Rare Kästle Tour Randonnée Pro mtb stolen in San Jose

[Ted]

Hi, everyone — A thick cable lock wasn't enough to prevent a daring thief from stealing my 1991 Kästle Tour Randonnée Pro mountain bike from a bike rack in front of a plate glass window of my gym in broad daylight or twilight. It happened in San Jose. I'm checking Craigslist and went once to the flea market at Capitol Expressway and Monterey Road, where I saw suspicious-looking bicycles but not mine.

I think only a few of these were imported into the U.S. It has sentimental value that well exceeds its probable street value. It's distinctive: painted white and two shades of orange, one pastel, one bright. It has an antiquated flex-stem for the handlebars and is otherwise a rigid hardtail. Please keep an eye out for it. I don't have a picture of it, but found one of a similar bike on eBay.

Ted in San Jose

[defa...@gmail.com]

Ted,
First, sorry about your loss...secondly, I was Kastle's bike line and frame designer from 1989 to 1994...I joined the company when your bike was being imported into the USA,via Kastle USA, Salt Lake City. The first year I was commuting between the Kastle factory in Hohenems Austria and my home in Tracy Ca. Kastle was purchased by Benetton in Italy in 1991, and I moved permanently to Italy at that time to run the bike division, which was part of Benetton/Nordica Sportsystems (Nordica was the ski boot company you may of heard about). I still have all the design data on your bike including the color chip info if you're interested. The Randonee series was our best seller and my favorite, especially the Randonnee Pro model.
I have my own company in Reno, and I still build frames as a hobby...
Cheers,

Dan Falvey
defa...@gmail.com

[chave...@gmail.com]

Hey you guys might be surprised but I found one of the bicycles in the dumpster at my job! It's the same exact one but with the two different shades of blue, not orange. When I found it I didn't recognize the brand so I searched it up and this is all I found about it (your post)
Would you happen to know how much it might be worth?

[susan...@comcast.net]

I have one for sale anyone interested? Susan 720-638-4635

[paul.ph...@speedofair.com]

On Wednesday, November 28, 2012 7:09:50 PM UTC-8, Ted wrote:

Ted, Did you find the bike? I just found this post, and I have an identical one which I don't ride any longer. It has about 15 miles on it (long story; auto accidents, surgeries, etc.). If you would like it, make me an offer and it's yours.
Paul in Reno

[teds...@yahoo.com]

Hi, Paul,

I'm the original poster. I just stumbled on these replies. I thought I'd subscribed to the thread, but I guess I inadvertently unsubscribed shortly after posting. If you still have your Kastle Tour Randonnee Pro and if it's medium-sized, I would be interested, thank you.

Ted

[teds...@yahoo.com]

Hi, Dan,

Thank you for your cheery and informative note. As I just wrote to another poster here, I thought I'd subscribed to the thread in which I advertised my loss, but I guess I inadvertently unsubscribed shortly after posting. Thank you for having designed such a nice bike, especially with its innovative straight fork. I never did recover mine, alas, but Paul below says he has one so maybe I can acquire another one from him.

Ted