I’ve been thinking about this topic for a whole but another thread made me decide to post this just now. Restification is a term I first heard used in the world of vintage muscle cars. Essentially it means to restore a vehicle to its original cosmetic appearance while making such modifications needed to improve or alter performance without significantly changing the vehicle's appearance. So, what would restification look like on a bike? Let’s look at an example…

Let’s say you have a treasured old Italian bike with a Regina Oro 13-17 corncob but it’s spent the last few years in the garage because you just can’t push it up the hills anymore. It needs some work so you decide to swap the freewheel. A pure restoration would require putting a new 13-17 corncob on there but that wouldn’t do any good. You could put a Regina Oro with more acceptable gear range like 14-28 but I would consider that simple tuning. It’s something you might well have done even when the bike was new. And it wouldn’t improve shifting at all. Or you could just go out and buy a new IRD freewheel in 14-28 – it would dramatically improve shifting and provide an acceptable gear range but it’s nickel plated and would negatively impact the appearance of the bike. That leaves…restification. So let’s say instead that you choose a freewheel that will provide the gear range you want, improve shifting, and still be a gold colored freewheel that won’t be noticeable to the casual observer. Maybe a Shimano UG twist tooth or a Suntour Winner Pro gold. That would be restification. Want more? Cold set the frame to 126mm, swap the axle for a longer axle, redish the wheel, and bolt on a gold 7-speed freewheel. Again, all of the improvements you want without altering the appearance of the bike. Of course it’s not intended to fool a concourse judge, just to give you the performance you want without obvious modifications to the bike that would be spotted at 50 paces. So no modern plastic saddles, no cork bar tape, no modern rims of any type, especially colored anodized rims, no modern derailleurs or cranksets and especially no brifters. But yes to clincher rims, updated freewheels, modern tires, heck, even titanium bits if you want. Want to be real sneaky? Say you have a late 80’s C-Record bike…how about thate cool new Electra high-flange sheriff’s star rear hub adapted to fit Campagnolo 9-speed (I don't think it will fit 10 but maybe), a late 90’s polished aluminum Record RD, and Campagnolo indexed downtube shifters?

So what do you think? What’s your opinion of restification?