Italuminium

A23's are a little wide and heavy, unless you go for wide tires there are better rim choices. recently there have been many builds with H+Son TB14's (classic box-style rim) and Archetypes, both look very good on vintage bikes.

kayodot

Actually one of the wheel sets I was considering!

ColonelJLloyd 

A23s and TB14s are both 23mm wide (so is the Archetype). The A23 weighs about 40g less than the TB14 and 20g less than the Archetype. I disagree with your assertion that only wider tires are suitable for these rims. The 23mm wide rim plus 23mm tire is the whole "open tubular" thing.

I have a wheelset with TB14s and my next wheelset with have A23s. I'm a fan of both.

Italuminium

whoops, should have done my homework better since last speccing rims. I stand corrected.

IthaDan 

Huge praise, especially coming from you. Thank you.

Didn't I get those pedals from you, Robbie? Think you got them as part of a package deal. I don't know what the model is, and I'm tempted to keep them, but they're perfect on this bike.

I'm a little unsure where I'd go with it. The saddle and bars are original to the bike- in fact, the only remaining parts on the thing. I have to say I was VERY tempted to use the flouro tape and housing from one of my single speeds (see sig) for this build. I see deda is producing a neon tape, so the option is still there. There were a lot of challenges with this bike, besides the obvious cold setting to for modern wheels, I turned a delrin shim for the FD to get the 1 1/4" clamp on the 1 1/8" seat post. Actually turned out better than ID imagined, I think I'll keep that one I. The bag of tricks for future compatibility issues

It's funny, its a mid-level bike in just about every way, but the paint on it makes all the difference.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to sell it, it just can't fit me, no matter how much post and stem I throw at it.

Here's a more complete gallery of the different iterations of this bike. https://imgur.com/a/DGEPs

gomango

Agreed.

I could flip a coin and use either.

Here's the big upside with A23s.

I know three local cross racers that use A23s and they beat the daylights out of these rims.

They stay true and all three of these guys are 200+ pounds!

The H Plus Sons are likely just as strong as another friend is building these for the fall cross season and he is easily the strongest rider I know.

gomango

The Ambrosio hubs look like a great buy.

A Cinelli 1a or a Nitto Pearl are standard on most of my builds.

Why?

They aren't fancy, but they always work.

Bars are also simple for me.

On road bikes Nitto Noodles are an easy choice that work great.

Forum member Thirdgenbird and I did a build together last winter on my Tommasini Super Prestige.

We ended up choosing Soma Highway 1s and they have been an excellent choice.

They are super comfy and they work great with Ergos, as do the Noodles.

gomango

They look great.

I am using Fulcrum 5s on a Ritchey Swiss Cross I am building for the fall.

They are a decent value, but I don't think they will "look" just right on your build.

kaliayev

Can't go wrong with either A23s or TB14s. The A23s do have an OC option and can run tubless. Velocity hubs are well built and pretty cheap. Also Velocity is now made in the USA, if that sort of thing matters to you. The H+Sons do look a little nicer to me. The TB14s make for a really nice looking wheel on a vintage bike.

RobbieTunes

I believe the A23 was designed, in part, to mate with 23mm tires and create the right aero shape. Over time, it's become a choice of cross guys and gravel grinders and tourers, because they're strong and can handle a wider tire.

I just picked up an A23 wheelset, laced to 7900 hubs. The seller prefers Aeroheads for the increased agility (he's a 20mm tire fan, racer). I've not mounted any tires to them, will likely do so in the next few weeks, give them a whirl on a couple of bikes. I'm building a bike for some L'Eroica-type rides, and it has the clearance for 32's, so I may put them on there and give fat tires a whirl.

gomango

Careful Rob, this off road stuff is highly intoxicating.

I keep selling road bikes because they just sit there, looking all crabby at me.....

revchuck 

This guy is fighting the tide - current race wheels are 23-27mm wide at the brake track, running 23-25mm wide tires. It hurts to just think about 20mm tires on a stiff frame and stiff wheels. I'm such a wuss that the only bike I run 23s on is my Ironman - running 25s on my race bike, though that may change if my Open Pros give up the ghost and I have a set of wider wheels built.

RobbieTunes

You'd have to meet him. That's an understatement. For him, perception is reality.

tztag

Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra MAX. Columbus MAX tubing, but not an MX-Leader. Athena 11 speed, I need to find an alum crankset and seatpost instead of the carbon. Rides nicely, different geometry than MX-Leader- higher bottom bracket and more vertical seat tube.

RaleighSport

ColonelJLloyd 

Sweet ride! I've never been a fan of those MAVIC bladed spokes, though.

noglider 

Having just spent five days on my mid-90's Bianchi Volpe, I've decided to equip my old McLean with STI's. I'll also change the handlebar, and maybe the stem and fork, too. Life on a bike is to be enjoyed, and I deserve it, right? Enough sentimentality for old Campy Record derailleurs. They're gorgeous, but they stink, and they make a ton of noise.

mobilemail

That's why I ditched the vintage Campy stuff on my Bradley. Sure it's pretty, and it's "cool" to have Campy, but my Shimano drivetrain has a much wider range and shifts flawlessly. I would love to put new Campy stuff on one of my bikes but I have no children to sell into slavery.

mobilemail

That's why I ditched the vintage Campy stuff on my Bradley. Sure it's pretty, and it's "cool" to have Campy, but my Shimano drivetrain has a much wider range and shifts flawlessly. I would love to put new Campy stuff on one of my bikes but I have no children to sell into slavery.

ColonelJLloyd 

It's no more expensive than the comparable Shimano offerings; often less so.

noglider 

I was speaking in favor of brifters and indexed shifting, not Shimano over Campagnolo. Campy is actually less than Shimano when you buy it from Ribble. My 3x7 came on this bike so I'll keep it. I have an unused 3x9 Ultegra drivetrain to put on my McLean, so I won't be buying anything new. If I were buying components new, I would buy Campagnolo, at least the brifters. You can use Campy 10 speed brifters on Shimano 8 speed dérailleurs. We call that Shimergo.

shoota 

Ditto.

And ditto.

It's also how I feel about friction shifting in general.

IthaDan 

Until it comes time to buy wheels and cassettes. I went looking for a proper 9s cassette and 9/10/11 wheel set a while back. Cheapest wheels I found were in the $200 range and the cheapest cassette that wasn't a corncob was north of $50

ColonelJLloyd 

The Miche cassettes are pretty good. I buy Miche or Veloce cassettes for under $45 from Ribble. Wheels are a different matter; I don't know much about cheap wheelsets. I would think a new, $200 wheelset isn't something I'd want to ride regardless of freehub compatibility. Still, overall I don't Campy is any more expensive than Shimano.

mobilemail

I actually appreciate the flexibility of friction shifting with my go-as-you-please riding style...if the bike I'm riding has it, I use it. Friction shifting combined with modern ramped cassettes and ramped/pinned chainwheels does great. If I decide to ride a bit more aggressively, however, I prefer the "slam 'er and hammer" to the "find 'er and grind 'er".
As to the Colonel's statement of cost, you're probably right. When the stuff gets a few years on it I'll buy it used at a fraction of the price.