eastmacala

First post here, hello everybody!
Need some help from classic road bike experts/lovers.

So I want to get into road cycling, frequent runner and fixed gear rider.
This is my dads Serotta Colorado 2 which he bought in the 90ies and later swapped the handlebars, stem, rear mech, brake levers and pedals as can be seen in the picture when he moved to the city. Unfortunately he let the shop keep all the originial parts . He said if I spend the money myself I can rebuild it back to a road bike. So here is where I need your advice.

What I got:
- Frame has some paint chips, guess have to live with that.
- Brakes and brakepads are in mint condition - nothing to change here
- Road pedals and shoes
- The saddle is original and fairly comfy
- Front mech, brakes, hubs, cranks are all dura-ace

What I need
- Road handlebars with proper brifters
- Compatible rear mech ?
- Maybe new casette and chain
- Chainring bolt
- Try to slam that stem, since the frame is a tad to large for me
- Some new cables maybe

What should I look for to do this beatiful frame justice? Modern components or buy used original ones? There are some Serottas with modern groupsets which look quite good imo, but then I'd have to go 100% modern I think. (There is quite a market for old road bike parts where I live.) Also, I'll rebuild it myself (Have some experience)

Budget is 200$ to 300$, of course spending less is cool as well

So what would you suggest with that budget... Which parts are worth upgrading to use this bike as a proper training bike which is functional and looks good?

Thanks a lot!

thinktubes 

Minimum viable build would be to get bars and brifters.

You could ride it a while to make sure it fits and that you like the ride. Then you could upgrade as your budget.

Nice bike and a great foundation!

Lascauxcaveman 

Welcome to the forums.

If the frame is "too large" for you, I'm thinking the seat post could be more a problem than the stem. That is, if it needs to come down a lot you may have to swap in a more conventional straight-pipe model and ditch that elegant aero thing. Obviously, check the diameter first if you're going to buy a replacement. There's lots of different sizes.

You can find that and a shorter stem easily enough on the big auction site, at a swap, co-op or in the trade/sale subforms here. Decide how much farther back you want your hands, and measure what you have now to compare to what you want to end up with. Yours looks like a 90mm or 100mm from here.

The rear mech looks like an Alivio; it will work fine with the proper brifters (I think 7, 8 or 9speed STI; how many cogs are on the rear cluster?) The one I had on my MTB shifted with 8-speed trigger shifters.

eastmacala

Thanks! The seatpost is about the right height as is, so I think I won't have to replace it.
I'll drop the stem all the way to just get into a "racey" position.

Rear is a 8-casette, but if I want to replace it anyways I'll buy brifters first and match my casette accordingly.

eastmacala

Sounds good! What kind of handlebar would you suggest?

jet sanchEz

Look for a donor bike on Craigslist and swap the parts over. Check the ebay thread here for ideas of what to look for but you can't go wrong with something like Shimano 600/Ultegra. Usually you can find a complete bike with that group on it for between $300 to $400. Re-sell the donor bike with the flat-bar setup to recoup some of your money.

That Serotta is a great bike, enjoy it.

Ex Pres 

If it's 8 speed, I have a set of DA 8s brifters, not pretty but function well, a DA 8s rear derailleur, and could throw in a (25.4 or 26.0) handlebar all for a good price. I see you're new and probably can't PM, but I'm going to try and send you one with my email.

eastmacala

Sounds very tempting, but unfortunately I don't live anywhere near the U.S. so shipping would be expensive and slow.. I'll try it locally.

Lascauxcaveman 

OK, you're a little more flexible than this old guy.