italianbiker

I'll keep this original with tubulars. I've never changed out a set but would be nice to have an all original bike.

italianbiker

Yes! you are absolutely correct. Plus I just crashed in September dislocating my non-dominant shoulder. I don't need another accident.

italianbiker

Yes, you guys called it. I think that tape is shot and the tire would roll with enough speed and a small turn.

Salamandrine 

Yeah, +1. Get new tires and new brake pads. That stuff has a shelf life. I run the black MAFAC style Koolstops with my PX10. Excellent. Like the fresh originals but better, and they don't squeak at all.

If you've never swapped out sewups, don't worry about it. In some ways tubulars are easier to deal with than clinchers. Certainly faster to change one out if you get a flat on the road.

I don't think anyone has commented on this, but I think that's the original tape. Old school plastic, under the brake levers! (I used to hate that.) Kind of cool to see the old style shiny plastic though, but even so I'd change it out.

The drops of the handlebars should be between flat and about 5 degrees for racing cool, or angle down more for a 'touring' set up. -5º is not good though.

trailangel

That tire base tape pulling away looks like a repair and was glued back down and it's coming up.
New tire time.
Bar tape looks original as well as the Velox bar plugs.
Notice the way it's taped.... top to bottom.....front to back.

That blue PX-10..... what size are those Vittoria tires... looks good.

El Chaba

Congratulations...That one is in very rare good original condition.....

jonwvara 

Yeah, you don't see original Stronglight 93 triples. What are the tooth counts of the three rings? Just wondering if the inner is the oh-so-rare 38-tooth ring, or the even-rarer 37. That's as low as you can go with a 122 BCD crankset.

jonwvara 

Yeah, you don't see original Stronglight 93 triples often. What are the tooth counts of the three rings? Just wondering if the inner is the oh-so-rare 38-tooth ring, or the even-rarer 37. That's as low as you can go with a 122 BCD crankset.

italianbiker

I didn't know that the triple was a rare item- true I don't recall ever seeing one. I acquired this setup thinking of the L'Eroica bike ride in the future. I'm tearing the rest of the bike down tonight so will count the teeth.

As far at the tires go, What's a decent setup. I do want to keep this as original as possible so will stick with tubulars.

trailangel

The bike came with Hutchinson tubulars. No need to stay with that brand.
Depends on how much $ you want to spend. I like Veloflex and Vittoria.
I had same bike and put Clement Campionato del Mondo tires on, and it rode like pillows.
None of these tires are made anymore. In fact, the newer tubulars seem heavier to me... must be the flat protection in the tires now.

jonwvara 

It's a little misleading to think of the crankset itself is a triple, since Stronglight never made a dedicated Model 93 with fittings for a third ring on a smaller bolt circle. The one on your bike is really just a regular double crank with a third ring mounted with spacers and the old-style extra-long chainring bolts (what are those properly called, does anyone know?)

The limitation to assembling a double that way is that you can't use an inner ring any smaller than you'd use on a double using the same crank. For a Stronglight 93, that's 37 teeth (if you can find a 37-tooth ring). Most people evidently found that a triple with a 37-tooth small ring wasn't any kind of improvement over a double with a 37-tooth small ring.

By the same token, you could assemble a triple on a 144 BCD Campagnolo crank, provided that you saw some benefit to something along the lines of a 53-48-42 crank. I don't think anyone did, because I've never seen a crank set up that way.

Classtime 

If it were me, I'd put new tires on it while keeping all else as is. Cables and pads too. See how it goes. The pads might work ok. (Of course clean and re-grease bearings. But all the parts back on it. The cables will be fine. It looks like it has not been messed with and you can lube the cables with some grease mixed with try-flow.)

Iowegian

What a beauty! Glad it found a good home.

Be sure to be extremely careful with the plastic wing nuts on the quick-release skewers. They will break easily and it's almost impossible to find replacements. They should last as long as you never try to turn them with _any_ pressure on the skewer but forget once...and crack! If you care about that level of detail, you might want to save them for show days and ride with some other wingnut for everyday riding.

Grand Bois

You can get 3D printed replacement wing nuts on Ebay.

italianbiker

I've never messed with the plastic wing nuts so the heads up was great advice. Hopefully, I can get into the garage for a few hours and work. Anxious to get this bike on the road.

Grand Bois

Your rear derailleur is not original. It's a long cage version to handle the non-original triple.

The angle looks odd to me. Is the tab at the front of the hanger?

italianbiker

Your right something does look odd. Which part is the "tab" and I will check it out.

rmfrance

You obviously realised that the brake blocks were in upside down in the first pix. :0)
If you slip the wheel out and grasp the calipers together you'll reveal the bolt head, so you can get a socket on it.
Centre by eye, tighten the nut behind the brake-tree then do any further truing on the pad mounts.
If that's the original AVA stem, yes - they're light, so are prone to failure if you have too little seated in the steerer tube (so they'll flex, something light alloy will tolerate for just so long).
I'd agree about the triple chainwheel being non original, although Stronglight 93 is right.
Finally, yes, it would have had classic Mafac Racers.
You got a real find there!

italianbiker

I was able to bring the calipers together and expose the bolt. I'll post pictures of the frame once it torn down, and re-lubed.

I ordered the TUFU tubulars, although they look ugly. I'm sure they will ride nice, only about 48.00 per each tire.

greg3rd48 

Thank you. They are 25mm Vittoria Corsa G+.

italianbiker

So, I finally have the bike torn down. Everything came apart really easy. The red sticker on the Stronglight crank was still in place and very red. By the looks of the bike it looks as if it was not ridden. I was surprised to see the bottom bracket so clean and rust free.


The front derailleur was cracked at the hing. So I will have to replace this. And I was not very careful when removing bearings. So, here is what I need assistance with. I need to order new bearings for top and bottom headset.



1. What size bearings does the headset use, top and bottom?
2. What size bearing does the bottom bracket use?
3. Front derailleur needs to be replaced, what's a good Simplex replacement that will work with the triple rings.


Thanks

Salamandrine 

The broken hinge is typical for those front derailleurs. Decades of UV and grease exposure are not kind to the delrin body. Range isn't huge for that triple. You don't need a special derailleur in that sense. The special thing you do need is an older style FD with a cable stop.

Suntour V type derailleur was the default replacement for years.

These are pretty similar to the original, but won't break. If you can find an old school mechanic to set it up, they shift reasonably.

A real racer BITD would have put a Campy record FD on it. You will need to come up with a way to stop the cable with an additional cable top, or convert to campy style cable guide. First gen campy record FD had a stop. You could look for one, but those are rare and $$ now.

Ideally, the optimum derailleur would be a Simplex LJ, but the prices have gotten crazy.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-com...4AAOSwY~1aEAl2


Sorry I don't remember the bearing count or number. Someone with a Sutherlands will chime in.

Steve Whitlatch 

You should be able to just clean and re use the current headset bearings if as you said, the bike does not look used. You can take one to your LBS and get a few more. They will tell you the size when they see it.

italianbiker

Yes, thats a good Idea. I'll take it today. I can't believe I lost a few, I was being so careful when I was removing the fork.

italianbiker

No kidding on the price. I'm going to try and stick with the Simplex brand. I'll take a picture of the derailleur and see if anyone knows the model. I have to say the front derailleur looks pretty cheap, the metal was not finished nicely on the one I have.