kpeezy

I got a bike yesterday for $25. It's missing one of the downtube shifters, tires/rims, chain, front deraillleur, and surely other parts I don't know about.

What is has is as follows:

Reynolds 531 tubing
campagnolo Nuovo Record rear derailleur 1972
campagnolo strada 170mm cranks 1974
campagnolo 52 gears outside gear?
campagnolo inside gear
campagnolo brakes (haven't found much)
campagnolo seat tube (this one https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...4&postcount=33)
campagnolo pedals
cinelli Milano campione de mondo handle bars & stem
The rear forks say Campagnolo brev on them

Apparently, it's a custom 58cm "Minatra" frame (made by a R. Coy Minatra) from '79. I really just wanted to build my own so I figured it wasn't a bad deal.

I need to know a few things:

Which front derailleur should I get?
Which down tube shifters should I get?
Which tires/rims should I get?

This is my first time to have a bike since I was a kid so I'm pretty clueless. I should be able to post pictures tonight. Let me know if you need any other information and thanks in advance.

jish1969

Campy was the best on the biz around then, and the best bikes wore them. You got a great bike for 25 bucks, and if the rest of the components you have on it are in good condition still, I would keep it all campy. I just got a NOS Campagnolo Nuovo Record front D for 30 bucks on the box on ebay so that shouldnt be hard to find, and neither should campy shifters, although you might have to pay more for them. You probably also have Campy Record hubs as well if your bike already came with wheels, so if they are on good condition too i would stick with them and get a pair of Pasela Panaracer tires. Seriously though, I would stop thinking rebuild and start thinking restore with what you have IMO.

kpeezy

Thanks. Yes, I plan on using as many original parts as possible. Is there any specific forward derailleur I should use or should any nuovo record from that era be alright?

Currently taking everything apart and getting the rust off. Are there any places I should apply oil to while I have this apart?

Ex Pres 

You not only got a good deal, you stole it.

retrofit

Picts???

jish1969

Any of the Campy front derailleurs you find from the 70's are almost all going to work the same so you can go with either the Record, Nuovo Record, or Gran Sport and you cant go wrong. You might pay a little more for the Record though, and you can probably find a NOS Gran Sport for a good deal.

Panthers007

I just picked up a NOS Campagnolo 980 "Front Changer" (derailleur) off eBay for $12. Someone else got the same for $5. Happy hunting!

kpeezy

Could I possibly get an example of what type of rim/tires I would need? I think I'm pretty sure what parts I need to complete the bike other than the rims/tires.

The Campagnolo rims on ebay seem pretty expensive but maybe I'm looking at the wrong thing.

lotek 

kpeezy,
first, welcome to forums and welcome to C&V.
second where in Ok. are you?
You probably want to look at wheelsets with campy hubs, not campy rims.
I'd suggest Mavic MA2 or MA4 type rims with nuovo record hubs.
The mavic rims are pretty sought after so they might get a bit pricey. If you
want 'period correct' you probably want a tubular rim/tire combo which will actually
drop the price a bit, if so look for GP4 rims.

Marty

kpeezy

Hey, I'm from Norman. Thanks for the information.

So, I could buy something like this:

https://cgi.ebay.com/Campagnolo-Nuovo...d=p3286.c0.m14

https://cgi.ebay.com/MAVIC-GP4-GP-4-R...d=p3286.c0.m14

And then a freewheel? What freewheel would I need? Would a local bike shop be able to put the spokes on or how would that work?

Or would trying to find something already together be best?

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tchlink:top:en

Sorry I'm so helpless! Thanks.

SJX426 

Here is an example of a 1972 vintage Campy NR FD.
https://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...n/LC_Crank.jpg

Those hubs are nice, Typically in that time, high flange hubs were popular. Insure when you buy the rim and hubs that they have the same hole count!

Don't forget to get the 120 spacing rear hub or expect to cold set the frame for wider hubs.

norskagent

Buying an already built up wheelset will be cheaper than buying the individual parts, then having someone build the wheels up for you. Make sure your brake calipers will fit 700c rims if that is what you end up getting. They are slightly smaller than the 27" rims that your bike may have orignally had. If you get sew-ups (tubular) wheels, be prepared to learn how to glue tires onto the rims in the event of a flat. Clincher rims (tire, tube) may be easier for you to manage.Also, make sure the front derailleur you buy is appropriate for your frame, a "braze-on" front derailleur will fit on a small braze-on fitting attached to your frame, if there is no fitting you need a "clamp-on" front derailleur. I'm pretty sure yours will be clamp on.

lotek 

Kpeezy,

I concur, go with a prebuilt set of wheels first.
along with ebay check the local bike shops (I know there are a few in Norman), often there
are used wheelsets for good prices.
The hubs and rims are nice but will cost to have them built up, then cost of tires, glue etc can
get expensive rather quickly.
Are you a student at OU?

kpeezy

Thanks very much.

According to the shop where I got it, The original tires were 27 + fraction (not sure) inches. I have the original Campy brake calipers and they cleaned up very nicely. I haven't cleaned the front one so that I can show some before/after pictures.

So, would it be best to find a 27 x/x tires and keep the current brake calipers or 700 tires and get new calipers? Also, the actual brake pads that were on the calipers look like they're in great shape. I'm just worried that the material hasn't aged well. The pads are very hard and I'm not sure if they're supposed to have some give or if they should feel like that. I could replace those easily if I need to.

edit: Am I correct that those are the two options I have? I want to make sure I'm understanding this right.

I do need a clamp on FD.

What about the freewheel? I think I have an idea of what tires/rims to get but is there a certain freewheel I should be looking at?

edit: Yeah, I'm a student. I'll try and get to some of the other bike shops today.

edit: I'll definitely have pictures of everything tonight.

norskagent

If the pad-holding slot on your brake calipers is long enough, you can adjust the pads to fit a 700c rim, so no new calipers needed. Just pop any 700c wheel in the frame and see if the pads will adjust to that rim. If you have downtube friction shifters, you can run any of several freewheel gear ranges.

JunkYardBike

If I were you, I'd build it up as inexpensively as possible, as norskagent and others have suggested with the wheels. Get it built up and see how you like the ride. Then, slowly start finding the 'period correct' components. If you try to rush finding the right components NOW, you're gonna end up paying through the nose. No one will stop you on the street and take your ride away because it's not period correct, unless you happen to run into a few of the curmudgeons from this forum.

lotek 

I wouldn't do such a thing, I'd offer him $3.50 first

rhm

+1, that's all good advice.

You should be able to find someone with a pair of 700c wheels that you can try to see if they will fit the brake calipers. They probably will, but there is a chance they won't. Especially the rear one; for some reason some frames used to be made to require longer brake reach in the rear than on the front. Even if the brakes don't fit, there are ways to fix that (Campy used to make a "drop bolt" for example; but this is not a cheap fix).

Once you determine what wheel size you need, advertise on craigslist, saying you need a pair of 700c wheels (or whatever). See what turns up. You can always order them from Niagara Cycle Works or something, but if you can find 'em locally, gopher it!

kpeezy

Okay, I'll try and take it to a shop today or tomorrow and see if the calipers fit 700c rims.

I'm not really trying to get all 1979 campagnolo gear. Just hopefully 1970s stuff and it seems readily available.

From what I can tell I need the following things:

front derailleur
rims/tires/freewheel
down tube shifters
replacement grip
seat
brake levers
chain
brake lines

I've found everything but tires/rims pretty much instantly. I was planning on just getting the nicest, cheapest set of downtube shifters I could find but now I'm not sure. What are friction down tube shifters? Could someone give me an example of the possible freewheel/downtube shifter combinations?

BTW, this forum is great. I've learned a lot these past couple of days.

jish1969

By the way thosw wheels you are looking at are sew-ups if im not mistaken, you may want to find a set of clinchers, but those Campy hubs were nice. Im in the process of rebuilding the wheels on my Paramount with a brand new set of Sun CR-18 Rims, (27 x 1 1/4) and my campy high flanges. Your bike looks like it takes 27 inch tires too, so you might want to just keep it period correct which wiill also be better on your wallet. Junkyardbike is right though, you may want to just find some cheapy complete wheelset to get you on the road and then determine what your needs are after you have ridden it for a bit.

jish1969

BTW check these out: https://cgi.ebay.com/BICYCLE-WHEEL-SE...d=p3286.c0.m14

This is a full wheelset with quick-release hubs, not the greatest price but it gets you on the road...

norskagent

Again, determine if your frame takes "braze-on" downtube shifters, or clamp-on. You may also consider running bar-end shifters. Friction just means there is no indexing ("clicking") into the individual gears - you shift by pushing the lever and feel/listen for when you are in the next gear. If it's not smoothly on the next gear, it will let you know by sound/feel. You then tweak or trim the lever to smooth out the gear. After a while you will shift right into gears smoothly.
Here are some neat braze-on shifters, not campy, so possibly they may be had for less than if they were campy:https://cgi.ebay.com/SCAPIN-Campy-Sup...d=p3286.c0.m14

kpeezy

Again? But yes, I need braze-on downtube shifters. I think I'll stick with downtube shifters for now. How do I tell the difference between a friction shifter and an indexing shifter?

Would these be fine? https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

They're missing a couple pieces but they're exactly like the one I have so I have the pieces that are missing at home already. What kind of freewheel would go with those?

Ronsonic 

Without pictures this thread is meaningless.

norskagent

Again as in the same selection process as with the front derailleur, braze-on or clamp-on.
Almost any freewheel will work, 5, 6, 7 speed.