New Old Bike is getting all the attention these days. But the existence of New Old Bike implies the existence of Old Bike. Here it is. It was built for me in 1990 by Charles Ralph, who did business under the name of Alves Framesets. Alves was the name of the village in Scotland where he lived. I’ve gathered some pictures, not very systematically. (Putting these together, I realize how consistently I’ve ignored The Rules for bike pictures. I have almost none from the drive side. I’ll try to correct that a bit in future, ok? Don’t @ me)

A red ALVES bicycle has gold mudguards, a black saddle and black-and-white sprinkled handlebar tape. It is standing against a pebbledashed wall in sunshine. An old photo from before the days of digital photography.
1990
My bike parked by the kerbside outside a shop with fruit & veg on display. Full set of 4 panniers, saddlebag and handlebar bag on bike.
At the shop in Enniskerry
Bike leaning against a fence, red metallic paint gleaming in sunshine. Black handlebar tape, black brale levers, downtube shifters.
late 2016
Bike in warm sunshine leaning against a stack of barked logs. Brown handlebar tape, barend shifters, black plastic bottle cage. A pile of jackets strapped to the saddlebag.
2018
Bike from the font laning against a white wall in a courtyard. Red front lowrider panniers, a black and red handlebar bag with a plus symbol on it.
2020
Bike standing against a grey wall, very bright green handlebar tape, no bags, old-fashioned non-aero brale levers with gum hoods.
Cinelli bars/Campy levers revival
Bike seen from front, leaning against a grey wall, bright green handlebar tape, ergo/aero style brake levers with brown hoods.
Dream bars/Evo levers
Bike leaning against a fence by a river, with an elegantly curved new concrete bridge in the background.
2020
Bike leaning up against a grey wall, brown handlebar tape, black brake levers, aluminium bottle cage on downtube.
Early 2017?
Bike standing in front of a green wall with a yellow postbox on it, between two troughs of flowers.
Bike outside Martinelli’s
Bike by a white-on-green sign An Tulach / TULLOW
Tullow
Loaded touring bike parked against a stone bench with flowers; water, orange juice and sandwiches on a stone in front.
Lunch
Red bike with panniers lying down on grass in front of a memorial stone "In memory of Shay Elliott"
At the Shay Elliott Memorial
Bike leaning against a grey wall, bright green handlebar tape, two bottles, one red like the frame, one bright green like the handlebars.
2020
Bike standing in front of a cash machine
Getting cake money in Semriach. Should have spent it on cake!
Bike standing in front of a bank of earth with a mixture of brown leaves and green shoots of grass and other plants coming through, in sunlight and shadows from trees.
2017
Bike laid down on its right side on a roadside covered in snow.
A bit after the Theisslwirt
2017
The Alves bike through the years

And here are some of the odder old parts and bits of equipment it’s had in the space of > 30 years:

Looking into a bicycle wheel in outdoor light, the hub is very shiny and has a black logo SunTour XC 9000
SunTour XC9000 hubs
Front hub & dropout
View from in front of the front fork of a bicycle showing a wide-profile cantilever brake
Dia Compe NGC982 cantilever brakes
Specialized ST “flag” triple cranks
Front end of the red frame of a bicycle showing a pair of smoothly rounded, anodised downtube shifters.
RX100 Downtube shifters
front wheel of a bicycle with two red pannier bags mounted on lowrider racks. The logo Tika, in a circle, is embroidered on the canvas of the near side bag.
Tika cotton front panniers
Some interesting old stuff on the Alves

The history of the Alves briefly goes like this:

  • Never used it as much as expected. Life had other ideas, etc.
  • Did have phases in 1993 (regular rides, some touring back in Ireland) and 1995-2000 (used it partly as an everyday bike) when I rode it more
  • Really barely used it from 2000 until about 2011
  • Started riding a lot more from 2016 to 2020, quite a few modifications in this time
  • In 2021, gradually came to the conclusion that it was too big for a good fit – that’s where the New Old Bike story begins
  • As of 2023 the frame is in storage, but I do have ideas for reviving it again.