Avanti Illusion Bike

Avanti Illusion on the bike stand. Note hub brakes.

Tony's busted bike (detail)

Tony's busted bike (the rest of it)

Tony's replacement bike (foreground), Illusion (Centre)

Replacement shogun

Illusion at the weigh in - not bad!

Weigh in

And here it is from the horse's mouth, Nexave Derailleurs from The Dancing Chain edition 4  by Frank Berto. More information than you actually need to know.

For trainspotters: Nexus rear derailleur is unlike any I have ever seen and at rest sits over the largest gear. And yes, its got fiddly bits on it as per this report . But despite having a bit of wear the gears all work. So delicate but not too bad!

Hi

As I reported before, a few weeks ago it was hard rubbish collection time in Darebin a few weeks ago. A few Wecycle volunteers dragged hard rubbish bikes to Wecycle and I have repaired some of them for refugees and others who need them. But one that came up seemed quite exotic, and as I fixed it decided I would put in an offer for it. About this time (last Wednesday) my friend Tony rang and said he was after a bike to replace his frame-dead one. He had commuted on the old one for 10 years, and today I heard his full tail of woe about busted welds and the eventual parting of the chainstay and rear dropout on the chain side.

So Wednesday I was at Wecycle, fixed a bike or two, and also negotiated to buy the Avanti Illusion and the replacement Shogun for $50 for both. I plan to do up the Avanti by fitting (you will never guess) a crate adapter at the front. Not sure if the Avanti will ever be a collector's item, but I got in when the price was low!

And for a while at least, Tony won't be picking up the bike due to Covid restrictions. The number of new cases in Victoria was 217, thank goodness down from about 450 yesterday. So stage 3 lockdowns are in place and will be for a few weeks yet and he shouldn't visit.

Regards

Steve Nurse