Ron Cooper Restoration
 

I hope Sixty Fiver sees this post, since he just found one of these beauties. A little history. I bought this 49 cm Ron Cooper frameset new off the rack in 1976 for $250 from Bikecology in Los Angeles. The reason for buying an expensive frameset instead of a complete bicycle is because at that time there weren't many affordable bicycles small enough for me with my 27" inseam. I initially built it up using mostly middle line Japanese components from Suntour, Sugino and Dia Compe. The Ron Cooper had almost no braze-ons, and all components such as the front derailleur and shift levers had to be clamp-on style. Later on, I took to a frame builder, who added braze-ons for parts mounting, cable guides, water bottle cages, under top tube pump peg and a chain support peg on the right seat stay for easy wheel removal. This necessitated repainting it from its original silver color to the blue metallic that is shown in the photos. Unfortunately, this also resulted in the loss of the original decals and I've so far had no luck sourcing replacements. Then about 20 years ago I converted it into a fixed gear, which was very easy given its 120mm dropout spacing, horizontal dropouts and freewheel hub. Recently, I found an inexpensive aluminum track frameset on eBay, and made it into a street fixed gear. I decided to restore the Ron Cooper into a classic multi-speed using mostly top end Italian components and to adhere to period old school design with friction shifting, freewheel, cage pedals with toe clips and straps, adjustable cup and cone bearings, and exposed brake cables. I had most of the components already, either lying in drawers or on other bikes. The only major part I had to buy was the Campy Nuovo Record rear derailleur, and I found a near perfect one on eBay for $84 US with shipping. So, the bike is all Campy Record/Nuovo Record/Super Record, except for the bottom bracket, which is Sugino Super Mighty Comp and the headset, which is Specialized. Also, the brake lever hoods are Modolo ergonomic and the brake cables and housings are from Suntour. By using these parts instead of genuine Campy saved me about $300. What I find particularly offensive is that scalpers are asking up to $100 for a pair of genuine Campy NOS brake lever gum hoods. The wheels were originally used on another frame with 126mm rear dropout spacing, so I re-spaced and re-centered the rear wheel for the 120mm rear dropout spacing on the Ron Cooper. The quick release posed a problem in that the skewer was now too long, so a found an old Shimano Dura Ace quick release for a 120mm hub and installed the shorter skewer in the Campy QR lever body. Fortunately, back in the early days of top end Japanese components, they were virtual clones of the Campy parts are were for the most part interchangeable. The shift levers were originally clamp on style, and I found some parts to convert them the braze on style. I also enlarged the cable end holes so I could use modern braided shifter cables, which work a lot better than the stiff original Campy cables. The stem is an 80mm Cinelli and the handlebar is a 138mm wide Cinelli Campionato del Mondo Mod. 66. The saddle is a Vetta, and quite frankly I don't remember when I bought it or where it was made, however, I find it very attractive and comfortable. Where I totally deviated from tradition is in the freewheel and chain. Tradition dictates that these parts should be Regina, but quite frankly I didn't want expensive parts that don't work very well. I've always been a fan of Suntour freewheels, in particular the customizable Winner series. Decades ago I bought a Winner shop board with cogs, spacers and freewheel bodies that allowed me to build any of four configurations: 1) 5-speed with normal sprocket spacing for a normal width chain to fit a frame with 120mm dropout spacing 2) 6-speed with "ultra" sprocket spacing and a narrow chain that permitted it to fit in the same 120mm dropout without having to spread or cold set the frame 3) 6-speed normal for 126mm dropout spacing and 4) 7-speed ultra for 126mm dropout spacing. Not only does this permit addition of a gear without having to buy another frame or modify an existing one, it also allows use of the existing wheel and hub without modification. Narrow chains became available almost immediately, and I used the narrow Sedisport chain for years with great success. I now use SRAM nickel plated 8-speed chains with quick links. I built a 14-15-16-18-21-24 cluster on a Winner Pro body, which IMO is probably the very best conventional freewheel ever made. The teeth have a lot of tapering and chamfers to aid in shifting in stark contrast to the square top Reginas, which are notorious for poor shifting. The tubulars are Vittorias made in Italy, the rear is a Corsa CX and the front is a Criterium Super, and this is the last of my Vintage tubulars. So, please enjoy the photos and let me know what you think.

Yeah, the bike is cool and all, but that Suntour service board is awesome!

Nice job on the build!

TT - Your Cooper looks absolutely splendid.

They are such understated looking bikes but so beautiful in their simplicity and attention to detail.

Meh, the bike's nice and all, but way too small for me.



Great build! Looks like a fine bike. The trick with restoring anything you're going to actually ride is where to choose function over originality. With those Suntour parts right there, it probably wasn't a hard call.

I'm curious, Italian or British on a Ron Cooper bottom bracket?

British BB. Rear hub is British too.

If it helps you with the decalling, Microgramma Bold is the font used on my down and seat tube. I have a headbadge image I recreated and printed using water transfer decal paper, but it is less than totally satisfying, since the original seemed to be on some sort of metallic leaf.
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...t/P6080003.jpg

Thanks. I had thought about applying the lettering myself, and maybe trying to source some appropriate bands. However, I think the head badge is beyond my abilities. I have not given up on my quest to find some authentic originals. Could you please show a few more photos of your RC; it looks very nice.

Thanks for the compliment. Here is the headbadge before repaint :
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...t/P1290004.jpg

And the bike before repaint:
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...t/P1290007.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...t/PA160040.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...t/PA160036.jpg

The condition was not as bad as it looks. I had (badly) applied some rust converter to very small spots in the paint and made it look terrible. I could kick myself for letting the bike live in the humid basement to begin with. I haven't taken many photos since the repaint because I was not pleased with how it went, but will do so and post them.

I think I'll start a "Show your Ron Cooper" thread if no one else gets around to it first.

I think that is an excellent idea. I noticed that your seatstay detail is different than mine or Sixty Fiver's, in that you have the style with the integrated seatpost bolt. All the ones I had seen to date have the stays on the side with a separate bolt piece. It might be a generational thing. What is your serial number? Mine is 231. Maybe that will provide a clue.

I would love to see a "Show your ron cooper" thread as I've been looking to get one of these for awhile!

A Cooper seat stay... and that is not rust but a little discolouration caused by heat as removing the old seatpost was an epic task.

A repaint is in the works and I might forego any decals to let the fine workmanship of these frame speak for themselves.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/cooper2.jpg

I would love to see a Show Your Ron Cooper thread... or maybe this is it already.

My Cooper was designed for 27 inch wheels... these are Avocet tt30's on Maillard / Rigida wheels.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/cooper1a.jpg

69. And that just happens to be my favorite number ;)
I've never seen another with the fast back seat stays either. Mr. Cooper seems to have built with a lot of variability. I've seen photos of some very fancy lugs, while mine are very plain. When I bought mine used in the early 70's in Chapel Hill the seller told me it had been custom built for an English rider to race. It came with 2 sets of wheels, one with large flange record hubs, the other small flange, two Unicantor saddles, one suede and one smooth, tools, a spare Cinelli stem, freewheels.... for $375.

Well, it appears yours is earlier vintage than mine. The two wheelsets, one high flange and one low flange, is consistent with racing philosophy of the day, and I did the same. The low flange wheels were supposed to provide a softer ride for long road races on rough roads, and the high flange wheels were presumably much stiffer for use in shorter criteriums with a lot of cornering and accelerations out of turns. Of course today everything is low flange, and you only see high flange hubs on track bike wheels. I like the Campy Record high flange hubs on my Cooper wheels, simply because I think they look really beautiful. I remember the Unicanitor saddles, never had one, and as I recall they were pretty pricey.