I'm always pleased to see Viper's 5000. Just gorgeous.

My current hot rod project is a late 80's Centurion Elite RS. I got it as a neglected pile without wheels or a seat. I have some nice 28 spoke campy tubular rims with older dura-ace hubs waiting for it. The cranks, derailleurs, and shifters are currently Shimano 600 (and the RD spring seems to be shot.) The brakes are dia compe Royal S. I'm probably going to have the frame stripped and powdercoated clear this winter. The question is two part.

1. What do I really need to upgrade? How good are the brakes?

2. How much better are modern components than vintage? Is a new set of 105 cranks as good as old dura-ace or ultegra? What about brakes? Assuming koolstops on all sets.

this is my colnago that i have been riding as a fixed gear. I am waiting to find a nice campy group on ebay that i can use. I also have another colnago in my garage that is still waiting to be restored.

Thanks for your comments Mike552 and Caloso!


Brooklyn, thats a nice looking Fixed Colnago! What brand of Rims are those?


Rad, what else can I say about your Giordi that I haven't already?

Brooklyn, thats a nice looking Fixed Colnago! What brand of Rims are those?



Thanks, the rims are Mavic but i can't remeber the model. I got the whole wheelset from nashbar.

I have been trying to piece together my own italian job like yours but can't really decide on parts. I was thinking about putting a mix of new campy parts with some vintage.

I'd go with a Chorus 9spd group. I did that with this bike (not a classic but still a nice steel frame bike).

What? No lugs? Oh, the barbarity.... I can't stand it!
J/K - It looks good. I like the color.

Thanks I thought they were Mavics I dig the the look of it. The mix of Vintage and new is a sound idea. I have this suspicion that if I go all Vintage, I'll be upgrading the bike very soon I know myself to well. I like classic, but I'm basically a new tech type of guy

Cornelo or Colnago frame (long story). I guess 70s steel.
Shimano RSX STI shifters, Exage 500 RD, Shimano 600 FD
Mavic Open SUP Ceramic rims with Shimano 600 hubs (8 speed).
BBB Ahead converter with CODA stem. The crankset on the picture is a 70s SR Sakea from a Koga Myata bike but i upgraded it lately to a 90s unknown Shimano FC-100.

Little bit a mess (perhaps even horror to some) but i'm student so i have to grab what i can
My point: 70s frame (i love the frame!!!) with newer components. I don't like oversized tubes anyway.

Btw: Rad and Viper. Your Treks hurt. They hurt me so much!!! Must-have-cherry-red-Trek-too-and-photograph-them-in-studio-too... aaaaarg

alright - started working on mine. I found a Centurion Ironman Master bike I picked up for $50. Frame needs to be repainted. I want to do Campy 9 spd on it. Does anyone have a list of component levels from lowest to highest for Campy 9? I know Record is the highest, but thats about it. I've seen some Centaur, Veloce, and Mirage components out there fairly cheap, but not sure where they fall in relation to shimano. Tried a search, but its a hard thing to search on without getting a ton of stuff you don't want also. I figure I need what - shifters, rear hub, cassette, and rear derailer?

so many nice old bikes....this thread is making me ask why I am selling my old trek.....

Because it's too small, I'm betting.

DG1

A good bet but no, I've got wee stubby legs (28-29" inseam, 5'8") and like a good inch of SO clearance. Hence the 110 stem on a 53cm TT and extra long reach bars and aero brake levers.

The best thing about this bike is when you want sorta fast but smooth at the same time, it really delivers. I just hate dumping a lot of $ into a frame with db 531 main tubes, and str8 gauge stays and forks (Tange). Not to mention how tough it is to find decent parts that will fit.

Having said that this bike appears to have a rear dropout that is wider than 126 (it's an '86 12 spd) - I dropped my 9-speed wheel in no problem, no cold setting needed.

I wouldn't buy new brifters for it but the thought of slapping a traditional 32 spoke open pro rear with a nice ultegra or DA 9-spd cluster and a new chain, used with the DT friction shifters is a tempting frankenstein proposition.

One small remark on all these topics with old frame + new groups. Mind you that a lot of old frames don't have a sufficient seatstay rear brake mounting hole. Older ones need a long bolt with a nut on the other side. Newer brakes demand a short bolt and an alan long nut to go inside the frame.

The old steel Treks are supposed to have real nice ride qualities to 'em. I've got the same problems with short legs. I can either do a 58cm and really drop the seat or do a 56cm and get a longer stem. Long torso, short legs.

sometimes there are steering issues too.

I had a 1980s Bianchi track bike that was about the same SO ht as this trek but had a 50cm TT. I needed either cowhorn bars (riding on the ends at all times) or a mega stem - like 140mm. I had awful toe overlap too.

The best fit I ever had was a 1981ish Miyata road bike, which had about 29" SO but a very shallow ST angle - an even nicer ride than the trek (more comfy but somehow zippier - and it was all straight gauge Miyata tubing! Tho the columbus air crown fork i added helped with the zip, i'll bet). That was about a 51cm TT.

It was Just on the verge of being too tall, with plenty of reach using a 90-110mm stem. I'd still be riding that old Miyata today except the frame looked about ready to implode.....lotsa hard miles on the old boy.

Seems every other 50cm bike I find is too tall; 49s often are too short a reach. I lucked out with my Orbea, works well enough, but there again, with 130mm stem.

SO I am now thinking of doing the full retro to my vintage too. I have a local shop that can spread the rear triangle to 130mm. Any tips or good advice as to what type of groupo should go on a canadian bike? I have no idea of the year but its A canadian CCM Silver Ghost. 531 reynolds, Weimerann 999 brakes(sp) don't have the bike near me LOL. Would Shimano be a bad thing to put on it? Or should I go campy? there are no water bottle mounts either is this a thing from the past where they used clamp on stuff??

Thanks
All

Shawn

I think a Shimano group would work well on your bike, and you should use what ever you would like.

Clamp-Ons were a popular thing in the 70's as bike manufactures, especially Cinelli, was touting it as a feature in that brazed on items weaken the tubing, so the better frames did not have them. It was however a lark, and actually just lowered manufacturing costs more than it weaken frames. As such it seems some of the most sought after Cinelli bikes have Clamp-ons all over the place, just because of this moment in history

The Shimano 600 Arabesque group parts are still fairly easy to come across on ebay. Great look for somone who really wants to go retro with an early 80's frame. cudak888 posted a great thread earlier today showing how he polished up a Shimano Light Action rear derailleur to give it a lot more shine.