I’m restoring this 80s lovell bike, it seems like one of the basic models but it has a hand engraved serial number on the bottom. Is this a cool find or something normal?
by onetwothreefoe
I’m restoring this 80s lovell bike, it seems like one of the basic models but it has a hand engraved serial number on the bottom. Is this a cool find or something normal?
by onetwothreefoe
4 Comments
Owners at times do their own engraving.
Besides, that seat post is another story😱
Great blank canvas for a nice restomod. Frame has all the signs of a decent quality bike.
For starters there’s a legit quality frame under all those cheap crappy parts.
Second, you’re not doing anything using soap and water. Take off all the parts and get some actual mineral spirits to clean off the grease. The engraving was likely made by one of the owners as a theft measure. It’s not normal, no.
Also those aluminum foil stickers aren’t normal either.
Trash all the components on that bike and outfit it with something nice. This bike is a total shitshow. The only thing you have to keep is the shifter.
People used to engrave their SSN under the bikes as a way to ID it in the case it was stolen. This NYT Article [from 1972](https://www.nytimes.com/1972/06/19/archives/police-urge-social-security-numbers-on-valuables.html) obviously couldn’t fathom a world where identity theft would be an issue. This doesn’t look like the right format but it may have been a drivers ID or maybe it’s not an American number. Either way
I’m super interested in the downtube shifter mount. Any chance you could post a better photo of that?