JUST ONE PHOTO BELOW FOR NOW.
Originally Posted by
gugie
Here's my Grand Sport that I kept OEM. I didn't do any mods just so I had something to compare it to. The only things not original on this bike are the tires and handlebar tape - maybe the chain, can't remember if I put a new one on.
I do have a question for you, based on that photo of yours, and anyone else with an originalish Gran Sport -- I just received a replacement set of brake levers, to replace the bent ones, from forum member 67carlton and not only in great shape they came with the white Carlton hoods (I had already bought a set of gum Cane Creek hoods). So, I soaked the levers in hot water to soften the hoods and they came off intact
. There was a lot of black reside inside (aluminum oxide abraded off the lever bases?) and I was cleaning them up, and now I have black residue embedded on the outside of the hoods!
I've tried several cleaners with little luck (see photo). Does anyone have a nice idea how to get them back to gleaming white? Bleach?
EDIT: amazingly a quick Google search had results on exactly this (except maybe the aluminum oxide part), so I watched a couple of videos and am heading to the auto parts store for a bottle of Bleche-White, a product that had been around just about forever. Results will be posted. But if you know anything better...
Originally Posted by
bertinjim
If you are looking for cloth bar tape that is lagoon blueish, try the Viva brand tape from Gran Bois in Japan. Ordering and shipping is easy and fast and the tape comes with white bar plugs in the package.
https://cyclesgrandbois.com/SHOP/BT_viva.html That is the tape I used on my Carlton resto last year as you can see in the photo below.
I just wrapped mine, and like the results (see photo). Your experience may be different than mine as my original bars have been replaced with SR Sakae World Randonneur bars, but the plugs are simply too small and to amount of tightening will keep them from falling out. I even tried using a small strip of the handlebar tape as a shim -- no success.
By the way, this is my first cloth tape in quite some time and, for gravel use, not having cushioning had me concerned. I was thinking of wrapping the bars with cushion-y tape first, then the Grand Bois; but I found this stuff on Amazon:
FIZIK GEL PADS . Those made the installation a little more challenging, but not insurmountable, so now I have grippy cloth tape AND cushioning. You might be able to see in the photo that the bars look a little bit chubby.
The derailleurs/levers/cables are in place and working fine, using the RoadLink and Soma cage plates on the Nuovo Record (there's another topic on that), and I am having issues with getting the perfect housing ferrules for the braze-ons for both shift and brake cables (there's another topic on that too). The Velo Orange cable housing in blue is a very pretty color and I like it -- but it's noticeably darker/brighter than Lagoon blue or the Grand Bois tape. So, I see on-line this stuff sold by the foot, would this look better?
HOUSING And, if I decide the Brooks Pro is just a bit much for gravel trails, I see the same place has a matching Saddle:
LIGHT BLUE SADDLE. Anyway, swapping in housing at a later date is not likely to be a major problem.
Getting closer. Once I get the hoods looking nice I need to hook up the brakes, and I need to do a final adjustment on the headset, screw in the SPD pedals (there's a topic recently on pedal washers so I bought a pack, first time I've used them), re-dish the wheel due to a small axle spacing change (and there's a another topic on that as well), and perhaps look into accessories like a water bottle cage.
