Down the Rabbit Hole
 

At last year’s Eroica California, someone approached me and asked if I wanted a Mavic rear derailleur that he had no use for. A quick “Sure, thanks” and I was the happy owner of a Mavic 801 rear derailleur. I didn’t have an appropriate bike for it, but you never know what the future holds.

Just over a month later, I ride the Fayetteville Good Old Summertime Classic on my 1972 Legnano - its first ride since winning “Best Italian” in the concours at Eroica. Yes, it rides beautifully! They always raffle off a couple of vintage bikes after the ride and this time it was Vitus bikes. Amazingly, I win the smaller Vitus in my size.

It’s a 1989 Vitus 979, fitted with a full Shimano 600 Tri-color group. Unfortunately I found the American Classic seatpost to be frozen in an extremely low position. Not being a fan of Shimano, I began to think of what group I could replace it with. Then I remembered the Mavic rear derailleur. Hmm, I could go “tout Mavic” on this Vitus, but finding the correct parts could be daunting. Here’s the Vitus, and the derailleur that sent me down the rabbit hole.


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A bit of searching online and I found the 1988-89 Mavic catalog showing the 1015RS ensemble. Since it included the 801 rear derailleur, this would be the components I would need to find. The search was on! I would find various bits over the next several months, but ran into a wall when considering the headset. The fork’s steerer tube had been cut for the short stack height of the Shimano headset. The Mavic 310’s taller stack height wouldn’t work, so first I had to locate a fork with a longer steerer tube. Luckily, I found one within a few weeks.


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congrtulations!

shall look forward to following along with the build :thumb:

have long thought it would be fun to do an assembly with a one thousand or an ssc road ensemble...

back in the early to mid eighties bought from the MAVIC distributor in sand city, california a few times


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The steerer tube on the new fork was just a bit too long so I took it to Hans Schneider in Huntsville, TX to have it cut to the correct length. I polished the frame and fork and put it aside until I had time. In late April, while waiting for parts on another build, the headset and fork were installed. Then it is was back to the queue while I finished a few more projects.


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Fast forward to August 28 and the last customer project was picked up (a 1980 Colnago Super). It was finally time to work on my own project for a change. I pulled the 979 down and put it on the stand. Fortunately the bottom bracket shell already had the chamfers needed for a Mavic bb. The crankset and bottom bracket were disassembled and cleaned and then installed.


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I'll back up here a bit concerning the stuck seatpost. It was an aluminum American Classic seatpost stuck in an aluminum seat tube/lug. It would turn a few degrees either way, but would not come out. They're not supposed to seize, especially having been installed only a few months prior (I know who assembled the bike prior to its donation). After stripping the bike and trying several methods the remove the seatpost, I took it to Hans Schneider for his expertise. After removal, it was discovered that someone at the shop where it had been stored prior to the raffle had tried to turn the seatpost without loosening the grub screw. This caused ridges on the seatpost that would not allow upward movement. Once out, I filed and sanded the ridges on the seatpost and that's what I'm using to clamp the frame in the workstand.

I've been down that particular rabbit hole:


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Have fun, I did!

Top

When I received the Mavic 810 front derailleur I found it to be in really nice condition. Though the seller described it as “like new”, the lack of chain wear on the cage suggests NOS. Either way, it gets my normal treatment for old components - a complete tear down and restoration. Once apart, I found only a bit of dried grease, but nothing on the pivot pins. Everything went back together without issue but with new grease.


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I like your style Brad. Fork too short? Get a short stack headset? Hell no, get a proper fork!

That all looks really sharp.

Thanks! I now have some C-Record bits for a future build that will get similar treatment, so, thanks again!

And now for the 801 rear derailleur that started me down this “tout Mavic” journey. Again, I completely disassembled everything to make sure it works properly. The pivot pins were a bit rough so I polished them to get them nice and smooooth, then reassembled everything with fresh grease. We’re now up to date as this happened this past Friday. On to the brakes!


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Brad L I’m gonna need to see this Italian beauty contest winner (the Legnano.)

Fantastique!

you have the Mavic Chamfer tool for the BB?

the complete serviceability of the mechanisms is to be appreciated. spare parts?….

The shell had the chamfer when I acquired it. And if it hadn’t, Hans Schneider has the correct tools.

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was destiny

Legnano similar to this but in that tourmaline blue with the stencil graphics was a bike I studied very carefully in 1971. If Charlie Harding did not dislike kids so much I would have purchased my first road bike there. The Campagnolo Nuovo Record rear mech to me just screamed quality.

My thoughts exactly.

The Mavic 410 levers needed attention. The hoods were dry, cracking, and wouldn’t survive removing in the typical fashion. I cut them off so they could be used again, if only for display. To remove the pins holding them together, I drove them out with a 3/16” drift, but needed to file a slight chamfer to reinstall. Everything was cleaned, polished where needed, and reassembled with NOS hoods. They’re now ready to install.
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I was about to start the restoration of the Mavic 410 brake calipers but the plastic piece on the quick release mechanism of both calipers broke. So, while I search for replacement parts, I thought I’d get the bars together. I’m using a Mavic 365 stem on my NOS Mavic 350 handlebars, along with the recently completed 410 brake levers.


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Excellent photos!

Beautiful build and neat project.

It it helps, these brakes were made by Modolo, shared hoods. The French and Italian components makers often crossed over. Like Mavic, also have Galli stuff labeled with Maillard ~ Spidel, etc..

Reproduction hoods are being made in Spain by Reciclone in case you should need spares: https://reciclone.com/en/collections...42240540803234

https://reciclone.com/cdn/shop/produ...g?v=1654253964

Lets see this classic machine, please. I know you have a few other nice Legnano's.

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My own trip into the rabbit hole.
100% French build (Except for the Turbo saddle.), Mostly Mavic, with CLB brakes, Stronglight headset and Roval wheelset.......
It is my ongoing weight weenie project bike with a present built weight of just a little over 16 pounds.....
I can still get the weight lower if I manage to find a Ti Stronglight BB that I can afford to install on the bike.