dmpstrdvr1962

my recently acquired Univega Alpina Sport, all original down to even the Univega tires and grips. Tires are rotted and need replacing, but it is cool that the bike still has these on it. Destined to be part of my Univega room in my bicycle museum (i.e my house).

Bianchigirll 

Nice MTB that has quite the wheelbase it must be a comfy rider.

dmpstrdvr1962

My beater bike is a Uni Alpina Ultimo, with a Brooks flyer saddle, some Bontrager tires for city riding. The one pictured will also become a city riding bike, with a new chain and some new tires.

sgnl2nz

My (1990?) Via Carisma, modified for hauling/touring/cross. I bought it completely stock for $50 two weeks ago and kept the original Shimano Exage 500LX drivetrain and brakes. At first, I tried using the MTB bars and riser stem, but I just needed more of a road feel and added a quill road stem, bullhorn handlebars, reverse brake levers and dura-ace bar-end shifters (both set for friction). I don't know how much it weighs now with the Blackburn racks, but (unloaded) I could still catch speed on the flats with the 48t-11t combo and this thing is a torpedo down hills.

I have the original Exage LX (one is labeled Deore LX, but I believe it was original to this bike) shifter/brake lever combos if anyone needs them. They're worn but work.

Someone was asking about the seatpost size a while back: Mine is 26.2mm.

Mooninbloom

Hey Hey! Wow I haven't posted here 4 years. Picked up another Univega the other day and I have no idea what it is. It's a fixie conversion, so there are no original components. The frame has also been painted over entirely. The logo on the front of the bike is the metal kind, not the painted on one like I had on my old '86 Viva Sport.

There are no holes to attach a water bottle, and the serial is F272825.

Any ideas, T-Mar, if you're still around?

drbenjamin

Wow - you have my exact bike! (see post 550) I paid nearly $500 for it in 1991, it kills me to hear it's worth $50

They are great bikes, I still ride mine at least once a week.

PJCB

I picked this up for free a few weeks back, I'm slowly but surely making a mighty fine SUB out of it: Alpina 500, no idea what year

woodrupjoe

My Specialissima made it to Paris OK, but 36 hours behind schedule (lost by the airline). I had planned to cycle around Normandy a little bit before meeting family in Paris, but have opted to just ride around Paris instead. Some fun! Paris is a great city to fly around on a bike. I live in NYC and ride everywhere, jousting with cars the whole time. Paris is like NYC without the auto aggression.
Off to Aix in a few days. I'm trying to take pictures as I go, without pictures it didn't happen, right?

greetings from Paris Univega fans,
Joe

pictorial travelogue to follow...

Texnician

After retiring at the first of the year my wife and I went on a camping trip with a new camper. While there we became jealous of all the folks biking around the park and it dawned on me... I have two great bikes in storage that haven't been on the road in years. Out came my 1981 or 82 (can't remember exactly) Univega Specialissima and her Gran Tourismo mixte. They were pretty rough. Tires rotted, my seat was wore out, foam grips and brake hoods reverted back to the chemicals from whence they came. After a major cleanup, new tires, ,seat, grips (just like I had originally put on) and hoods my bike is ready to roll. I'm waiting for some hoods for the Tourismo to restore the bars back but my wife is hinting that she wants to convert it to a straight bar. I'll let her decide after I fix it up. Anyway, the short test jaunts I've done so far have been more fantastic than I had imagined. I do have an issue with loud brakes in the rear to deal with but the ride is supurb and the memories it brings back are priceless. Whats even better is that we're still young enough to get a lot more out of these, especially now that we have the time.

Notice the clip that holds the front brake lever. I love this simple thing but can't find one anywhere. Real shame. Mine still works but the back side that attaches it to the cable for storage is broken.

It's nice to know that there's Univega fans out there. We put a lot of miles on these back in the early 80s before the kids got all our attention.

Yo Spiff

I recognize it. I recall those being sold as a sort of parking brake. I'll be you could make something similar from a chunk of rubber. Rhode gear used to make something called a flickstand that both locked the front wheel from rolling and kept the wheel straight as well. I think you can still find them or something similar.

Texnician

I guess I was just venting. Nifty devices like this are a relect of the past...as is the flickstand (good luck finding one). The problem with the flickstand is that it had to be precise for the distance from the down tube to the wheel. It would be nice to know who made the little clip but mine is broken and only has a part word "black.." left. Velcro straps will do. I found a complete set of decals, makes me think about powder coating for a complete "new" look.

Charles Wahl

Blackburn? They're still around at www.blackburndesign.com but probably don't make or have parts for what you're after.

Texnician

Good call Charles, for what it's worth I fired off a email to them. You never know. Maybe some bikes shop somewhere has got a bag of them buried in their back room.

Chris_in_Miami

That's a Blackburn SB-1 "stop block", you can still find them occasionally.

Edit - found one

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Blackburn-SB...-/110887921831

Texnician

Thanks Chris, apparently they really rare. He's got it priced like an antique, like it would be best to leave it in the original wrap and sit on it as an investment At $25 for a 25 cent piece of plastic you'ld think someone would have a batch made overseas and slowly release them on Ebay.

Donald1

My Univega bike. Was a gift from from father when he replaced it with a better bike. He bought if off a neighbor when she no longer wanted it. Serial number L268148, Viva Sport.

I hope that this is appropriate for this forum, but BTW, my daughter is going to grad school in Madison, WI this fall. My wife has been looking on Craig's list and someone is trying to barter their men's Univega bike for a working XBOX 360. Somehow that seems to be moving in the wrong direction on the activity scale. No further detail on the bike, but it does have a picture.

mainstreetexile 

Cool bike, that serial would make it a 1983. Looks like the crankset has been replaced with a triple, which always seems like a sensible upgrade to me.

Donald1

It does have a triple crankset, which I did not know was not original. I just got the bike about 3 years ago. Thanks for the information.
Don

HankT

Very nice bikes everyone!

There's a very nice Univega Gran Rally on my local craigslist and after looking through all of these pages i'm tempted to maybe purchase the bike. We shall see!

not_jason

This is Univega number 5 for me. It's a Supra Sport, and so far, it's exactly as I got it. I keep having to force myself not to screw with it. Anyone have any idea where I can find a few rolls of that bartape?

pstake 

Hi all ... long-time lurker but this is my first post.

I just picked up a Gran Premio today. Serial # ND20273. It's replacing my 88 Trek 330. The Trek is a size 24in / 59cm. I'm barely 5'8" and after a year and a half on the Trek, I decided to get something more my size. The Trek has been my daily commuter (except in winter).

The Gran Premio is in beautiful condition, just needs some cleaning. My Trek was in equally good condition when I got it and still looks sharp.

Anyway, I believe the Univega is a 53cm ... it's nice not to have the top tube crowding my business when I dismount!

I'm thinking that the Gran Premio is a 1986 but I'm not positive. Maybe it's an 85? It has Superbe and Cyclone components, friction, not accushift. Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this bike or perhaps has an old catalog with stats on it? I'm curious about what tubeset it has, and if the headset and bottom bracket are sealed (headset looks it) ... it's been sitting for a while and needs a good polishing. I'll post pictures when I've given it one!

-P

HankT

Picked up a Univega Competizione this last Friday and I love it! Other than the brake levers and seat post, everything else is Suntour Superbe/Superbe Pro components.


Yesterday's ride, my longest ride yet! Kind of dark, but the photo was taken at Folsom Lake.

ElliotSF

Hankt: That bike looks great--and fast, too, for something from the 80s!

HankT

I love this bike ElliotSF! So happy that I picked this bike to be my second road bike. Big upgrade from my first Nishiki Marina, that was a big learning experience.

I still have a lot to learn, but when I saw this bike on CL I did some research and liked what I found out.

pstake 

Adding pictures to my previous post. I was doing some work, overhauling the pedals, new tires and tubes, replaced the Superbe RD with a Superbe Pro, and replaced the 14-28 freewheel with a 13-24. Rode it 18 miles after all was done and it was a blast. I'll try to get some pictures up soon of the complete bike, now that it's essentially all together with new bar tape, etc.

Still looking for any information about the year / tube sets / component set / place in the Univega heirarchy.

Another thing I'm wondering is about the Tange Fl-500 headset. It feels smooth but should I repack it? Is it a sealed headset? It's been sitting for most of it's life. The bottom bracket is also buttery smooth. It feels like it's sealed but I don't know for sure. Probably won't mess with it unless it starts to click, etc.

Also wondering about Kusuki stems and bars. Never heard of them until I got this bike but they actually look nicer than the SR stuff I've had in the past.

Any information is appreciated.

Thanks,
Phil