THE COMPLETED GARDIN ANNIVERSARY

There is little left to say about this beautiful and wonderfully build old Canadian made vintage road bicycle.  Its beauty is obvious and its superb ride quality becomes so soon after mounting the bicycle and setting off.  Though many bicycles have come and gone in my collection of vintage racing bicycles, this is one that will remain in The Old Shed.  And, then if my son has his way, after I am gone the bike will reside in his New Old Shed.

Since adding those last few parts needed to complete the build, the bicycle has been ridden enough to ensure that everything is functioning as intended.  Needless to say, the bicycle is still a joy to ride and looks every bit the part of a high end professional racing bicycle.

The icing on the cake was the addition of a NOS white Turbo saddle purchased through Ebay from an unscrupulous seller.  The saddle, listed as New Old Stock(NOS) arrived with a nasty crease permanently blemishing the top.  To that add two small scuffs on the edge of the underside and the NOS saddle proved to be a bit of a disappointment.

When I complained about the condition of this, so called, NOS saddle, the seller, without a word of apology, said send it back.  That means I would be out the twenty, or more, dollars to ship the saddle to me and another twenty to ship it back.  And, after dealing with Mr. RC, why would I trust him?  He has already screwed me and, after my leaving neutral feedback, although in retrospect I should have left negative, the guy had the nerve to call me a liar.  Some people!

With the saddle installed, the only thing left to do was wrap the handlebars.  I had one pack of vintage appearing bar tape saved for just such an application.  I should add that I tried something a wee bit different with the wrapping.  Normally, black PVC tape will fill the bill when finishing off the wrap application.  This time I tried using coloured PVC tape, two tone, and it seems to look pretty good.  The tape, incidentally, can be purchased at most home building stores and comes in green, yellow, red, white, blue and, of course, black.  A complete set of colors, coupled with three rolls of black, is about six bucks and will do hundreds of bicycles.

But is the Gardin really finished?  I would like to think so but the jury is still out on tire selection.  Red tires just might complete the look, even though they would be anything but period correct.  And, the tires already installed are just fine and do suit the bicycle to a Tee.  So, chances are the Gardin will see few changes in the years to come.