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http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/Timo2F/Carraro/Carrarosketch_tilted_copy.jpg)
This is THE first-ever 20" BMX bike i EVER owned.
This is the story about the bike that got me hooked into the sport of Freestyle BMX.
This is the bike that was cheap to restore but emotionally became the MOST valuable i will ever own.
With this project my collecting has gone full circle. 100-percent. This is what i once started on and this is what i've ultimately returned to. "Return to the source". It is very cool yet kind of sad in a way because it made me realize how long it has been since it all started for me. As much as i would like to, i can't go back in time execept ofcourse in my memories and now, with this bike. I could've never imagined if you'd ask me 18 years ago that i'd be one day restoring a cheapie, let alone riding it again! However, i feel that you can turn almost anything into something cool if you have a vision, set your mind to it and use the right parts, even the ones that are cheap and generic.
This project brought a lot of thoughts and memories in my head, so bear with me on this. Lean back on your chair (or couch if you're using laptop) have a cup of you favorite tea/brew/hot chocolate or whatever and read on to understand how, why & where and so on.
THE STORYHow many of you have heard about "Carraro"? Thought so.. lol! This is an Italian, chrome plated 20" Carraro BMX bike made of steel tubing. It has a loop tail, 1-inch seat tube and a plate for kickstand, now how cool is that! Little did i know how much i'd one day miss this bike when i carelessly sold it away in 1989.
Like so many of us, i too started off with an affordable (read = cheap) bike. At the time i was already aware of such brand names like GT, Haro and Redline etc. but those were still waaay out my league and unavailable unless you purchased one by ordering from abroad.
As late as in 1988 I simply started to look around for a "BMX bike". I had been skateboarding since 1986 until got bit by the the "BMX bug" after seeing a guy launching off a skateboard launch ramp on a white Redline with red parts (probably an MX-II) at the local spot where we used to skate. Around same time i had just discovered BMX Plus magazine.
So a classmate at school had this "BMX bike" for sale for roughly $50 (or 250 FIM for "Finnish Markka", the currency back then) which at the time, was a quite a lot of money for a school kid like me. We made the deal and soon (like the next day or so) i went over to this guy to pick up the bike. It was was locked in the bike storage room at the basement of the building he lived, it had a blue/skinwall comp III type tires, a ring lock mounted on the seatstays, blue Haro-type plastic levers and CW imitation bars.
I paid for the bike and went on my way home, i even got a spare Vredestein 20x2.125 knobbie tire for free. Awesome! The guy lived very near where i am living these days but back then i was living in the suburbs with my parents like 8 kilometers away. At the time of purchase he told me the rear tire won't hold air very well so i ended up walking the bike home after riding it only about few hundred meters. All this took place in the middle of winter, i think january or february, but i was so happy about my new ride that i didn't mind at all walking home in the winter misery. I took the bike to our basement, cause i hadn't told my parents i was going to get this bike. After a while i had the guts to tell them about it and explain why and took the bike upstairs for proper intorduction and everyting was cool. This sounds funny now, but back then it was a somewhat serious moment for me, lol!
The bike had really bad, cheap parts and components. I am talking about everything-steel and everything imitation parts. Afterall, it was a very, very low end market-type bike but back then i couldn't get my hands on anything better so it was all good. I did some customizing like painting the pedals and brakes, putting on some Shimano brake cables etc. and eventually ordered some decent brand name parts for it. But in all, the bike felt and looked pretty horrible to be honest. The upgrade consisted of quality parts like Tech-7s, Ame grips, Kashimax seat (the blue padded one), Haro tires, Haro 2ps FS bars and GT pegs and a set of Peregrine imitation mags and man it felt like a whole different bike! Also, i removed the Carraro decals and replaced them with a set of Redline 600a decals with the imitaion mags i got from our family's holiday trip to Greece. I was so proud of the new wheels and new appearance of the bike. I changed the decals cause i didn't want anyone to see i was riding such a generic piece of crap. As a teenager you're so touchy i guess. I don't know whether the Redline decals were real or fake, but all the same, they looked real and all i wanted was to transform an unknown bike to "brand name" by any means necessary.
I also modified the frame itself by removing the 70's/early 80's style reinforcement plate right behind the head tube, between the top and bottom tubes to get rid of the racing looks. To me such plate spelled as "cheap" for some reason and i wanted a "decent" freestyle bike sooo bad that i tried desperately to transform it into something it wasn't. With a limited budget, poor availability of anything decent and/or quality we simply had to make the best out of what we had in our hands.
Removing the plate and decals back then was plain silly cause the frame was still no more than just an Italian BMX race frame, period. But strangely, after some time i almost started to believe it was something else, you know.. I'm sure some/most of you can more less relate to this phenomena. The bike was then sold to someone at my parent's job (i guess). But before i let go of it i peeled off the Redline decals and saved them as well as the upgraded parts like the pegs, tires, bars, levers etc. I never heard of the bike again and i still have no idea who got it and what condition it is in these days or whether it was thrown at the dump shortly after. The thing i regret the most (along with modifying and selling the bike) is not saving the original set of yellow Carraro frame/stem/handlebar pads.
I used the bike for occasional jumps and street styling but also took my first steps for basic freestyle/flatland moves on it. Let's be honest, i sucked but hey i was just starting out and had no clue about anything except for what i had seen in the magazines and tried to imitate those moves without a clue how to get in or out of them. I remember how i cracked the front mag by jumping off a launch ramp with too much tire pressure on them cheap plastic mags. I also remember how i blew up one of the white Haro slicks (HPM Ramp or something) by running them on those cheap original steel rims that came with the bike that were slightly odd sized. I remember i how i replaced the original stem with a cool blue anodized copy of a Suntour Power stem and how the bike then felt like a pro vehicle. And i definitely remember how i bent the axles on both wheels from pogos and pedals too by jumping off launch ramps into flat surface over and over again.
We used to go out with my buddy Mikko (Salonen) riding whatever, mostly street style, jumps and cruising. Mikko had a fluorescent yellow Carraro Freestyler which was sort of an imitaion of an early GT Performer. He had also a set of white CW-imitation bars and i remember how he replaced his set of generic mags once with a set of gold anodized 36-spoke wheels and how his older brother made him a home made bashguard in the school metal shop class. I remember how we raced at the downtown train station and how Mikko's chain went off and he crashed face first in full speed.
I have been wondering many times whether things would be different in my riding if i had had one of those Carraro Freestylers instead of the race frame. Would i be now riding flatland or would things have gone into some other direction? Anyway, i am happy about the way things are and i certainly wouldn't change a thing. The bike wasn't much, but it was mine.
GETTING THE BIKEIn the past few years, like in so many times before, i had really started to miss my first-ever 20" BMX bike and couldn't think of any reason why i ever got rid of it. I knew it would be next to impossible to locate the very personal ride so i settled for the idea of atleast trying to find an identical bike one day. Although the Carraro BMX is a low end bike it seems to be rare bird these days (pun intended). I kept browsing thru various auction sites and for sale ads every now & then and kept my eyes open at the local fleamarkets and 2nd hand pawn shops just in case i would "somehow" bump into my old bike.
Then finally, about a month ago i was browsing the local auction website as usual (smaller, sort of a local version of ebay) to see if there's anything BMX or freestyle related old stuff. Now i must clarify that normally there really isn't much (anything) old and/or BMX related stuff circulating here as most of the stuff is just new school. However, i did yet another search with the usual terms for "used old/old school BMX bike/80's" and clicked "search" to see the results...
"BOOOM"!!!!
"THERE IT IS!!! I screamed in my mind, filled with excitement.
The title said:
"80's BMX bike with hand brakes" Further viewing revealed that it was a complete 20" chrome plated Carraro BMX just like mine used to be in used condition BUT, still with original decals (except head tube) and most of the original parts too!! I could not believe it! When i found the ad, the current bid was around $15 with one week to go. I literally dropped from the chair. There was already three bids, three guys wanting the bike. Knowing the finnish non-existent collecting "scene" i knew none of them would bid high on it. I had firmly decided that if i'd ever see one, i would get it, whatever the costs. The minute i saw the ad, there was no question about it, i contacted the seller with my offer ($80) and he agreed to end the auction immediately and also told me that with that offer he'd bring the bike to my door. Even better, cause he was located pretty far away outside the city and i had no way to pick it up myself. We agreed on the arrangement over email and made a date.
Two days later, in 21st of march on a chilly, rainy wednesday evening around 8 PM he called he was at the neighbourhood with the bike in his car. I went downstars to our door to meet him and saw him pedaling on the bike towards our doorstep. Even still i couldn't believe this was actually happening! I was simply overwhelmed with the excitement to see how my old bike used to look. He then handed me the bike and for a short passing moment he sounded a bit reluctant of letting go of something he'd obviously had for long time, i could sense it in his voice and choice of words and just plain see it from him. I paid, we shook hands and i ensured him the bike will stay in very good hands and promised to send photos once the restoration is done. On the way while i was carrying the bike to our apartment i remember thinking at the stairway "was this really this heavy back then?!"
Obviously the bike had been sitting ourdoors for good amount of time judging by the rust build up everywhere on it. It seemed he was the original owner and there was even a social security number engraved on to the bottom bracket which i'm guessing is his. Realisticly, the bike was a total mess. A very rusty survivor, but mostly original nonetheless. The guy proudly told me how he had just replaced the grips and lubed the cables but away from those everything else was just as they had ever been
without any maintenance whatsoever. Everything was loose, the wheels, the headset, the bb. The brakes were there (with those lubed cables..) but they were seized to death like the chain and pretty much the rest of the parts.
Dismantling a used bike is always as interesting as it is to build one up, especially when working on a old bike with history. Everything had a build of dirt, grease and rust. You should've seen the mess.
Like i said, most of the original parts were there except for the front brake, a plastic chainguard-thingy around the sprocket and the pad set. The right pedal was stuck in the cranks with a weld-on sprocket, cracked stem etc. etc. The list goes on.
The funniest single part without question has to be the seatpost. It was an enormous 22-inch tall, home made steel rod with 5mm wall thickness! While i was pulling it out of the frame it felt as if it would never end. No wonder the bike was so heavy cause the post alone must've weighed atleast about 1 to 2 kilos! Seriously. The original bars are CW type copys. They would've been cool to use on the build but they're very narrow, only 25". Because the frame is already pretty small scale it would've felt even smaller with narrow bars, so that's why i got myself a set of full 28" Kusuki Win CW-type bars.
At first i had the optimistic idea to use as many of the original parts as i could but after everything was dismantled, ispected and carefully evaluated, i decided to let go of the idea cause the original parts were such crap and they certainly wouldn't do the justice to the bike. After all, this was supposed to be honoring my first-ever bike, not to recreate it spot-on.
THE VISIONThis is a race bike but i used it for freestyling back then. This time around however, i wanted to do things differently. I didn't want to build another personal replica (although i was very tempted to do so) simply cause i had it set up in such horrible way back then. Instead, i wanted to compliment the fact that it is a race bike but build it with that early 80's "race-bike-used-as-a-freestyler" aspect in mind. Something i am too young to have experienced myself, unfortunately. I wanted to build my first-ever BMX bike back up with the style it truly desreves in my eyes. But let's not forget that this is just a low end model with bubblegum welds, with that in mind i didn't feel comfortable putting on too many expensive brand name parts and components. And besides, i was (yet again) on a limited budget.
I had also been wanting to build a race bike one day and this was a perfect candidate for my first. I already had most of the suitable or "right" parts in my possession but i did had to order quite a few missing bits. I figured the black Z-mags (previously on my '88 Master) would be perfect wheelset for the theme. Tuffs would've been even better, but since i already had the Z's i decided to settle for them. I also had a spare orangish-gold anodized RE-Racing power disc, a Tuf Neck chainring, KMC chain, a bottom bracket, ODI grips, the headset, the cranks etc. I still had to find the "right" tires, the brakes/levers, cables, CW style bars, numberplate, stem, seat/post/clamp, the pads and the pedals. Most of them are the cheapest ones you can find but, i realized it is possible to create a stylish looking bike even with those generic parts. Remember, the bike isn't pro-class. I wanted to keep what was left of the original decals, cause, well, they're original. The frame's missing the headtube decal so that's the only one i had to recreate from scratch.
That one photo i think from '84 of Maurice Meyer doing an Endo had a huge influence on me when i was pondering which direction i should go with this project. So, thank You for the inspiration Maurice! That is the reason i chose a Haro plate, black mags, the CW style bars and inspired me to add initials "TL" on the headtube reflecting my name.
THE ACID BATHThis is the worst shape project i've ever worked on. Therefore it was a perfect candidate for an oxalic acid bath. I was slightly worried though about the decals so i protected them with a clear tape for the bath and hopefully for many years to come aswell. Problem solved. In all the dip took me about 8 hours from pouring in the OA crystals to drying the f&f. I was blown away how well the OA worked and how easy the process was overall. I went to local pharmacy and got a 500g jar of pure Oxalic Acid crystals.
I used a box made for balcony flowers/plants and filled it with water and 5 generous tablespoons of crystals. More about it very soon in the tech section.
BUILDING IT UP!This has really been a fun and same time emotional restoration project. Like i have said many times before, i am always very specific about the overall color balance in my builds. It was very easy to decide the color scheme for this because of the yellow decals with black details on chrome. I don't mind having variation in the yellow, as i've always thought that small variation in one single color adds to the interest for it. Gold, Yellow, Black & Chrome, a guaranteed and easy combination really.
The headset size on this frame is a not your every day BMX standard. It is smaller in diameter, the same they use in those retro-style beach cruisers etc. these days. Fortunately the original headset was in excellent shape so i didn't have to start hunting one down. I thought for a long time whether i should go for a black or yellow set of pads. I chose yellow, cause black pads would've brought "too much black" as most of the other parts already are black.
The numberplate is special. Well, not "special" as in rareness, but because it is the first numberplate i have ever owned! Talking about a project filled with new, exotic aspects for me. I wanted to incorporate a part of my persona/alter-ego somehow to this build to make it personal, so what would've been more appropriate than the initials "2F" written on the plate for what else than short for "2Fresh" as it has always been more less my BMX/Freestyle related alter-ego. So in a way, this is the ultimate climax of my alter-ego-centric persona, lol! Not. By the way, those letters are hand cut. I couldn't see myself paying some odd Euros for simple letters written in "Arial Narrow" -font cause it took me 10 mintues to print them on the back of adhesive film and then cut them out. Home made is
custom and vise versa, it also adds some of that personal touch and acts as my bold "signature".
The bars are CW-type "Win" bars by Kusuki, made in Japan. They're 9" tall and 28" wide and very light weight. Changing the bars into something completely different shape than the original would not been right. Like i said i wanted to stick with the CW bars theme, but simply couldn't see myself using the original 25" wide steel set of bars. By far the Win bars have much better feel and are high quality stuff with their welds and full Cro-Mo tubing.
I chose the generic "Aeromax" seat striclty for the looks and shape of it and because of gold lettering and the rad thunderbolts. Yes, it's generic, and yes it is cheap but it is definitely an improvement compared to the seat that this bike came with.
The seatpost is one of those from Pyramid Accesories. It is now "sealed" from both ends with plastic pipe end caps. I almost had nightmares of a wrong size stuck post because the seat tube on the frame was odd size but fortunately that wasn't the case, it's accepts standard 25.4mm (aka 1-inch) posts.
There's pale yellow Odyssey Linear Slick cable housing for the brakes, first time ever i use linear cable housing. They're stiffer than regular but work great and the tone of color is as perfect as it can get. As for the brakes & levers, well they are what they are, generic taiwanese imitations but they work and look just as good as the originals would i suppose.
The forks were badly rusted, the chrome plating was gone in some areas. However it turned out looking ok after the dip and some polishing/waxing. The fork legs are left open at the ends but now with added plastic caps to keep the dirt and humidity out. I also added an extra plastic cap at the bottom of the crown tube to "seal" it from dirt. It was then drilled for the front brake bolt to go thru.
To my standards the frame has strange angles or, i am just uneducated with the geometry on old race frames. I'd guess the steering head angle is around 71 or 72 degrees and the seat tube around 68 or so. I am telling you, it is VERY laidback. For once for a tall guy like me there's plenty on room while sitting and pedaling even with a straight post. The rear triangle is unusually long, probably because of the layback seat angle. The top tube length is just 17" which combined with the mellow headtube angle makes the frame overall feel pretty small but again, the seat angle compensates that.
I replaced the original dark steel bottom bracket cups with chrome plated cups from Tioga. It's amazing how a small change like that can effect the overall appearance.
The Italian bicycle company Carraro seems to be still around selling road/mountain/downhill/hybrid etc. bikes in every price range as well as entry level BMX and kids' bikes. Website:
www.carrarocicli.com I wonder if they know (or care) of the fact that somewhere there's more less fanatic finnish collector who has just restored one of their early BMX bikes from early to mid 80's. LOL!! What a mind tickling thought..
PARTS & SPECSCarraro BMX 20" frame & fork set made by Carraro s.p.a. in Saccolongo PD, (as in "Provincia di Padova") in northern Italy.
[*]Frame: Carraro BMX 20"
[*]Type: BMX racing
[*]Tubing: hi-ten/mild steel
[*]Fork: Carraro BMX 1"
[*]Handlebars: Win CW-type 28"
[*]Stem: Suntour type, 22.2mm quill
[*]Grips: ODI Mushroom
[*]Seatpost: 1" dia. 15" tall
[*]Seat: Aeromax "Aero"
[*]Seatpost clamp: generic 1.1/8"
[*]Brake levers: Lee Chi MX
[*]Front brake/pads: Lee Chi MX-1000 type w/GT by KoolStop pads
[*]Rear brake/pads: Lee Chi MX-1000 type w/GT by KoolStop pads
[*]Front/Rear cables/housing: Odyssey Linear Slik cables
[*]Headset: generic
[*]Cranks: JM Cro-Mo 1pc, 175mm
[*]Pedals: VP-767 sold as "Diamond Back"
[*]Front sprocket: RE-Racing powerdisc w/Tuf Neck chainring 43T and chrome plated generic bolts
[*]Bottom bracket: 24T
[*]Chain: KMC ½ x 1/8"
[*]Freewheel: Dicta 16T
[*]Wheels: ACS Z-Mags
[*]Tires: Deestone Comp-III copy, 20 x 1.75
[*]Tubes: Kenda ..or whatever
[*]Year: unknown (best guess, early to mid 80s)
[*]Serial#: none
[*]Steering head angle: 71-72 (approximate)
[*]Seat tube angle: 67-68 (approximate)
[*]Chainstay length: 15.3/4" (from middle point of rear drop outs to center of bb)
[*]Top tube length: 17"
[/list]
Thanks:
Jussi Laajanen for the bike.
Alan's BMX for the bars, tires & chainring bolts
Suomen Urheiluaitta here in Helsinki for the NOS RE Racing power disc
Ginny for the brakes, cables, stem & seatpost clamp
AJK for the ODI grips
Michael Williams for the Aero seat & pads
Kevin Murphy for the 15"/1" dia. seatpost
Steve at Skatepool for the Haro plate
Ed Ferri for the Z-Mags long time ago..
Special thanks:
My Mother and my Father for supporting me in this hobby back then and thru all these years. I love you.
Supposedly we're -finally- ready for some photos, don't you think? I tried to take photos of everything along the way but some old photos first:
(IMG:http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/Timo2F/Carraro/TimojaCarraro1650copy.jpg)
This is me back then on my customized Carraro with 90kmh speedlimit decal on the sprocket etc, going riding with Mikko.
(IMG:http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/Timo2F/Carraro/MikenCarraroFS650copy.jpg)
Mikko on his Carraro Freestyler looking somewhat amused (or intimidated) by the fact that my father was shooting photos from the window.
(IMG:http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/Timo2F/Carraro/TimojaCarraro2editcopy.jpg)
Dialing the brakes. Just look at all those stickers and those poor pedals, oh and the lovely steel brakes. Atleast i got some new levers there..
(IMG:http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/Timo2F/Carraro/TimojaCarraro3editcopy.jpg)
Me, peg hops in the hallway. Check out the upgraded parts, Haro FS bars, tech-7s, Ame Tri's, rear Haro tire (the other one had just exploded apparently cause i'm riding the blue knobbie again), the stem etc. prior getting the '88 Haro Master shortly after. I was so proud of that bike with all those good parts.
May 7 2007, 02:14 PM
