1980s Volvo...the Itera Plastic bicycle

[inconsistant]

Update... there seems to be genuine interest in this bike on here, so I'll try to keep this thread updated with stuff about it. There's so little on the webs about the Itera bike that I've probably doubled that amount already so this might be of interest to anyone looking for info beyond Wikipedia.

 

The day after I bought it I had a good look over it. It's fascinating. It's quite obvious that automotive design has been applied to it especially in the detail of how stuff fits together. Working on it feels much more like working on a car than a bicycle, which I wouldn't have appreciated unless I'd done the work I have on the 924. Specifically I mean the way that trim, interiors and fixtures and fitting in cars are assembled rather than the engine & mechanicals. I suppose that's more to do with appropriate assembly methods for the material than anything else.

 

Here's some details:

 

 

Integrated lighting, front light lifted out to check connections

 

 

 

Isobel

 

 

 

Sturmey Archer 3 speed is all the gears that I need

 

 

 

Powerful, all weather brakes from the 80's

 

 

 

Built in anti theft device, from the 80's

 

 

 

Nice flag detail on the key though.

 

 

 

Unstealable now...

 

 

 

Branded saddle

 

 

 

These date stamp mouldings are doted around the plastic components. This looks like 82, I think it reads April. These were on sale from 1982-85 so this is likely an early one. Later ones apparently had metal handlebars. The plastic handlebars flex a lot and I'd imagine that wouldn't instil confidence in a potential buyer on a test ride.

 

 

They made 30,000 Itera bicycles, so if mine is an early 1982 one then this could mean that mine is no 4300. Maybe.

 

[Edit: apparently production started 24th Feb 1982, launch date April 82]

 

 

 

Rear hub

 

 

 

 

Chain tensioner

 

 

 

Reflective stickers on spokes. Nice touch.

 

 

 

Rear light. Volvo as you like.

 

I get the feeling that the Itera was designed for people that weren't really into cycling to tempt them to try it. A sort of everymans bike, for pootling around town, picking up shopping and that sort of thing, where convenience and trouble free ownership were priority features. I suppose it could even be left outside in a back yard and not go rusty overnight.

 

Initial impressions of it are that it's got bags of charm, and is an ok bike to ride. It certainly isn't slow on the flat. Mine wears it's 34 years incredibly well, but I don't know if that's typical. A tour of cycling forums searching for 'Itera' brings up either another thread linking to Wikipedia, or the infinitely repeated general opinion that although most of posters say they've never ridden one, this is the worst, most despicable bicycle ever made and is not worthy of the name bicycle. 

 

They're wrong.

[inconsistant]

Shortly after buying it I spent £5 on 'winning' an Itera original sales brochure:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm now on the lookout for some cerise pink trousers.

[RobT]

Useless post but I'll say it anyway...

 

Didn't the ebay listing for this say it had been a museum exhibit or something? An old episode of Salvage Hunters repeated a few weeks back had an Itera outside the Bakelite Museum in Somerset. So yours could possibly have been on telly (albeit just the Quest channel).

[Cavcraft]

The wheels (obviously) look different from usual cycle ones, but is there a date anywhere on the hub as per normal SA equipped ones?

 

 

Edit: what's the script with the tyres on these please, I take it they're 26" and have tubes, and also are your lights dynamo powered? Cheers.

[cort1977]

Very interesting.   I think you are right about the target market of casual cyclists.

 

What are the brakes like with plastic rims?   Thinking about it the old BMX skyway wheels were plastic too but can't help thinking that braking for an adult with panniers and an optional child rack might be a bit sketchy in the wet.

 

Is the SA hub unique to the bike? Presumably the hub flanges visible in the second to last picture are made for the bike?

[Cavcraft]

 

 

Have seen the other one now too, might be going back for that haven't quite decided yet though.

[Dave_Q]

Do the rims have a metal braking surface? The brochure says they're GRP but the picture looks metallic.

 

Certainly on modernz the carbon rims have metal braking surfaces, they have only very recently developed carbon rims that can withstand braking so it's well ahead on that front if the rim isn't metal.

[Spottedlaurel]

One seen by one of my Flickr contacts in London: https://flic.kr/p/Jx6gwW

[Braddon81]

After being inspired by this thread I've just bought one of these too! I'm picking it up next week........it will sit nicely next to my Sinclair c5!

[inconsistant]

Excellent! Show us photos please!

 

Here's my Itera in the shed, sat nicely next to my Strida, with some spare interior Pascha door cards in the background.

Do all the best things from the 80s end in an 'A'?

 

[Braddon81]

This time next week this very bike will be mine! I take it the gears are standard Sturmey Archer 3 speed?

[holbeck]

That looks good in that bluey green colour!

[inconsistant]

Nice! If that's the one off eBay I'd say that's not a bad price for one in that condition. Looks like it just needs a good clean.

Mine's a 3 speed Sturmey Archer, looks like that one's the probably the same.

[Braddon81]

Yep it's the one off ebay. Not really knowing the market for them I don't know whether it's a good price for one or not..but it should be good fun to cruise along Swansea Bay!

[Cavcraft]

Owners club meeting

[inconsistant]

What are the brakes like with plastic rims?   Thinking about it the old BMX skyway wheels were plastic too but can't help thinking that braking for an adult with panniers and an optional child rack might be a bit sketchy in the wet.

 

Is the SA hub unique to the bike? Presumably the hub flanges visible in the second to last picture are made for the bike?

 

 

 

Brakes are standard 80s cheap brake blocks onto plastic rims, and seem to be fine once adjusted with plenty of bite at least in the dry.

 

Not sure about the gear hub. I might change my forum name to Hub Flanges, it sounds like the name of an awesome superhero btw. 

[inconsistant]

what's the script with the tyres on these please, I take it they're 26" and have tubes, and also are your lights dynamo powered? Cheers.

 

 

Tyres are 27" x 1.25, with inner tubes.

Lights are powered centrally from a frame mounted power pack. The sliding switch on the top of the front light turns on both front and rear lights.

[inconsistant]

One of the major criticisms of these bikes when they were new seems to be the flex in the handlebars. They are wobbly but it doesn't feel like they're about to break at all so I don't mind it. It's only really noticeable when you pull away, and become aware that as well as pushing down on the pedals you also pull up on the handlebars. The later versions of the Itera had metal handlebars, I assume to address this problem.

 

Here's a pic of the bike upside down to show the underside of the handlebars:

 

 

 

The lights are powered by a central power pack that's hidden behind a removable panel under the frame. It also hides the gear and brake cables, and some spiders:

 

 

 

 

The stand is quite clever, it's part of a moulding that bolts onto the frame and makes that bit by the pedals a lot more rigid. There's a lot of force going through this bit of the frame, and my Strida really fails with this, as the frame rotates and flexes alarmingly as you push on the pedals.

 

 

 

I swapped both inner tubes for new ones, since the front had a 'not car' valve, and the rear had a slow puncture.  The front wheel is really easy to remove, just a spindle that goes through the forks and the wheel:

 

 

With the tyre off the wheel is easier to see, note lack of tape to protect inner tube from spoke poke:

 

 

 

I really struggled to work out how to get the back wheel off. These came off the hub first:

 

 

Then undid the derailleur style chain tensioner:

 

 

Then had to try to pull the frame apart while trying to unhook the chain from the rear cog. Nightmare.

 

 

Applying brute force to 30 year old obsolete plastic isn't a nice feeling, even if it is reinforced with glass fibre. I'm definitely going to try to get all my punctures on the front. It helped to loosen the bolts on one side of the stand moulding where fixed to the frame, which allowed a bit more flex in the frame. Still a pain though, don't know what they were thinking!

 

 

 

 

Managed it in the end but it wasn't a pleasant job.

 

I stopped half way and searched online for ages to see if there was a pdf service manual or similar just in case there was an easy way that I hadn't worked out. There's absolutely no information or support out there for these. I looked on a few cycling forums searching for 'Itera' and all I could find were the usual 'what's the worst bike ever?' type threads with lots of opinions about these but almost no one admitting to ever having seen one in the flesh let alone riden one. I suppose it's not just cars then, most people will go along with the easiest opinion about almost anything. And by people I probably mean blokes, obviously. Thank goodness for Autoshite! There's more genuine interest in the Itera on this thread than the whole of the rest of the internet put together. No really.

[garethj]

That looks peachy, and having tyres with air in them is a great performance mod.

 

Interesting about Pistonheads for cyclists websites, I've had some right shitty old bicycles over the years, I'm sure all of them are much worse than this plastic-fantastic.  I'd take an intelligently considered design over a crummy old mountain bike built down to a price any day of the week.  The fact that it's beige is just the icing on the cake.

[holbeck]

That looks peachy, and having tyres with air in them is a great performance mod.

 

Interesting about Pistonheads for cyclists websites, I've had some right shitty old bicycles over the years, I'm sure all of them are much worse than this plastic-fantastic.  I'd take an intelligently considered design over a crummy old mountain bike built down to a price any day of the week.  The fact that it's beige is just the icing on the cake.

 

+1 on garethj's view.

 

I've got a mountain bike that would be considered shite by a 'serious' cyclist, but on the up side it cost £15 from a lost property auction.

 

However I find the Itera bike to be very interesting and if I fall over one in a saleroom it likely as not will come home with me.

 

 

I foresee the day when it is mandatory to turn up at shitefest with an Itera bike in the back of the car.

[cros]

Good man!

 

Was that a real advert? It made V.D. look appealing.

[garethj]

No, it's from a film made about 25 years ago called Crazy People, the film was about an advertising agency and that was one of their ads.

[Shep Shepherd]

I vaguely recall seeing an Itera on TV (Tomorrow's World?) in the 1980s, but had no idea until now that Volvo were behind it. As Wilf Lunn once said, you learn a new thing every day if you're not careful

[Rocket88]

They'll all be bought by hipsters with "kool" rat look fuck ups, and take their place next to the suitcases and the acidic fruit.....................

[inconsistant]

OOOF!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cavcraft]

Are they original? It'd be interesting to know how many versions were made.

[inconsistant]

...an Itera outside the Bakelite Museum in Somerset. 

 

We went here last week, it's in Williton near Minehead/Watchet and well worth a visit. Best museum ever, highlight of the holiday for me!

These 3 had been outside for quite a while, the middle one was originally a pink one. I took some detail photos too as I've never seen a racer one in real life before:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[somewhatfoolish]

Would it not be easier to do a F1-style rear wheel change if you split the chain and remove it first?

[inconsistant]

Are they original?

 

They looked genuine to me.

[inconsistant]

It'd be interesting to know how many versions were made.

 

 

I know of four colours, beige is the most common but also blue, pink and white (only ever seen one in white).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pink ones alway seem to be the racer version with dropped handlebars and derailleur gears with the levers on the frame. That's the middle one at the bakelite musuem.

 

So I'd say 2 versions, 4 colours.

 

Note the white one in the photo above (NEC classic car show 2013) has metal handlebars, a metal rear rack and a dynamo instead of the built in lights of my early one. I'd hazard a guess that this is a later version.