Harlan

Thanks to Rocket Sauce for yet another CL posting (he led to me to that gorgeous Bianchi I bought a long time ago) I found myself driving to Plymouth Mass to pick up this sorry looking Windsor last night at around 8pm after a long convo with the seller who was heartbroken over having to sell the bike he bought new at International Bicycle Center in Allston, about 1/10th of a mile from where I used to live during college.

So it's a Profesional (sic) equipped with Super Record throughout. And even though the paint is in sorry shape, the components look to be in excellent condition under all the grime. The original owner's sister borrowed the bike for some years during which the tubulars were relaced with Mavic Velotech rims (original low flange hubs) by Wheelsmith in Boston and the bike was left out in the rain for some time. The components show little to no wear as this frame didn't fit the seller as well as his much older fastback seatstay Windsor which he showed me. The paint however didn't fare as well in the wet condition. In addition to the pound of grime, there is some superficial rust mainly on the upper head lug which I tried and failed to quickly photograph, and the bb cluster. I noted that the seat cluster is fully chromed under the paint along with the seat stays, but the front end seems to not have chrome under the paint.

The components, wow. Like I said before everything is in VG condition under the dirt. It even has the Super Record fluted seatpost with the painted flutes, and it came with a Brooks Pro which will be my first foray into actually trying to ride a leather saddle. I'm not sure why but the headset is not magnetic, but the pedal spindles are. That makes the pedals regular Superleggeri and the headset Super Record made of Ti according to the seller. Correct me if I'm wrong. I still need to check if the axles are Ti. Unfortunately the hoods do not fit and will need to be replaced. The cockpit is wonderful 3TTT in the right length and the frame itself is the perfect size for me having a longer torso @ 5'10". I haven't checked the make of the freewheel yet but I did note that the biggest cog had drillium.

I'm going to start wiping things down this evening and will begin disassembly as well.





















The decal backgrounds are super reflective.

Harlan

More photos, as always, right click and open in new tab to view larger.

dbakl

A later one, not the Cinelli copy.

Harlan

I stand corrected, but had suspected since there was no fastback stay action.

rootboy 

Nice find Harlan. A bit grimy but should be 85-90 % once you clean it up. I had one of those, but an earlier model, and it was a nice riding bike. Gold mine in parts you have there.

BlueDevil63 

Super Record headset is aluminum (with steel races) not Ti.

flash2070

Beautiful in as is condition! Great find, congratulations! Looking forward to seeing it all clean and shiny!

Flash

Harlan

Thanks guys!

Updates.

Got it torn down with great ease unbelievably. The crank bolts whisked off and the arms as well. Stem nor seatpost offered the least bit of resistance. I did find out that the freewheel is a Regina Extra Oro 13-21. Haven't checked the side plates of the chain for a name.





Some of the worst offenders. I was worried.




Not sure I can do anything about this pimpling...



...but I sure cleaned these up! Any recommendations for how to seal the bare top tube up?

Michael Angelo 

Looks like a nice project. If it was mine, a would blast it and have it painted with automotive paint. It would look brand new.

Harlan

Oh man. I could get it blasted and go clear PC, no? That would be super sweet. Ideally I'd like to hold onto the chrome and the seat stay cap pantos.

shnibop 

that's a sweet looking bike. never seen the non-fastback seat stay style before.

i would keep the original paint and decals. give the frame and fork and OA bath and treat in the inside of the frame with FrameSaver. then just keep an eye on the rust and store the bike in your bedroom, like i do

Harlan

Haha I used to keep them in the bedroom but then I got storage space! Oa bath is possible in the future but it will stay as is for now since i need to figure out what to sell in order to keep this.

4Rings6Stars

Nice find. I thought about that one too but decided to let somebody else have it since I would likely end up flipping it or *gasp* parting it out.

You're going to hate that saddle though...might as well trade it to me for that DA tubular wheelset

Orrery

Cool, glad someone here got it. Also was interested in the parts but too far out of the city for me.

Bianchigirll 

Nice pic up. I wish I could find bike like that around here. Perhaps is I yardsaled more.

ScottRyder 

Harlan, after a bead blast the steal will look a dull gray, IMHO, not very pretty. From what I've been told is that clear PC is very flexible and prone to minute cracking. Eventually you'll see rust starting to develop under the clear. Colored PC is not flexible (from what I've been told) so there's not a rust issue hidden away. I guess the clear is used over the colored for some purposes?

Scott

Grand Bois

It seems like inflexible pc would be more prone to cracking.

jeirvine 

If it were mine, and I didn't want to repaint, I'd dremel wire brush the worst rust off, treat with naval jelly, then spot prime with rust-fixer primer, and touch up with as close a touch up paint as you can find. Won't look perfect, but will keep things stable.

I have a much earlier Windsor Pro - cool bikes.

unworthy1

I've never seen that year Pro, either, I like the stay caps better than the earlier "Cinelli SC copy-cat fast-back" seat cluster. Wonder if the craftsmanship was better over-all on a '79: have you opened the BB to check out the mitering down there?

ScottRyder 

You know, you might be right, I may have reversed the two.

Scott

Harlan

I did crack the BB open (adj cup only) but I don't know what I'm looking for in quality. Have any examples of what's good/bad?

Got a lot done tonight. Got everything back together after giving it all a good once over. Including the chain. Wow. Looks a lot better (cameraphone, sorry, it's late). I need to order tires and hoods. Anyone have any skinwall 25cs?



I noticed a huge weighting in the rear wheel, and it turned out the original owner put a huge amount of slime in the tube. Wild.

Tandem hiding in the background:

Harlan

Thinking about these tires:

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/roa...re/VELXTYRF300

Would red be over the top? Still tan wall...

jjhabbs 

Windsor bicycle sign. thought you might think its cool. Its a steel dealer sign

bibliobob

Beauty! A Windsor Pro is definitely on the list for me. My dad had one, which I used to ride a lot as a teenager in the 80s. Rode like a champ until I hit a car head on with it..... FYI, there's only one "s" because it's the Spanish spelling....

unworthy1

An example of "good" is in this thread showing the work of Greg Diamond, late custom builder in Santa Barbara area of Calif.
20th pic down, doesn't get much better than that:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...t=greg+diamond
For examples of "bad": just about any mass-produced frame from the bike-boom