I was going to tell you I have a Technium Raleigh Grand Prix if you wanted it but that is a cool bike to restore (The Dawes).

The crankset is a cottered potential headache possibly but decent clearance for bigger tires.

Looks to be a Brooks saddle, and you could modernize in pieces if you wanted. Personally I dislike Simplex plastiderailleurs, but others like them. Something like a SunTour VxGT for the rear, Vx for the front and some down tube or barcon shifters would be fun and allow you to get a wider range for hills and such.

Pretty bike. Yeah racing bikes were more versatile BITD when you could fit a 32c tire. A great many racing bikes up through the 70s could do that. My 1978 Trek TX 900 has eyelets and can fit a 32c tire; it was Trek's top of the line racing bike.

It is a Brooks, which makes it worth the asking price just for the saddle. LOL I've seen these with bar end shifters as well. I would modernize what needs to be fixed,and add some full fenders (those "bobbed" ones appear in period sales photos BTW). Whoe sells the correct fender for a bike like this. It would be 26 x ?? width?

here are my two best options now that I have a size idea

shogun $150 eylets and all size seems right
https://providence.craigslist.org/bi...441430782.html

Cilo $350 size should work, but close this is just a super nice bike, no eyelets, but i have worked around that for a rear rack with not to much problems (use the triangle hole in the rear drop out
https://providence.craigslist.org/bi...446062924.html
Clio - Handmade Swiss Columbus frame (Steel) , 53cm top tube and 53cm seat tube, Chrome fork, Full Shimano 600 groupset (which is 1980s Ultegra) , handlebars and stem 3ttt made in Italy, saddle WTB Speed V, Mavic MA3 rims and New Vittoria RANDONNEUR Tires 700x25c. Weight 20 lbs with pedals

I'm sorry you had issues with your old bike. But I'm confident if you post pics of your bike (preferably from the drive side), we can help you sort out your technical issues.

Oh and if you sold it, we can help you find another cool old sports touring bike to fix up . . . .

That Cilo is a beauty! But I'm taking it slow, looking for more of a project to tinker with for now.

A lot will depend on the person and the environment. I've been riding "Road Bikes" for nearly 50 years, and am not going to change any time soon (although I do have a variety of bikes now).

I haven't raced since I aged out of being a "Midget" though. I have thought about TT's or perhaps a race on a local auto race track, but need to get myself faster.

I'm down a bit on miles at the moment, but it will come back. A typical shopping/commute ride would be about 30 to 40 miles. And my longest commute was about 200 miles.

Not real fast, but keep plodding along.

I posted the old, and well worn Colnago Super earlier (Post #8).

The C40 crosses the line between Classic and Modern, but it is sweet to ride!!!



I met a neighbor that had had about a half mile hill climb at about 10% up to his house. Maybe 75 years old. He had a very nice carbon fiber bike, and mighty low gearing on his bike, but would do the ride up the hill.

Anyway, as I get older, I can imagine wanting a lighter and lighter bike.

That would be a good one to play around with. You could probably switch the bottom bracket out to a cartridge and use a cotterless crank.

The fenders may have been made that way. I heard a story some years ago that the short fenders were due to a law somewhere about bikes ridden on public roads had to have fenders. I don't remember if it was for the competitors in a road race, or if it was for racing style bikes sold to the public. The short fenders met the letter of the law, with the least added weight. They were common for a while on sporty bikes in the 1970s.

here you go for a project, frame and fork and build, learn scrounge from there 1983 Miyata 912 frame/fork

i wouldn’t think 26... aren’t they 700c wheels?

And echoing those above, you can get lighter cranksets and more maintenance free bottom brackets for reasonably cheap (there’s a Campy that for some reason is cheap...like $10).

As far as the Simplex, as some have said, the rear derailleur is interesting but the front derailleur can be a “treat” as can those shifters.

Older SunTour would look at home with your build and are surprisingly not expensive...yet.

The fenders are better answered by someone else.

You can also get a decent non-safety lever as well...in fact most of us on here have a bundle of them in some parts drawer somewhere.

Shorty fenders were a thing.
Shorty Fenders


The nicer options for fenders are VO & Honjo
https://velo-orange.com/collections/fenders

https://www.somafabshop.com/shop/cat...s-mudguard-949

Unless of course you came upon a set of vintage Bluemels.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185268760...s&toolid=10049

I dropped it into a hole and bent the frame long ago. I don’t need you to help sort out the “technical issues” because I know exactly what they were and why the bike was so scary to ride with a load on a fast downhill. It was too short and had too much load cantilevered behind the rear wheel…hence the discussion about chainstay length and loads. The problem was fixed by going to a longer wheelbase touring bike.

Thanks but I’ve got plenty of bikes (10 of my own currently, 40 over the 45+ years…it’s not my first rodeo). All of them are about 1000 times better than the Univega Sportour.