JRider

...you'd be 5'5" with a pitiful 28" inseam and lucky to have found an older lugged frame with these dimensions (48x52). But that's not important right now. My question to all is, what would you slap on this sucker if it were yours? I'm starting from scratch and plan on building it up into a FG over the next few months. I'll be moving to portland soon so this will become my daily rider (read: it will get rained on). It's a 1985 Viner, italian BB, Columbus SL tubing, that was hung in a shop forever and never actually ridden, so i want to protect it as best I can. Let's say for the sake of argument that i don't want to spend much more than another $400-$500 on parts and will be scouring bike swaps, ebay, and craigslist to find used stuff... what would you look for? Any and all info is appreciated

muftek

campy record pista, haha, italian with italian.

jitensha!

i'd put a D/A 9-speed group on it. but that's just me. btw, we're about the same height, so don't feel too bad...

dolface

first off i'd hitnit with a couple of applications of framesaver, then i'd use mid-range stuff with sealed/cartridge bearings in every moving part that i could (formula hubs, shimano bb/hs, spd's) and then i'd ride the hell out of it.

i would NOT grind off any of the braze-ons.

eddiebrannan

i'd put a period correct record gruppo on it. converting's for beaters, imo

Pipebomb

" Let's say for the sake of argument that i don't want to spend much more than another $400-$500 on parts and will be scouring bike swaps, ebay, and craigslist to find used stuff... what would you look for?"

Sounds like your gonna be using a mixed parts group no matter what so just get what you can.

JRider

Framesaver is defintely task #1, i have to do my lemond soon anyway. No intention of grinding off the braze-ons, might feel like putting a full group on it someday.

A friend of mine mentioned a clear tape that you can put on parts of your frame to keep it from getting too scuffed up... anyone have an opinion on that? Is it hard to remove? Easy to see?

Mouton

here here!

RVAbatman

be pretty damn stoked. gah. it's so hard to find nice frames for us smaller in stature. i'm jealous.

my first step would be to get a top tube protector - but that's just me.

jonb

more importantly what shop in sac had that sitting in a window unused for so long?

onetwentyeight 

I'd probably just slap a miche gruppo on that thing. You can get the whole thing for 300 from chucksbikes.com

JRider

Got it off ebay from Minnesota

Actually i'm probably jumong the gun, it's still in Minnesota, i just won the auction this morning but i'm not getting any work done anyway so i figured i'd post it on here.

How come? Just curious why it would be a problem. Is it a mechanical issue or simply personal taste?

JRider

I just realized that "beaters" was refering to the bike and not to the rider. i'm dumb.

I already have a bike that i take on distance rides, what i needed was a good city bike. Part of the problem for me is finding anything that fits right. Even most beaters are too big. Plus i guess i just like the way this one looks.

endform

I'd say some suzue promax sb hubs, some 40 buck campy sealed bb if there exists one in the right size, some open pro's, some random crankset found in a shop, cheap sealed headset, hmm... I'd also if you're gonna put a brake on the front see about drilling out the fork for recessed brakes (if it needs it), cause modern dual pivots for the win.

Cynikal 

Nice. If you are planning to commute/live on this frame I would follow Dolface's comments. Sealed parts are your friends! Bike Biz has sealed Italian BB's and other track stuff in town but they are spendy. Also look at Bike Chef on Jst, they have surley hubs and some track parts and a great staff. If you need a hand PM me. I'll be happy to help.

chuck_norris

Chucks bikes still has the track groupo deal. Go with that. People will always advocate Campy cause it's.... campy, but if you want to stay within your budget and want to keep it italian (which is an excellent idea), go with the miche. Buy yourself some nice italian rims, a selle italia, track down a cinelli stem/ bars and you're golden. Eventually you'll want a track frame and all of these components will swap over to that frame, when your budget permits.

chuck_norris

umm.. couple of things. Is there a bb cup on there?

Ask chuck if his bb is english or italian. miche makes both.

You'll want a headset that's threaded. I beleive miche makes one, but you might have a little trouble finding it. I think ribblecycles has them for cheap.

JRider

There is a bb cup in there but the seller noted that he would remove it before shipping. Friend i talked to said i would need a "short" bb, given the size of the frame. Do you get to specify that with the order?

Thanks for the info.

humancongereel

you have to work that out as a matter of chainline. i'd say see what bb you can get, shimanos are decent and not expensive...whatever crankset works, some tough wheels (i will be maybe the one person to advocate deep v's here), and sealed hubs...you could get deep v rims, miche sealed bearing track hubs, a shimano bb, a somewhat more random chainring/cog/crank assortment...not real sure on the headset, don't have a lot of expertise on that end of things.

but you can keep it in that price range and have a bike that will be a quality ride, but not one you have to baby. you said you want a beater for rainy portland, so build accordingly...get parts that work, bling can wait for another bike, so can other style points like a full campy gruppo or somesuch. for a rain bike, just go for parts that will work. sealed bearing and frame saver, too.

so when you coming up? this is a great town, in my opinion.

JRider

Based on budget and portland conditions i will likely have to go with whatever i can find at first that works. This will be my first fixed gear and although i've ridden other people's, i'm sure to screw it up a few times and eat concrete.

I'll be heading up there in mid may without my stuff to look for work and a place to live, then taking the uhaul up the first weekend in june. I was actually just there last weekend and had a blast. So much beer, so little time. I saw a ton of fixed gears and drooled over quite a few of them, can't wait to add mine to the mix and meet some new people. It seems portland gets rated the number one bike city for a reason and since i won't own a car, i'm excited to be part of it.

Can anyone suggest a good white/blue/yellow saddle? I don't want black anything on this bike.

Dogbait

If it was me....
and I was not going to build the wheels....

I would spend $200.00 on a good Formula/Iro/Velocity/Mavic wheelset.
Dura Ace cog and lockring ~$28.50
Sugino XD cranks ~$75.00
Shimano UN53/73 BB ~$20.00
Shimano sealed headset $16.00 - $33.00
Nitto technomic/Dynamic stem ~$32.00
Syntace bars from Chucks $12.50
Kalloy seatpost ~$ 12.00
Tektro 521AG brakes $39.00
Profile Design QS2 brake levers $45.00 (there is a pair on ebay now for 35.00, BIN)
Brooks B17 $52.00

That comes to $549.00..... a bit over your budget but that's gonna happen any way you do it.

These prices (except the wheelset) are mostly from AE Bike and should be about what you can expect to pay for new gear. You can save some by trawling ebay, CL and used bins at bike shops.

Dogbait

endform

I forgot the most important:

SKS Chromo plastic fenders (in silver) $35

burn

already been said, but yeah...
i'd put a a proper road group on it.
that's a nice frame made for a geared
gruppo. you want a conversion, go find a
$50 fuji or schwinn that doesn't have a hanger
on it.

JRider

Yep, I've been told it's wet up yonder

Although last fri/sat was totally dry during the day. It was even warm. For a while i forgot that I wasn't still in Sacramento until i walked into a bar and got lost in the smoke.

I understand the point that you're making, but putting aside the condition of the frame, i have been searching for months for something that fits properly and isn't totally wrecked. Older 48/49cm frames with horizontal drops and 700c wheels are harder to find than you might think. Does the hanger actually cause any mechanical problems?

isotopesope

here here!! downtube shifters would also be a must. don't convert this thing please! for the love of bikes and all things evil!!