pastorbobnlnh 

IIRC the hubs on Frank's Grandis were low flange Campy Record and the rims were silver. I might be able to help you out with a set since I went a different direction on the tubular wheelset for my '71 Paramount.

Lascauxcaveman 

Oh, if you insist:


The whole exhaustive thread on mine. I changed very little on it but consumables and a longer stem (replaced a Cinelli 1A with a longer Cinelli 1A). Really like this bike, and it was my only Italian until I bought my much more modern DeRosa from @Wildwood.

noglider 

@KonAaron Snake, any thoughts on my question? I'm curious!

jimmuller 

Pretty neat collection of Grandises, or Grandes, or Grandis's, of whatever the plural of Grandis should be. I was hoping to see details which would help be pin down a date on mine, but the only thing I see is that it is clearly different from an early 70's bike and that's not a surprise.

I've been contemplatin' on components. It all starts with gearing of course. I want a low of around 32in for New England's terrain. A compact double would let me run a 14-28 FW, saving significant weight over a Campy NR-style 144 BCD. I have 48-34 or 47-34 on several bikes and that gearing works for me. The Masi has a Campy crank 47-42, and so needs a 14-36 FW. It works well, but that FW means it needs one of Henry III's custom long cages on a NR RD. If I can use a plain NR that would be nice.

So the Velo-Orange Grand Cru cranks look real sweet. Curiously, the 50.4 BCD crank is 105g lighter than their drillium compact double. I wrote to them today about the specs on their website and someone wrote back that he checked them in response to my email and yes the 50.4 was lighter. Are there any reasons other than style why I shouldn't consider the 50.4? (I have a 50.4, Nervar arms and TA rings, on the Motobecane and it works well.) The drillium, or even the drillium black, would look cool but might be hard to keep looking nice. Not sure the black would be right for that bike anyway. This is the sort of decision I meant about built-for-performance but still C&V-ish.

It's all part of the fun.

peter_d

Here's mine again. Grandis recently confirmed that it's a 1973. They're very good at returning emails. Congrats Jim, they're terrific bikes.

KonAaron Snake 

Ha! That is pretty unique isn't it?

noglider 

Exactly as unique as my shirt size, extra medium.

Velocivixen

Lovely. I will watch your build.

JJScaliger

Masi now Grandis, have you no shame?

KonAaron Snake 

Since you asked nicely...

jimmuller 

Aaron, thanks! That one not only look terrific, it appears to have the same details as mine, except that your is red and mine is blue so yours will be faster but mine will be more comfortable.

Any idea what year yours is?

JJS, the answer is no. Of course not. Why would ask?

jimmuller 

So I was sitting in a boring meeting with my laptop in front of me and during spells when I had nothing to offer to the discussion (which was often) I checked the VO website. I had completely missed something. The 50.4 crank comes with rings 46-30, not so much a compact double as a mini double or even a micro double. So that settles that. I didn't want to put a 50.4 crank on this bike anyway.

You folks are supposed to catch these silly mistakes and prevent me from doing something stupid. I know, it's a tough task but somebody has to do it.

Lascauxcaveman 

Just shop around for a TA/Cyclotouriste/Stronglight/Nervar 50.4 setup and you can get any size rings you want for it. On the big auction site, or from Spa Cycles in Harrowgate, England. I noticed Velo Orange also has the outer rings for Grand Cru in 50T and 48T, as well.

KonAaron Snake 

80-81 or so...not much later me thinks.

jimmuller 

Thank you!

gomango

One of my all time favorites on this forum.

Gracious, that's a bike I'd love to own.

jimmuller 

I agree with gomango, that real nice. The yellow-on-white with the yellow touches on the crank and yellow cables, definitely eye-catching!

peter_d

Thanks Jim and Gomango. You'll have a great time with your build Jim. My bike has the dark anodized Mavic GP4 rims that you mentioned earlier but I agree that they may not work with the colour of your Bike. Don't know how you feel about tubulars, they certainly look the part on these bikes but 700x22's aren't the most practical on modern city streets.
Silvino Didn't seem to be at all interested in serial numbers, mine also has nothing but the frame size under the BB.
Do send a few photos to Grandis in Italy they seem to enjoy seeing their old bikes. The one's I sent of this bike ended up on their facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/Grandis-Snc...0107649063362/

gomango

Thanks for the FB link.

Appreciate all of these pics guys.

Such beautiful bikes.

satbuilder 

Something about an all white bike. Man, that's beautiful.

jimmuller 

I started using tubulars about two years ago and I love them. So yeah, a nice tan-wall been my plan all along for this bike, probably the 23mm Veloflex Criterium which I have on several other bikes. Another alternative is to use the wheels with tubular-like Veloflex Masters currently on my Gazelle. It really depends on what wheels I end up with. I know what I'd like but I don't want to fund some ebay seller's children's college fund to get them. Building up a bike like this is expensive enough as it it.

jimmuller 

Do I start a new thread or continue this one? Oh, wait, it looks like I already made that decision.

I made some progress yesterday. The bottle cage and wheels wee borrowed from the Gazelle. A few quick pics.





I was trying to have it finished enough to take out for a spin today but ran into a few snags. That always happens when I'm working in unfamiliar territory. In this case it is with using a NR RD with a 28T FW. Someone here who shall remain nameless (because I don't recall who it was) said it would work just fine. Uh, yeah, it works if the chain is short enough, which means it works with the big chainring. But with the small ring the guide pulley is too close to the large sprocket. The RD can take up the teeth just fine but only by moving the guide pulley too high for that sprocket. To put it another way, you can pick a chain length that works but only by using a close-ratio crank.

So I have to re-think the gearing. I could try a 24T or 26T FW and give up the 32in. low. Or I can dig up a long cage for the RD and put some links back in the chain.

peter_d

In my limited experience with NR rear derailleurs I've found they work ok if you're using something like an 11-19 corncob, broader ranges not so much. The bike is looking great, I really like the drillium.

Lascauxcaveman 

Several of us have said that, me among them. Mine works fine with a 14-30 out back and a 52/42 up front. The chain is short enough that I'd never really want to go big/big, but I don't do that anyway. I believe mine is a pat 74, if that makes any difference. And yup, it's on my Grandis.

jimmuller 

Thanks for the note, L-C. Hmm, your rig requires 26T chain take-up and has a front variance of 10T. I wonder how a 14-26T FW would fare with 48-34 rings, for 26T take-up and a front variance of 14T. At least a 26T sprocket is a lot smaller than a 30T. But I don't trust the "I'd never really want to go big/big" part. I don't go big/big either except when I do. Like yesterday on the Motobecane (which admittedly is only 2x5 gearing).

I did get more work done yesterday, took it for a few spins around the block. Woohoo it's quick. The front end feels very open, that's the best way I can describe it. That bar is a 64-40 (Giro model) and may take some getting used to. There is more work to be done. There is always more work to be done, isn't there?

Some quick pics: