Flyboy718

I have three now and I really really like them. An '85 triple butted Viva Sport 63cm, '84 double butted Nuovo Sport 63cm and an '81 Nuovo Sport 64cm. I bought all three for $180 combined at various times. I have $177 in consumables in all three consisting of new sets of tires/tubes/rim tape for each and bar tape and hoods. So, $360 total for three bicycles is pretty good I believe. I have to say out of the three the Viva Sport is the quickest and nimblest just plain fast...I did my first century on this bike and have 450 miles on it, the top tube may be a smidge long for me. My most recent find is the '81 Nuovo Sport and it is easily hands down the most comfortable ride of all three. It weighs in at 29.6 lbs and is the heaviest of the three by several pounds but a huge difference in the smoothness of the ride compared to my Viva Sport. The bumps I hit with the Viva I don't even notice with the un-butted heavy Nuovo. I also took the heavy Nuovo for a 10 mile spin for first time yesterday and I rode it .4 mph average speed faster on the same route than I did two days previous with my Viva Sport. Oddly the top tube on the 64cm Nuovo is shorter than the other 63cm bikes. I think this one will become my long distance riding/touring bike. Now I am in maintenance mode on two of them, cleaning and servicing parts. Anyways, just wanted to share my vintage bike journey that I am about 4 months into.

1981 64cm Nuovo Sport


1985 63cm Viva Sport, right after my first century


1984 63cm Nuovo Sport

eschlwc

i've owned four. the two gran rallys (rallies?) were the best of the bunch. really fun to ride and i loved shifting their brazed dt arabesque shifters on those smooth six-speed clusters. one of those was a 700c conversion, which i preferred for the more narrow tires.

you ought to try using pedal clips and straps if you haven't done so yet. usually, you never go back. (going back to plain pedals is like riding naked, but not nearly as fun.)

Flyboy718

Yea clips is probably next! Wonder if this post needs to be over in the Univega Appreciation Thread? I thought about that after the fact that I should have posted there.

eschlwc

people are just tight-lipped today. too many hot dogs stuffed in their jowels.

i appreciate your thoughts on weight and ride quality. this isn't discussed enough.

here are my four, all nice bikes...

'81 gran rally


'83 viva sport


'84 sportour-s


'80 gran rally

Flyboy718

Those are awesome to say the least! I wish I had a blue Univega...mine are all red. I am on the lookout for a Gran Rally next...I hear its the bees knees.

jjames1452 

Very nice all! I just purchased a late '80/early 90's Univega frame. It is Columbus Thron tubing, braze on derailleur. It looked like my kind of frame.

hairnet

There are tons of Univegas on CL here bit I don't always see them in my size. I picked this one up a couple years ago. I have refit it with various parts since but I kept the original Suntour Cyclone if I ever get another bike to be my main sport bike.

Gran Premio

Flyboy718

Nice!
Yes I wish I could get a bike or two from over there in Cali. I look at CL over there regularly amazed at how many there are. That is a sweet bike!

plumberroy

I picked up a Univega Alpina 501 mountain bike recently that I love. I believe it is a 95 model
Roy

Flyboy718

Going to be looking for a Univega MTB as well myself.

squirtdad

Cool start to a journey....keep it up. I like Univegas. they are well built (by Miyata) My son's first fixie was his grandmother's that we converted as a project. Now that he is taller there is a good chance his grandad's univega will be his college bike in a year or so.