cudak888 

...and as soon as I can run down to the LBS, I'll dig up that matching reddish-brown suede saddle he has for it. For now though, this is how she is.

Forgive the grey A'ME hoods - didn't have anything else on hand. Wish I had a spare pair of Gran Compe hoods to put in their place on those Campag Victory levers.

Enjoy the photos. More to come soon, hopefully.

P.S.: If anyone has a right-hand NR crankarm that they'd like to part with, I could use it for this bike. I have the left arm and the rings, but the right arm I have is badly cracked.

Take care,

-Kurt

raverson

Gum hoods and a matching saddle will really pull it together. Nice

Kinetikx

Very nice. I really like the idea of leather bar tape. And that suede goes pretty well with the Trek's color. I'm sure once it breaks in it will really look good.

Which brings me to a sort of off topic question- which I may make a new thread for.
I have an entire gray cow hide (upholstery grade) that I'm thinking about cutting into strips and trying to use as tape. It's kind of thick but I'm not doing anything else with it. Think it would work?

cudak888 

Well, for now it'll have to settle for the matching saddle. I don't know of anyone who has spare Gran Compe hoods, and I don't care for most of the Campag repops.

-Kurt

pastorbobnlnh 

Kurt, have you thought about the black generic hoods that LooseScrews has? I used them on my Paramount. I have a set of the reproduction Gums that I paid way too much for, and I agree, they look lousy.
https://www.loosescrews.com/index.cgi...d=539778613777

seely

I've always thought that something like that would work if you kept it quite taught, and cut it into fairly narrow strips. I think I would also apply it damp in the hopes it would shrink up a hair and tighten itself down a bit.

greybeard87

Cool idea, the only potential problem area would be the edges where you cut it, especially if its thick. You could always burn the edges, that would add some nice detail and help keep it from fraying or "curling" up.

cudak888 

Well, I'd rather use a gum hood considering the color scheme of the bike. One thing though - aren't those black generic hoods pretty close in appearance to those gum repros you have? Do you have a photo of the repops?

-Kurt

pastorbobnlnh 

The gummy repop Campy hoods (say that five times fast) that I have, actually have the "Winged" logo on them. These black ones just sort of blend in, but then I'm using black bar tape and black cable casings. I'm just thinking that in your case two colors, black cables & hoods, and brown suede, would be better than three, black cables, brown suede, and gray hoods. For me it's just a little too busy.

cudak888 

Hello Bob,

The black cables are temporary - they will be replaced with brown as soon as I can locate a source for the housing, hence why I want to use gum hoods. Although not exactly the same shade throughout, it'll basically reduce the main color scheme of the bike to various hues of browns.

Send me a photo of those hoods - I might be interested in them if you're willing to part with them.

-Kurt