Just for fun. Today was too nice outside not to go for a ride, not errands, just a ride for the sake of riding. A recent saddle acquisition motivates me to take out the Eisentraut. What a fun riding bike. The tire clearance is the only limitation that bike imposes, the rest is up to the motor. I have a set of vintage NOS Specialized Touring tires on it at the moment, labeled 32mm, but measure at 23mm. Not sure if it is the overstated tire size trend of the era, or dyslexia. For super skinny tires they ride pretty well.
I was out for a few hours, and about 30 miles before the wind came up too bad. I shot more video than pictures on this ride. Something else I will be teaching myself as part of the Ocean Air Cycles project. Some of it actually came out OK. I learned that video takes a different level of planning than pictures. Lots of scouting and thinking about timing and angles of view, and how to get it done solo. Next up is post production, I will see what is usable and hopefully have a short movie by next week.
Dusted off the DSLR with 50mm lens for a ride on the Traut today. I thought it may be time to leave the fisheye at home for a week and focus on some different skills. Today brought clear skies with snow in the mountains, temps in the 50s, it doesn’t get much nicer than this.
This bike was as close to a barn find as you could get. My Uncle-in-law, Marty, was the original owner and remembers ordering it custom when he and his family lived closer to the Bay area. He rode the bike often when they lived in Modesto (flat) but it sat idle once they moved to Atascadero (hills). I saw tha bike hanging in his shop for over a year, then he asked if I could help him sell it, although I do not think he really wanted to part with it. We talked about it a bit and I ended up buying it from him.
Albert Eisentraut paved the way for generations of custom bicycle builders in the US. Many of todays top builders are now a second or even third generation product of the Classes Albert has tought over the years. This bike was built around 1973 or 74. Like most of the Model A custom frames of the era it is a beautiful shade of dark blue with yellow decals. Marty, recalls asking for a “Crit” style bike to fit his tall lanky dimensions. By my measure the bike comes in around:
Seat Tube C -T: 64 cm
Top Tube C-C: 60 cm
ST angle 72 deg.
HT angle: 74 deg.
BB Drop: 67 mm
Fork offset; 55mm
Chain Stays: 425 mm
I put the bike back together mush the way it was originally built with the Phil/Avocet hubs and Suntour Cyclone era drive train, but updated the contact points with a berthoud saddle, Nitto stem and RM013 bars as well as some 27mm RoughyToughy tires. A little has changed here and there with some of the build over the last year, but it is pretty much as shown in the pictures. The bike is an absolute blast to ride, and is what led me down the path from my Surly CrossCheck to the Roadeo. Once I knew what a good road bike should feel like, a new benchmark had been set.
The Geometric trail calculates out around 41mm as built. Trail figures in this range generally result in a bicycle that handles better with a front load of at least a few pounds or so. This is interesting as the bike was not originally built with the intent of front loading. I have set up the bike with a HoBo style handlebar bag to carry my camera and extra water for long rides and the leap from great to excellent in the handling was astounding. This was my first taste of the low trail coolaide, and I like it.
Enjoy the pictures, there are not many of these masterfully built frames still around or in pictures on the web:
I was out for a few hours, and about 30 miles before the wind came up too bad. I shot more video than pictures on this ride. Something else I will be teaching myself as part of the Ocean Air Cycles project. Some of it actually came out OK. I learned that video takes a different level of planning than pictures. Lots of scouting and thinking about timing and angles of view, and how to get it done solo. Next up is post production, I will see what is usable and hopefully have a short movie by next week.
