Old School Knowledge Needed
 

Hey Guys, my first post, but I've lurked a good while. I commute to school by bike most days and am currently using a buddy's Windsor Wellington 2.0. He will be returning to get his bike soon, so a family friend gave me a bike he had sitting in his garage. He lent it to another guy who kept it outside for a year or so, but other than that it looks good. It is a Gianni Motta Personal 2001 with a Brev. designation as well. I am woefully ignorant of all things to do with older bikes, but I am familiar with working on my other big box store bikes. So my main question is what do I have here? From the limited information I can gather, this is a mid level road bike from the mid 80s. It has all Shimano Dura-ace components that I can see. Bike rides good and is very stiff. Just needs some TLC.

Dura-Ace is top shelf. It looks like it was a pretty great bike. Clean it up, re-grease, lube, and get that rust in check. Get some miles under your belt and you'll know what you got.

Its another small frame production shop started up by by some ex racer. happens a lot.

usually all the components were the first buyer of the frame sets choices.

I owned a wonderful early eighties Gianni Motta Personal a while ago and loved the bicycle, even though it was a tad too big for me to ride comfortably. You have a very nice bicycle, there, and should offer great ride quality....

http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...Full_TQF_5.jpg

You can figure out the vintage by applying the information contained in How Old Is My Bicycle?, if you are interested in doing so. You might even have a bit of fun doing so. You might also want to have a look at the How To section of my website, for a bit of guidance about doing this or that to the bike.

Good luck and lucky you.

Send your family friend a nice bottle of his/her favorite beverage this holiday! They gave you a VERY nice bike.
Brent

Looks like a top-shelf bike. I would pay some attention to bearing grease before you ride it much, especially if it's been sitting outside.

+1, That's a very nice bike with top-of-the-line components for its day. If you plan to use that as a school, get yourself a really good lock!

Rust never sleeps.

Thanks for the info guys, I am rewrapping the bars and tightening up the brake levers now. Cleaned it as much as I can and lubed the headset. Anyone know if this BB needs lube? I can only assume so. I have a square taper tool so I will get after it this week. Anyone have much info on the Brev designation? Seems as if these things are few and far between.

Brev, short for brevetti, Italian for patents or licences, perhaps?

And the wheels hubs, as well. In fact, do yourself a favor - clean/inspect/adjust everything (replace/repair, as required), then put the bike into regular service.

That is a fantastic bike, and one any vintage bike freak would love to have.

All BBs need lube. If that bike has sat for a decade or so, all the bearings need to have the old grease cleaned out before you ride it a lot, the parts cleaned so you can eat off them, and reassembled with new grease and new balls. At least if none of the races are pitted! Parts with pitted races must be replaced.

Even if they feel smooth, if they've sat for a long time the grease is likely dried and hardened. This means the oil part of it has drained out or evaporated, and the bearings are actually dry. When you ride it in this condition, it's dirty metal on dirty metal rather than clean metal on fresh grease on clean metal. This bike is old enough that it may be difficult to renew the bearing parts, at least with period stuff.

Did you tear down and re-assemble the headset? You really can't lubricate them correctly without this rebuild or overhaul.

Nice bike. I agree your friend needs something nice to drink to warm his heart and lift his spirits like his bike did for you.

How did you lube the Headset? Unless you took the fork off the frame you didn't do it correctly. If you unbable and/or lack the tools, I would strongly recomend you take this to a shop for a complete professional overhaul and cleaning.

Headset, bottombracket, hubs need overhauled. the steerer and seat tubes could benifit from having a hone run through them and regreased. clean and lightly lube the cable (or replace with new stainless ones).

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1355524341

I would offer advice, but you called me "old school" and hurt my feelings...........http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...mages/cry2.gif

And where are you located? There might be folks here near by who could help, or at least recommend a shop or co-op in you area. A good bike co-op rules for DIY servicing.

I did tear the headset apart, pulled the fork and so forth. I am quite mechanically inclined and have done BB work and hub work. I did this to my other Box Store bike last year. This is also threaded headset and a square taper so I it should be similar to my old one. There was no pitting at all in the headset, and now that I think of it, my friend said he had it "serviced" at a LBS a couple years ago. New cables and for $150 I hope they did the bearings as well. I'll pull the BB this week and probably do those Dura-ace hubs as well. I pulled the bar-wrap to put some new stuff on and noticed the hoods do not match the levers very well. No matter how much I pulled, they would not fit the shape so I think those were improper replacements and I will have to source some for the BL-7402 levers... hint hint, I'll pay if you got em. I'm excited about this bike, glad you guys like it as well. With a few rust spots, I may do a strip and paint one day, but it is in servicable condition with nothing more than surface rust.

I am located in South Florida in Fort Lauderdale so no road salt. If any of you are local, would love to meet and ride one day!

Very nice bike you have there. I would caution against a repaint as rattle can never looks as good as the original paint. I think finding a set or decals for that bike might be tough too. To me a bike without decals is not complete in a way.

Also, I've been reading up here about rust removal techniques and there are a good number of threads here outlining products and procedures. You would be surprised at how well original finishes can turn out with the right tools and time. Good luck!

If it were mine I would take it down to the frameset, wash and wax the frame, probably using something like Mother's ScratchX on it (careful on decals). Use something like oxalic acid (or Barkeeps friend power mixed into a paste) on the rust (steel parts only, not aluminum!), then coat with wax or something to protect. Then clean all the parts/bearings, regrease and reassemble.

Looks like a nice bike! +1 on giving your friend a nice bottle of something, and I hope you enjoy the bike!

I would never do a rattle can job! The only way I would do it would be the right way. I found decals for $45 on ebay and I agree, no decals looks unbecoming.

Such a shame to have left it out in the rain! While you are doing the overhauling of bearings, it would be wise to purchase some Frame Saver which is used to coat all the tubes internally to stop any rust from progressing. There are tiny holes somewhere on each tube of the bike which will allow the application of this. Also, I'd remove the seatpost (if not already stuck!) and give the alloy post a coat of grease so that it does not corrode within the steel seat tube. Moisture is not your bikes' friend.

ps No decals might be unbecoming, but a lot depends upon whether bike thieves are active in your area - and where you'll be parking the bike. Honey draws flies. A really spiffy bike will attract more attention than an anonymous one.

You can look at the rehab of my Gianni Motta Personal 2000 by clicking the pic in my signature.

There's an '85 catalog HERE.

The 2001 was the top of the GM line-up.

I bought my decals from VeloCals.

Sweet ride! Please don't repaint it!
I thought this was a troll post at first, haha

Update

Well, finally got my hoods in, they fit much better. Added my commuter stuff such as a pump, tube and tool bag. Rewrapped the bars and determined that the computer that came with it is dead. Now its a sweet ride. Only problem is the saddle. It is Italian like the bike, a Selle San Marco. Also has a Regal girardi badge. The covering, I can only assume was black leather but looks like gator almost with a reticulated pattern is worn down to brown. Should I just get a modern saddle and roll, or try to restore this one? Is that even possible? I am also about to get some toe clip pedals cause these dudes slip.

Everyone has a different saddle preference, so let that be the decision driver. Do you really love it, or do you feel a change might be in order?
And on the pedals - instead of toe clips I'd consider spd pedals. You can get them cheap, the cleats last, and you can buy shoes with recessed cleat mounting that look and walk like street shoes. You can also buy 2 sided pedals - one side for the spd shoes, one side platform for street shoes. Think about it.

I agree on both counts. If you not expeienced in leather work like this I am sure doing a saddle will be really frustrating. My Dad was a Upholster and more importantly a reupholster skills I dearly regret not learning from him. I am not a fan of the super small saddles but finding reasonable priced older style saddles takes some hunting.

Double sided SPD is the best way to go. You can even get the style that SPD on oneside and regular pedal on the other. Thos plastic pedals are only good for kids bikes.

Pics of the semidone project?