Vintage bike spotted.

Spotted this vintage remake at the Red Dot Museum during a recent visit. On close up, it seems to belongs to Vanguard Designs...

Think the frame belongs to a Shimano road bike. Rims are nicely coloured. But on close up, the paint work quite....you have to judge it yourself. I was expecting more...
The brake cables shouldn't be secured using cable ties. That's one of the minus points. It's fitted with Shimano Nexus 4 speed hubs, Brooks saddle and a nice leather saddle tool bag.

All in all, a nice bike with plenty of modern touches. Is it for sale? I dun see any price tag, just a note secured to the saddle. "Do Not Lift Up Bicycle".

Raleigh Chopper MKII going places!

Brought her out from some fresh air and sight seeing before bidding her good bye.
The bike rides well, with positive gear shifting.

The new tyres also grips well on the soggy grassland...

One last spin to the playground from some parting shorts. "This used to be my playground...", the sound suddenly pop into my mind. Reminds me of the time when I was a kid, riding my mod Kris around the neighbourhood. Well, memories are meant to....just memories. But good ones. :P

Raleigh Chopper, 1977 MKII

Score this original Raleigh Chopper several months back. It was stripped down and stored and away as I've run out of storage. Finally managed to squeeze in some free time and decided to do it up. My intention is not to spent a bomb in the restoration. Just enough to make it road worthy, that's all.

End caps with the 'R'
These hooks, does it really helps in braking power?

Yes, without 'it', this bike is just another 'KRIS' or it is?

Luvs the handlebars..

"Sir, there's a rip on your a@#!"

SA 3 speed hubs, dated 77

The original bike's linkage was missing when I bought it from a LBS. So, no choice but to have it ordered from UK. Lucky for me, I have an aunt residing there and she's my main source for helping the get those darn "Made-in-England" spare parts.

The condition of the chrome on this bike is rather pitiful. The previous owner must have left to face the elements alone. There are plenty of pitting. Thus restoration work can really be a challenge and also costly. Given my tight budget, I decided to let it go.

Got this Sturmey Archer 3 speed stick shifter from a fellow collector in exchange for my original Kuwahara Owners Manual. It needed repair. The indicator's not working. Upon stripping it, i discovered that one of the tiny parts in connecting the moving armature was damaged. Well, guess it's time for some DIY. Atleast I got it working fine again...

Well, this is the last time I'm going to ride a Raleigh Chopper again as this one has since been sold to a local collector.

Old School BMX, no brand

Bought this old school BMX for SGD$250 from a LBS. NOS. Some BMX 'purist' might say that I'm crazy to spend that amount of money on a Taiwan made BMX, even though it's a classic. But wth, this is the bike that I once rode when I was a kid. Not a Kuwahara, Apollo, Skyway...these bikes was way out of my family's financial means. I'm buying a memory, nostalgic feeling right here.


The think I like about this bike is the frame. I've seen countless 'chiong' type of BMX frames ( for the uninitiated, the word 'chiong' is in Hokkien, meaning imitation. ) But this design is unique, atleast in my opinion.


I find the weld not bad as compared to some really bad weldings I've seen before. I'm glad to be able to get this bike NOS, including the blue coloured chain.


From the design of the gusset, it's looks like a MT, but from further research, it doesn't look like it because of the rear drop out design. So, what name/brand is this bike? I'm all clueless.

The parts are excellent. 'MX' type calipers. There is even the '1000A' embossed wording at the back of the caliper! 1000A? humm...Check out the tyres too. Old school....

Sumo alloy rims. Neat.

Took her out for some sun and fun. Managed to do some Bunny Hops and Endos. Lucky the tyres are still holding well.

MX imitation race type 2 fingers brake levels. Cool. Hard to get these nowadays.

This crank is one of the parts I love most and also the deciding factor for my purchase of this bike. It's a Tracer brand. Everything is stamped 'Tracer', right up to the nuts. Stay tune for more pics on this ride.....This one's for keeping. That's for sure. BTW, this bike is damn light. Yes. I can lift it up with one arm and load it onto my bike rack.

'Safe' brand double revolving bell

'Safe' brand double revolving bell, originally uploaded by the_meadows21.

On a recent trip up North, I made a stop over in a small town for a quick bite. Then I noticecd a small bicycle shop in the vicinity. As always, no bicycle shop will go 'un-searched'. I decided to finish my teh-tarik and head straight to the shop before the sun sets. The shop was manned by an old man. He was resting on his rattan chair, smoking his 'gula-garam'. "Pak! I greeted him. As my spoken Malayu is half-shit standard, I deicded to use whatever vocab I can muster to ask him some questions. Fortunately, there was an old Flying Pigeon lying around and I pointed to him the old rusted ding-dong bell, signalling to him that I'm looking for something like that. Guess my sincererity have managed to rub off him and he went into his shop and took out a dust covered bell. I gave it a squeeze and the sound that resonates is very sharp. This is a mark of a good bell. Further rubbing and some cleaning reveals the logo. It's a 'Safe' brand, made in England. The main body is made of cast ron. Heavy and durable. The twin bells are made of steel but they are thick as compared the the China made ones. No wonder it sounded so different.

Kuwahara Owner's Manual

front, originally uploaded by the_meadows21.

Found this NOS Kuwahara Owner's Manual at the local Salvation Army. It was actually sandwiched together with some DC comic magazines which I had bought earlier. As I was flipping through the pages, this booklet dropped out. As I don't have a Kuwie with me, I think it should belong to someone who owns one and who could that person be? None other than 'Ketchup', who bought the Laserlite from me earleir on....

Sugino stem, Gold

Sugino stem, Gold, originally uploaded by the_meadows21.

Another great find. Sugino Gold stem, NOS. However, due to the humidity of the place, some form of rust have started to set in. All in all, it still makes a great piece to have for collection. Rare piece. Item have since being sold to avid collector up North. Don't worry, Singapore fans, I still have one more...for my own personal collection. Not for sale.

Vintage Diamond Back sticker

LGIM0824_2, originally uploaded by the_meadows21.

As I was searching through the tonnes of vintage BMX parts lying around the shop, something shimmering caught my attention. Went for a closer look. Woa! Original NOS Diamond Back sticker! Complete set! Without asking for any discount, I immediately paid the boss and left the shop a happy man. Missin accomplished for the day.
Anyway, the sticker has since been sold to an avid collector of vintage BMX stuff up North.

Old school BMX parts, photos intensive!

Tange grips, blue (sold)

Shimano 600 crank, gold

Shimano 600 crank, blue with front and back hubs.

Number plate

Promax Aero Turbo seat (sold)

More number plates..

Mesh number plate

Kiddy looking number plate

KALIN seat post

Kuwahara grips

E.T pad set with number plate (sold)

Cobra grips, KO.

BMX racing goggles

Fluted seat post, blue

These are some of the old school BMX parts I've amassed over the years. Some sold, some still in storage.

A vintage, colonial times cyclist hat!

Finally, after months of scouting around and interviewing those old trishaw folks resting along Waterloo Street, I manged to track down one of their comrades who still wears a vintage, colonial times cyclist hat.
As I can recall, I remembered when I was a little kid, I always see this gentleman who comes by my house selling bottled soya sauce. Yes. Door to door service. Back then, plastic bottles are still in the infancy. So, alot of recycling works back then, I should say so. My mum would wash the empty beer bottles and used it to contain dark/light soya sauce. So, when the 'soya sauce man' comes round, we'll just bring our empty bottles to him for refill. Very environment friendly, don't you think so?

I also recalled seeing the 'Soya Sauce Man' wearing a beige colored hat, similar to the ones shown. So the suddenly recollection jolted me to seek out one of this hat for that nostalgic feel...

This type of hat used to worn by colonial times British government officials. They would wear their white uniforms, complete with knee length socks and white bermudas. There are actually several versions of this type of hat. Some have a longer and broader back portion, which is like the ones used by hunters on the African plains. There are also french versions. Infact, I'm comtemplating of getting a Vietnamese version too. :P

The material of this hat is rather unique. It's made of cock, which makes it light and yet absorbent. I remembered reading about it on the internet that BITDs, the wearer will soak it in water and wears it. It'll keep the head cool as also acts as an insulator from the tropical heat. I've yet to test it out on my rides, but soon. I hope. Just got to find the time as there're some many new projects up and coming. So many bikes to sell with so little time to enjoy them.