Early 70s RARE Condor Superbe Restoration. The most beautiful bike I have! 

I admire your respect for the previous curator of these bikes you picked up.

Old bikes are so pretty. I did not have a project bike for more than a decade now, but recently found an old roadbike from the 70s someone had thrown out. Finished to make it roadworthy just today. It is not all original and I did not go to the extent you do. For now I just want to ride it a bit to see if I want to get into another expensive hobby XD. But it was a nice feeling to save it from the crusher.

You are a living legend John!

Great video John. My first year racing (1976) I befriended a man in town in his late 60's or early 70s who had a Condor. Joe taught me how to build wheels correctly and he even let me ride his 1920's era track bike, complete with wood rims and super slack seat tune angle. Thanks so much for the memories!

Insane collection 👌 thank you for the detailed documentation on these beauties

I saw a condor in a bike shop in the late 70s and was impressed with the beautiful lug work 😊

The reason I sleep during your vids, is they are so relaxing. So please don't change anything except to make them longer, ha. But don't worry. This assures that I watch them to the end, and I always watch them a second time awake. And all of that just helps your algorithms. So, like I said, don't change ANYTHING, LOL. Seriously, I love everything and I watch details quite carefully because I learn things. All the best.😊

Loved that Ballantine bike book. Read it several times as prepared for my Trans continental in summer of '73. I ogled over the bike on the cover. But, I had a chrome paramount, so I can't complain!

Great job! While I don’t really remember Condors, I do remember that bike book😀

Fantastic video as always. There's a date code on the lock nut face of the hubs to put a date on the hubs!

incredible lugs! truly a work of art!

Love the videos! You’re definitely one of the few that inspired me to start my own channel!

Cool fun video 😊, its going to be a great bike ❤

I just bought Richard's book from Amazon because of that bike, had to have it.

This was wonderful to see. Thank you, sir.

Glad to see you’re enjoying the new tires. Let’s build up some wheels soon

A lovely Condor with lugs to be proud of. Great track pedals (1038a?). I used track pedals on the road, too. Keep the decals as is, unless you can get some original waterslide replacements. I hope you can get some tan hoods for it sometime, too.

Hey John I believe Eric Clapton at one time was either part or full owner of Condor Cycles. He was an avid cyclist and owned quite a few bikes one being a Cinelli Super Corsa. Great video as always.

Superb(e) video as usual John. What a beautiful bike. Keep em coming. Bernie

enjoyed watching you go through your voluminous stock of components - organization / selection commentary a window into the mind.

Those track pedals are great for those of us with big feet, since the quill on quill pedals tends to dig into your shoe if it's wide. And given the size of the frame, the original owner probably had larger feet.

Awesome vid John you made such a beautiful job on the Condor so far look forward to the next vid 😊❤ I own a Condor and love it beautiful to ride I have campy chorus 11 speed rides like a dream lovely.. wow the way you store all your stuff is awesome wow great parts collection.. Pete 🚴🏻👍

I raced a condor in the mid 70s,short tite crit bike, loved the ride for climbing, toured on it , 7 lb pack

Regarding the front derailleur, make sure you use the correct one for the the spindle and crank arms. Campagnolo changed the design due to CPSC regulations regarding sharp edges being dangerous. The two derailleurs that you showed are not interchangeable. The raised edge on the cage is the problem on the the later ones not working on the earlier cranks without rubbing. Ask me how I know. Velobase has good guidance on this.

Yes! I’ve been waiting to see this one!!

Another great video John, thanks for making and sharing. I love the longer ones myself, but I'm an outlier so I get it. That Condor is a gorgeous bike, and I think the patina makes it even nicer. I wouldn't repaint, but I can see how it would be tempting to make it NOS perfect. I wonder if that lower head lug scarring was some ham-handed lower race removal by screwdriver and hammer? In any case we sure appreciate your work to share what you're doing. I can imagine the desire to just do the build and not set up shots and lighting would be overpowering. Thanks and please keep them coming!

That is some clubhouse man , bloody lovely

this garage is my dream

Watchingfrom the Philippines.

Seeing these bikes brings back so many memories when they were a common sight at 70s race meats

Nice to see the Condor getting some love! As for the question of what rims would be appropriate... I'd have to say tubular. Or for clinchers... maybe Super Champion Model 58? Mavic MA-2 would look good too. The question of bar tape is always a tough one for me. I did use some orange tape on a bike not long ago, but the cloth tape faded with use and ended up looking a bit odd. It was an orange bike. It was also a harlequin wrap with orange and black tape. It got replaced with a harlequin wrap of brown and black tape, figuring that some color shift didn't matter if I didn't start with matching colors. Seems to be working so far...

My favourite kind of video!

Those pedals are sharp, they look like Campagnolo track, you can buy excellent Japanese made copies today. They are called MKS Sylvan Track apx $ AUD 50 without toe clips & straps, $80 with, & the end caps require a special spanner available from Velosaloon $AUD8. Sugino Aero Mighty sometimes found NOS, always very, very expensive are the same but with a pointed toe, titanium toe clips. Same MKS end cap spanner. I use both of these pedals, love them, & think they are much better made than the originals. The protective tape that I like to use on clampons against both paint or aluminium is the very thin cloth tape that is used by hospitals & doctors. Its invisible, protects, & leaves no residue. I apply it to the clamp side & trim prior to mounting.

Always need Mavic rims. GP4 tubulars would be nice even though the rims are hella heavy.

hey John love watching your channel you are doing a great job. At 29:49 you did not line up the tire label with the valve stem, come on all bike nerds know this one.

I loved the Super Record track pedals! Still have a pair. That looks like a Brooks Swallow saddle, a cut down Professional. Simple reason, the quill would pinch my foot. Almost looks like a traditional English 5/6 speed time trial bike. When I was station in the UK, 1984-1987, I rode( raced many time trials) with the Ipswich Cycling club. One of their sponsors' was Buck cycles. They built custom frames, as did many shops after WW2, like Bob Jackson, and Mercian.

I love the bling

Very Beautiful bike John. Thanks for sharing. I notice that you rarely put the original sew ups on these old bikes. Most of them would have originally had them especially the high end ones. Since you don't ride them so often how about lacing a few up and show them off? Anyway I love to see these old bikes and your passion shines through each one.

Ive got that book somewhere ! Different cover picture I think.

Harry Quinn popular frame builder from Northern England. Late 60’s and 70’s. Also I think did frame-building courses.

Beyond a number of light polishing compounds and cleaners.......... If you have never experienced Klasse "Red" (German), you must. Exceptional surface - paint - cleaner, polish, acrylic protectant. Does wonders on metal/chrome, aluminium...... Primarily focused for automotive application but is fully manifold.

John the videos are great but was wondering, do you ride any or all of them and if so do you have a favourite. Keep them coming

i still see so many of the 70s 10 speeds here in Boston, Maybe nowhere near that great condition to say the least but they've survived!

What do you use to clean the paint on a bike frame, or just clean the frame!

need a new steely. always enjoyded it love you

Will you try to find a Condor fork?

I saw you ordered Vittoria Rubino Pro tires with tan sidewalls. These are not shown on their catalog. Can you tell me where to get them? Thanks.

That was actually not a bad chain you took off,did you check it first before getting rid of?Also I stay away from stainless cables.

You can date Condors by the address on the headbadge,as they changed premises on Greys Inn Road several times

2:37 Eric Clapton had suprisingly style

I remember seeing a Super Condor, back in the early 80's. PS. Back in my toe clip days, I would always use white Bilda straps.

😎

Cars gotta go, make room for bikes!!! Just pulled our vintage bikes down off the hooks in the rafters to prep 'em for La Barocca here in Sicily next month. But I'm thinking once they're washed after this ride, they're NOT going back up in the rafters. Instead they'll be down where I can admire them like you do with yours.

Decals are available from Condor.

The slot in the seat tube being closed could be an indication of a seatpost that is too small.

LOL!!!!

New decal definitely. I always used track pedals on the road when I raced never liked the look of road pedals