A man bought it for his wife 39 years ago. He told me it was Russian and cost three-quarters of his salary. The woman used it to cycle to work for years, and when she finally stopped using it in the city, he started using it in the countryside. Thus it continues rolling today.
I say ‘rolling’, but every bearing except the rear hub was worn to the point of having free play. Perhaps that rear hub had already been treated to a service in the past four decades?
The tyres were Polish Stomil Tourist at the front and Czech Rubena at the rear. I hadn’t heard of either brand, but Google tells me Rubena still exists in some form today.
The spokes were massive beyond belief, but despite this there were signs that some of them had failed in the past. (I duly tut-tutted at the rear spoke count of just 36.) Replacements were not always quite the right length.
The frame was repainted and even welded in some spots. The mudguards were patched.
The chain was heavily worn, as were the front and rear sprockets. On the plus side, it was better lubricated than many chains I see on expensive road bikes here in Paris.
As you might imagine, this bicycle was colossally heavy – at a guess, not far off 25 kg.
I rode it and found it to be tremendously stable: so much so that on this strange machine I managed the 90-degree bend in the footpath around the corner of the house on my first attempt. The seat tube angle must be somewhere in the region of 68 degrees and the head tube around 70 degrees.
Before dumping the photos in no particular order, here’s a close-up of the pedal, showing slight signs of use:
It was nice to see a worn-out bicycle. They’re not common enough in my neck of the woods.
The photos, then:
Some of the spokes look like they're just hanging in by a couple of threads 
