falconproject

Hi everyone,

I'm totally new to the BF C & V forum and I was looking for a little advice regarding a bike I just purchased. On friday I picked up a beautiful Austro-Daimler Vent Noir 2 off Craigs List. I made a deal with the owner that he could keep the unoriginal Bars and stem (both Nitto) and he'd knock some money off the price. He gave me the old Cinelli stem. All of the the components (except the rear derailer and the seat, already replaced with a brown brooks professional) are original Campy Gran sport and appear to be in good shape.

Originally I was considering putting an inverted north road type bar on the bike, it's going to be mainly my commuter bike. Now I'm not so sure. Do I need to use Cinelli bars to match the diameter of the stem or will some others work? Would the North Road style bars be consider sacriledge? Now I'm leaning toward traditional drops with perhaps elkhide wraps.

Any comments or helpful ideas would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much.
I love this bike, I can't stop looking at it, smoked chrome is a thing of beauty.

USAZorro

The Cinelli stem is likely made for a 26.4 bar - though it might possibly be 26.0. It will be a big challenge to find North Road bars to fit it.

Traditional style bars with a shallow drop would be my preference, and the elkhide sounds good. That said though - this isn't an especially rare bike, so making some swaps for equipment you prefer really isn't a big deal. As long as you don't go grinding off braze-ons, nobody should give you any grief.

Smoked chrome? You need to post some pictures. Yes. Seriously.

falconproject

Thanks USAZORRO, actally there's no braze-ons to grind off. I'm definitely not going
to turn this into a fixed gear/single speed bike.

Also. does anyone know if a MKS pedal dust cap will fit my campy pedals? I'm missing one.

I'll get some photos up asap.

Ablaut

I find that nothing but drops work for me on a commuter. I need them to squeeze through traffic and there are days when it seems like they help me cut through the wind. USAZorro's right about the stem specs, it'll be a lot easier to find a set of drops.

Enough people have MKS pedals around that maybe you know someone who could lend you a dustcap just to try out?

Anyway, you won't get away with not posting pics. We're waiting

falconproject

Thanks for the info guys. I'll try to post pics tomorrow but
they might look weird considering I've got no handlebars.

I think I agree with you guys now, Drops it is. Just so I'm not confused
you guys think I'm gonna need Cinelli drops?

JunkYardBike

You can make or buy shims to reduce the stem clamp diameter.

If you haven't already found Mark Bulgier's pages, you can search this directory and possibly find your model: https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/AustroDaimler/

quaycur

Beer cans, man. You've read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, right?

falconproject

Thanks again, I've got plenty of beer cans layin around and some drops from my Miyata 1100A in the parts bin. I'll give it a go.

muccapazza

gonna take more than a six pack to get enough shim stock to make up the difference from 25.4 to 26.4 (if that's what the Cinelli stem is)

falconproject

Thanks, good to know before I start playing around.
How about an 18 pack of tall boys?

mkeller234

Welcome to C&V

You can get "new logo" cinelli bars for reasonable prices, it's the old style ones that cost your arm and a new born. The smoked chrome has me really curious too, sounds cool.

muccapazza

Haha, that's more like it. Seriously, mock it up and see how it looks. If that Miyata mbar is 25.4 and the stem is 26.0, I'ld buy the shim, it's pretty common, LBS should have it.

falconproject

Cool, thanks to all of you, I'm gonna take off now but I'll try to get some photos up tomorrow.

custermustache

I have been watching that guy try to sell that bike for a while. What did you give for it?

I wanted to get it to match my mountain bike, but I couldn't justify the price.
(not that it was so high you were crazy to buy it, but becasue it was so high my wife would kill me)


Your bike is a little more chrome than smoke, if I am correct.

mkeller234

^ Those brakes are so awesome looking.

JunkYardBike

I'm sure you wouldn't have trouble trading the Cinelli stem for something in 26.0 or 25.4 (see the C&V sale subforum for the trade thread).

I've got lots of stems in 25.4, though not as nice as the Cinelli - though I think one is a 3TTT. I also may have an extra set of Cinelli drop bars if you're interested.

falconproject

Hello everyone, I'm back finally.

Custermustache, I got the bike for $400, it felt reasonable to me and the bike seems to be in good shape.
I building up a commuter and figured this was a good bike to start with. Do you think that price is too unreasonable? I won't be offended if you think so, I'm still learning.

I really want to keep the Cinelli stem. I'll find the right bars, Giro d'Italia's maybe.

PLease forgive me for not posting photos yet. I'm not exactly savy with the camera. I'm gonna need
the wifey to show me how to post photos.

USAZorro

$400.00 sounds rather on the high side, but if it's in exceptional shape, I could see that. What matters most is how you feel about paying the price - not how we feel.

frpax

This thread is useless without pics.

falconproject

Thanks for the reply, my buddy pretty much told me the same thing kind of. Live and learn I guess. Next time I'll take my time. The bike is in really good shape, very clean and it rides so smooth. Did I mention it's super gorgeous.

quaycur

+1, in bold, so you know I really mean it.

rotharpunc

seriously, you don't mention "smoked chrome" and fail to provide pics!

custermustache

It is a nice looking bike, and if it makes you happy, fantastic. It is a tad high, but if you can't go out to dinner once or twice but have a nice bike, awesome.
I will say that I have seen exactly 2 smoked chrome frames for sale locally and I own one because they are beautiful.
You need to show these guys pictures. I have seen your bike and the frame is full of stars...

RobbieTunes

26.4 and you're with Cinelli and get your wallet out, hard to find the bars these days cheap.
There are Ambrosio's from Europe in the $30's.

If you want North Roads, sell the stem and get what you need. The main marketing drop in Cinelli stem prices is due to the scarcity and price of Cinelli bars. There ought to be a law...

JunkYardBike

I dunno if I agree with the opinions on the price paid. Vent Noirs, especially the smoked chrome versions, don't go cheap. My memory is foggy, but when I was looking for one a couple years ago, I believe excellent examples of framesets alone were going for between $300-$400.

And he got a Brooks Pro in the deal!