Watch your head!
You might run into that 1955 Elgin Bluebird hanging from the rafters. Yes, it's true. The boss never throws anything away. It just magically vanishes from the shop and ends up here. If you've given up hope of finding that low gear pawl for a Hercules three speed, drop Davis an email davis@bikeman.com. If we can't find it for you, well, uh, we can't find it for you.
Do you remember slapping a Fat City bandage over some rock rash or how about hearing a Tioga Disc Drive rolling down the trail. Bikeman still has found memories of the years and parts gone by. In the museum you will find collectibles, components, memorabilia and maybe somethings you totally forgot about. So tighten down those toe straps and come on in.
Retro Grouch or just too smart to follow every new trend in your latest cycling magazine. Bikeman knows what that is all about. Bikeman is constantly finding interesting Old School parts and accessroies in the Attic that bring back both good and bad memories. We hope the Attic What IZIT will do the same for you. So browse our index and test your own Old School knowledge. Each Monday we will be posting a new item for you to guess on.
Covering the latest attic news and product updates to satisfy your old school cravings. Check back each week for updates. If you have a cool bike you would like highlited in the Retro Times drop us a line and include a picture.
Bikeman enjoys leafing through old catalogs from time to time and we know most of you do as well. Here is a chance to take a look into the past with manufactures catalogs for days long gone. Some may even be put up for sale. The catatlogs will be complete in PDF format.
Kooka Racha V Brake Levers Circa 1997 On display in Bikeman's Museum is a new pair of Kooka Racha brake levers. Another item from the heyday of light weight aftermarket moutain bike goodies. The Racha V levers tipped the scales at 92grams per pair and quickly became one of the most sought after levers on the market.
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Reviews on the levers where mixed. Many found them to feel a bit spongy and claimed they did not pull enough cable to efficiently work with their V-Brakes. Others liked the brake modulation, or at least told themselves so to justify the $90 expenditure. The levers featured a return spring and a paded 72mm long lever area. The other knock on the levers was the clamp. Similar in design to Avid's Speed Dial clamp, users often complained about the levers slipping on their bars.
Kooka also produced an aftermarket lever for Magura Hydraulic brakes. I actually used a set of those for a while till I came to my senses and realized I would rather be able to stop than have the coolest looking levers on the block. These levers are not museum quality as they are used, but really there is no better place for them than locked away where they will never have to pull a brake cable again. They can now do what they where best at, Look Cool.
The Kooka domain name is for sale if anyone wants to to do a fan site..... www.kooka.com
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