The story of this bike starts here with two bikes: Lo’s little Gefsco and my big Durban.
The Gefsco frame, built by Sydney frame builder Geoff Scott has been kicking around for a while. It was - and still is - the best frame in the garage. I was always a little jealous. It can be seen here: http://www.fixed.org.au/forums/f42/geoff-scott-19778/
The Durban was my first geared road bike since I was about 16 - and that bike was was the old clunker hand-me-down from my uncle that became my fixie. But now the need for some gears was beginning to show, and I bought a very rough looking old bike in disrepair beneath years of road grime. Unbeknown to me, it had a full 1980s Shimano 600 groupset right down to the hubs, headset and stem. And Durban was the brand of a bike shop in Sutherland from what I could work out.
Before this, I built up ‘bastard’ bikes, throwing them together with whatever parts I could find. It was fun and I discovered a lot about what fitted where and what did not. I broke a lot of parts, did some awful things, rode some horrendous contraptions. The Durban was a little different. Beneath the grime it was good. I completely stripped it down, cleaned the parts, polished them up and pieced it back together. For the first time, I built a road bike with a traditional aesthetic. It looked great with gumwall tyres, low profile rims, and polished alloy.
But there was the problem, the Durban looked great, but rode terribly. There was nothing wrong with the frame or the geometry, it was just too small for me. I still remember proudly rolling up to the Bicycle Film Festival, and a friend said it was nice, but the wrong size. I messed around with parts, built it up fixed, experimented with townie bars. It became another ‘bastard’ bike, but was never really the right frame for me.
Fastforward a few years, and the Clamont frame popped up. My size -long in the seat tube short on the top tube - pick up only on the other side of the city. Better still, it was built by Geoff Scott who made frames for Clarence Street Cyclery under the Clamont name. I had the opportunity to add another Geoff Scott to the garage.
So I whipped it up with some parts that were lying around, as a fixed gear road bike to see how it would roll. It was only meant t0 be temporary, the deep v’s did not really suit, and the cockpit was too small. I wanted the wheels and drive train for my track bike, so it was pulled down and hung up on the wall.
This was going to be a slow build. I could have used the Shimano 600 groupset, but a Campagnolo world logo, and a ‘super record’, provided a clue towards its previous life. I have heard of builds beginning with a seat post, a sticker would drive the obsession on this one. I could not go an drop the cash on a NOS Super record group, so I gradually pieced it together, gleaning a part here and there, and picking up the not so perfect bits, with a bit of wear.
As it all started coming together, I was inspired by an old Citroen traction at the Australia Day Motorfest. It was not perfectly restored, but well used, scratches dints and all, with stickers revealing round Australia trips. I wanted a 1980s period bike that could be used, not hung up on the wall.
Time will tell how it goes. I have the old Shimano 600 wheels on still, but plan to swap them out in time, and I will throw on clipless pedals because they really are better than toe clips for me. Any fears that it would not ride properly were misplaced, the 130 mm stem has sorted out the cockpit, and everything feels good so far. The plan is to use it, maintain it, and not to be too hung up about getting it any more matchy matchy.
