Originally Posted by
RiddleOfSteel
I've been wrenching away, as always, on something. Current projects go something like:
1) 1981 Trek 710/716 is complete. I will swap the 80mm SR stem for its identical twin-yet-20mm-longer as the frame plus the short stem (on the bike when I got it, and original spec'd stem--shorter unit likely installed at original sale) as it is a touch cramped. Otherwise, this full double-butted 531 bike is a beautifully riding, refurbished (slightly 'enhanced') original. I've been holding out on everyone with regard to documentation and pictures. Soon!
2) 1982/3 Guerciotti Super Record is being built up again, and is only missing a non-drive-side Italian threaded BB cup from a 102mm 10-speed era Campagnolo Chorus (or Record) bottom bracket. So close!! The bike is devastatingly gorgeous with its Merlot metallic paint and black secondary components (stem, bars, seat post, rims/wheels) that let the polished 10-speed Chorus pieces just pop and glow in contrast. The polished Chorus crankset is the centerpiece and is naturally not installed, and that is killing me! Lol.
3) 1974 Paramount P15-9 is now my rain/winter bike with fenders installed, now 10-speed bar-end shifter-equipped, with a newer 6600-era Ultegra long cage rear derailleur covering, hilariously, an 11-36T cassette. The indexed bar-end shifters are legit and their operation is easy and flawless. I also don't bash my knees into them accidentally, which was a concern of mine. This bike is the pinnacle of "point yourself at the horizon and keep pedaling until you get there." Phenomenal bike.
4) Bike Works, our local non-profit bike shop, had its second of two annual Warehouse Sales, and this incomplete 1980 Trek 412 frame in very dark steel blue-grey was hanging on the frameset hooks (had seatpost, saddle, crankset, BB, FD, DT shifters, stem, bars, and brake levers). The graphics, including the Ishiwata 022 sticker, are in great shape, even if the paint has bubbling in a number of areas (bummer). I had been eyeing it for months and once I found out that all the unsold frames would be going to elsewhere (Africa, mainly, and the guys that pick up a TON of unsold frames and components from BW at the end of every Warehouse Sale have been partnering with us for a long time) that didn't include "back into the shop," I picked it up. Ishiwata 022, with its Columbus SL-mimicking specs, is oddly the "lowest-end" ranking bike in the fleet, but imperfections and some rust dust (now that I've disassembled it) aren't deterring me from cleaning and waxing the still-glossy paint. Plus, I finally get a sweet Ishiwata-tubed Trek! Will need a build thread on that as well. I have many of the components spec'd for it already.