Originally Posted by
auchencrow
Don't ride that bike until you have a front brake on it or you could be injured badly. Your front brake provides MOST of the stopping power.
The Weinmann 610 caliper should be fine, though occasionally the reach can be marginal even with 27" wheels. The Weinmann 750 would be better. Either way make sure you have some new pads on it.
You should have the hubs and crank serviced (lubed) as well, or you risk damaging the bearing surfaces.
Based on the decals your bike is a '73 or 74 model.
It's an OK riding bike (it was popular for good reason) but will be markedly better if you get around to replacing the steel rims with alloy rims. (It will stop better too.)
The Allvit rear derailleur is not very well regarded. A Suntour dbl parallelogram derailleur would be a great substitute.
I concur with everything in this post except the brake caliper length. Most English, and many Japanese, bikes of that era came w/ 610 length brakes in front and 750 in back. This provides faster closure in back and greater leverage in front. The French tended toward more equal brake reach front and rear. Weinmann Vainqueur 999 brakes in both sizes are pretty easy to find -- I need to check my junk box to see if I have an extra spare set.
The best brake pads are salmon-colored KoolStops.
The existing rear derailleur is adequate, but a real cable-breaker (been there ... done that). If that were my bike, I would consider SunTour derailleurs front and rear, as well as SunTour barcons.
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Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069