My 1981 Austro-Daimler Vent Noir II

Here's another one of those "bikes of my youthful dreams" machines.  As regular readers (are there any these days?) know, back when I was a teenager growing up in the DC area, one my favorite pastimes was visiting bike shops.  We had some really great ones, from basic "mom and pop" stores to ones that catered to real aficionados, with high end racing and touring bikes.  It  really was the classic "kid in a candy shop" kind of situation, but the "candy" cost way more than I could ever afford back then.

1976 A-D catalog

On one of my visits to College Park Bicycles, I spotted a really sharp looking bike from a company I really didn't know much about - an Austro-Daimler Vent Noir.  This was the first version of the bike, which came in a striking all black finish, with gold lettering and trim, and gold rims.  It also featured the first version of Shimano's Dura Ace component group, anodized in black to match the bike.  Vent Noir means "black wind" in French, thus the color theme.  Back then, there just weren't very many dealers for the brand, so it was a fun surprise to see one, and one so eye-catching.

A few years later, at the same shop, I spied a newer version of the same bike, the Vent Noir II.  While I'm sure others will disagree, I found the new version even more beautiful than the original.  The frame was treated in a "smoked chrome" finish that was really remarkable, and like nothing I had ever seen.  The component group had also changed, to Campagnolo, the brand that was the "top dog" in road cycling back then.  On the Vent Noir II, they used the Nuovo Gran Sport group, rather than the higher end Nuovo Record or top of the line Super Record.  Functionally the differences aren't really all that great, and even the finish and appearance, while not as spiffy as the Record groups, was pretty darned nice.  The one exception is the rear derailleur, which is really rather homely for a Campy piece.  It works just fine, but I understand why some folks back in the day substituted either a Nuovo Record unit, or something from another brand entirely.  If you go back and look at the post about my Mercian, you'll see the original owner specced the Nuovo Gran Sport group, but got the lovely Huret Jubilee derailleur instead.

Craig's List photo of Vent Noir II

I kept my eye open for a nice, used Vent Noir (either version) for many years, but they just aren't that common, and finding one in a 62cm or thereabouts wasn't easy.  Fast forward to 2016, when I found a Craigs List ad for one in Fredericksburg, VA, about an hour and a half (depending on traffic) south of me.  The photos looked good, so I took the drive down to see it.  For a bike as old as it was, it was in really remarkable shape, and a quick test ride confirmed that I would enjoy riding it for years.  On top of all that, the price was fair, so we closed the deal pretty quickly.


Once I got it home and got a closer look at it, I was even more impressed with the overall condition.  Most of the decals were in good shape, with only a few spots where they had been scraped off, none bad enough to really bother me.  It's an old bike, so a little patina doesn't bother me.  Mechanically, it was in very good shape too, and about the only thing mechanically I decided to replace was the brake and shifter cables and housing.  As "correct" as it would be to have kept the original parts there, I'm a fan of functionality, and a set of new, modern cables and teflon lined housing definitely made things work better all around.

The other things I decided to change were the various "contact points" - saddle, bar wrap, and pedals.  The bike came with a cheap plastic saddle with crappy foam, so that got replaced right away with a Brooks B17 Special with copper rivets in the honey brown color.  To match that, I also used matching Brooks leather bar wrap in honey as well.  That color really complements the smoked chrome frame color!  Aside from missing a dust cap, the Campy pedals were fine, but the "quill" design does not work with my big feet, so off they came, replaced by a set of double sided SPD compatible pedals.  I like riding in SPD sandals, so that was an easy choice.  I have more "correct" looking pedals and toe clips I can use if the spirit moves me, though.

Finally, the last thing I changed was the tires.  It came to me with a set of low end Continental Ultra Sports, in 700x23 size, which are pretty narrow and harsh riding for my tastes.  It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I swapped those out for a set of Japanese Panaracer Paselas, in 700x28.  I really like those tires, because they look great with the tan, skin wall sidewalls, and they ride great too.  Much smoother than the Contis, but still plenty "fast" for me.  I could probably fit a wider 32mm tire, but for this bike the the 28s just seem right.

The finishing touch was a Carradice Barley saddlebag in olive green with brown straps, which again just looks great with the finish on the frame.  I think all in all it's a really classy looking bike, not really "flashy" at first glance, but beautiful when you stop to look.  And how does it ride?  Great!  Smooth, light, and fast rolling, and it handles really well too.  It's more at the "race" end of the spectrum than some of my bikes, but not to much so that it's twitchy of uncomfortable.  Having finally gotten my hands (and butt) on one after all those years, my early desire to own one seems well founded.

Here she is, after the changes I made, except for the pedals.

Here's my Flickr photo album for the bike:

1981 Austro-Daimler Vent Noir II

And here are a few online resources about the bike and brand that I found really helpful and informative:

Austro-Daimler: The Bicycle That The Owner Of A Bösendorfer Imperial Piano Would Ride

Bikes to Like: Ritchie’s 1979 Austro-Daimler Vent Noir II

Classic Austro-Daimler Bicycles

In the shop: Austro-Daimler Vent Noir

1979 Austro Daimler Vent Noir II

1976 Austro Daimler Vent Noir

By the way, if anyone has a source, online or physical, for a 1981 Austro-Daimler catalog showing the Vent Noir II, I'd love to see it.

I should mention that Austro-Daimler was actually one label of a company called Steyr-Daimler-Puch which produced bikes under the names Steyr, Austro-Daimler, and Puch.  In the US, it seemed there were more Puchs than the others, but that might have just been in my area.  The Steyr labeled bikes I've seen have all been utilitarian three speed "city bikes" much like the old English Raleigh Sports and similar bikes.  They also built bikes for Sears in the 60s under their J.C. Higgins, Ted Williams, and Free Spirit labels, including one model with 531 tubing and Campagnolo components.  Yes, from Sears!  There are other folk who know a lot more about that chapter than I do, so you might do some searching if you're really interested.