gravityhurts

Just wish it were a 59cm

Wright Bros

Your XO1 looks great! Did you repaint it? My '93 RB1 had a metal head badge.

gravityhurts

Genuinely appreciate your kind words and - yes, I recently repainted the frameset. Yes again, the badge is a decal.
I once owned a 93 RB1 with the biplane fork. Regret selling it too.

thumpism 

So here's the pic from an earlier post with the RB-T pretty much as purchased. I had to find a rear derailleur for it as none was included when I got the bike.



Here it is in the current configuration and as toured this summer. This is how it looked when I was pulling the B.O.B. trailer, but on the first leg of the trip I was using four panniers so had a Blackburn front rack with Nashbar lowriders attached, since removed. I had also changed to a crank with smaller rings, a larger freewheel and hybrid pedals. Tried a couple of my Brooks saddles but when my oldest and most comfy began to tear a couple of weeks into the trip I got my first modern cutout saddle at Performance in Charlottesville and it has worked well. I also changed brakes after the first few days in the mountains. The stem looks awkward but it gives just the rise I need and the riding position is very comfortable, good for more miles than I would put on it in a day.

RobbieTunes

Sadly, my Radac has died, painful Achilles RD hanger, snapped off. If anyone knows where I may find a wrecked Radac frame, I'm actually considering a repair. Otherwise, some alleycat hipster is going to get a cool fixie frame....

mountaindave 

I should think that a reputable Al frame builder could repair that without a wrecked Radac. Condolences nonetheless.

superunleaded

good riding bikes

RobbieTunes

Perhaps, none are around here. I will take it as a sign from the Dairyland Dare, and make it a dedicated trainer bike; not like it can rust, and no gearing needed. I'll stick a crappy wheelset and crankset/BB on it, sell off the rest of the components, and get some non-mileage in.

T-Mar

Easily solved. Just put a claw mount on the derailleur.

RobbieTunes

Chrome Molly suggested same. RD was already close to limits, so we'll see. Not a lot of aluminum there to claw into, but I'll check. Thanks.

RobbieTunes

May be cheaper and fun to try, as I have a couple modern replaceable RD hangars in the box, not even sure what from.

HTupolev

It measures ~53cm. A bit too small even for me, sort of.

Anyway, I threw random components at it until it turned into a rideable frankenbike.

mountaindave 

Nice! And what's behind it?

HTupolev

A drop bar conversion of an '83 Stumpjumper, with what's basically a medium-aggressiveness road fit and Compass Rat Trap Pass extralight tires. It's a pretty amusing bike in terms of how well people think it will perform based on visual first impression, versus how well it actually performs.

Fun fact: the stem on the Stumpjumper is the original stem from the Bridgestone.

RiddleOfSteel

Beautiful TALL RB-1! I always like it when the 64cm stuff shows up--our steeds look good, too!

How does the Superbe Pro compare to same era Dura Ace/600/Sante as it looks like it's from the later '80s. I have a "7-speed" full GPX groupset that actually indexes 8 gears(!) and am currently in the process of taming it. Works great 95%+ of the time and then threw a few self up-down-up-down-up-down shifts at me (middle of the cassette). Other than that it looks good (the shifters and brakes are very pretty, with a nice deep blue-grey) and the micro-ratchet shifter for the FD is dynamite. I do like the Shimano stuff a lot, and actually prefer the non-Dura Ace 7-speed stuff in suppleness over the DA shifters, which I've had. Not that DA is bad in any way--it's great--I just like the lighter and quieter action of the others. I drool over the polish of the SP stuff and have that same era of brake lever and caliper. Gorgeous stuff.

You have a fast frame and fast parts. I have (As my first Bridgestone) a medium-ish speed frame and fast parts (7800 Dura Ace) with some Exage Sport brakes to keep it real. The bike is swift.

curbtender

Went for a ride with an old friend and he showed up with his XO-3. Said he bought the last two, a large and a small, from the San Leandro warehouse before they closed.

mountaindave 

Interesting, I have an '83 Stumpy waiting for a build as well. Trying to decide if I should go drop conversion or the original Bulls. So how well does it perform?

HTupolev

Its only real issue seems to be the weight. It's not a very weight-weenie build, especially thanks to those huge fenders and some very heavy wheels, so it ended up around 34 pounds including a lot of rotating mass. This means it doesn't have the most crisp takeoff, and it's a bit sluggish on significant grades.

Cruising performance on level ground is excellent. Ever since I put the Rat Trap Pass ELs on, it seems to perform about the same as my Emonda ALR, even on smooth pavement. It also doesn't lose very much performance on rougher surfaces; chipseal might as well not exist, and gravel needs to be quite loose to pose significant difficulty.
Tires made a huge difference. I had Freedom ThickSlick tires on before, and the bike seemed to be around 1mph slower; not bad, but not quite trading blows with my "proper" road bikes either.

Handling is interesting. The heavy wheels make the steering feel heavy at speed. But with very wide road tires at 35PSI, the contact between tires and ground feels very stable, and the actual cornering performance is very good.

mountaindave 

Funny you should mention Rat Trap Passes... I intend to throw a set of those on too! I have the original wheelset which I imagine is not terribly light. Good food for thought, thanks for the insight.

Peter Waldron

Just picked up a Bridgestone road bike on ebay for good price.

It's 21 speed , CRO MO double butted frame.
Has serial #G323284
Deore XT fd
105 rd
SG RX100 chainring
Exage hubs
RX100 brakes
Mavic Reflex rims
"Custom" (black) stem

What gets me is there are no model markings anywhere.
Some pics follow.

Any clues?

RobbieTunes

3 claws tried, no dice.

RobbieTunes

Got out the hacksaw, and a file, and went at it. Nothing to lose, I figured. 1.5 hours of sweat later, I had an "H" hanger from Cannondale grasping the dropout on both sides, an upper pilot hole drilled, a lower pilot hole "slotted," and the hanger fit. I did a little more filing and shot it with black Krylon.


Two days later, I mounted the hanger, and then the RD. The dropout on the Cannondale carbon frame was apparently vertical and short, while the dropout on the Bridgestone is nearly horizontal. This changed only the position of the RD, swinging it much further "forward and up" than intended. I turned the screw that hits the hanger lip almost 100% in, and it looks like it may work. The long-cage RD seems to clear both the small cog and largest cog (8-sp Campy) and the wheel mounts fine, the axle adjusting screw is back in there.


I'll need time to clean and mount the chain, and then cables, housing, wrap, etc. It appears that it will work, and will look a lot different, as the black Shimano components before (calipers, wheels, RD, FD, crankset) will be silver Campy this time around. We'll just have to see.

seypat

Sweet! I knew you could do it. If there is a will, there is a way.

johnnyace 

Thanks to thumpism, based on this post, I am now the owner of this XO-2. We're working out the details on pickup and shipping. This baby's headed across country, can't wait to ride it!

Thanks thumpism, for helping to facilitate this purchase!

RobbieTunes

When last we met, the RD hanger had snapped off, and I'd tried 3 claws; decided the Radac was toast. In cometh a BF member with offer of a Cannondale "H" removable RD hanger. Hackwawing ensued. Filing ensued. Gnashing of teeth (which is not funny as I've recently broken two teeth through grinding nonsense...). Bad words emanated.

The slop inherent in 8-sp Campy was necessary. I think it may be working now. 2 miles of shakedown show a bit of a hesitation from 2nd cog to 3rd, but smooth sailing up the rest and full compliance descending the coggers.

I had a short cage RD/shifter set in reserve, just in case I wanted to cut down the angle of the dangle and mitigate any problems with a crooked hanger that simply cannot be remedied easily, but it's working on the 48/34 and 13-29 setup.

Topping it off was a very nice conversation with a sweetie named Rachel at REI, a friend of otto Rax, who is a friend of mine, quite maligned here on BF for his disastrous attempt to self-publish a book on dropouts and a poster (the project lost thousands). Since she was sweet, and Brian is such a nice guy, and I was in the mood, and she needed a road bike for RAGBRAI, I offered it to her. I figure the wrenches at REI can keep it going. We'll see if she accepts a bike with a troubled past and uncertain future.

8-sp Campy Avanti, DA seat post, Miche/Rigida wheelset. Box-o-Crap frame decal and other parts.....