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Bicycle Exchange location: 3961 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, CA MAP.

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The Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange is a Section 501c(3) non-profit organization.

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I just brought a 70's Windsor Carrera Sport home from the Bicycle Exchange. SVBE's Andrew picked it up from a teammate of his son's cyclocross team.

The bike has quite a history that spans three generations as told to us by the donor.

Windsor Carrera Sport steel vintage road bike. photo: original donor
Windsor Carrera Sport steel vintage road bike. photo: original donor

A San Jose high school student (also a bike racer and mountain bike instructor) rode it as a commuter to school. This was decades after his father rode it around Northern California, including circumnavigating Lake Tahoe back in the day. Way before that, the student's grandfather rode the bike from Norcal down to Socal, more than halfway to the bike's country of origin in Mexico.

From what I have read online this is not the most famous brand, but it's not to be confused with the bikes that have resurfaced under the same name from online retailers like bikesdirect.com.

It's definitely not the lightest bike, coming in around 28 lbs with almost 7 lbs in the frame alone. The bike looked to be close to an original build, and as you've already read above, it's had one full life already. Thankfully, after I'm done with it, it should have plenty of life and many more adventures ahead.

The previous owner took good care of the mechanical parts on this bike, but the cosmetics needed a touch-up. Missing paint, damaged decals, and rusted chrome lugs and fork all needed some work. On top of that, this Carrera seemed to be missing an undercoat and showed some minor rust where the bare metal was exposed. At first, I was only going to remove the rust and perform some touch-up painting, but the paint continued to chip and easily strip off, dulling this bike’s shine further. 

Nice lugwork on the Windsor Carrera Sport
Nice lug work on the Windsor Carrera Sport
I put some Naval Jelly on all the chrome bits and the rust spots and later washed it off. The chrome lugs now look great. The small rust easily wiped off and left very little pitting. After scraping some paint off the fork, it is clear the whole fork and crown are chrome. The upper painted part was a little rough but I sanded it with 400 grit sandpaper to get a brushed chrome look on the entire fork. After seeing how well that turned out, the urge came over me and I took a palm sander with 120 grit sandpaper to the whole frame. Then a sandblaster made quick work of the rest of the paint on the bottom bracket, seat binder, and all the nooks and crannies. 
What color should John paint it? The Windsor Carerra Sport awaits its next coat, and next adventure. photo: John Felch
What color should John paint it? The Windsor Carerra Sport awaits its next coat, and next adventure. photo: John Felch

Next up is to paint this frame and bring out the beauty that’s been hiding underneath. I haven’t decided on a color, but I’m leaning toward cherry red. I recently repainted an Austro Daimler with cherry red and it was totally eye-catching. The red would go well with the chrome and a pair of cream-colored Kenda 700x32 tires to make this a beautiful and comfortable ride. Stay tuned for further updates!

Enjoy reading about our featured refurbished bicycles? You can read our past Featured Bicycles posts here. Featured bicycles are typically bikes we sell to cover parts for bikes we donate and operating expenses. You can browse our for-sale bikes here: https://shop.bikex.org

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