Glenn Rewi and his retro rides

Dec 14th, 09.  Glenn Rewi talks to RoadCycling.co.nz about how his passion for steel road bikes started and how he ended up with ten bikes and a garage full of Campagnolo bits.

Glenn Rewi at Coffee Culture Sumner Christchurch (photo provided)

While down in Christchurch recently, RoadCycling.co.nz came across a passionate cyclist who has a deep love of the old way of doing things. No carbon fibre in this house, just pure steel.

Glenn Rewi, owner of a regular cycling stopover in Sumner, Coffee Culture, has accumulated a collection of steel bikes and a garage full of old Campagnolo components.

Rewi, who is renowned for his Stage 3 win in the Tour of Southland in 2007, among his many other cycling achievements,  couldn't stop talking about his love of old steel bikes.

This love for steel bikes started back in 2005 when his coach Tim Carswell introduced him to an old Colnago.

"Tim had a Colnago he bought in Italy when he was over there for the 1989 Junior World Champs, and it was built up with old Campagnolo," said Rewi.

"He was always going on about it, and I never really thought too much about that bike. Oh, how that's all changed now," he said.

Rewi's first retro bike came through one of Carswell's Trademe purchases.

"Tim purchased two bikes from an online trader in Wellington, sight unseen. There were no photographs, and twenty questions unanswered, but when they arrived he was like a kid at Xmas," Rewi said.

What arrived was a Colnago Master with Campagnolo C-Record, a Tour De France quality bike from the eighties.

Carswell rang Rewi and convinced him to visit and inspect the new Colnago and the accompanying Peugeot, also with Campagnolo componentry.  It turned out the 1988 Colnago was the wrong size for Carswell, but once Rewi set eyes on the old steel machine he reported falling in love with it straight away.

• Do you like it?
• I love it, its unbelievable.
• It's yours; I will sell it to you.
• How much?

And there began an addiction.

Colnago Master - the bike which started it all off for Glenn Rewi (photo provided)

Rewi now spends his days and nights looking for suitable parts to complete such a classic bike.

"I sort of embarked on this restoration project. I spend hours and hours trawling through Ebay and Trademe and now have pretty much got everything I need to put this bike back together in brand new condition," said Rewi.

"There is a massive [retro trading] community, everyone helps everyone else out. There are guys in Invercargill, Napier, and Auckland, and we swap parts with each other, depending on what we need," he said.

Rewi didn't stop at just one bike.  While buying parts for the Colnago, he'd often have to buy a whole bike to strip it for parts.  This fuelled his passion.

"When I started cycling at age 14, I always wanted an Eddie Mercx bike, so I ended up buying a couple of those too," he said.

Rewi now has ten retro bikes, a garage full of Campagnolo parts, and not much money. All thanks to that one phone call from Tim Carswell.

"That Colnago definitely started it all, I am not sure when it's going to end," Rewi said.

You can meet Glenn Rewi most days at Coffee Culture Sumner or read about his ongoing project on his blog Rewi Retro Rides .