1970s English bike restoration! The Condor Superbe 

I loved my 70's Condor. A friend also had a Condor Supurbe. I still think about that bike. I hope it's doing well. Glad to know another one is in riding shape. Everest gold freewheel, wow, it looked like Campy grease in the BB. Great video! THanks!

Nice bike, John! I just love coming to your channel. It takes me back to a better time. I just feel at peace when I drop by. Two days ago I rode my recently acquired ‘74 Paramount to the grocery store and back. Four people stopped me to comment on the bike. Same thing yesterday. A guy along my route saw the bike and commented on how beautiful the bike is. Bikes have changed a lot in the last sixty years, but I think bikes became their very best around 1969. I like my custom 1982, but for the rest of my life I plan to buy and ride old vintage steel.

Sooo 70's 😎

This Condor is definitely a standout of this new collection. I’m sure the previous owner would be happy about how excited you are to be the new care taker.

My first race bike was a Condor built in Reynolds 531 with track seat stays. The paint was super thick and close to a luxury car for smooth finish. I’ve visited the original and current shops in Grays Inn Road in London.

Luscious color on this frame, and the detail on the lugs is just the cherry on top. Especially the seat stays where they meet up with the seat clamp. I agree that the gum hoods will look better as the white hoods look too cold against the creamy warm paint. Thanks for sharing!

White hoods and white caps work very well.

Super 🎉🎉🎉 Brawo 👏👏👏 NiCE...❤ Oi...👁️👁️

What a beautiful frame. I am a regular visitor to Condor Cycles in London. Their attention to detail and commitment to racing remains to this day. Did you know back in the good old days, when Clincher was a dirty word, they'd write the received date on racing tubulars and store them, in the basement for a year, to harden the rubber. Only then would they sell them!

What an absolute beauty. Great bike and great rebuild. Loved the Ferris Beuller reference to boot,, “Anyone, anyone”.

When I wrapped bars in the 1970s and early 1980s with Tressostar and Cateye tape, I would start from the top and work down toward the bar end, as John did in this clip. Then, in the 80s, alternate handlebar wraps appeared and many brands included two additional short pieces of pre-cut plastic tape. It then dawned on me that by wrapping from the bottom up and serving the loose end with tape at the top, I would get better wear from the wrap, because the overlap occurs to the top side of the wrap, like a higher clapboard or a course of shingles overlaps the lower one.

Nice

I'm happy to see this bike built. Looks great as it is. 🙂

Nice job! I think the white hoods look great with the white bar plugs 😊 On the Harry Quinn consider a harlequin wrap using light grey & black

What a beautiful bicycle. The level of detail is just stunning. I am sure the Condor will be a crowd puller at the bike show.

nice work! i usually add a touch of grease to the bushings in the derailleur pulleys.

I enjoy this channel! Thanks for the care you give these cool old bikes. I’m almost 65 so these machines were drool-worthy when I was just a kid in school way back when. In the early 70’s I rode a Raleigh Record and could only dream of Campagnolo! The next project - your Harry Quinn - should get red bar tape.

The orange bar tape goes well with the orange sear post stripes

That's true art, love the chrome. I found a late 80's Columbus Jan Janssen frame wich was fully chromed, some damaged paintwork gave it away. Chemically stripped the paint and immediately had to go find my sunglasses to continue rebuilding the bike ✨✨

I have a private machinic and I was chatting to him once about Condor Cycles and I have had 3 of their frames over the last 20 years and he thought that Condor Cycles actually built their frames in house and they do not build any of their frames themselves, they get everything out sourced. In fact they probably have never built a production frame themselves ever. Also their quality control on their frame-sets pretty much does not exist anymore, they used to have a frame jig at their warehouse so they can check frames over and they went and sold it a few years ago, Fact. There're a strange bunch and that comes from dealing with them face to face. I ended up stopping dealing with them due to Q & C issues with two of the same frames I purchased from them and that is how I discovered the Q&C frame jig issue. Real shame.

Stunner! I agree on adding dust caps - and also swapping hoods. The grey ones stand out too much. Keep up the great work!

Stunning. Lots of bling, ornate lugs, lots of chrome with vintage Campy components. What’s not to like….Always enjoyable and gives me inspiration. The orange tape works with this frame. Keep up the great work. 👍🚴🏽‍♂️

Beautiful build 😊

I really like the white brake hoods and orange tape.

Thinking about that Harry Quinn. I initially liked the idea of silver tale but would go back to black for contrast. Don't want TOO much silver. I would like to hear about Geometry on the HQ, they were often steep and short.

Love the lug work. The bike came out beautifully, and that orange tape… icing on the creamsicle shake! 👌🏽

Beautiful bike, you did a really nice job on the cleanup and put together 👍. You have a great eye for detail and you make it fun. You brought this bike back to life. Great way to honor Mr. Brooks ❤️‍🩹.

I think the seat tube colors are amazing

I'm not a fan of fancy lugs normally but that bike is stunning, love the seat stays

A lovingly made video of a really special bike. I learn something new in every video🎁🏆🫡

John, what a bike! It's a true beauty. thanks for sharing.

What a great looking bike! Very elegant moving art.

Hi John,l,m from England ,when I was young I lived in an Essex village near Stanstead and there was a cluster of London cycling club bungalows a few miles from my family home. On a Sunday morning the riders would come past my house,on there best Sunday bikes chrome spokes glistening in the sunlight often carrying their racing wheels on small cyclo brackets on the front forks l remember quite a few of those riders would be riding gleaming Condors!

EXCELLENT BIKE end excellent job, warm greetings from the Netherlands

So much to love about this bike! A few comments: the white hoods look good with the white frame and orange tape but the gum will be more era appropriate. The brake calipers are pre CPSP while the pad holders are post i.e. they shouldn’t have the plastic covering on the wheel guides. We all have our own preferences for brake cable housing length and routing but IMHO shorter housing with both cables routed behind the bars would look better. 😊 Anyway, nice video as usual! Hope the bike rides as nicely as it looks.

Very very nice. The only thing I can complain about is that the rear tire was on backwards ⬅️. It Could slow you down 😊

Excellent build! Looks to be an awesome ride.

Love it. Great way to start my day! Thank you. 😊

Wow! That bike is sweet.

Wow what a beautiful spot you have, very nice collection and setup

Belissima....another great build ❤

The lugs the panto what a great looking Condor

You're such a sweet guy.

Love the orange and red and white! Orange tape nice.

Lovely bike ... and in good safe hands.

Beautiful bike!! Congratulations.

great work as always

must say, I like the white hoods - looks great w/ the frame & orange tape. your close-ups & pace of assembly are excellent... a guide for refurbing our ancient bikes. Campy Nuovo porn is the best gruppo porn. the Condor is beautiful - evocative of Greg's life in bikes that replacement parts are at hand as-planned. {I'd use black on the Quinn... silver tape on silver bike is ... too silver. save it for Modolo black bars & stem?}

Looking sharp there John ,those lugs are something else .

Beautiful bike! Absolutely one of the best of the most artistic era of.cycljng.

John, another great job! That Condor is fire. Looking forward to the Harry Quinn build. The Quinn is such an understated bike, I think you should continue to build on that and use black cloth bar tape. I think it will pop and tie in with the saddle on that bike. Your one pop of “color” could be gumwall tires, although this is one of those rare vintage builds that would look fine with black wall tires. Those current red tires don’t look good.

Very pleased with this process, as usual you did a great job. Really a special bike. Yes, it looks great but the world logo gum hoods are what this bike deserves. Thanks for giving in to us! FWIW, crank dust caps were never used by almost all racers, but mostly used by casual riders & tourists. As you know they tend to seize up if not properly lubed. Keep up the good work!

Change the Jockey wheels for a sealed bearing set, the difference is dramatic. So much drag in the Original ones

Incredibly beautiful frame! Is that a Brooks Swallow saddle? I would go full leather with this beauty, and put on leather handlebar tape. Very nice build👍

Great to see the Condor refreshed and gorgeous! re: old lithium grease.. that stuff tends to turn into rock over the decades. It's prudent to clean it out and use some Phil or Park green grease. re: white hoods.... Works for me. My Raleigh International has white hoods and white tape and cable housings, and it looks great! But, yeah.. white Campy hoods are a later thing. re: crank dust caps.. yep, install them on a "bling" bike!

Beautiful bike,welcome to the Condor owners club.I just noticed the arrow on the rear tyre seemed to be facing the wrong way.

Believe that frame was on the cover of an early edition of Richard’s [Ballantine] Bicycle Book.

Great job as usual. It's very relaxing to watch you work. I have a Cinelli track bike that is the color of that Harry Quinn and it has olive drab bar tape that looks good. Gotta have the gum hoods on that Condor - they will match the copper rails on that saddle.

8:52 the pulley IS cracked at 7:30pm there is a crack all the way through the pulley. The plastic just hasn't shrunk enough to open up the crack very much, yet ...

Dang! That's real neat. Did I say it right?........Aust.

Noooo, don't cave John, definitely keep the white hoods!

John, Does it require screw adjusters on the rear dropouts for rear wheel trimming, also agree with the front brake cable behind the handlebars. I believe Condor made many of the bikes for the L.A. movie recently.

Lovely job! Is Jim Piets the builder of the frame? And do you know what gauge the tubes are? They went pretty thin-wall sometimes with 531 in those days.

What bike trail was that you were riding ?

I would always try to use the shortest bottom bracket spindle that would fit, because I would often stay in the big ring, going up hills. Cinelli 26.4 bar and stem to be period correct? PS. 36 hole wheels?

Silver tape - awesome for the Quinn. Was I amiss, did you lube the chain pullies? Also, Campagnolo goes on the outside of the pullies. :-) See if the crowd notices that.

Checkout this point in the video 0:18 The orange bike in the upper right corner, Is that a Gazelle from 1973?

Would you put a Japanese bicycle bell on an Italian bike ? … do you have any recommendations on bike bells 🔔

Cool Toys? Rockin? Where are your parents Sir?

This bike, I think, was featured on the cover of Richard's Bike Book. From the 70's.

It’s not a cockpit 😵‍💫

I'm into the white hoods... Haha