50voltphantom

Holy moly. I love this.

DQRider 

Wow - Definitely drool-worthy. Look at that comfy geometry! And I had no idea they made a long-cage Dura Ace derailleur... For my money, the 720 was the best bike Trek ever built. Very nice!

The Golden Boy 

Thank you!!

Thanks!!!

There were (to my knowledge) two GS Dura Ace derailleurs. The 7803 was a traditional "long cage" derailleur, the 7703 had a shorter cage, but had something like a 13 tooth pulley to take up more chain.

BTW- just last night I saw a thread where someone had put on what looked like an XTR long cage onto a 7400 body. I'll be bumping that thread tonite.

Bike Rebel

What brand of seat bag are you using on the Centurion Pro Tour?

bwilli88 

Both bags are from Acorn bags, the front is their med rando bag and the rear is their tool roll. It is a great roll, I have another one on the way here for my MTB. It is simple with two slot pockets for tools and a bigger zipper pocket for tubes and stuff.

Steve Whitlatch 

My ST 1000

AustinFitz

Here is my 1984 Centurion Elite GT 15

DQRider 

Living in Minnesota, I tend to take on some ambitious bicycle projects during the winter to pass the long, cold and dark months. For this winter, I chose to build an English-style light touring roadster out of an old 531 Raysport Turismo frame.

Here is what I started with:



And here is the finished project:







This is the bike I'm bringing on the Lake Pepin 3-speed Tour in May. It rides very light and smooth, quite an improvement over the Raleigh DL1 I rode last year.

himespau 

Beautiful job.

Duke of Prunes

I don't believe Araya made their own frames - they had them built and other Japanese plants, hung their own wheels and parts on them, and tried to get into the US market in the late seventies without much infiltration. I just traded out a 21-inch red low end high-density road frame with cottered cranks and Suntour derailleur.

Duke of Prunes

Very lovely - much more so than the 81 Panasonic made super LaTour I just finished converting to three speed & upright tourist posture for commuting here in Madison. Is the Lake Pepin ride still a thing?

Onyxaxe

No trying to threadjack, but I've got 2 or 3 touring frames laying around the house. Would they make a good fixed gear/single conversion geometry wise?. Not looking to take on the velodrome or have wolfpack street cred lol. Just wanted to know since my current single speed is more doable all around town than I expected. I like the older steel frames aesthetically and functionally. Thanks

Onyxaxe

I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread. My budget and responsible sensibilities just went out the window lol

Scarbo

I just finished working on this 1983 Specialized Expedition that I had bought off a guy on Craigslist and took it out for its maiden ride yesterday and took this pic. I put a Pletscher rack on it; Brooks B17. It rides pretty well, actually. I'm thinking of putting some fenders on it. This last little bit of road before I get to my house is really steep--appox. 1/2 mile at 15-18 percent gradient; so the triple chainring came in handy!

(As an aside, does anybody know how to make these pics bigger without having to post them on an alternate website (Photobucket, etc.)? I'm conversant with Adobe Photoshop but it seems that no matter how I size my pics they come out too small; I notice that some on here are quite large and don't seem to have any external references attached to them. Thank you!)

L134 

In PS, go to file/save for web... At least in my Mac version, there will be a Preset: box in the upper right. Choose, say, JPEG medium. In lower left, look at the size of the file. For jpg, you need to get the file size to 97.7 kb or lower. Go back over towards the bottom right where it shows Image Size. If your file size is twice as big as it can be, try halving the file W:. H: will adjust automatically. Check the new file size and keep adjusting up or down as necessary and then hit save.

If you got the size right, you should be able to paste the image into your post.

ollo_ollo

Saturday I did a general clean and check fasteners on my 84 Expedition. Removed the Blackburn front racks for a while and it got some new bar tape. The sun was out so I did a short ride around Stayton. It is on pg 1 too, but honjo fenders have now replaced the plastic ones and a I'm riding a different Brooks. Don

twolve

DQRider, lovely job! I traded that frame to you for the Dunelt. I love to see what you have done with the frame and you found its origins. It looks incredible! My partner really enjoys the Dunelt, so it seems it was a good trade.

It would be fun to go for a ride some time!

DQRider 

Absolutely! Watch for a PM...

Scarbo

Thanks!

Scarbo

Nice bike! How long have you had it?

Actual touring is not my style; but I do intend on using mine for extended rides and gravel. I still have some things to tweak on it, though. When I ride without hands it seems to veer a bit to the right for some reason, so I have to figure that out. But, I really do think the bike will work out in the end.

Scottybigs

My winter project is more or less complete: 1983 Schwinn Voyageur SP. Frameset courtesy of @twolve, with a full Shimano 600EX groupset (downtube shifters converted to barend using shifter pods).

I plan to add Tubus Tara lowrider racks up front, which I'll take on/off for touring. Also going to swap out the current 32c Compass tires for 35c (sticking with Compass--the best). Down the road, the Dia Compe 980 cantilever brakes will likely get replaced with VO Grand Cru Zeste brakes, provided they can handle the reach.

Seizedpost

Here's the S12-S LTD I took on a 400 mile tour last summer, right before I left. Maybe an aggressive setup for touring, the bike was/is a little small for me, but I was comfortable.


Here's my mom's bike, made by an Albany, NY framebuilder in 1974 named Phil Fisher. It is a 21" frame, but with a low bottom bracket and steep chainstay angle to reduce the standover height. It was originally built for a 5'2" woman.
She (the original owner) didn't like Phil's paint job, and had it redone by Ben Serotta.
Sorry it's not a drive side shot. It has a V GT RD, Spirt FD, Powershifters, and a Stronglight crank.

Scarbo

I had noticed DQRider's bike in another thread (on racks) and I thought it was absolutely stunning. So, this bike was yours initially? I'm new to this vintage stuff; I'm not familiar with Raysport at all. What is its history and how would their bikes have compared to, say, a Raleigh?

ollo_ollo

My memory is a little hazy, but at least 15 years, maybe 18? I found a tiny little Eisentraut frame that a fellow built up with Shimano arabesque for his wife who never rode it. Bought it just because it was so pretty. I was at Recycled Cycles in Seattle, trying unsuccessfully to trade it for a beautiful Claude Butler Touring. They offered the Expedition which was just overhauled, with new 40 spoke wheels. The more I looked, more I liked it, so took it for a ride and we did the deal. I'm 76 y.o. now and still ride but I think my touring days are over. These bikes are comfortable and nice riders unloaded also. Don

twolve

I had the bike before, but only had in my hands for about a year. I bought it from somebody who built it up with a bunch of random parts.

DQRider has a great thread about this bike and finding its history, and would definitely know more than me. I believe Raysport bikes were built in Mexico, but with a British background. I don't have enough experience to say, but I'd think they are much smaller production than Raleigh, but would be comparable to the higher end Raleighs of the era.