Andrew M’s 1969 Gudereit K.G. Special

We’re finishing unofficial Blue Bike Week with a fine Deutsch example this Powder Blue Butterfly Gudereit K.G. Special sent by Andrew M. up in da U.P., eh.Â What a great bike, great pie plate,Â great color, great decals, great suicide butterflies, but a not so great riser stem!Â Hey it’s not my bike.Â Andrew, if you want a riser stem, that’s your deal.Â Nothing I say keeps James from sporting his deluxe gel seat cover, so why should it keep you from sporting a nutty riser.

Have fine weekend all, and go ride a crappy bike for a change.

This is my hand-built racer built about 40 years ago in West Germany. The company, Gudereit, is still in business (www.gudereit.de), and a representative of the company confirmed this bicycle is one of theirs. Unfortunately they couldn’t tell me much more than this, but they did say it’s an extremely rare model!

I rebuilt it fully, and I just got it back on the road. What a ride! It’s very nimble and quick; call it the Blue Butterfly, for lack of a better name.

I have many other bikes, which I will post as weather allows.

Ta!
–Andrew

Thanks Andrew

Andrew M.

The riser stem is a long story… Originally the Special had a lovely aluminum stem, which someone had utterly destroyed. There was a long crack on one side which rendered it unsafe to use.

So, the long quest to find a replacement stem began, and that was the only stem which would fit snugly.

It also has the additional benefit of popping the handlebars up a inch or so. I’m 5’11, and the bike… isn’t.

Ta!
–Andrew
http://oldtenspeedgallery.com The Ten-Speed Dreamer

A.M.,

I don’t fault you for going with a riser. The whole idea behind riding an OTS, aside from being bloody cool, is that you get use from something that would otherwise be discarded. If the stem fits and helps accommodate a bike that is a couple cm too small for ya, then so be it. Ride on, and remember 5×2=Love!
Andrew M.

Word.

😀
J. Valentin

Hm…the stem really looks awkward on this extremely rare and nearby-mint-lookinÂ´-bike. There must be any SR stem thatÂ´ll fit the tubing? What mm is the head tubing? Otherwise, what a desirable bike!
J. Valentin

…a quick word again; since the bar is higher than saddle, the bike cant really be too small, can it? IÂ´m sure there are stems (vintage in chrome!)that equals the height (or just below)of your saddle to give you a comfortable riding position? And then, youÂ´re not only in style, youÂ´re dead right!
J. Valentin

…cant leave this bike alone? IÂ´ve googled around and you sure have something special(not much to be found in other words)! The well known site http://www.classicrendezvous.com is looking for pics on Gudereit. Says it all I think…
- Andrew M.
  
  Hey J! Thanks for your interest!
  
  To be honest with you, the seat in the photos hurts my butt like nothing else. I used it for two reasons: 1) it doesn’t look nearly as beat-up as my leather Ideale, and 2) it’s got a phoenix on it. Thought it was fitting, really, since when I got the bike it was… unloved, to say the least.
  
  My normal riding position is actually much higher; double the length of the tube you see, and that’s about right. The present stem helps take off some of the strain of leaning forwards. I’ll have to get back to you on the dimension of the original stem; I used my old-school caliper to do a size comparison, not a measurement.
  
  I contacted Gudereit, and their comment was about like yours! They basically said “yup, that’s ours, but we didn’t know we made it.”
  
  I’ve done some searches myself, but I have never come up with a Gudereit of similar vintage. There was one on eBay a while back, but it looked to be a decade newer than mine.
  
  Ahhh, mysteries.
  
  Ta!
  –Andrew
A. Lang

I had been searching for more info on west german bikes for 2 months now. I found an old 10speed that was bought at a garage sale, used as a commuter, abused greatly and left out in the rain. I paid $30, and it had a ‘pinarello’ sticker on the front. Well it has a west german stamp in the metal on the back, all german components, except the simplex shifters etc… Anyways, it looks identical to your Gudereit, I think mine is 1972 or at least thats whats stamped on the back of the rear derailleur. If I haven’t lost your attention yet, I need your help, or at least an answer! Long story… very stubborn seat post, not high enough, now it is destroyed with about an inch left inside the tube. Not sure if I’m going to extract it somehow or pound it down in. Any way again, my only question, other that can you perform miracles, is what is the mm diameter of your seat post. I’ve got a micrometer and I’m getting 26mm, but I’m not sure… Thanks (If you read all this) and by the way your bike looks awesome!
- Andrew M.
  
  Hey A! Thanks for your kind words! Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. I myself haven’t had much luck on getting info on West German bike makers… seems that the era was a little slim on record-keeping.
  
  Congrats on a great find! Pinarello is an Italian maker (still around, too), but that could be just a transplanted badge, or whatever. I’d really love to see it! Think you could put up some pics? Perhaps Cameron will oblige… 😛
  
  Hmmm, do you mean the seat post has physically been destroyed, and there’s only a little chunk left in the bike frame? If you can get your hands on some high quality penetrating oil, that may help removal.
  
  Honestly, I’m not certain about the diameter of my post… But, don’t despair, I know someone who has a micrometer. As soon as I can get in touch with them, I’ll measure the post and get you the diameter straight away.
  
  ‘Til then!
  –Andrew
Zoran

Greetings
I just repaired an identical bike that has a name on it Montarina
This is the same product but the market Gudereita USA
Greeting Z.Stevanović Serbia

Old Ten Speed Gallery

Index shifting is for wimps!

Andrew M’s 1969 Gudereit K.G. Special