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Zeus 1986 Victoria Restoration
Hi Folks!
Just thought I'd post a preliminary result photo-wise of my restoration of a Zeus 1986 Victoria. I will be retaking photos tomorrow morning assuming light is good in the morning to get rid of shadows. Link to photo is at very bottom. History: Purchased off of eBay for 252.00 in 2002. It was literally a bicycle relegated to an outside shed with the usual chrome flaking, rust, dust, etc. Original owner indicated that he picked it up in Spain at the actual Zeus factory as it was shutting down going into the Fall of 1986. Summary of Restoration: Frame and Fork Reynolds 531SL 55cm C-C Fork was re-chromed. Frame was cleaned only. Crankset Zeus New Racer Crankset and BB Cleaned only. Derailleurs Front and Rear SuperCronos Derailleurs Front cleaned only. Rear cleaned only with Sach's Huret pulleys put in place of Shimano pulleys. Wheelset Front and Rear SuperCronos Hubs Rigida SX 100 Double Wall and Double Eyelet 700c Rims Rebuilt, cleaned and overhauled only. Headset Used replacement Zeus Steel Headset Old headset was pitted and not recoverable. Brakeset Zeus SuperCronos front and rear calipers. Brand New Racer Brake Levers and Hoods Calipers were cleaned only. Original New Racer levers and hoods were damaged beyond repair. Pedals SuperCronos Pedals Cleaned and re-lubed only. New Christophe toe clips and straps replaced the same. Bars, Stem and Seatpost Unknown brand Bars and Stem Had to do a rotational stem sanding of the bottom 3 inches. Was originally too tight of a fit. Bars and stem otherwise were simply cleaned. Seatpost is a Triplex and original - was simply cleaned as well. Saddle Zeus Saddle Not much I could do but dust off... Freewheel Zeus 2000 Steel Freewheel (I am not kidding...steel....not alloy.) Simply cleaned - 4th cog up has enough wear to make new chain skip. Chain Original unknown. Replace the Shimano chain with a Regina 6-speed chain. Rest of Bicycle Generic Bar Tape Generic Brake and Derailleur Cables Ultimate goal of the project was to restore the bicycle without any re-painting and minimal chrome work. Wanted to preserve the bicycle as much as was possible. Every effort was made to replace parts with newer Zeus parts, preferably the same model... Bicycle does have a rear end misalignment. Rear triangle is about 2mm off to the drive side. However the bike does not do any serious pull to one side or the other. Greatest thing of all...this machine handles corners like an absolute dream even at speed. No understeer...no oversteer. It leans in, and turns exactly as I want it to. It is not for climbing hills, it is geared for criterium / flat riding. I estimate my total cost overall was about 550.00 to 600.00 Hope you folks enjoy this one picture for now, will post more in the next day or so. Enjoy! http://www.mrrabbit.net/images/zeus_1986_victoria.jpg |
Beautiful bike, thanks for sharing.
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Looks great but is there a chance you can size those pictures down a bit?
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Very nice, but a steel freewheel sounds like a contradiction here in sunny Puget Sound :D .
East Hill |
EH: Did you get to ride today? Sheila and I did a shade under 20 miles on the foothills trail. Started out pretty chilly but by the time we got finished it was warm or what passes for warm here this time of year at least it was sunny. Looks like another decent day tomorrow guess I'll ride to work tomorrow
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Originally Posted by stringbreaker
(Post 6183611)
EH: Did you get to ride today? Sheila and I did a shade under 20 miles on the foothills trail. Started out pretty chilly but by the time we got finished it was warm or what passes for warm here this time of year at least it was sunny. Looks like another decent day tomorrow guess I'll ride to work tomorrow
I did, although I spent a fair amount of time cleaning the new baby :) . Foggy in the morning though... East Hill |
Great! Fantastic to see a Zeus. They're rare as hens' teeth. It's a beauty too. Jeff.
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Very cool! Love the split paint job and chrome!
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Beautiful job! She's gorgeous. And all Zeus, so rare.
Looking forward to the full photo post. |
More photos tonight...taken this afternoon in 1024x768 resolution at the request of a previous poster.
I needed to wait for the sun to come out so that I could have decent light in the shade in order to avoid shadows. =8-) |
That is such a beautiful frame. I'd be so tempted to build it up with 10 speed campy. It would look beautiful.
It looks wonderful in its current setup too though. What's the difference between 531P and 531SL? |
Light guage version of Reynolds 531...
My 55cm C-T Tommasini Sintesi 2001 with Columbus Neuron in Nivachrome with Campagnolo Daytona 10sp is 20.5 lbs. This 55cm C-T Zeus Victoria 1986 with Reynolds 531SL weighs in at 21.0 lbs. (55cm C-C earlier was a typo...) 21 years go by and this Zeus comes damn close to beating my "modern" Tommasini... Imagine what this Zeus would weigh with Zeus 2000 drilled out to the max with an alloy Zeus 2000 freewheel. =8-p |
Zeus, eh?
This is sitting in my basement. It's not mine, yet, but I want it to be. Probably not gonna happen, but I'll get a chance to ride the thing. Not sure of the year... late 60s? Full Zeus gruppo, except for the Alfa centrepulls and levers, and the Cinelli bars/stem, and the Brooks, obviously. http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d28/drong/Zeus.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d28/drong/Zeusht.jpg |
11:19pm and my Zeus history review is still not over...
Love how simple that old Zeus is...nothing fancy or elaborate...even with the lugs... Kinda brings a thought to mind. Obviously at some point during the seventies, someone as Zeus took over in the design department and grabbed the revision bull by the horns and gave Campy and others a competitive challenge resulting in Zeus 2000 beating Super Record to the punch with Titanium parts, alloy freewheels and the like... Would be nice to find out who that was and get a biographical sketch. =8-) Got a lot of great links off the folks over at the CR listserv...all greatly appreciated. =8-) |
4 Attachment(s)
Any room on this post for a couple of pickies of my Zeus Pro? Yeah...thought so.
[Oh yeah -pre-restoration pics] |
Looks great...
In my spare parts I have the same front derailleur...unfortunately the clamp is broken. Anyone need a spring? =8-p |
Beautiful resto! And so nice to see other Zeus owners show their stuff. As soon as I get some clear weather (Thursday?), I'll take a few shots of my Victoria. Its only rides have been on rollers indoors; never on the road so you'll have a good comparison to an original. What's the serial # of your '86?
Also, don't know if it'll help with the bars and stem, but mine are 2ERRES (as in Spanish, "2rr;" the pantograph is identical to vintage 3ttt... a whimsical knockoff much like Zeus 2000 was to Campy Record of the time. I wouldn't be surprised if 2erres was in fact made by Zeus. Anyone know?). In any case, 'ALSASUA' may have been where 2erres was manufactured. Just a guess. |
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Originally Posted by ridethecliche
(Post 6190132)
That is such a beautiful frame. I'd be so tempted to build it up with 10 speed campy. It would look beautiful.
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Originally Posted by dudeona3V
(Post 6260658)
(and by the way, welcome to BikeForums :) ). East Hill |
Hmmm...
My serial is: 501 737J So I guess it means that I have Reynolds 501 instead of 531SL which is what earlier models of Victoria's were. Mr. D... Noticed that yours does not have Zeus forks...could it be that your frame and fork were made by Razesa? Is yours an 87? 88? Seems to be a tad newer than mine as suggested by the paint and fade. Very nice! =8-) |
This is a bit off topic, but perhaps not. It pertains to the later Zeus's.
Zeus folded in about 1986, with the factory torn down and condos built on the site. The "Zeus" name, however, lives on. It was purchased by Orbea who continued to make Zeus branded steel and aluminum frames from about 1992 to 2002. As near as I can tell, 100% of that production was for the Spanish domestic market. For an idea of the evolution and range of bicycles made go to a Spanish web set called Segundamano--basically a Spanish Craig's list, and do a search for Zeus. You'll get this page <http://www.segundamano.es/li?q=zeus&ca=28_s&c=16&x=3&w=3&z=>. There are 70-80 used, 1992-2002 Zeus bicycles on the site at any one time--both road and mountain and some are quite impressive (based on low resolution pictures, poor descriptions, and my very limited Spanish). Most are very reasonably priced, but local pickup only. Anyone going to Madrid or Barcelona in the next few weeks? After about 2002, Orbea stopped making Zeus frames, yet kept the name alive in high end components, both carbon and aluminum--stems, seat posts, handlebars, brakes (rebadged Tektros), cranks (rebadged FSA), and forks. I have a 2002 steel Zeus frame with as much Zeus carbon as I can hang on it (I posted pictures sometime last fall). Comes in about 18.25 pounds. Not C&V, I know, but certainly purebred bloodlines. |
On the off chance that you Zues owners know anything about another Spanish company, Razesa, I will ask a question: where can I track down some decals for my Razesa road bike? Razesa made many of the higher end frames for Zues and mine rides great but I had to get it re-painted (flaking paint) and now I need decals. Thanks!
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