Friday, January 17, 2014

Cool shop bike: Curtis's Bruce Gordon

     I was thinking yesterday about which bike to profile next and this one jumped out at me. It has been parked this winter in the garage way up high out of view to most, but I know its there. This is another one of Curtis's riders. This bike is a late 70's Bruce Gordon.
      It is a more traditional road racing frame with pretty tight geometry. Curtis has it set up with a little more versatility in mind. 28mm tires gobble up the rough city streets and the trails in the Wissahickon. Campagnolo  Nuovo Record rear derailleur has been converted with Rally cage plates and Bullseye jockey pulleys to allow for wider range freewheels. The rest of the components are standard fare Nuovo Record grouppo. Blackburn rear rack mounted with Blackburn custom eyelets (allows you to mount a rack on Campagnolo drop outs without using P-clamps). This gives the bike some carrying capacity. Criterium style bars add to the fast look of the bike. Note the front light bracket on the front brake caliper, when doing night rides a front wheel built with a Schmidt generator hub is used. E6 front light occupies the bracket providing superior illumination of the road ahead. SPD pedals with platforms provide option for both clipped in riding, or more casual around towning.
      The frame construction is excellent, nicely thinned and contoured lugs with attractive fast back style seat cluster. If you look at Bruce's current work and then look at this bike, you can see the stylistic connections. The rear brake is mounted on the inside of the brake bridge. The paint and decals have nice patina. Like I said, this bike is a rider! Really attractive fork crown with subtle stylistic treatments.
     When Curtis and I have gone on rides in the past and he is on this bike, His smile is bit bigger than usual, I guess he enjoys it! (which of course is the point of riding a bicycle!)


















1 comment:

Dan said...

What a wonder bike. Obviously, a well loved rider.
I look forward to more of these profiles.