New In (my garage)Box: Libéria randonneur

Today I finished the restoration of a 1950 's Libéria randonneur. It turned out a little different than you would expect from a restoration: it 's more like a complete make-over.

In case you forgot: this was the original!

But I 'm thrilled to see that it meets all of my expectations. Every part on it is exactly what I wanted it to be. 

As you can see, there are some differences between the two nephews: the old one has a slightly sloping top tube. Yet the frame height is exactly the same. The top tube also has the same length. Wheels are completely the same.

So why did I start another project? Well first of all because I 'm too restless, and secondly because the Libéria has a different frame geometry: as you can see below I don 't have any toe-overlap anymore!

The front fork has a bit more rake, resulting in a more relaxed driving behaviour.

Once again I chose the Brooks Swift saddle because it 's a really fine piece of leather. But I went for the titanium one this time. It weighs 100 grams less than the steel one!! Waaw, that should make a real difference... ;-) No, I 'm no weight-weenie, but I didn 't want to be held back by the price of it. Of any part, actually.

The spots are because of the gallon of horse saddle grease I applied to the underside to soften the leather. Slowly but surely the whole saddle will turn brown. And softer of course. Then again, it will take some 1.000K before my sitbones will have left an impression. The brown Swift has done more than 2.000K, and you can only see slight traces of breaking in. But I can easily ride more than a 100K on it without any discomfort.

The nobs on the handlebar maybe look a bit funny, but they really make a difference in comfort while riding long distances. I can now hold my hands different positions without sliding forward. 

Big wheels against a big foot tree.

I 'm really pleased with this bike. I hope it will be my companion for many many miles...