Hello all,
I was desperately seeking a road bike and lo and behold I found a Rossin Record in an alley.
Before you laugh too hard it came with no wheels. lots of frame rust, old Campagnolo Nuovo Record shifters and derailleurs, and heck of a lot of work. When I tried a set of 700cc wheels the 58cm frame just seems to fit. I am poor as a church mouse and want to ride badly, in fact very badly. This bike will be good for me, I am committed to restoring it. I was a bike assembler/mechanic in my teens and can take apart and reassemble a ride. My big worry is that this frame was left in the Vancouver rain for a spell. What is the best way to drain all the water from it so I can repaint, rebuild and use framesave, the stuff that prevents rust. The derailleur pulleys on the rear Nuovo are cracked from age and use. Is there a third party replacement anyone knows of?
Cheers to all and thanks for the expert advice.
BTW Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound is amazing. It polishes chrome and aluminum like nobody's business, made the old Campy stuff look like new never mind the chrome.

First off, congratulations. You've just stumbled across one of the finer bikes you'll ever get to ride. Get it back in riding shape and start saving for an eventual complete media blast and repaint. Cyclomondo has the proper decals in stock.

700c's are the proper size. When I got mine it was running 27x1's which fit so tightly that the rear tyre rubbed the brake bridge at one point, not because the wheel was out of round, but because the tyre had seated about 1/2mm high at that point.

My best suggestion for blowing out the frame is to use somebody's air compressor and nozzle. Nothing like 90lbs air pressure to blow out anything.

By the way, did you get one of the 80's "Miami Vice" paint jobs



or a plain single color. Either are correct for the bike.

Once again congratulations. I got mine in about the same manner (helping a motorcycle club brother move, it was stuffed in a dirt shack behind his compressor). You've got a bike that's worth just about anything you can afford to do with it, the higher end components the better. (Hint: It rides much better with Dura Ace 7400 than that crappy Campagnolo.)

"shameless bump"

Hello again and I thought I would post a follow up. The frame was painted in a very cool pearl orange with chrome chain stays and fork originally. I went to the local bike co-op and pulled everything down to the bare frame last weekend. Today I got it hot water blasted and bead blasted. The old paint was way beyond repair and to my surprise it was all surface rust with no pitting. I suspect is may have been in the rain for only a night. Internal tubes show no rust. This frame was in someone's basement for a long time as I had to blow dead spiders out of the fork. All the chrome has had the dung polished out of it with cut polish.
The bike came with an old Cinelli stem with the bolt frozen into place, it may be a write off. The OMAS bottom bracket is in remarkable condition and the bearings are fine. The Campy headset will be repacked with loose bearings as the ones in the cages make me nervous even though the races are fine. The very old Nuovo Record rear derailleur needs new pulleys but the front one is mint and it came with original shifters. I have one Modolo brake and today got a nice saddle and Campagnolo Mexico rim with Shimano 600 hub for the front. I still need a seatpost, stem, bars, brakes and levers, rear wheel, cassette, tape tires and pedals but am well on the way. I think I know of a Syncros stem I can get and will match it up with a Syncros post. If the post is too long that is what pipe cutters are for.
I am too broke to get this frame sprayed by a pro so I went to the auto painting shop and they sold me a rattle can of Plastik-Kote car paint in sparkling silver. I intend to sand and prime tomorrow and wait a day before spraying and clear coating.
I hope to assemble on Monday with luck. I have taken photos of the work I will post soon.
Take care all, ride have fun and be safe on the road.

What a beautiful bike!.

I also like DA 7400. Have it on two bikes and I can't think of a reason to replace it.

To the op, please post some pics so we can see what you are up to with this frameset.

Shameless Bump No. 2!
Finally got around to uploading photos of the Rossin I found in an alley




I still have to round up more parts but am slowly getting there. I suspect I will have to sand a little more before I prime and paint.

I'd suggest hitting a place that can media blast the frame for you. Having had it done a few times, I'll be damned if I'm going to sit with abrasive paper, et. al. to prep a frame anymore.

Check the pay it forward thread. Maybe you can find some of what you need there.

I have a stem, bars, slr aero brake levers and calipers, and possibly a seatpost you can have for cost of shipping if you want them.

Love the Modolo pro caliper. do NOT sand it!

LOL - contrary to popular belief steel is NOT sitting there waiting to melt into a pile of iron oxide if a drop of water gets on it! That frame spent a LOT more time in damp environment than a single night! Many, many, many times longer......

I'll admit I'm jealous. I adore mine, and am starting to seriously look for a second, having come to the realization that I'm going to end up paying somewhere between $250-450.00 for the next frame and fork.

Best advice I can give you is to remember that, no matter how you've found it, you've got a thoroughbred there. Take the time and money to gather together something that works well together, some gruppo that's going to let you ignore the components and just revel in the frameset and wheels. I'm entranced with 7400 Dura Ace. Having used 600 Tri-Color on another bike (frameset later sold, gruppo is on the shelf waiting for the next build) I consider that the low-budget alternative to the frame. Sante', if you can find it, is a wondrous combination of Rossin over-the-top style and functionality.

Of course, being Italian, going Campagnolo is usually considered the first (to some fools, only) alternative. Assuming you want to build the bike period correct, Campagnolo may be you serious last choice. The glory years of Rossin seemed to match the nadir of Campagnolo. The Nuevo Record bits you've already got are probably a bit better than what followed for five or so years. Just the same, if you're willing to do without that name, you can do a LOT better.

The frame has been media blasted and primed to be painted. I wish to thank mazdaspeed for his offer but I think I can round up enough parts to get this on the road soon.
I have a set of nice ergo bars , Syncros 120mm stem, nice saddle, front wheel and my pal is going to donate to the cause. Further pics to follow as the bike gets built.

Shameless bump yet again...
The Rossin has been on the road for a couple of months now and I have been lazy with uploading photos. She is a mix of Syncros stem and post, Campy cranks, Dura Ace shifters with Shimano 600 gears and brakes. I must say this is by far too much bike for my fitness level ( though it has improved ) and the level of performance handling and speed is something else.
I hope you folks don't feel I have bastardized this lovely frame but these parts are my personal taste for riding. Cheers all!

Welcome back. Looks like you did a great job on the Rossin, excepting that thing between the headset and handlebars

Fitness will come with miles ridden.

Not at all, and thanks for sharing a cool story. The person whom bastardized the frame was the culprit who tossed it into an alley. You rescued it and it's now back on the road as intended.
Don't worry about a proper restoration. That can wait, you're on limited budget and the bike looks good and ridable. The fitness improvements will come, just keep riding. It couldn't have fallen into more deserving hands.

Wow, you did a great job with that Rossin and I'm guessing you did it on a budget? In an ideal world I'd recommend using a Cinelli stem, but using what you could get has worked out fine. Enjoy the ride!

I actually tried a number of Cinelli stems and used the Syncros for three reasons:
It fit my tall lanky build the best, it weighs much less, and it was made in East Vancouver!
If you see any Syncros vintage road quill stems they are well worth considering imho.

nice looking bike. if you don't mind my asking what happend to those blue Modolo brakes?

There was only one Modolo brake I am afraid, or they would be on there.
I donated all excess parts to the local Co-Op bike store so others can re-use them.

Nicely done fixerupper!

I have the twin to skyerocker's RL. Sadly it's about a size too big for me and that's kept me from building up, but it will work if I just get off my duff and do it, lol.