smontanaro 

I figured I would start a thread about this Univega Super Speciale, in part because it's coming together due to pieces from a couple BF members and because it's going to be an unusual (for me) build. The frame was outed by a non-BF poster on BOBishBikesFS. I wasn't looking for another project, but I already have an ItalVega Super Speciale, so this seemed like a nice complement to it.

Several years ago, I bought a Regina America 1992 group from Bianchigirll. It's been sitting in its box waiting for the right time. This group set never included brakes as far as I know. I got some Shimano 620x brakes from mountaindave which will do nicely. The Regina group is an odd duck in a couple ways. One, I believe "1992" refers to the year it was released. By then nobody was using six-speed SIS anymore. (This group has a SIS-compatible six-speed drivetrain made by Sachs.) By 1992 many manufacturers were probably up to eight speeds, so many frames from that period had 130mm rear spacing, so this can't have been a very big seller. For awhile, I looked for frames manufactured about the same time as the group, but everything I found had 130mm rear spacing. Two, the crank was made by Ofmega. I think it's rather handsome with its polished spider and matte finish chainrings:



I wonder about the bottom bracket taper though. "Early" Ofmega cranks had a different square taper, but I don't know if this is "early" or "late." When I first slid it onto the bottom bracket it seemed to sit pretty "proud" of the end of the axle. These two pictures show the meaningful distances, but the crank is mounted to a 113mm Tange Seiki (JIS) bottom bracket. Snugged down properly, it clearly sits too far out.



The front derailleur won't swing out far enough to shift to the big ring. I have 109mm and 103mm bottom brackets in my stash as well. The 109 is mostly unmarked other than dimensions and "Taiwan." The 103 is another Tange Seiki. By my quick measurements, I think I have about a 1cm gap between the back of the crank arms and the cups of the 113mm bottom bracket and between the small ring and the chainstay. I'm inclined to try the 103 first, but welcome input from the experts.

smontanaro 

Went with the 103. Things look much better. In addition, I thought it was six-speed, but in reality the rear shifter has the little 6/7 selector. Good thing, as I only have a seven-speed Regina America freewheel. <- banana guy stolen from The Paceline. I hope he's not copyrighted.

It's now starting to look like the back half of a bike:

smontanaro 

First shakedown ride this morning. This bike was a true BF team effort. The Regina drivetrain came from Bianchigirll, the brakes were courtesy of mountaindave, bibliobob provided the stem and the chain was from Slowride79. AIUI, this model was full Campy when new. The only Campagnolo part on this is the seatpost. Still need to work out suitable pedals (the Phils were just what I grabbed from the pedal drawer) and bar tape.

bikemig 

Great looking bike and pics. Where was this taken? What are the buildings in the background?

smontanaro 

bikemig The picture was taken at Lighthouse Beach Park in Evanston, IL. I believe the buildings are all part of the Harley Clarke Mansion.

smontanaro 

With red bar tape and brake housing, Vittoria Rally tubulars. I rode it yesterday before adding the bar tape and swapping tires to shake down the brake housing. The housing is older unlined stuff. I added some PTFE spaghetti tubing to reduce friction. That seemed to work well. I actually thought the Ideale 90 Rebour saddle was a bit soft (maybe the nut needs a turn or two), so I swapped in an Ideale 80. I've not actually tried it yet. It might need a bit of fiddling still.

bikemig 

Neat build. Wait you have 2 good Ideale leather saddles? Wow. Those are not easy to find.

smontanaro 

I snag saddles when they turn up for a good price, or sometimes save one from a bike I part out. I've got a couple B-17s as well. They didn't seem right for this bike, so I went with the 80. I've sold 80s off which didn't feel good before. We'll see about this one.

bikemig 

I do the same. I just never see decent French saddles but you live in a much larger urban area than I do.