Just like Wayfarers, Polaroid, Nickelodeon, Thor, Captain America, photobooths, red lipstick, big band classics (you know what it means if you’re a gleek), etc., there’s a current trend for vintage bike restoration. Old bicycles are fresh again.

“The process of restoring is a challenge. I enjoy rummaging through junk shops,” says one vintage bike lover from Laoag. It may get pretty expensive importing original bike parts. Some shops in Metro Manila now specialize in original and reproduction bike parts and accessories because of the growing demand for classic bikes.

Most bikes in the photos below were restored by the new owners.

[Hobbyist Roy Andres’ Schwinn.]

[Spotted in Laoag: Pop Manuel’s Columbia.]

[Spotted on Facebook: Nikko Ong’s unfinished 1948 Dayton Champion.]

[A friend’s vintage US Army bike.]

[Rainier Kau’s 1948 Roadmaster Luxury Liner.]

[Rocky Chan’s heirloom Monark.]

[Seen in NSK Motorcycle Parts.]

[Eugene’s old school GT bicycle motocross (BMX) bike.]

Although there are newer bikes at home, I love the classic easy riding feel of my old Schwinn. The coaster brakes are like an extension of my feet. I find back-pedal brakes easier to control especially in traffic. In hindsight, grandpa bikes or BTLs (bisikleta ti lakay), as they are referred to in Ilocos, never really left. There must be one in a garage in your neighborhood. As the cliché goes, another man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Give these bicycles new life.

Photographed by Blauearth © Blauearth™ All Rights Reserved