mcafiero

After deciding against a light, fast, Carbon-Fiber De Rosa, I decided I don't feel like being broke and I don't want to wear spandex. So instead, I'm about to build a geared road bike from my old Paramount that I used to race in high school. I just had it powder-coated black. I want a geared bike, but since I won't be wearing spandex, I felt this would be a better place to post than the Roadies thread. I don't like posting there.

Show me your pics, I need build ideas!

Later!

P.S. I want to go medium-low budget on this, but I plan on splurging a little on the wheels.

hxzero

Why not post in Classic and Vintage? I'm sure they'd love to see your Paramount, and they're knowledgeable all around.

mcafiero

I might do that, too. But I also don't really care about preserving it's "vintage" properties. I want to build a solid road bike for urban use and some occasional long rides.

Catnap 

what you wear when you ride should be dictated by HOW you want to ride, not what kind of bike you are riding. just a thought on the whole spandex issue.

hxzero

I see a lot of bikes in there with modern brifters, wheels, and such on older frames. It actually looks VERY slick if done properly. I think that if you want gears, but you don't want to look like a superhero riding in the TdF, C&V is the place to go. Not everyone there is a retrogrouch.

mcafiero

Exactly Catnap. You are understanding me perfectly.

roadfix

I sometimes wear spandex when I ride fixed or go mountian biking. OTOH, I sometimes wear baggies and a T-shirt when I ride my road bike.
For me, it's mostly "where" I'm going with the bike rather than how or type of bike I'm riding.

sfcrossrider

You should build it like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqCb_9ubQ1U

cc700

since the roadbike forum on here sucks soooo hard, i'll show you mine.

from an xrl frame to a closest parts i could grab mashup to see what it would look like:

to this

to this

it's an 8 speed but i'm hoping to find a double in my unemployed price range.

it's nice. i'm trying to get faster on it but it's pretty much got a lot of unfulfilled potential with me on it.

that and it's too small, so its 51cm with 53cm tt are awesome for zig zagging around downtown when my 5'7'' light-medium body is on it. a little unstable down hills but then again i did put the handlebars pretty far forward to compensate for the smallness of the frame.

i had a lot of parts just laying around after building my kilo. the bars, brakes, saddle, and front wheel were all just collecting dust in my living room. so given the fairly nice deal that i got the frame/headset/fork and rear wheel for, this was pretty affordable for its weight. i think with everything on it, pump lights and all, it's about 17-18, maybe 19 pounds. and it has gears. that i can change. which, let's face it, is nice.

i think your paramount will be a great base. just work on getting components that work well together, don't spend a lot of money on one thing like a thomson seatpost(i love it, but it was a massive hemmorage of moolah that i could have done without)

Cynikal 

Like this?

Daft Monk

I have a 70's Windsor Professional. It has a good mix of classic and modern parts. It came with very early dura ace components which I kept. Had the hubs laced to velocity fusions and got some delta locking skewers so I dont have to worry about them getting stolen. I also added some bar end lights which works well for urban riding.



As for your bike, I would suggest spending some money on a new wheel set (I really like my wheel set) and maybe try to squeeze a few more speeds in the rear wheel. I have a friend who recently turned his rear wheel on his motobecane from a 5 speed into an 8 speed. Either keep it simple with downtube friction shifters or modernize it with bar end shifters or brifters. Don't really know the condition your bike is in but maybe some new brakes as well?

TheRobbStory

Oh god, PLEASE don't *******ize a Paramount! That's borderline criminal.

TheRobbStory

Never mind. Saw in your sig it's a 94.

mcafiero

exactly.

cc700

bar end shifters can be friction too.

whatever you do just match the cassette to the shifter.

honestly, i'd try to find at least a sora 8 speed set that's been scrapped. indexing is nice and it won't shift when you go over bumps.

BMonei

!!

allencb

This is my do everything road bike. It's getting a bit porky, so I'm supplementing it with a lightweight fixed gear for "light and fast" rides.

It's a Surly LHT with a mix of Vintage Dura-Ace and new Ultegra. Wheels are Ultegra/Open Pro, seat is Brooks, saddlebag is Carradice Barley, Sks Fenders, etc. Great riding bike for the looooong rides. Pic is about 1/3rd way through the 100 mile portion of the MS150.



Chris

Sammyboy

C&V people aren't sniffy, usually, about people modernising their bikes, as long as they're not cutting bits off them. They might have a better eye on this than the non-geary folks in here.

idiq

Mod - Move this to appropriate forum.

I don't know how you came to that conclusion, or decided to post here over C&V.

No.

mcafiero

FOr the record I posted this in the Road bike forum. I got one reply: "I once saw a steel bike with ZIPPS, and it looked like a fat man dancing with a hot chick". (I never mentioned wanting ZIPPS on my bike.)
That was pretty much the type of response I would have expected from that forum.

I just posted on CV and got something like, "if it's been powdercoated, then it's just a used bike". So they turned their nose up at this as well.
That was also the type of response I would have expected from THAT forum.

So I don't believe there is an appropriate forum. I'll just go and build my bike, thanks!

Actually thanks for real to the peeps who actually posted photos.

This forum was more help than the rest of em!

onetwentyeight 

this is what i ride when im not riding fixed (at leasted until the cross rig is done...). I got it off craigslist for about 500 dollars, but it needed ALOT of work (guess who got to learn how to rebuild campy shifters!). Though for a mix of record and chorus, im not complaining. total steal. It usually has a little saddlebag and a frame pump, and now has more stickers. Geometry is steep, as it was originally built for crit riding. its not going to win any beauty contests, but it gets the job done

gfrance

^^^ Very nice!

goodall

Holy cow, you should probably flip your stem back up and save yourself a few inches of exposed steerer tube. This is one of those situations where flipping the stem up is good for your bike and recommended.

cc700

holy cow, i left as much steerer tube as i did for a reason. first off, that's a negative rise stem and it's supposed to be like that. i know flipping it up is fine for it but then where it says "super oner" it would say "reno repus" which may roll off the tongue easier but is a little more confusing.
second, that bike at that time was not yet set up to my measurements, as you can see that it doesn't even have a chain or clips. when i got it built enough to ride it, i put the seat lower and it now fits just fine thanks. maybe you would rather see a positive rise stem? that's fine but that's not how the stem was designed and i got a good deal on that one so i'm happy with it.
thirdly, i have played around with the handlebar position a lot because the frame is a little small. flipping the stem and cutting the tube will decrease my options. maybe i will, and maybe it will be better... but i'm not going to go cut the steerer tube. the bike is light enough already and i like the adjustability.

marqueemoon

Here's mine. I've ridden the hell out of this bike and it has a lot of sentimental value to me.