, and left the frame on a damp floor

underneath their new house, the rust, which had only

just started biting into the chrome when I had last

seen the frame, had now completely destroyed

the chrome, a real shame.

I really shouldn't have really brought the frame in the condition 

it was now in, as I do already have a couple of Comets, but 

what can I say, I was feeling pretty sad about Jackie, 
so I decided that I would buy this one (for still way to much!) 
and fully restore it back to it's full glory as my homage to 
my friend Jackie Hayes and Comet Cycles.

Jackie was a great guy, and I always enjoyed visiting him,

hitting the record button on my Sony TD-D5

and listening to his memories of the cycle trade, 

frame building and cycle racing.

The real bummer about this bike, is that the beautiful original 

paint,handpainted writing and box lining was in pretty 

good nick, but the rust is just to far gone on the 

front forks and rear stay's.

Comet writing is sprayed on using an alloy stencil, then hand lined

Chrome Nervex lugs always look the business.

This is the early Karangahape Rd shop decal,

with the subtle fades, and nice light blue, 

compere this to the later Great North Rd

decal here.

Another thing that I really liked about this frame is that

it was custom built as an actual dual purpose bike.

It has track rear drop outs, and also cable guides for rear brakes,

and two sets of forks, road with light boss, for night training 
rides, and track forks for the weekend track meets.

This wasn't uncommon in New Zealand, cycle racing wasn't

really a rich man's sports in the 1950's, most riders where

young, and had to make what money they did have, stretch.

Many competitive riders could only afford the one racing

frame, so rather than go for the compromise, like  the 

Carlton path bikes, some would have a custom built frame

with two sets of forks made like this. 

Classic Slater Hayes half wrap seat stays.

Looks good with the Red Airlites, it didn't come with these,

but I will have to use them in the final build, they suit the 

frame just right I think.