View Single Post
Old 11-14-15 | 07:00 PM
  #2129  
Camplex's Avatar
Camplex
Senior Member
 
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 127
Likes: 0
From: Portland, Oregon

Bikes: Vitus 979, 1981 Peugeot Super Competition PXN10E, Peugeot P18T, Crescent Pepita Special 318 Rando, 1984 Ross Mt. Whitney, 1974 Schwinn Le Tour, Soma Grand Randonneur V.2

I bought this at a second-hand store in Seattle. Lucked out, paid ~100. It's a Crescent Pepita Special 318. Reynolds 531 frame, fork, etc. SunTour GS forged dropouts. Offset eyelets. The bike came with the following:

Cyclone Mk1 RD, Shimano 600 FD
Campy Record Headset
Sugino Maxy 1st Gen Crankset
SunTour ProCompe 14-32 5-speed FW
Shimano DuraAce 1st Gen Hubs
MKS 1st Gen Pedals
SR seatpost
Araya 27" Non-HP "hookless clinchers"
SR stem + SR handlebars

I retained much of the above. The drivetrain was in excellent condition and the freewheel showed little wear. The wheels were unfortunately not up to snuff, spec-wise, for me. I built a new set of wheels for this, using the DuraAce hubs and SunTour freewheel, 36x2 Wheelsmith double-butted SS spokes and a couple of rims I had laying around - a Mavic MA40 and a Wolber Super Champion Alpine. I replaced the standard SR bars with SR rando bars and the stock SR stem with a longer-reach SR Royal stem. I replaced the generic and heavy seat post with a nice fluted Gipiemme. I equipped the front of the bike with a Paul Racer I found for 50% off and the rear with a Mafac Racer I happened to have. The bike originally had a Weinnman upfront and a Universal in back. Interesting. I put a VO top tube protector on the top tube, covering almost the entire tube, being used not only to protect but to provide much needed guides for my cable housing. I found NOS barcons on that online auction site for a reasonable price, plus some nice Simplex cable guides. Ordered brown Fizik tape and some Tektro levers online. Finally, found a local seller with some Berthoud fenders for a song, and some Marathon tires. I call him Heathcliff the Recalcitrant Randonneur. A franken-tourer for sure, mixing Japanese and European, shoot, even some American! The biggest surprise was the Swedish frame. I have a lot of faith in Reynolds 531, but still, this provided a great sport-touring bike base imho.

Bell and lights on their way..

Before:



After:




Last edited by Camplex; 11-14-15 at 07:10 PM. Reason: Correction
Camplex is offline  
Reply