I am probably going to build my Le Tour as a single front internal gear, so the downtube shifters won't be used. Is there an attractive alternative to cap them off? I thought about some rubber fuel hose, but the end
would look dumb. Likewise, it would look silly with shifters on it, with no cables.,,,,BD

How about some rubber/vinyl caps like they put on the end of wire closet organizer shelves? They are available is different colors.

Pretty good one! I think they're also available in colors as car engine vacuum caps. Something like that would really tone them down. Thanks! I'm also thinking about some sort of chrome cap, if I can find one the right size, and if a hole can be drilled in the middle.,,,,BD

I have used black vinyl caps (furniture ends, maybe 1/2" it covers the whole braze-on) and drilled a hole thru the center and then mounted them with a SS button-head cap screw...looks sort of "Frankenstein" but not too bad, if you like monsters.

You could use two of these by unscrewing the clamp from the bell. The mounting bolt is an m5. It's not my idea, I've seen it done. It doesn't look too goofy.

https://www.jitensha.com/eng/bells_e.html

Have you thought of running the hub shifter cable through a braze-on type, downtube cable stop just on the right side only? That way, you'd only have to cap off the left.

https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-SM-CS5...sporting-goods

You could concevably plug the left hand cable by installing one of the stop/adjusters on it and leaving the cable off.

-Kurt

Another option would be to cap off both sides with those downtube cable stops. There are different styles but I believe you can unscrew the plastic barrel adjuster from most of them. That would leave you with a nice chrome cover.

I like the bell idea... I think it would be a whimsical use of the shifter bosses.

Velo-Orange carries those bells as well. I bought one for one of my bikes but mounted it on the headset spacer, not the shifter boss. Might take some retapping to do that.

https://www.velo-orange.com/bellsdingding.html

Neal

All great ideas! I will have to look at my one Nexus bike, and see if a short piece of housing can be used on back. An open cable Nexus shifter would be really nice looking. As long as the rear stop is in front of the shifting mechanism, it could work. I might could even use an open cable for the hub brake, with a clamp on stop in back. I am looking through the paint books at work, trying to find a copperish color that isn't a tri coat. IE: pain in the behind two layer color with clear. I think I found one, but it was too late to look up the formula.,,,,BD

I guess they could be put to use after all!

Hacksaw, file, and a world-stripes decal. It will look clean and anger Cudak888. A win-win, yes?

I don't hack up old frames for the sake of hacking them up. This is a true temper CrMo Le Tour we're talking about. I have more respect than that.,,,,BD

You could always unbraze them...


and then you'd have the perfect excuse to make the ONE truly design-it-yourself custom component on your bike!

THE PAINTJOB!!!!

Think Tulio Campagnolo with a rattle can!

Paint it beautiful, make it AWESOME!


Then dump a bunch of clear, sand it down with 320,
dump a bunch more clear and you will have...



A beater bike!!!!

. . .

translation;...I had this baby hand built in Tuscany with ____ tubing blessed by the Pope. I took it to a wind tunnel and it disappeared. It's lighter than a fart and more expspensive than a divorce.

I love that decription

No...sorry. Probably won't be a Michaelangelo on your first shot. But
it'll be fun and rewarding to do.

..Just a thought.

Go with the bolt on
covers. Too much
fuss to
paint any
ways.
.
.

Well, I used to paint cars, so I hope it turns out pretty good? And NO spraybombs involved. Well maybe the primer.,,,,BD

I drilled and tapped a stem to mount one.

You have a point there, Doctor.

As he does intend to re-spray it, the downtube bosses could be removed, with little harm done, considering that clamp-ons could always be substituted in the future.

-Kurt

I actually like the screw on stops you posted earlier, they look great. Can those be bought without bothering
bikeparts usa? Their checkout system does not work with any browser I have. They also had
a minimum order of $15 last time I tried to get something from them. In other words, I no longer give them any of my money.,,,,BD

Found them at my local shop! The guy said they KEEP them in stock, because they sell so many of them. Since I want to use the rear Sante brake, I will Flip the unused one over and fill the adjuster hole with a screw.,,,,BD