Duke

Ray works in the big smoke and has made productive use of his flash phonecam down on King St. Sweet! 

The notion of a silent Ducati has got me beat though! Bit like watching a Rage Against the Machine video with the sound turned down and the sub-titles on. 

Paramount detail

The Paramount story part 2..see below

I told him I had to go and get a bit more cash and asked him where the nearest ATM was. He looked confused. “Bank machine” I clarified.

“Don’t know if it’s got a machine, but there’s a bank……” and he gave me directions. As I walked away he reminded me that it was Sunday and he didn’t think the bank would be open. I explained that I would use the automatic teller and he was genuinely amazed to learn that such a thing existed!

When I returned, he’d upped the price again. This time I spat the dummy and walked off. He called me back and reluctantly took my money. As I drove away, I wasn’t sure if I’d cut such a good deal after all, but I was hopeful of returning at some stage to try again.

When I got home, I began to rub the dirt off the older frame and was delighted to find the remnants of what would have originally been a spectacular hand-painted finish on a 1950’s PARAMOUNT. I hit the net to find out more but came up with - NOTHING. So I searched more broadly and discovered The Western Australian Historical Cycle Club. There was no web site, but one contact number and I rang Peter Wells.

I described the frame to him and told him about the a small remnant of a decal on the steering column (see pic). It has an Australian coat of arms, the words ‘L. Andrews’ and under that ‘……ark’. Peter and his crew are absolutely set on salvaging what remains of Western Australian bicycle heritage. He told me that the bike was likely to one customized by LES ANDREWS who had a shop in the 50’s and 60’s on Albany Highway in Victoria Park.

I later visited Peter and I’ll post some pix of his incredible collection and write more about the club in the near future.

 

Meantime readers, I have to make a crucial decision. Do I…..

• Preserve the bike as is, find a sweet leather saddle, a set of vintage gears and put it out to pasture?

• Strip the frame and have a sign-writer fully restore the original paint job? (Homage to Les Andrews)

or

• Cut the bumps off and make the fixy of my dreams from it?

The Paramount frame - Victoria Park WA

The Paramount decal

The Paramount story - Part 1

I went looking for a cheap frame one Sunday. The local Sunday rag classifieds seem to have the best range of cheap old bikes. 

I called one number in relation to a 'racing bike frame' $90. Seemed kind of expensive, and the guy couldn't give me much info about it. He told me  that he wasn't sure that he was charging enough. I had a hunch about it and took a long drive. 

The owner was well into his eighties, or at least looked it. He showed me what turned out to be Gordonson - mid seventies. Then he tried asking $130. I was disappointed, but gradually became distracted by his back yard. It was an incredible treasure trove of stuff: vintage car parts, general junk and dozens of old bikes. Everything was literally piled in heaps, some covered by sheets of plastic or corrugated iron. I asked him if I could have a poke around and he reluctantly agreed. 

A lot of his bikes were seventies and eighties models and there were a number of mountain bikes, but he had a few interesting vintage frames, and piles of wheels, seats and random parts. The piles were so high, there was no telling what was underneath them. He said that he wanted somebody to just come and clean it all out. I thought I'd found Aladdin's cave, but gradually I came to realize the bloke was just one grape short of a bunch. 

As indicated by his unreasonable request for the frame I'd come to look at, he had a fanciful notion of what his bikes were worth. I explained to him that I could look for the nearest excess rubbish collection (where people put their waste on the street for collection) and find an equivalent bike for naught, but he was convinced that because the bike originally coast $600 (yeah right) it was now worth at least $300....'easy'.  

As I rummaged about, this grandiose perception of the value of his collection became more and more obvious and I began to see the my hopes of scoring a gem dissolve. I dug out one old frame, covered in greasy dirt, an old crank set and a pair of pedals. The he began to run out of patience and suggested that I buy the Gordonson and be gone. When I told him that I didn’t want to but the bike, he spat the dummy, so I began to negotiate a price for the bits I’d picked up and the Gordonson and we settled on $130. 

Blue 2

Blue Bike

The frame has no name but I was told it is Italian, nonetheless it rides really well. The parts are a mixture of Shimano, Cinelli, Velocity, Campo and Profile Design...it's not a pista ..but a 'bitsa' (bits of this and bits of that). As the frame had recently been painted when I got it I left all of the braze-on bit in tact. Fixies are a revelation in riding for me and I enjoy every moment riding it. Gearing is 46:17 for those interested and suits our terrain very well.

 

Orange 2

Orange Bike

GT Force frame which started life as a 7 speed roadie. The frame is the only part left-everything else has been replaced. The frame is early 90's and very unusual here so that's another reason to pimp it. All alloy parts have been polished,and the frame painted in 2 pack auto paint by a friend. Bullhorns and stem are Nitto, Cranks are Shimano, Seat is Fizik, Wheels are Alex and drive ratio is 46:17 with Surly cog.I had the front wheel relaced to radial style by my mentor at LBS (Georges Bikes-Willeton). This bike has had bars changed 3 times now but that’s it! It rides as good as it looks (to me anyway).

Ray has sent me some pix of his bikes. He says: ….."Going back to single speed etc. takes me back to the beginning as a kid when that's all there was. Then we seemed to complicate from there on. KISS is better philosophy I think."

Alter angle

Angle 2

Monarch Star

This frame and wheels were found on the verge and given to me for my birthday last year (cheap family). Call me weird, but I LOVE this bike. . I do get some disturbed expressions from strangers (and acquaintances alike) when I ride it. It's not like I'm wearing a dress or anything....not that there's anything wrong with that either, but I don't get this girl-bike/boy-bike thing. Sure 70 years ago when girls were girly, having a cross bar may have resulted in the odd undy flash. 

Anyhow, if you ever scour Ebay for old bike bits, you may have noticed how many girl-bikes there are.....ZILLIONS. Any theories? Is it because the fems are inclined to tuck their tredlies thoughtfully under cover with a blanky, or is it just that blokes trash the poop out of theirs and then just leave them on the verge for the vultures when the tyres get flat? 

Now having  managed to work through a few issues, I feel it's time to announce that this bike is actually for sale. Truth is, I can only fit so many bikes into his shed. My mum told me once that "A man can only wear one shirt at a time." I take her point, but I'm sure I could wear two at once.

 I scored the seat (Bell) from a bloke from the Western Australian Historic Cycle Club. More on them later.  

Shogun zoom

New project

This frame is off at the powder coaters. Doing this one on the cheap for Aidan (Check his blog for skate pix!  http://www.photaidography.blogspot.com/ ) . 

Will have my first go at a wheel build - installing a coaster hub.

6160

First fixy by sixtyonesixty

The result

So I built this for my son with his assistance and advice. 

Santa stuffed a couple of Velicty wheels in the stocking this year. 

The bike has already been modified since these shots. The boy has dropped on toe clips and some flat bars (told him to at the outset...) He's planning on a pair of white BMX grips. 

It's still a work in progress. When I smash the piggy bank next, I'll invest in a fancy crank set.

Got the bike on http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/    number:  8,823

Lumps and bumps removed