If this thread looks familiar, it's probably because another BF member bought an almost identical frame a few days before I did and started a thread about it. I posted a couple of pictures there, but I figure rather than hijack that thread completely I'd start my own to share my progress and solicit feedback. I also shared a bit of this in the catch-of-the-day thread, so I guess I'm spamming a bit. Sorry.
I bought this bike from a guy who was riding it as a fixie. Luckily, he hadn't cut anything off and even had most of the geared bits in a bag for me. Here's what it looked like in the CL ad:
I'm not entirely certain as to year and model. My best guess is that it's a 1979 A-D "Team". There is no trace of a model name on the top-tube and most of the other decals are intact, so I think it never had a model name decals.
The first thing I did was to remove all the beast-of-burden stuff and put on new wheels and tires.
And, of course, I took a few minutes to admire the details.
The date code on that Brooks BN5 says it was made in 1979. I'd love to know what was done to preserve it.
The Campy dropouts and headset (the latter of which is immaculate, in spite of the impression left by the picture above) point to using Italian components, but that's not the direction I want to go with this.
Right now, what I'm thinking is a stealth modern build with 10-speed downtube shifters and shiny silver early 2000's Shimano components.
The first couple of eBay acquisitions came in yesterday:
I also got an Ultegra 6503 front derailleur, but I need a braze-on adapter to get it installed. The bike came with 1051 brake levers, and I'm planning to leave those. I think I'm going to build it 3x8 and use the Shimano Sport LX shifters that came with the bike for a while, but I'll probably replace them with SL-7900's before the end of summer.
The crankset is my biggest dilemma. The bike came with a Sugino Super Mighty crankset which looks great but I don't have the legs to ride around with a 52-42 double all the time, and I've already got one of those on another bike that I've designated for flat rides. So I want a triple. Modern Shimano triple cranksets are obviously fairly ugly. I'm trying to convince myself that a
105 5603 wouldn't be awful, but I think an
Ultegra 6503 would be aesthetically closer to what I'm after.
A polished silver vintage triple is the look I really want, but I haven't seen one in the price range I'd like to spend. I've considered committing the heresy of putting a Campy crank on with Shimano components. I've already got the Campy headset, so it's not like I haven't already had to stifle my inner purist. I've also considered getting a triplizer for the Super Mighty.
What do you think?