HELP: Looking to restore Daccordi Designer
 

I have added a few pics of the bike which is approximately 21 - 23 years old. I'm hoping someone knows a bit about the bike; year, model and any other relevant info. I'm hoping to restore but honestly don't have a clue where to start. Are the components on this bike just randomly chosen or are those the ones that were used on all bikes of this model?

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=235191

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=235192

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=235193

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=235196

I have also attached a pic of the same bike restored by Steven Cascalheira of New Zealand which is my inspiration and motivation.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=235197

I publish MY "TEN SPEEDS" to help people who are new to the interest of vintage bicycles. My hope is to help others avoid making the mistakes that I made as I stumbled through learning the ropes. Might I suggest that you start there and seek out pertinent topics that target your concerns and questions.

You can figure out the year by applying the information contained in How Old Is My Bike? You can figure out how good the bike is by applying the information contained in Vintage Bicycle Quality or Buying On Ebay.

I would suggest you start by getting a feel for the bigger picture and then graduate to details of the restoration attempt.

And when seeking inspiration, I tend to look at the Bicycles I have found , restored and ridden over the years.

Hope this is a help and welcome to the Bike Forums.

Thank you. Appreciate the info.

first of all, you gotta get rid of that stem

Welcome to the forums.

I like older Dura Ace, and your attractive bicycle has at least some of that for starters.

On a bike such as yours, I would get it to fit, make sure maintenance is up to par, and check for safety items.

I don't assume anything.

Are you a decent mechanic?

If not, I would suggest these two sites to get you up to speed:

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

http://sheldonbrown.com/

If you are not comfortable doing the work or lack the tools, find a good mechanic at a shop or coop.

I have a couple of the top racing mechanics in the Midwest help me from time to time. Not because I am a top racer, rather they are incredible at their craft and I don't mind paying for excellence.

Worth your weight in gold. imho

....and don't forget to bring in a case of beer for the guys occasionally. It is amazing how fast my bicycles get turned around! :)

The bicycle appears pieced together. While most of the parts are Dura-Ace, the front derailleur doesn't appear to be, the Dura-Ace rear derailleur is one generation newer than the Dura-Ace brakes, etc. you can get the model designations and dates off the back of the components. Refer to the components page of the Vintage-Trek website for location and decoding. That will put you in the ballpark for age.

It appears to be very late 1980s to very early 1990s. Circa 1990 Daccordi offered two Dura-Ace equipped models, one the SL and the other, the SLX. The models were named after the utilized tubesets, at least in the USA. It's possible the Australin importer spec'd and/or named them differently

Thanks guys. Really appreciate the comments. Will do some research.

The Shimano derailleur is a RD 7402 which was produced from 1989 - 1996.
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.as...8c20d&Enum=108
RD-7402 (8spd)
HB-7402 8spd cassette hub (130mm) Hyperglide

The front derailleur is as you suggested not Shimano, and is a Campagnolo, no model number or year visible.

The crankset is a Shimano 600 (FC 6207) with date stamp "JH". From the Vintage Trek website this is apparently August 1985.

The brakes are Shimano model BR-6208 with date stamp "JJ" denoting Oct 1985.

I am pretty sure the bike was purchased before the 90's, so with the derailleur being the newest I would say the year is 1989, making it 23 years old, pretty much what I suspected.

(-:

I'd never really even considered the stem, but you are not the first to say so. That settles that....new stem to be purchased.

I was wondering why I had the stem and remembered I used to use the bike for triathlons some time ago. I used a very peculiar set of handlebars which the stem was designed for. I think the stem was designed get get your body down and forward??