My Father and I used to ride bikes together on the weekends when I was growing up. He recently gave me the bike he used to ride: A Univega Nuovo Sport. It has obvious sentimental value and I've been aching to build up a classic roadie for a while. The frame has no dings but has many scratches, and scuffs most of which are a little rusted. The rust doesn't seem to have spread beyond the scratches, but I can't be sure if there's any damage. Also, the complete bike weighs about 30 pounds.

Altogether the braking surface on the rear wheel is worn off, the brakes barely work, the brake levers are a little messed up and are very uncomfortable, the seat and seatpost need to be replaced, and the shifters are a rather pedestrian Suntour with rubber levers that mount to the too-short stem. So it seems as though I'll need to replace: Wheels, tires, tubes, seat, seatpost, stem, brakes, brake levers, cables, cassette, chain, and the frame will need to be sanded? and repainted.

My questions for the forum are: Do you think its worth it to restore this bike? I understand that the Nuovo Sport isn't a particularly nice frame, and even if I replace most of the components it'll still probably be rather heavy. If I should take this on, can you offer any advice on how/where to start picking up replacement components on the cheap? And are there any unforseen challenges you can help me look out for? French threading, odd-size parts, etc. Any advice on stripping and painting a steel frame myself?

Thanks!

The best source for used components is a donor bike, find a cheap older road bike from a thrift store, garage sale, etc. and transfer the components.

I'm not sure how old your Univega Nuovo Sport is..I worked for Univega in late seventies.
This model is has a high-tension steel frame/fork and before mountain bikes arrived was one of Univega's
volume sellers for recreational cyclists. From the amount of work you would put in, I would not recommend restoring it since at the end you will not be rewarded with any appreciable performance gain.
Instead, I would (depending on how often you ride) buy a new or used bike of much more recent vintage that suits the type of riding you do. The sentimentality factor is harder to quantify...if you prize the bike for the reason that your father owned it, you could simply clean it and keep it in the garage as a momento. I know I've got a few of these myself.......

The bike sounds pretty comparable to my 1970 Peugeot UO-8, which gives me alot of service and pleasure. I have gradually updated and upgraded most of the components, courtesy of yard sales, donor bikes, eBay, and my junk parts bin, but I would not consider investing in a paint job (as I did with the 1959 Capo) or expensive components. If you enjoy working on bikes and scrounging for parts, go for it. Otherwise, find something in better shape, although I don't agree with Tom's admonition that you need bike of "much more recent vintage."

My own two cents:

Is a low end bike sentimental to you?
Clean it up, and upgrade it!

By upgrade, I mean better brakes (levers, calipers or both), and improved drivetrain components (mid-range Campagnolo, '70s-'80s Shimano)

-Kurt

Amen!

My 77 Fuji is a smooth shifting, comfortable riding, reliable piece of daily transportation. I bought the bike for ten bucks at the Salvation Army. All it took to get going was to put on some decent Vittoria tires.