Originally Posted by
Mike Mills
Other than the fenders, this is EXACTLY! what I would have suggested. Perfect response, Plodderslusk.
P.S. - Great bike, overall. I love that fork crown, in particular.
If it were mine, at my current age, I'd go with as large a spread in the freewheel as possible. In this case, that means 14T - 26T in the rear. This is readily available in 6 and Ultra-7 speed configurations. I like a 3T differential up front. I run 47T/50T these days. If you want a lower bottom gear, go 42/45T up front. These combinations work really well. If you want real touring gears, you need a long cage rear derailleur. Then you can go to a 34T rear cog.
I think you can get 13-26.
I have a Woodrup Giro from just before the Ten Speed drive era. It looks just like this one. Campy NR is of course a good choice, but so are newer gruppos. The threads are English, English, and more English. Mine had Campy Veloce Racing T 52/42/30 and has just been gifted with a Veloce Compact 50/34. Freewheel is 13-24 7-speed Sachs, and I use a Racint T rear derailleur in both configurations. My brakes are nutted mid-reach Shimano Dura-Ace 1st generation with Modolo levers -- odd but it all works. There isn't a huge amount of radial clearance. I can fit 28 mm Gatorskins with P35 fenders, but there really isn't much room for more - if you'd like to audax on that, you can.
I've also used a 13-34 Shimano Megarange cogset on it with a Duopar.
Brooks Pro, Nitto Randonneurs, vintage Campy/Mavic tubular wheels now with 23 mm Vittoria Rallye, Campy Chorus platform toeclip pedals, Suntour downtube shifters, Tech Deluxe stem, American Classic seatpost, hmmm what else ... I'm thinking of a decaleur with front rack for a front bag. Ohh, it has a downtube water bottle set and an under-downtube set.