Classic bike ride- Hill Cycle I rode

photo by Jed Kornbluh

 Curtis and I were dressed in all wool, knit gloves, old Detto cleated shoes and toe-clips and straps.I even wrapped an extra spare tubular tire around my shoulders in case of a puncture. The 100 ride was fun and spirited and thanks to Jed and Mel Kornbluh for organizing it. I look for more in the future.

I ride this early 1970s Hill Cycle bike originally owned by the Casale family, and now in possession of the our shop. The Brooks saddle has been “hot-rodded”- a service where the leather top is taken off, the craddle plate is reshaped, and the leather is trimmed and reattached. I will post more pictures of the saddle in the future, with a comparison to an untouched Brooks Professional of that time period. Hill Cycle Shop offered that service along with drilling and milling, I have the catalog mockup somewhere with photographs and prices. Ottusi was the famous Italian who modified saddles.

Check out some amazing drillium from an older blog post of mine, including an Ottusi bike, owned by Ken Denny.

  1970s Drillium at it’s best. Drillium was the milling and drilling of components with the idea of making them lighter and leaving just the bare minimum of material available to have a fast lightweight bike.

Shifting with these lightened Campagnolo levers were very delicate.