Via Bicycle is having yet another public auction!

     We are having yet another public auction! If you missed the first two, then this is your chance to get some cool stuff. This time it is being held at: Cabin Fever Auctions on Sunday, March 26th 2017. The address is: 1860 Weavertown Road, Douglassville, PA 19518 ( In the Merritt's Antique Clock Complex). Here is a link to the website: Cabin Fever auctions
     There will be in person, absentee, and phone bids accepted. Feel free to contact them with any questions you may have. There will be a lot of unique bikes like several Schwinn Paramounts from various eras including two road tandems in excellent condition. Also a 1970's Teledyne Titan that belonged to Fred DeLong, who was the technical editor for Bicycling Magazine in the 70's and enthusiastic advocate of long distance cylo-touring in America. It has many exotic parts of the era. there will be high end frames, parts, etc. There will also be some turn of the century items, ephemera, etc. Boxed Raleigh's from the 1970's and 80's as well as a LOT of other items both new and used. See you there!

Cool shop bike: Fred De Long's Teledyne Titan

     This is a pretty interesting bike, in my opinion. The frame and fork were produced by Teledyne Linair Co. in Gardena CA. Fewer than 2000 Teledyne Titans were made from 1973-1976. These were among the first production titanium bikes made, along side Flema (Germany) and Speedwell (U.K.). These bikes really ushered in a new age of American "super bike". We take for granted that titanium is so widely used now in the cycling industry in both frame construction as well as components. Well, this bike is an example of the root of that modern technology and deserves to be acknowledged.
     Add to that the fact that this particular bike once belonged to Fred De Long, and you have an interesting story. Fred De long was the Technical Editor of American Cycling, American Bicyclist, and Bicycling magazines. He was also the vice-president of the League of  American Wheelmen (LAW). He was a professional engineer who had a life long love affair with the technical, as well as the recreational side of the sport. He was a technical consultant and project coordinator for the service and repair manual of the Bicycle Manufacturers of America. Fred De Long also resided in Hatboro, PA., not far from Philadelphia. He is deceased, but his legacy lives on. He wrote a very popular book that was published in 1974 titled De Long's GUIDE TO BICYLES & BICYCLING. It covers all aspects of the sport, from racing to touring, set up, and maintenance. All in a very user friendly format. When I was first learning about bikes, this was the book i read along side THE CUSTOM BICYCLE.
      The bike has some interesting  components. The front brake is an early Mathhauser hydraulic brake. The rear brake is a Scott Super Brake, both unique early designs. The bike is also equipped with a mixture of early Dura Ace components. The rear wheel has an early Phil Wood hub with tied and soldered spokes for a more rigid wheel and the front wheel is a Campagnolo low flange record hub  with crow's foot lacing. A long cage rear derailleur with a more touring spread freewheel is a bit puzzling in conjunction with the more "racey" wheels. I wonder what Mr. De Long was thinking when equipping this bike? Was he experimenting with these new components? I am sure there was a good reason as he was always looking for new and innovative ideas. It is humbling to work around and investigate his bikes. I have a lot of respect for the work he did to further the sport that we love. Enjoy!

  

Speedwell Titanium bicycle

 Speedwell(UK) built one of the first commercially available titanium bike framesets, along with the Teledyne Titan. Speedwell used a different blend of titanium than what is commonly used now on titanium bike frames, but back then they didn;t know any better. Luis Ocena infamously rode a Speedwell Titalite to a Tour de France victory over Eddy Merckx, but at the time, they really couldn't advertise it, as Ocena was supposed to be riding for Motobecane.
Link the the Classic Rendezvous page on Speedwell.

 Great looking seat cluster.

 Shame that the picture is out of focus. You can see it is very well finished.

 I love that this super light race frame and front and rear eyelets on the dropouts.
(Ed. I just looked at our Speedwell frameset we have here, and it does not have eyelets)

The welding, filing and finish work on this frame is amazing.

sold 54cm Teledyne Titan frameset

 Teledyne Titan.
serial number #14XX, so dates around 1974-1975.
54cm center to center seattube
56.5mm center to top of seat lug
56cm center to center toptube
120mm rear spacing.


Minimal use and looks great. The decals are a little ragged, but are mostly complete. the seat tube decal is the worst.
early Shimano Dura Ace headset.
included 2 Shimano toptube brake cable clamps and one chainstay cable stop.
$sold

Some bikes & frames that are for sale

I will soon do individual post for each of these items, this is a preview of some of the items we will be selling in the near future. If you are interested in something beforehand, just email me at bikevilleatgmaildotcom . 

Teledyne Titan

(one of the first production titanium frames from 1970s)

Raleigh Tourist

1980s Kas Vitus bike

(Sean Kelly rode on this team, definitely not his bike)

super mint Raleigh Sports

early 1980s Bianchi Campione