Originally Posted by
howsteepisit
Given that these are old bikes, why the obsession with original components? They are not "collector" items. Same with year and model. they are not cars, they are bikes which differ greatly from car in that components are routinely changed around, and during the boom years, the original components were inconsistent. Not throwing spears at you but just curious.
For me personally - aesthetics, I like bike to look complete with matching components. Newer Shimano 600 shifter just don't look right on this frame.
I do have couple of frankenbikes which were built with whatever bits I had laying around - on them everything is fair game.