This Conti Designer 84 frame I have had since it was new in the 80ies. It immediately got black powder coating to be able to endure the wet winters in the southern parts of Sweden – where I went to university at the time. I got the frame at a liquidation auction at a price fitting my student budget. Stripped the paint myself and the powder coater gave me a very good price for the black (edit - and very thin and nice - for being a powder coat) paint job. Did the silver lug lining myself, filled in paint in the Italian flag on the top tube and added a genuine Columbus SL/SP decal.

The original paint scheme was bright red with a white “net” or “ribbing” on the main tubes. Very flamboyant and not at all in line with my, at the time, “less is more/Sartre and black coffee-approach”. Today I would love to have that original paint back…

This frame served me good. I equipped it with Campagnolo Record/Nuovo/Super in different combinations thru the years. I used it until around 1989 when I got my Colnago Master Piu.

Later it was used on a trainer for some years and/but eventually it ended up, stripped of all parts, in the back of a storage room for many years. I have had a bit of a conscience about it.

I also had most of an early Chorus group laying around. And some other bits and pieces. Thought it was time to put it together again.

Started with a good cleaning and some wax. Considering its winter use and later neglect it is in splendid shape. No rust and the toughness of the powder coat have held scratches and small chips to a minimum.

Considering the Chorus group set it might seem strange that I started building it up with a Record headset. I did it because I believe this frame, in a far future, might get a complete Record/Nuovo Record group and I do not want to change headsets too often… And I believe the chrome headset goes nice with the chrome on the frame.





Did a quick mock-up build with dirty parts just to see if it was something I liked.



Then some days ago a lot of cleaning took place.




And an old ad from the time and place (Sweden)



To be continued.

I had the Conti Designer '84, it was different than yours (wish it was the same size as yours mine was to small for me). The one I had did not have internal cables, it was a midnight blue metal flake solid no fade.

Gorgeous - I think 1st gen Chorus is the all-time best looking group.

Really like that "minimalist" black and white powder/paint job and looking forward to seeing the build as you progress: should be a real winner! I also have never seen one with the internal RD cable routing thru the chainstay before, but then we'd see far more CIOCC than Conti in the US and details would vary (even though during these years they both were products of the same builders)

Thanks! (what looks like white is silver though). I am going to keep this one "clean" and stick to the black/chrome/silver all thru the build.

Yes, they built frames with quite some different branding at the time. Ciöcc, Conti and Concorde among others.

Tonight after work I sorted out the abused seatpost. I have always wondered about who get their seatposts to scratch up like this. I know I have never, ever done it. A bit of grease and some feeling for the material... Is that too much to ask for?






Some wet sanding and polishing - taking care not to remove material from the portion below the insertion mark as I do not want the diameter to differ from 27,2.

almost always caused by a "burr" in the top of the seat tube, often the slot between the seat "ears" but always a reason to make a quick pass with a hone of your choice to shave off the burr or risk repeating this scratch-pattern. I use one of several tools: an adjustable reamer (takes most metal quickest so use with caution), a 2-stone cylinder hone (as for automotive brake cylinders, etc.) or a Flex-hone (with dozens of abrasive balls on the ends of wire brush wires) You could even use a half-round file if that hits just the right spot

Absolutely - I use an adjustable reamer or a 3-stone hone depending on how much that has to be done. Often a small file is sufficient to de-burr/grade the slot enough. I chase all threads, and mill BB and headset seatings too if needed (often).

I often see questions regarding monoplaner brakes. This picture clearly shows the main difference between an early Chorus and later versions of monoplaner brakes (early on the right):

I will let todays pictures speak mostly for themselves.

1987 Syncro II (small diameter at the cable "roll up")



Pure poetry




Classic 3TTT stem (not adjusted for hight - will be lower)



More poetry (Bonato, Biffi, Conti or Candido)



Less poetry... Someone thought the Chorus derailleur to be a bit heavy and took a drill to it.



Cleaned the brake handles and gave them NOS rubbers.



Starting to come together...

coming into focus very nicely! You hardly ever see powder coating with masking and applied that thinly. Whoever did that work is a "keeper" resource!

Thank you! I did the masking myself (chrome and all threads). This paintjob is about 35 years old now. I remember the painter guy being really old. That is - I would guess about my age now (56)... which would make him 90+ today. I remember trying to find a place that did powder coating (this was before the net) and looked it up in the local yellow pages. Talked to him over the phone and as I wrote earlier he gave me a price that was really low. He said I had to strip every small bit of paint off the frame which I did. It had to be really clean and he wanted me to mask it myself. Picking it up after he was finished was very rewarding - as the paint was glossier, thinner and more even than I had expected.

Afterwards he did some frames for couple of friends of mine and they were all really nicely done. Normally he powder coated farm equipment and heavy machinery stuff. We never talked about it but I believe he liked to do these frames and took extra care. I have not seen many examples of powder coated frames that match his results.

That Powder coat looks like a quality job. Too bad the geaser was old already back then, been looking for somewhere to get a coat done in the Sthlm area ( not really sure why I assume that’s where you’re based).
looking forward to see it all built up!

Not much done here. It has been really cold a couple of days and even if my hobby workshop has heating I just felt uninspired. Only thing done was cleaning up a Sedis R80 Pro chain. I have written it earlier here on BF - that I have a large stash of Sedis and Regina chains that I have used just for a short while each back in the day. As long as I have NOS chains I have not got around to clean the used ones. I still have new chains but today I gave it a try. I let it soak in degreaser for a while and then put it in my ultrasonic bath.

It came out clean and with some drops of oil it will be ready for use. Now I only have about 40 more chains to clean...

so you are sitting on a "gold mine", eh? You can corner the (small) market for vintage chains!

Very close to the truth... !
Anyone still a Sedis/Sedisport chain fan out there???

I don't want to derail this thread - great bike and all that - but my favorite item by far in those pictures is that radio:

Derailling is half the fun...
I am not collecting old radios but when I see an old one in good condition at a yard sale or similar I just cannot walk away.

The red one/orange that you noticed is a Bang&Olufsen Beolit 505. It has a fantiastic sound.



Got it for nothing since it did not work. I had a theory about why and I was right - the string that moves the scale was torn (or rather - when one moves the scale it rotates the thingy that changes the frequency).



That was something I could sort out myself and the radio is now my workshop music machine.



My personal favourite is this Blaupunkt though




Runner up - my grandfathers Telefunken

I see another tangential thread in the offing: C&V radios!

I'm just here to say I love the radio(s) - and the bike, too, of course

DD

Beautiful. As it happens I have been looking at some 707's recently, but they were either broken or eye-wateringly expensive.

Back to the bikes!

Today I cleaned and detailed the wheels, set up the gear cables and put on the bottle holder.

I built these wheels around 1988 - Record hubs, DT Competition spokes and Campagnolo Ypsilon V profile rims. 3-cross rear and 2-cross front. They did not see much use back then - as I did not, at the time, like the looks of the V profile. Today I believe they are modest looking - and fitting this build. Campagnolo V-profile rims were in the 1987 catalog.

Normally I use tan wall tires but for this build the allmost all black Conti GP 3000, 23: s will stay on (got to have Conti tires on a Conti frame...). I do not remember when I bought them or put them on but it is a long time ago - I would guess they are at least 15-18 years old... This bike will not see much use and therefore the old tires can be used for the build.



2-cross front



3-cross rear



I wrote almost all black tires. A permanent marker pen made them all black. Here is when one is blacked out and the other one waiting its turn.



I was lucky to have the Syncro II shifter index insert corresponding to the 7 speed Maillard 700 Compact Super.




Set it up and it index shifts perfectly.



Finally got a use (more of a place actually...) for this 900ml Campagnolo Biodynamic bottle and holder again. The 900ml were advertised for mountainbikes but I have not had any problem using it for the road ;-) The Biodynamic and Biothermal 500ml bottles were in the 1987 catalog and/but I do not know when the 900ml showed up.




To be continued.

This evening I put on the handlebar, brake handles and sorted out the brake cable housing lengths.

I live by "the rules" when it comes to positioning the bar and brake handles. Not only do I believe it looks the best - it also fits me and my use of them perfectly.



Classic 3TTT



Black Bike Ribbon a la Ambrosio is fitting the age of the bike and build.



A small dot of grease makes it easier to get the small cable guide thingy in its place.




Cutting the cable housing to the right length and taping them to the bar.



Mood pics:




Getting into difficulties. I would like to have a saddle for this build that is only black and silver/chrome. I do not own such a saddle. These are my options:
Brooks Swift, Brooks Team Pro (both with chrome rails) and a Campionissimo. Alll of them wonderful - but they do add a new colour to the build - copper. I am not sure this is what I want. OR actually - I like these saddles a lot. Just not on this bike...

since you "blacked out" the sidewalls on your tires, maybe paint over the copper. Or wait for it to turn green...a new color problem!

Copper Campionissimo is always a winner isn´t it?
Maybe a bit "sen på pucken" but I love how they have highlighted "nippel för pump" in the ad above as an USP
Who sold Conti in Swe? Racerdepån?

You are right - Campionissimo it will be. Until I stumble over a black Rolls Titanio or something similar in black/silver - the copper detailed Campionissimo will have to do. I do love my Brooks saddles but they do not fit this build.

About Conti and who sold them (in Sweden):



And about the brand (written in Swedish)
CMF: Ciöcc, Conti och Giovanni Pelizzoli och urban legends på Internet

This evening I finished the build.

Wrapped the handlebar.



Set up and adjusted the brakes.



Decided to go with the Campionissimo saddle - despite the deviation from the black/silver/chrome theme.



And as I had already messed up the build I went totally bonkers and chose to use C-Record pedals (or rather - I do not have Chorus pedals...)



This was a nice and easy build and this old workhorse frame is now back in business. Looking forward to taking it for a spin in spring (snow is still deep here). It would also be nice taking natural light pictures of it...