After my cheap fixie inc bike that got me into fixed gear was stolen last year, I needed something cheaper than my Vigorelli that I could lock up in the city. So in the spirit of the OG bike messengers, I got a beat up frame track frame from the early 80s, produced by Diamant, the only company mass producing bicycles in East Germany.
Originally I had planned to use a cheap modern wheel set i got for 20 bucks, but it turns the fork requires a 7.92mm diameter axle instead of the usual 9mm, so I acquired a wheel set with matching Renak hubs made in GDR. Welcome to the world of tubular tires, it took me about 10 hours to get rid of the decades old glue ðŸ˜. But the ride feel of tubs is amazing, even though the rolling resistance is a bit worse than modern tires with TPUs or tubeless.
The cockpit is a beautiful 140mm Elsner stem with 38cm bars, all made in East Germany with unusual diameters.
Drivetrain is a Renak cottered crank with original 48 teeth chain ring and NOS 17 Renak cog, new KMC chain.
The seatpost is new with 24mm diameter and I'm still looking to replace my beloved SLR Boost with an old Seller Italia Turbo or Seller Sam Marco Condor.
Hope you lovers of old steel appreciate the change up from all the NJS stuff posted here 🙂
by Independent-End-4879
3 Comments
Cleannnnnn bro! How much for the build all in? It’s a beauty
Sick ass build. Even cooler that it’s from east Germany. How do you like those cranks?
Very very nice! Produced in Karl Marx Stadt or Chemnitz as it’s called nowadays