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Silver Ghost refurb in progress

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Old 04-09-10 | 02:49 PM
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Bikes: Soma Stanyan, Giant Roam, Pace 500

Silver Ghost refurb in progress

Frame pretty much stripped. Already relubed the headset bearings and put the fork back one. Just got done cleaning/lubing the derailleurs and the back wheel. New cables and tires are OTW.


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Old 04-09-10 | 07:28 PM
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Does it say CCM?
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Old 04-09-10 | 08:26 PM
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It has a CCM decal on the seat tube and a CCM head badge. The bike doesn't talk.
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Old 04-09-10 | 08:43 PM
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Bikes: 1989 Schwinn World Sport. 1994 Diamond Back Response Elite MTB. 1964 Schwinn Typhoon. 1974 Bridgestone Sprinter, 2015 Scott Sub 10 Citybike.

CCM was a Canadian company. Is that a 531 sticker on the seat tube?
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Old 04-09-10 | 08:57 PM
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These were CCM's best effort at making a high-quality lightweight bike... it's a shame they came so late to the game. A real classy ride IMHO.
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Old 04-09-10 | 11:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Shp4man
CCM was a Canadian company. Is that a 531 sticker on the seat tube?
Yes, the bike has 531 straight gauge tubes in the main triangle. I bought this bike new in 1973 with lawn mowing money when I was 16. I had my dad drive me 100 miles to the nearest CCM dealer because I had read a rave review of a Mistral as a touring bike. The dealer said they had one and when I got there they didn't. They made me a nice deal on the Silver Ghost instead. It has sat around for a few decades. I got back into riding recently and bought a new bike. I am fixing this one up a bit to either ride for nostalgia sake or sell it.
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Old 04-10-10 | 12:47 AM
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Bikes: specialized crossroads hybrid 2006 Raleigh Cadent 2 1971 Schwinn Varsity, 1972 Schwinn Continental, 1977 Schwinn Volare (frame)

If you haven't ridden this bike you are going to love that Crane derailleur. I use on on my Schwinn Volare the Crane was incorporated to the Dura Ace group in 1978 I think it was. Shifts like its indexed instead of friction.
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Old 04-10-10 | 02:01 AM
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These were CCM's best effort at making a high-quality lightweight bike...
The CCM Silver Ghost was the second from top of the line road bicycle and the next lower model would have been the CCM Mistral. I report this information from a CCM Dealer's Price and Parts manual that I was given a few years ago.

From the early seventies to the end of its run, the CCM "Tour du Canada" was CCM's top road bicycle. It sported full Reynolds 531 frame and fork set, complete with Campagnolo forged drops, front and back. The Tour du Canada frame set's suggested list price was $347.50 for the frame and $110.00 for the forks.

Both the Silver Ghost, second from top of the line and the Mistral, third, had near identical frame set. Both were Reynolds 591 straight gauge tubes. The frame's suggested list price was $45.80 with the forks priced at $12.40. These numbers are identical for both the Ghost and the Mistral.

I believe the "Tour du Canada" was a special order product prior to 1975 but that is only a guess. I am pretty sure that the model was offered from 1972 until and including 1976. If anyone else knows better, I would appreciate a heads up on the comment.

You can have a look my CCM "Tour du Canada, if you wish.

Two bicycles that preceded the Silver Ghost also had Reynolds frame sets. I have a CCM Westonia from the mid fifties and a Formula I from the late sixties and both of them have Reynolds 501 tube sets.

I hope this is a help and I do like your Silver Ghost. Good luck with the project.
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Old 04-10-10 | 08:27 AM
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Originally Posted by stringbreaker
If you haven't ridden this bike you are going to love that Crane derailleur. I use on on my Schwinn Volare the Crane was incorporated to the Dura Ace group in 1978 I think it was. Shifts like its indexed instead of friction.
I bought the bike new. I rode it for probably a few thousand miles before I quit riding and took up smoking and drinking for many years. I should have stuck with riding.
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Old 04-10-10 | 08:29 AM
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"Both the Silver Ghost, second from top of the line and the Mistral, third, had near identical frame set. Both were Reynolds 591 straight gauge tubes. "

The frame sticker clearly says Reynolds 531 frame tubing. Those prices on your web page must be not be in US currency. My Silver Ghost was tagged at the dealer at $225 in 1973. He took a few bucks off due to misinforming me about having a Mistral in stock. I will always remember that trip because the dealer had a penny-farthing replica in the store and he let me ride it. Man, was that a weird ride.

Last edited by rwortman; 04-10-10 at 08:36 AM.
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Old 04-10-10 | 08:34 AM
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Originally Posted by stringbreaker
If you haven't ridden this bike you are going to love that Crane derailleur. I use on on my Schwinn Volare the Crane was incorporated to the Dura Ace group in 1978 I think it was. Shifts like its indexed instead of friction.
The Crane was included in the original Dura Ace group in 1973. I have no experience with them, but I've read that they worked almost as well as a Suntour V.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/shimano1973/pages/da5.html
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Old 04-10-10 | 09:27 AM
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That's the set up this bike has. Crane rear, Dura-Ace front and bar end shifters. The shifters instead of ratcheting like the SunTour's have springs that oppose the derailleur springs to ease shifting.
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Old 04-10-10 | 09:45 AM
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Sorry about the 591 goof - a typo for 501 and I bow to your position. If your SG is tagged 531, then so too must the Mistral be.

Those prices on your web page must be not be in US currency.
The currency I reported was taken from a CCM Dealer's Parts and Price book. Perhaps I should have pointed out that the currency used for a Canadian Cycles and Motor Company parts/price manual would be in Canadian funds. Of course, what that would mean little since I cannot remember what the exchange rate was at the time.

I must admit that I am surprised to learn that CCM bicycles were sold in the US. Anyway, sorry to mislead and, once again, I do like your bike.
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Old 04-10-10 | 09:56 AM
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There may not have been many dealers. As I said above, I had to travel 100 miles to find one. I mowed a lot of lawns at $2.50 to $3.00 each to buy that thing. It was either a really nice bike or an old POS car and I chose the bike. No one in my neighborhood had anything even close. It was like a Ferrari among Pintos. My friends didn't even understand how somebody could pay that much for a bike but then, they didn't understand why I left them in the dust every time we rode either. I had a Sears Free Spirit 10-speed that I had bought before this also with lawn mowing money (my parents did not believe in spoiling us with "luxuries". They bought me exactly one bike. A single speed 26" balloon tired Sears that was to last me my entire childhood. It got stolen when I was 12 and that was that.) I thought I would keep the Free Spirit and use it for rough and dirt roads. I rode the SG for a couple of hundred miles and then one day I went to go on a ride I though the Free Spirit was more appropriate for. Going from a 24lb, Reynolds framed, sewup equipped bike back to the 45lb truck tired Sears bike was like getting out of the aforementioned Ferrari and back into a Pinto. I rode it down the driveway, back up the driveway and hung a for sale sign on it. Sold it a few weeks later.
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