Bric-à-brac!

Still struggling to work and weeks away from riding my bike, I'm reduced to wandering lonely like a cloud and floating on high around my workshop looking for various objets d'art to take photos of to keep my love alive. As well as alleviating my boredom, I figure it's good to disseminate these images to hopefully alleviate the boredom of others too, as the piles of bikes and bike-related crap I possess are wasted if no one is actually looking at them.



So now I present to you several photos of some of the piles of crap that I so love to look at and play with - I hope you enjoy looking at them too.

First up we have some unusual, rare and stinky car air fresheners given away with an early issue of Cycle Sport magazine. These are courtesy of my old friend Ben of Cactus Clothing fame - that's Ben on the left with Paul in their hip Cycle Services skinsuits...



The two teams featured on the air fresheners are the Castorama squad of the late, great Laurent Fignon and grand échappé specialist Jacky Durand, and the other is the famed Banesto formation of five-time Tour winner, the majestic Miguel Indurain.



Also donated by Ben to the Roadworks Museum of Bicycle Esoterica is this Giro pamphlet from the 1994 Giro d'Italia won by Evgeni Berzin.





A quirky bit of old stock left over from Cycle Services days. This is The Boot (see what I did there?)...



A NZ Cycling badge has pride of place on my workstand.



The inspiration for the blog title is the Tashkoff Cabinet of Bric-à-brac, filled with a selection of random precious items/junk such as Onza cable straddle hangers, Chongming good luck charms, Ringle bottle cages, Rawleigh's Bicycle Wax, Tour Down Under beer coolers and a model bicycle that my Mum gave me on my 14th birthday, along with my new Bike Pure wristband and headset spacer.



The head tube badge of my Hillbrick which waits patiently for it's next iteration as a complete bicycle.



Sadly after nearly six years my Wholly Bagel team socks are finally dying, so here they are before I turn them into Belgian Overshoes.



My helmet has also seen better days, but is another place I continue to wear the Mighty Bagel logo with pride.



Il Cavatappi BIG. Genius inventor Tullio Campagnolo is well known for his invention of the ubiquitous quick release we all rely on to remove or fit our bicycle wheels, and his jewel-like refinement of racing bike componentry, but he's less well known for being the inventor of this popular style of wine bottle opener.



I've got an old, old Team Raleigh 531 that used to belong to my friend Greg that awaits eventual restoration. Here is the famed heron head badge.



And a spare one I've hung onto since my Raleigh owning days in the early 80s because, well, you just never know...



The seat tube and the evocative Reynolds 531 decal.



Greg had it built up with some of the finest components of the mid to late 70s, such as a Brooks Professional saddle, Universal side-pull brakes, Campagnolo derailleurs and this very cool drillium Stronglight chainset.



Any excuse to show off the Celeste - this is my Silca Impero Bianchi frame pump.





My prized Marco Pantani edition Flite saddle sits amid my Look pedals, my Arione, Bianchi bidons and frame pump.



A Campagnolo cap I bought on my trip to Geelong in 2007, alongside the tattered remains of a NZ Supporters t-shirt from the 1993 World Championships in France.



Some of the many badges I've accumulated over the years. Left to right, top to bottom: Campagnolo 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Ritchey, Mavic, Eddy Merckx, New Plymouth Amateur Cycling Club, Volvo-Cannondale Tinker Juarez, City of Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada - I have no recollection of why I have this at the moment?!), Tour de France, Giro, 3ttt.



I thought I'd save the best till last; here are some shots of my Campagnolo kit. This is my pair of Super Record track pedals with titanium axles.



My aero bottle and cage, some sadly cracked Super Record cranks (complete with drillium Sugino 42t 'ring), a 1981 Nuovo Record rear mech, C-Record front hub, Syncro 8 left-hand gear lever and an Elite Sartchari aluminium bidon.



Front and centre is my prized Campagnolo 50th Anniversary front derailleur (thanks, Jase!), a Nuovo Record front mech and my lone Super Record brake lever - hopefully one day I'll be able to afford a mate, and possibly even some hoods!



Campagnolo Croce d'Aune Delta brake calipers.



This relatively rare 1977 Super Record rear derailleur came off the Team Raleigh above, and is one of the only parts of the whole bike to survive the ravages of time virtually unmarred. The gear levers need a polish but otherwise are as they were on my old Ferrari "DeRosa" of the early 90s...




(Weird Al, moi and Wheels, prior to racing around Taupo in November 1992)

And closing with a Stronglight chainset, Regina America cluster, Cinelli stem and saddle and my prized Tour de France bidon...Thanks for reading, Oli



STOP PRESS:
John Randal gets the Vets silver medal at Singlespeed Nationals dressed as an Easter Bunny!!

Also, I've recently been pimped on the great Velominati website - please check it out.