Ghayes23

Almost done! Need some matching bar tape and longer brake calipers.

RobbieTunes

ColonelJLloyd 

I think you can afford to remove a link or two from your chain.

bikejunkie

Here's my latest project. Centurion Dave Scott Ironman Master with full Campy Centaur groupset. A customer gave me the frame and I had the group laying around just waiting for the right build. The seatpost and hubs (on Velocity rims) are Campy too.

not_jason

I'm in the early stages of giving this Bianchi the modern treatment, but I'm still sort of up in the air on what group to work with. Right now it's got a 105 5500 crank and new 105 hubs, so the tendency is to want to just run with 105. I was considering 5600, but a local bike shop guy was recently talking a bunch of smack about 5600, which planted the seeds of doubt. And I'm not really sure I'm totally game on the 5700 shift-cable-under-the-tape thing. Any thoughts? I'm trying to get out of this without spending CRAZY money.

thirdgenbird

Option A: Sell it to me.

my first road bike was a tiny bianchi with the same paint.

If option a is out, I would consider shimano or microshift downtube shifters. If integrated is a must, look at microshift levers with shimano elsewhere.

RobbieTunes

You are my hero.

RobbieTunes

Your local bike shop guy is an idiot. 5500 and 5600 are good stuff, readily available. You may want to pull those 6-sp rings off of that thing (they look a lot like the ones that came with Shimano 6200EX). Black 9sp 5500 would be just killer on that thing, and any 5500 shifters would work, as well as very affordable Microshift 9-sp stuff.

not_jason

Yeah, I know that bike wants downtube shifters, and I teeter back and forth between just giving it a set, but I'm trying to build some diversity into my fleet. I've got a Bianchi Giro with campy record that fills the downtube shifter niche admirably.

not_jason

In his defense, he wasn't talking about performance so much as reliability. He was just giving me a by-the-numbers account on how many warranty claims he had to do on 5600 shifters, which was sort of concerning. On the other hand, that could have just been a side effect of 5600 being standard on a huge number of bikes, right? maybe?

And yeah, those rings need to go. They're just on there to fill an aesthetic void right now. I think they're 1987 stock equipment, so they clearly wouldn't handle a 9 or 10 speed setup.

QNelson

89 Criterium

BRC Carbon Fork
Ultegra 6500 bits
Shimano 561 wheels

not_jason

what tires are those?

rccardr 

I prefer the feel of 5500-5510 over 5600, and agree with Robbie that an all-black 5510 setup would be the shizzle.

But I like 6600 even better than that, and they are much more readily available these days in great condition.

Fred Smedley

Nice!, what handlebar?

brandenjs

Usually the biggest issue with the 5500 or 5600 is lack of maintenance (lubing with a good spray). If they were only rebuildable like Campy, the bike shops would love the work they could get out of them. I have the 5700 group on my CAAD 9 and I like the clean look it has.
That is going to be a sweet ride with whatever group you choose to put it together with.

tinkerbike

The Bianchi resto-mod looks like a fun project. I'm just up the road in Falmouth. I've done a few upgrades on my vintage steel bikes. I put 105 on few of them. I haven't ridden any of them enough to burn out the controls, however.

You could build a mixed setup, too. It's very easy to run a Sram rear derailleur and SRAM shifters on an otherwise all Shimano bike. I've done that. Sram controls are not cheap, though.

Lately I really like the Shimergo setups; 10 speed Campy Ergopower controls operate Shimano 8 speed drivetrains perfectly, 11 Ergo works with 9 speed Shimano, too.

I just put Campy Veloce 10 Ergo power controls on my Lotus Competition with Shimano 1056 8 speed stuff.

Ed.

not_jason

Small world. I work in Falmouth and end up doing a fair bit of riding around town. Do you ride mainly vintage? I'd be surprised if I haven't seen you around.

tinkerbike

I have a few vintage bikes, and some new tech, too. Most of my vintage bikes have been converted to 650B and/or hot-rodded with new STI, Double-Tap, or Ergo components. This thread has been a lot of fun to follow, there are some great bikes in here.

That Bianchi you're building would be sweet with an 8/10 Shimergo setup! And if you're trying to keep the budget down, that could work for you. The 8 speed Shimano parts are less expensive than the 10 speed parts. The chains and cassettes last longer, too. Some silver Veloce controls and silver Shimano derailleurs would look good and work well on that bike. Campy routes the shifter cables under the bar tape, but it's really tidy and it looks clean. I really like the Shimergo setups.

thirdgenbird

That gets my vote too. Silver shimano derailleurs and silver veloce shifters. The end result will look and work great on a pretty slim budget.

tamaso206

Gonna be a great bike, whatever you do. I just put full 5700 on a bike that was previously Veloce 10spd-- 5700 is tremendous if you set it up correctly. Shifting is better than the current 10spd Campag, IMO-- I'll be sticking Shimano from here on out.

tamaso206

A buddy's new bike I just put together for him. Near NOS Tommasini Tecno, EL-OS Columbus Tubes, great lugwork. Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed group, Scirocco alloy clinchers, Ritchey, Nitto, Fizik, etc. The Lizardskins 1.8 tape is amazing, btw. Sorry for the instagram, ha, doesn't do it justice:

Now if only spring will finally come...

gomango

My kind of build.

My kind of bike.

Well played.

not_jason

Anybody ever use one of those conversion cassettes that's supposedly campy compatible spacing to fit a shimano freehub? Seems like an obvious and simple idea, but I remain skeptical.

TheDavid 

Retro-looking with STIs? Mix of Shimano 1055, 5500, 5600, and 5700.

buldogge

I use an Ambrosio one (10s) on my wife's Serotta Legend with Ritchey WCS wheels…zero issues. PBK used to carry them at good prices, not sure if the still have them.

-Mark in St. Louis