Info on a Viner
 

Got this on the weekend. As I look closer at it, I probably overpaid - such is life. Hopefully it is a good rider - at least it's good looking. Got blinded by the Viner name and Campy.
Looks to be a lower end frame - no pantographing, no tubing manufacturer - decal with "Tubi Speciali in Acciaio". Modolo Speedy brakes, Mich crank and hubs, Omega headset. I assume they hung an inexpensive Campy drivetrain on it cause you can't sell an Italian bike without. Marked Special Professional.
The brakes are really heavy, doubt you could brake from the hoods. May have to look at a somewhat modern set of calipers.
Weight isn't too bad, 24.1 lbs. Looks to be a 26.8 seatpost. Hopefully start working on it tonight.

http://i.imgur.com/2EM4da2.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/O4D7DzE.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/VRfqwFx.jpg

Good looking bike. Thanks for posting.

Presence of seat tube H2O yet absence of aero brake levers places it in a narrow window timewise.

A U.S. agent for Vincenzo Nerozzi prodotti was Gus Betat in New Orleans. Do not know a Canadian agent.

What gear block is that on the cycle? Appears larger cogs are red in colour and smaller ones silver.

Please keep us posted as you work with the bike. ;^D

The marque goes back to immediate post WWII. The founder, Viviano Nerozzi, was an anti-fascist and anti-Nazi partisan.

Your lugged frame with Strada-clone crank, 5sp, curved Record-clone QR dates to mid-late-70s.
You have a beauty there, and a great project.
Small Viner write-up at CR with a '79 example: VINER bicycles main page

I have a '92 CX, and by then all Viner were fillet-brazed and unicrown fork.
Viner is still making very fine bikes today.

This is a really sharp looking bike. I grew up in New Orleans and worked for one of Gus Betat's competitors. Gus Betat imported Viners and a lot of campagnolo stuff as well. When I equipped my first race bike with campy stuff, I'd order it from Gus Betat and go pick it up from their store. There are a couple of threads here on Gus Betat: http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...tat-bikes.html

The bike may have made its way from the States to Canada.

with a 26.8 seatpost and your description of the wording on the decal, it may be Aelle tubing. How about a close-up of that decal?
In any case I'm sure both a fine riding and fine looking Italian!

Looks like an awfully nice bike to me. Although the mechanical advantage means that you'll never have as light a pull as dual pivot calipers, it is quite common for older brakesets to require high effort due to high drag in the cables (due to lack of lubrication or wearing through of cable housing liners), hardened brake shoes, and corrosion/lack of lubrication of the caliper springs and pivots. That bent over at the lever front brake cable is probably a major contributing factor to bad braking all by itself. Do a brake overhaul including cable, housing, pad replacement and your braking will likely improve dramatically.

The red five pointed star on the tubing transfer would suggest it originates with Viner rather than with the tubing manufacturer.

Viner crosses and stars with a photo of your chainstays
Basically, the Special Professional was the top of the range, it had Star (Stella) cut out lugs (including a massive cut out star on the bottom bracket shell) and was built with Columbus tubing (more than likely SL). These were the frames that were usually exported to the UK and US.

What Davester said about the brakes. IME, Modolo cables are tight, and those are bent/too long anyway. Replace them with jagwires and I bet they'll work fine.
Koolstop makes replacement pads that fit the Modolo holders, in salmon and in black. You have to remove the mounting screw to remove the pads, as it protrudes into a hole in the pad.

I think many of us have experienced some buyer's remorse after buying a bike, only to find that we really like the bike once we get it sorted out. That looks like it's going to be a real nice bike.

What I like best about Modolo are the crisp levers and 919 anatomic hoods.
I'm using Modolo levers on my Moser with Chorus brakes.
If you want to improve your brakes, go with Kool Stop Dura cartridge pads

never seen that decal before: clearly made to mimic a Columbus sticker in color, etc. but "special steel tubing" might be anything from anyone. Columbus did a lot of "custom set" tubesets and made custom decals made to show this but they also clearly said "Columbus" as well. I have a feeling Viner got this tubeset from somebody else: Mannesmann, Falck, Oria...who knows?

The link I posted above says it's Columbus, likely SL.
The nomenclature on the decal is exactly what Columbus writes on theirs, just without the Dove trademark.

uh, no: the OP's frame might SAY "special professional" somewhere on it, but it's clearly NOT the same as those pictured in the link: he says NO pantographing (no piercings in lugs and I'd bet BB shell, too) plus the OP's has no chrome and Gipiemme long dropouts. If it was SL it wouls also use a 27.2 seatpost, not a 26.8. And that's NOT exactly what a Columbus SL decal says, which depending on the era looks like one of the pics attached.

I think the OP has it right: this is a mid-range Viner, not top-of-the-line, but also a probably fine "rider" so nothing to hang your head over...

actually, that's exactly what the link says and here's the exact wording on a Columbus decal
http://www.hilarystone.com/images/sa...e-offs_big.jpg

you are probably correct about the tube size and that it is unlikely Columbus
searching finds another link of a Viner with the same tubing and cut-out lugs
another to the list

TUBI SPECIALI IN ACCIAIO MADE IN ITALY---is what the OP's "Viner" decal says

TUBI RINFORZATI GARANTITI ACCIAIO SPECIALE COLUMBUS---is what the "early version" decals say, known to be used on both SL and SP tubing

COLUMBUS TUBI SPECIALI RINFORZATI ACCIAIO CrMo CYCLEX SL DOPPIO SPESSORE--is what the later version (post 1979) SL decals say

"The nomenclature on the decal is exactly what Columbus writes on theirs, just without the Dove trademark."

Angel has the most complete collection of images of "oddball" Columbus decals I have ever seen, including many of "custom sets" drawn for a specific bicycle frame or company and nothing that looks like the "Viner" decal or that has that exact wording: Special Steel Tubing in simple English

ITALIAN CYCLING JOURNAL: Columbus Steel, Tubing for Frame Building

I think that link mentioning the crosses and stars are referring to older frames. This one has got the usual vaguely triangular cutouts.
And turns out the seat post is 26.4. Came out no problem but zero grease on it. Looks like this bike was never ridden - the chain checks as no wear. Nice blob of grease at the bottom bracket although it doesn't feel great - it will come apart tomorrow night.

The freewheel is 6 speed - a Maillard. Will a Suntour 2 prong remover fit the Maillard?

Further to my suspicion that this is a lower end model, after looking at Velobase that's a Campy 980 front derailleur and 990 rear - both entry level.

I won't recommend trying one brand of 2-prong on a different brand FW: I have had a bad failure once with a Suntour on a Regina (maybe?) that seemed close enough...but was not.
If the outer diameter of the seat tube is Imperial (so 28.6) rather than Metric (28.0) then you have a seat tube with 1.1mm wall thickness which is rather thick stuff. Might be plain gauge tubing, not butted. If by some weird twist this is built with Metric tubing (odd for an Italian brand, but not impossible) then the tubing might be of higher grade with that 26.4 seatpost (0.8mm wall thickness).

It's all cleaned up, new grease, cable and housing, bar tape, freewheel and chain. Polished the rims. Brakes are much better with the new housing. New bar tape - liked the original red so thought I'd try red. Colored tape is a lot harder to work with than black, shows up the imperfections a lot more.
Answered the question about the freewheel - the Suntour 2 prong fit the Maillard fine, removed it easily.
Really seems to have never been ridden - grease looked like new but had gone all waxy.
Tires looked good and probably could have been ridden - tan wall Specialized Touring 700X25 wire bead but didn't want to take the chance. Had a set of Veloflex Master 25 to try out and figured Italian tires on an Italian bike.
With the Brooks saddle, larger freewheel, long seat post, pedals and water bottle cage weight went up to a portly 24.8 lb. Seems to ride nicely, no complaints.

http://i.imgur.com/LRwixPl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XRSb7XF.jpg

good job - that's beautiful.

+1

Thanks very much for posting this update. :thumb:

Beautiful! What kind of water bottle cage is that, and what did you use to polish the aluminum?

I usually use a Blackburn Chicane but they are getting to be a crazy price. That one is from Planet X for just over $5.
Planet X Stainless Steel Bottle Cage | Planet X.
The rims took some polishing but the crank was just cleaned and the derailleur just took a wipe with the polishing rag. I use Autosol polish.

Wow, that turned out beautifully, very nice job on cleaning it up well, and pulling it together.

Bill