Ricardo Appreciation Society

[paulgar]

Hi, I have an Identical bike to the ebay White Lightning (but a 62cm frame that has a 57cm top tube) A previous owner took the Ricardo stickers off and put on Italian brand stickers. I still has the Tange 900 stickers. It was only the Pinnacle and the White Lightning that had 14 speed.

[bmxman85]

Hi guys, new to this site. I found this at the dump the other day. its got a little surface rust but its clean. Also nothing is seized and its all original from what i can tell. Im more into bmx riding but would love to restore this to its former glory. Just seeing if anyone knows anything about this bike i.e model, year and specs. Also it doesnt have a serial number that starts with L. Thanks in advance.

[silentbutdeadly]

Hi guys, new to this site. I found this at the dump the other day. its got a little surface rust but its clean. Also nothing is seized and its all original from what i can tell. Im more into bmx riding but would love to restore this to its former glory. Just seeing if anyone knows anything about this bike i.e model, year and specs. Also it doesnt have a serial number that starts with L. Thanks in advance.

That's a basic little number from the late 70s or early 80s or at least before Leisure Cycles was a thing in Ricardo history. If it goes then keep it that way but unless the frame is much better than the kit that's on it suggests...don't invest too much money in it...just so time and some love.

[elfoam]

Picked up a Ricardo Karroo MTB today, 1989 it seems. Tange MTB cromoly frame and 4130 fork. Shimano LX crankset, LX derailleurs and LX brakes. Shifters and hubs are Exage or better (need to look up the hubs to be sure). Pedals are Exage. Rims are hard anodised Arayas. Cassette is pretty fancy too, probably LX also. Lots of quality parts.. Rides terrible as a MTB even one of that vintage lol. I see people convert them to touring bikes, imho it would be much more suited to that, Maybe it would improve with a suspension fork to fix the steering geometry a bit.. Anyway only cost 25 dollars. I was right into mountain biking in that time so I know it would have been not far away from a $1000 bike back then, in the hatchback it went.

Checked the hubs. LX (sealed). They are actually one of those very illusive hubs that take both Uniglide and Hyperglide cassettes, big bonus that.

[singlespeedscott]

Nice find. You'll need to post up some piccies

[elfoam]

Nice find. You'll need to post up some piccies

Seems like Ive found part or all of the reason it rides badly. The rear triangle is out of whack, which would also explain the rear tyre being down to canvas and front almost new, theres no obvious bend on any tube though, almost looks like it was built crooked. My official frame gauge (metal broomstick) says its bent to the chain side abour 2cm!. Im going to bend it back tomorrow and see how it goes then.

[Steve F]

Bought this Ricardo Bushbike ('89) a few years ago (it's in this thread somewhere) and after getting it powder coated 2 years ago and seeing it everyday in my lounge room I finally decided not to do any sort of restoration on it (my original plan) but just put it together for my wife to ride. The parts that make it unique are staying, things like the oval chain rings and rear brake slung under the frame, the rest will just be bits and pieces like the ukai um-20 rims etc. In saying that I am getting it nice and clean and polishing the alloy bits etc. Now just waiting on a few more parts to turn up so I can finish it. Should be a fun bike and no doubt I'll lift the seat and bars and ride it a bit myself.

Now



When I got it



Cheers
Steve

[steelisreallyreal]

Hi,
Am looking to buy a Ricardo Elite frame and forks, 57cm square would be about right for my height.
If you have one or know someone with one in the shed they want to sell, let me know.
Am in Victoria and will pay freight cost. E-Go has been good to me so far
Cheers Roger

[drubie]

Elite from tip shop on trainer. Nice little bike, stickers mostly excellent but a mish mash of parts (SR cranks, 105 brakes, dia-compe levers, light action sifters and derailleurs). Wheels are straight up nasty on SR hubs.

The Tri-dork bars are unbranded and extremely crude.

[drubie]

[tomalophicon]

Was driving through Sydney the other night and found this beauty buried under a pile of old carpet and broken TVs outside someone's place.
Closer inspection revealed it was worth the scorn of the missus so I threw it in the car.
Not technically a Ricardo but I can't find any other info on it. Looks about 40 years old but barely used. The wheels still have markers on the brake track
Has 600 derailleurs, including a long cage rear, TA specialties triple cranks with one of the tiniest chainrings I've ever seen.
Suntour bar end shifters, alloy stem and bars, alloy 27" Arayas and high flange Joytech hubs.
Diacompe brakset.
I'm thinking it's worth restoring.
What do you guys think?
Even heard of Bicisport before?

[singlespeedscott]

I would be keeping the TA crankset and tossing the rest, just make sure you use the correct TA specific 23 mm crank puller when you remove them. A modern 22mm puller will strip the threads and ruin the cranks in short order.

The Sun tour Barcons are great but those seem to have seen better days.

The steel seatpost and stamped rear tips are telling you the frame is nothing special.

[tomalophicon]

Cheers matey.

[steelisreallyreal]

A quick intro about me and my bikes. A originally from Nottingham. brought up on Raleighs and Carltons.

Am a fan of steel bikes, have several Raleighs, I never got as a kid. Managed to get a NOS 531c Gazelle.
All great to ride, but am looking to increase the stable of locally made steel bikes. Now own a Repco Tri-A and am on the BNA Forums to track down a Ricardo Elite. A frameset is a good starting point. But, a complete bike is ok
If you have a 57cm Elite frame and forks you want to move on, let me know,
Cheers, Roger.

[roosta]

There's currently a red Ricardo Medallion gents bike at the Caboolture Tip Shop for anyone interested.
It's almost complete - just missing wheels. There was no price on it, but bikes in that part of the shop go for $6-$12.
Condition is 'well-loved', but all the decals were clearly readable and the paint looked reasonably good. I know the medallion was mid-range at best, but I thought it might have some interest from the Ricardo lovers.

I almost grabbed it myself, but decided it would just sit in my ever-growing pile of frames.

[Jellyfishsalad]

Elite from tip shop on trainer. Nice little bike, stickers mostly excellent but a mish mash of parts (SR cranks, 105 brakes, dia-compe levers, light action sifters and derailleurs). Wheels are straight up nasty on SR hubs.

The Tri-dork bars are unbranded and extremely crude.

I just picked up one that looks the same. Same paint job etc. I think it's a 1987 Ricardo elite. I just swapped out the wheels for some newer 10 speed ones i had lying around (the ones on there were really rubbish) and put some flat bars and twin pivot brakes on. Rides beautifully and that crankset is 110 BCD so can take a 36 tooth chainring which means hill climbing wont be a problem. Friction shifting on the 10 speed cassette is also surprisingly smooth.

[drubie]

There is nothing wrong with Ricardo Elites Jellyfishsalad, I like them a lot (although I have never found one in my size, they all seem to be 54-56cm up here). That one is trainer mounted only because it's the only one all the prospective users could fit on, otherwise I would clean it up for commuting use. 10 speed friction shifting...I don't have the coordination for it! I can barely use a 7 speed indexed shifter.

[Peter5065]

Does anyone anyone know the paint colour of the metallic green Ricardo bike from the 1980s?

[steelisreallyreal]

Thanks for the info

The tip shops are running a bit of racket in and around me. The Manager of the two shops near me is a real charmer but must have a deal going.
The place is picked clean of all bikes.

Bottom line is I still want an Elite or Nuovo frame and forks 57 or 58cm. Dont want a Superlite in green and white!
Let me knows lads if you have a mate who ha one and wants to move it on??

(My internet just crashed, so the first crack at this might have gone missing)
CheerS Roger

[steelisreallyreal]

Poor form on Repco's behalf. Bloody bicycles built by business people not by people who actually like to ride

To re open this thread. The suits (venture Capitalists) brought out Tube Industries (Ti Raleigh)

A bunch of suits in a boardroom in New York made the decision to shut Tube industries down and take Raleigh and Creda, maker of kitchen ovens out of business and by a fluke Raleigh still managed to make 753 and 531 bikes for other teams, just withdrew from Team sponsorship.

Got to hate these venture capitalist types, all about money screw the brand and the rest of it

[silentbutdeadly]

Ahhh but does you want a 58 cm Pinnacle bad enough...that is the question.

Well my question anyway...

[singlespeedscott]

Ahhh but does you want a 58 cm Pinnacle bad enough...that is the question.

Well my question anyway...

Whatcha talking about?

[steelisreallyreal]

Ahhh but does you want a 58 cm Pinnacle bad enough...that is the question.

Well my question anyway...

So, you have one and its up for sale??

Complete bike or frame and forks?

Be good to see some pics

[davehirst]

Hi all,
first post
I have a ricardo viva that I recently restored, The other day I picked up a merida extreme 905 with ultegra gear on it, that I am toying with the idea of swapping over (10 sp micro shifters , brakes and cranks)
the question is can i pull the cup and cone bb and put in a cartridge bb to fit ultegra FC6650 compact crank set.thanks
dave

[drubie]

Hi all,
first post
I have a ricardo viva that I recently restored, The other day I picked up a merida extreme 905 with ultegra gear on it, that I am toying with the idea of swapping over (10 sp micro shifters , brakes and cranks)
the question is can i pull the cup and cone bb and put in a cartridge bb to fit ultegra FC6650 compact crank set.thanks
dave

If the 6650 crank cups are english threaded (and not some press fit arrangement) they'll fit fine. I don't know what a merida 905 is (quick google search says older aluminium frame) so everything will swap straight over, except you will need some cable stops to fit where the downtube shifters are if that Viva frame has them.