Kalkhoff vintage road bike

trevtherev

Rather than spend up to £1000 I would like a steel framed bicycle as a backup...I quite like the look of this
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/875102
My only worry is replacement parts...are they easy to come by? would I be better off forgetting something so ancient and saving up for eg a genesis equilebrium?

AyrshireBacon

I bought a 80's Kalkhoff from a neighbour for £15. It wasn't in as good a condition as that, but I stripped it and rebuilt as a fixed. Frame is ok, but a bit heavy.

Parts should be ok. Wheels are 27", which limits your choice of tyre by a huge amount. As long as you don't mind 27 x 1 1/4 (32mm) then you should be just about Ok. Finding smaller than 32mm limits the choice to Continental UltraSport or there is also a Pansela available from some places.

Brakes are centre pulls. Mine had single calipers, which Iswapped for dual-pivots instead as they were not that good.

What other parts do you think you would need? I still have the box of bits that came off mine if you think there would be anything of use...

Monty Dog

That Kalkhoff is pretty low rent with a cheap, heavy frame, heavy steel rims that brake awfully in the wet and low spec everything else - fine if you wanted to run to the shops, but not much else - the price is too much also. By all means buy a classic steel bike, but make it was something decent in the first place.

trevtherev

thanks for that monty...i'll give it a miss

jonny_trousers

If it's a quality steel road bike you're after then this looks to be an absolute gem

When I was checking out Equilibriums a month or so back I thought they were fantastic bikes, but a little over priced as complete builds. I had decided to buy myself the frame and fork only and to build it up, but then I found a second-hand Fratello (which is lovely).

andi1363

Some 35 years ago, that model was my first racing bike. Brand Christmas present. My Dad was so proud. It was a pice of junk. Biggest problem was the lack of a braze on stop for the gear levers. This mean't they slide down the frame causing the los of the bigger sprockets and adding a lovely set of scrathes at the same time. Still it got me into club cycling so not all bad.

rolf_f

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

If it's a quality steel road bike you're after then this looks to be an absolute gem

No thing of beauty though - just looks like an ordinary alloy frame. I'm sure it is a great bike but it ticks none of my boxes for a classic steel frame bike.