dadoflam

Thanks guys
Yes pleased to report that the blue De Rosa is nicely polished back to original shine - it was a shame the post ride picture was out of focus - probably due to frozen, shaking hands and rain.
The groupset is Campy Athena 11spd - most of the graphics are placed on top of the anodising/clear coat so can be removed without too much trouble using very fine abrasive material. The first Athena alloy11spd cranks came out with graphics on top of clear coat so graphics can be removed easily and maintain the protective finish on the cranks - these are the ultra-torque version. The subsequent version (power torque) has the graphics under the clearcoat - same with the levers - so are much harder to deal with. My levers were completely polished back to bare alloy which are not too hard to maintain. Not sure I would want to do that with the cranks as they would be a pain to maintain in good condition without a protective coating.

twolegs

what's the tubing on that one? looks like a flyer

triggahiccups

Looks like we had the same idea, 80's De Rosa SLX with 11 speed campy athena. I can attest to the fact that the bike just flies. I hadn't actually considered removing the graphics, they are pretty lame, unfortunately I have power torque so it sounds like it wouldn't be worth it.

tamaso206

The graphics on silver alloy Veloce derailleurs and brakes can be removed with nail polish quite easily, no need for sanding. Only the levers (and possibly crank) were under clear coat. I haven't tried Athena, but suspect it is the same situation.

Kactus

Do you mean nail polish remover​?

EBH

ha ha

tamaso206

Haha, yes, nail polish remover. Though, if you prefer to hide the campy logos by going full candy apple red, I ain't mad at ya!

Desertrats97

1989 SCHWINN LE TOUR BEFORE AND AFTER

BEFORE


AFTER
2010 105/ULTEGRA, I ONLY WISH SOMEONE HERE WOULD HAVE MENTIONED ABOUT LONG REACH CALIPERS AND SAVE ME A LOT OF TIME. I JUST ORDERED SOME NEW SHIMANO BR-R450 CALIPERS FOR THE EXTRA REACH. SADLY I HAVE VINTAGE DURA ACE CALIPERS, NEWER ULTEGRA CALIPER AND NEW TIAGRA CALIPER BUT ALL ARE SHORT REACH SO THEY DID NOT WORK . I HAD TO INSTALL THE ORIGINAL DIA COMP CALIPERS.

RobbieTunes

Nice Schwinn. A hint on that bottle cage. You may want to remove those blue grips, and then super-glue them back on. Been there, lost those, just one, but on a set of two cages. Bummed me out for at least 5 minutes.

faeasjepardo

Heres my effort, a bit of a Frankenbike 90/91 Miyata 914. I took parts off a bike I bought on CL a few years back, after a few hundred miles though I really did not like the aluminum frame. Low end Shimano 2300 STI's, a 75mm Shimano stem from a 72' World Traveler, headset from an old Schwinn.

otg 

My humble addition to this thread. 1983 Trek 600, 3X9 Shimano drivetrain, Dura-Ace indexing bar ends. Took it out for the first ride today, shifts like a dream.

Germany_chris

I don't see any STI's or Ergo's??

otg 

Think I'll take the advice in your sig line. Sorry for posting.

RobbieTunes

It's OK, post away. There really is no other thread for upgraded C&V without STI's or Ergos. Nice frameset and group. That's my favorite Trek color scheme.

How does it ride? I almost bought a 718a, and if it had fit, likely would have...

gomango

No worries.

It's an attractive bicycle. Love the color and I bet it rides great!

otg 

Hey, thanks RobbieTunes and gomango. It really rides great. I had been riding it once in a while with the original Suntour BL group, but my knees and the hills around here were causing me to leave it sitting more than it should. The new drivetrain works flawlessly and I took it on a hilly 40 miler this morning.

faeasjepardo

It rides great, the frame is quite stiff but it soaks up the bumps pretty well.

noglider 

I've been thinking, thinking, thinking of converting my old McLean to STI or Ergo. I have a group of each. They are both sitting in bins, not on bikes.

Desertrats97

Noglinder - thats a nice problem to have , i say Ergo

dadoflam

Mine's actually SL not SLX which seems to be a far less common version judging by the number of SLX's that appear.

noglider 

Quite right. It's a good example of a first world problem.

The thing is I have a new titanium frame which I haven't built up yet. No matter how I build it, it will be lighter than the McLean. So in that sense, it makes sense to put the Ergo group on that and the Tiagra group on the McLean.

agchopz

If if i go sti on my 84 miyata, i know i have to grab new from and back derailleur but do i need a new crank as well?

RobbieTunes

Reel 'im in, Grady, the hook is set! Another convert. World domination, one bike at a time.

gomango

Yes sir! A 40 miler is a nice distance.

Btw Wait till you see what I rode today.

My Bilenky tourer with Campy 8 speed Racing Triple drivetrain.

Ergos of course. The only thing I couldn't fit on the bike was my wife's dishwasher........

tamaso206

No new crank needed. Though if you convert to 9 speed or more (talking number of gears on your rear cassette), you should get new chainrings; 9, 10, and 11spd chains get progressively narrower (5/6/7/8 speed chains are the same width).

Generally speaking, in an indexed system the chain and everything that touches it (i.e. the drivetrain) should match the shifter for it to work optimally, but there are ways to fudge this if you want to save $$. The geometry of front derailleurs is largely unchanged over the years, so you can likely get away with keeping your old one if you are confident in adjusting the limit screws.