No, i did not take a sabbatical for cycling. In fact, I did take a sabbatical from cycling for about ten month. After finishing the long route of L’Eroica in 2016 my focus turned to maintaining and refurbishing old bikes. Each one of my projects would deserve its own blog post but I want to keep it short and simple. Also, I believe the pictures speak for themselves. I did some minor refurbishing of old bikes but also complete build ups from scratch.
It all started with a KTM Strada frame from the 1980s which I bought on willhaben.at. I didn’t like the original painting so I decided to go to a local paint shop and ask them to powder coat the frame in a nice dark navy blue. In addition, I needed some decals which were perfectly crafted by my brother. I decided to go with the name “reCycle” in an elegant font and golden colour that fits the navy blue of the bike perfectly. My first project is still the most beautiful one in my opinion. I just love the dark blue in combination with golden nuances and the honey-brown colour of the saddle and tape on a beautifully shaped moustache handlebar. I rode this bike in the 2017 edition of Tour d’ Alba.
I continued with a restoration of another Austrian classic – a Steyr Daimler Puch Inter 10. The small frame seemed to be perfect for my wife and I decided to refurbish the bike and present it to her as a birthday gift. The bike arrived in a really bad shape so there was a lot of work to be done in order to get the Beauty back on the roads. Somehow I fell in love with this particular bike – the Inter 10 – and I decided to get one for myself. Similar story – bad shape but transformed into a nice – although not perfect – bike with a few scratches and paint chips. Anyways, this bike has become my workhorse and turned out to be a good companion for Eroica Dolomiti 2017 and In Velo Veritas 2018. Another “Austrian” project was a Klösch – based on a Pinarello frame – which I refurbished for a friend of mine, again as a birthday gift.
I then moved on to Swiss manufacturers starting with a beautiful and very rare Amberg. Leo Amberg (1912-1999) used to be a Swiss cyclist who rode the Tour de France in 1937, winning one stage (stage 5) and finishing third on the overall podium. After finishing his career he opened a bicycle shop in Zurich and started to build his own bikes. He is also known as discoverer and mentor of Hugo Koblet, the Pédaleur de Charme, who won the Tour de France in 1951 beating the likes of Gino Bartali or Fausto Coppi.
Next, I came across a frame of a better known Swiss brand: Cilo. This was another complete build up and I started by getting the frame powder coated. I decided to go with a simple yet elegant white combined with golden decals which had already proven to be a good match in my first project. I’m quite happy with the result but I have not yet grown fond of this bike and it still needs to go on its maiden journey.
Last but not least I managed to get hold of a beautiful Holdsworth Typhoon from 1966 which I bought from GoldenAge Cycles in Oxfordshire. This is my oldest bike and I truly love it. I intend to ride it in next year’s edition of Tour d’ Alba in Schwarzach, Austria.
After all the refurbishing it’s time to get back on the saddle. Eroica, here I come. I’m ready.
Next chapter: From Srebrenica to Gaiole