scwhitey

Hi all,
I've been lurking here for some time now and decided to finally take a few shots of my bike and get out of the closet. A few months ago I had helped a friend build up a single speed and got bitten by the vintage bike bug. Sold the carbon skattante (the skat , as my brother called it) and started spending a lot of time researching/looking for old bikes. This part of the world seems like an old bike black hole. Finally I found an old Bianchi (Japanese frame) and paid way to much for it but stripped it and painted it. About the time the paint had dried, my brother in law found me a nice Guerciotti of early 70's vintage with Campy NR. I bought it and had it shipped to me. Here are a few shots (for East hill)
https://s268.photobucket.com/albums/jj13/scwhitey/
My question is-I replaced the chain with a spram as recommended by the Sheldon Brown site. The thing is, sometimes when shifting it seems to hang between gears and ride over them. slipping along. The chain side plates are much smaller then the Regina that was on there. Is this normal for between gear shifts of this vintage or is the chain not ideal or the cassette worn.

Anyway, I want to say how much I enjoy this forum and the crew that's on here

Old Fat Guy

Nice looking bike. Which Sram chain are you using? It should not skip or slip.

luker

That is a beautiful bike! If that is the kind of thing you find in that black hole, I'd like to come over.

The chain skips on the rear, I'm guessing? If the chain rides over the cogset, you could have a chain that is too narrow for the cogs (like a 9 or 10 speed chain on a 5 speed rear cluster). If the chain skips after engaging the cogs, then you need a new freewheel. It could be operator error, but you'd quickly get your shifting fingers bio-adjusted, and the problem would go away...if the problem is with the front, then the operator is not shifting firmly enough from one chainring to the other, or the front derailleur is misaligned.

Good luck!

scwhitey

Sorry, should have made it a bit more clear. I live in Hawaii (the great vintage bike black hole, prevailed over by the God of rust). The bike came from Seattle. It's only on the rear cog when shifting and it seems easy to catch between gears then the chain rides over the gears. It doesn't skip teeth when in gear. I'm guessing I'm just dumb thumbing it between gears.

Thanks,

Stephen

ridethecliche

That bike is SWEET!!!

el twe

It could be that you're not yet used to friction shifting.

Cynikal 

^ I agree. Just got back into friction shifting and it takes a little time to get used too. Also, buy a big bottle of frame saver and coat that bike heavily. I would hate to lose that to rust. Congrats, nice find.

Gary Fountain

Very nice bike - a great introduction to vintage bikes. Ditto on the friction shifting technique.

scwhitey

Thanks for the input. I haven't ever ridden friction shifters so I wasn't sure what to expect. The bike does ride really nice though and I do like the feel of steel. I guess I better ride it more and work on my technique.

East Hill

! That is a lovely bike, indeed!

Welcome to Bike Forums AND C & V!

East Hill

bikerosity57

Have you any experience with older Campy deraileurs? It could be as simple as this: possibly you are not over shifting, and then moving the lever back a bit. Older deraileurs like Campy's and Simplexes require an over-shift to make the chain jump on to the sprocket, then you have to shift back slightly to re-align the chain. If you leave the lever in the position it is in imediately after the shift occurs, you will experience exactly the symptoms you describe. I had the same problem with my Austro-Daimler. I hadn't riden a vintage bike in years, and when I got the A/D, I had the same problem until my Brother pointed out that I was used to easy shifting Shimano SIS systems, and needed to over-shift and return.
Try it at any rate, and maybe nothing is wrong.

norskagent

also, make sure the d-rings on the shifters are tight.

lotek 

back to the chain question. I use a SRAM PC58 on all my bikes (5 thru 8 speed) and don't have
any problems.
Friction does take some time getting used to, but you will learn to finesse the chain onto cogs, and
will automatically overshift and then adjust (just like in the old days!).

gorgeous bike.
Marty

Rabid Koala

I had the same problem with my Paramount P-15. I tried it with the original Regina freewheel and chain. The chain was so thick I had to trim the front derailleur with each shift. I switched to a SRAM chain and then experienced the same thing that scwhitey did due to the narrow chain. I decided to change out the freewheel with a SunTour one, not original to a Paramount, but one that shifts a whole lot better.

scwhitey

Thanks all. Bikerosity, I like your description of the technique to use. I'll give it a try. I figure it's down to not ever using friction shifters (at least in the last 30 years). I wasn't sure what to expect with such an old bike. The first time I rode it I tried back pedaling and the chain was hopping off the cassette so I took it to the local bike store. The guy there looked at it and said, "oh, thats normal on these old bikes". Off course the bike is older then he is. Anyway, putting on a new chain cured that problem.

ilikebikes

Arrrrrrrrrrg! nice bike!