I've been collecting parts from various source and today I started assembly!







My sweetie snapped this pic. Bikes, beer, and football are a good mix.



Of course this kind of work is always preceded by planning and measuring and imagining, and occasionally purchasing. The brakes, Weinmann Carrera with Mathauser pads, mostly unused, came from a bike I built up decades ago. (One version of the TC used them, I think '78.) The charinrings are TA purchased for the same bike as the brakes. The crank arms are Nervar, contributed via a long-ago trade by rhm. Those Vx derailleurs have been waiting patiently for an application. The stem came from rhm, handlebar from a local ebay seller. Heaset and BB are VO.

Or course it's still missing a few key items. Don't have pedals or clips/straps yet, still thinking about that. Saddle will probably be new. It needs a 26.2 seatpost, maybe from the local co-op if I get the time to go there. Pastor Bob has promised to send a FW. Chain, bar tape, brake cables. etc. And then sew-up tires - that's all new to me. I'll probably spill glue all over the place.

That is looking very nice so far, build day is always such an exciting thing! Inspiration for me to get started in my own!

Nice bike! Nice choice of parts!
The glue isn't so bad if you have a truing stand or old fork and frame to hold the wheel while gluing.
Brent

Cool parts mix Jim. Ya gotta love those finned Matthausers! I wish I had something to build up or even a bike that needed some work. Great thing to do a cold day - looks pretty wintery out your window there, or is that just glare?

Mounting the brake lever bodies before wrapping the bar, Jim?
Can't hardly blame you! I'd be pretty anxious to build that up too!

Careful Jim. If that is indeed a mid 70's Champion Team, it should take a 26.4 post. I suspect the seat lug could have been deformed a bit by being tightened on a wrong seat post.

Thanks for the note, RB. That's what I'm thinking. I measure it to about 26.5, with the assumption that the top of the ST might not be perfectly round. The ebay seller had the seatpost and said it was stamped 26.2 (I saw the stamping in the pic). But I just ordered a nice 26.4 from a source for not much money. If it doesn't fit I'm not out much. I'd rather have a better fit even if it means I have to clean up the ST a little.

Without checking my Sutherland's, 2nd edition, as I remember, metric Reynolds double butted was either 26.4 or 26.6.
My Le Champion had a 26.6 Simplex post in it.

Yes, Murphy's law indicates a 26.4 because that's the size I have in my parts bin and could have included with the other things I sent

My mother used to say I could do only one thing at a time, and she was right.

Very nice Moto Jim! I see you mentioned tubulars...what are you choosing for wheels?

Thanks, WNG. Rims are the wheels which came with the frame. The front is a Super Champion Competition, probably original. The rear is stamped NISI <mumble> and has two illegible stickers, one of which would have been the shop which rebuilt it. It is also drill-dimpled along the tire contact area.

Today's work:



Chain isn't there yet, and that's not the final FW. Without tires or chain this weighs 19.6lbs.

Looks like someone needs a work stand. Also..cut a little strip of that bar wrap and place it under the hoods to get that seamless wrap going. I also have to say this one would look tremendously nicer with a leather saddle. I think you can get a new B17 for ~$89 on ebay.

Lookin great so far, Jim.

What's that white patch on the seat tube. I think I'd remove that, if it were me, but…
it aint me. :>

I have 2 comments:

I love that TA/Nervar style crank set. It is one of the few old-school cranks that you can easily get new rings for.

I prefer to wrap my bars and non-aero brakes with the brake bodies removed but the clamps still in place. You can wrap the bar with almost no gap in the tape, hiding the clamp completely. Then you re-install the brake body and roll the hoods down. Presto, you have a perfect wrap job with no unsightly gaps.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

About the bar wrapping, it doesn't bother me as it is. Yes, I could cover the silver triangle under the levers (I did that on the Masi) but I chose not to for several reasons. In fact, I kinda' like the additional visible silver. In the old days we just wrapped and that was the end of it. Also I don't like the idea of tightening the lever body down onto cloth instead of onto metal. So I just wrapped. Hey, I'm being a style-setter here, just follow along. Try it yourself. In a few years everybody will be doing this way. Trust me.

The saddle is inexpensive, but more more importantly it is comfortable for me. All my bikes but one have this saddle. Since this bike is meant to be a rider I'm going with what works for me. (The other new-to-me Moto will be a restoration.)

About that white patch on the ST. The lower sticker is an American flag. The upper one is a bike license from a local town. It intrigues me if for no other reason than that it is a link to the bike's past. Maybe it will lead me to a former owner who can possibly tell me more about it. Maybe I'll even learn that it was stolen, which would get it back to the owner.

A long time ago in a state far, far away I registered my new UO8 with the county because it was encouraged at that time. They gave me a little brass tag to mount on the bike. Don't know that it was required. Never knew anyone else who registered a bike. I haven't even thought about it for years. Now here's proof that someone else did.

Every old bike has a story.

That sounds good to me.

..but maybe a French flag? :>

no doubt, a bike like that needs a leather saddle.

and if you wrap 'em figure 8, you can throw out those two little pieces.

then you can finish 'em off with some satiny blue thread, ala the boy root.

I'm with you jimmuller. My Colnago still has the sticker from the bike shop in Boulder that sold it. It is still in business. I should call and see if they have a record of the bike and if it was a frame or complete bike. My suspicision is that it was a build. Might even find out who bought it! I'm a little lazy or forgetful, don't remember which.

I too prefer my brake lever bodies to be in touch with the bar. More intimate and less likely for them to move, which happens upon occasion. One of the challenges is not over tightening the lever bodies to the bar. Universal bodies are very prone to failure due to this issue. A slight bump and the fracture along the corners. If on tape, the material will compress over time and cause some them to move. Out of frustration of them rotating, the temptation is to tighten those MF's up good.

I've done all versions of the wrap around the bar. Past experience (like history level past) causes me to be concerned about tape length, which will dictate how much wrapping I will do at this section. The overlap is the issue, especially on bends. An attempt is made to have the tape overlap the previous wrap in such away to cause the tape to be flush along the azis of the bar. On bends, the preference is to continue this approach on the transition between the outside and inside of the bend, resulting in a gap on the outside and overlap on the inside. Too many wraps around the brake clamp causes an unsightly bulge. Then the issues is trade off between the bulge and the exposed clamp/bar. The extra "loop" of taper is a good compromize if you want full wrap without metal exposture.

The last option is the one I have been following lately. I really don't like the trend toward the strip of double sided sticky tape on the inside of the wrap either. It makes pre wrap difficult as well as installation. If done correctly, a good tape installation will not allow the tape to move anyway. JMHO.

Reading Jim's post regarding his opinions on how things should be has enlightened me a bit. I personally don't care for the exposed bar and clamp showing under the levers but I am definitely geared toward aesthetics. Jim is a real rider and so more into pure function, perhaps. Either approach is worthy, IMO.
I use Newbaum's now because of the 5 or 6 extra inches they provide, which makes covering the band clamp with a short piece of cloth easy, with still enough tape to fully wrap the bars.

I also find this issue regarding bike shop stickers interesting. A bike shop sticker would be one of the first things I would remove, and yet, I am interested in a bike's history too. I guess it depends on the sticker. Recently, in my smug indignation, I wrote to the Pro's Closet concerning a vintage Motobecane frame set they had on auction. There, on the seat tube, was a brand new "Pro's Closet" sticker. On a 35 year old frame. I told them I thought it was tacky. They wrote back to tell me "all bike shops do that". I suppose so, and I presume it is removable. But I think most bike shop stickers are merely advertising. I guess if I ran in to an early 60's bike with a sticker from Tommy Avenia's shop on it I might leave it. Some do have their classic charm.

Thank you for the nice compliment. At least I take it that way! It reminds me of the guy who asked a musician "Is that a real song or did you make that up?"

I would say this: We are all real riders, even if we have different priorities.

Now about the bike. I admit it would look nice with a well-used dark brown Brooks. It would look nice with those touch-up spots re-done in the correct blue. And with the stickers replaced. If only I had the skill and the time and the place.

"Listen, my dear, with ifs you can put all Paris into a bottle." - Stephen Maturin.

I like the way you wrap your bars Jim. It has a kind of defiant air. My Gitane needs a new tape job; maybe I'll jump on the band wagon.

RB, I've been thinking about this point.
IMHO, a bike shop sticker is great if it is from the bike which sold it new. The older the bike, the more intriguing the sticker. However a LBS sticker newly added to an old bike prior to re-sale really is just advertizing.

I may take you up on that Made In France sticker. I have just two reasons to pause. I've never done stickers before, could probably screw it up. The current ones may be underneath a clear coat. Don't really know yet. Either way, I'm not quite sure the best way to remove them. I guess that's three reasons.

That was a compliment, Jim. So taken as intended.

I would say that if you determine the current stickers are under a clear coat, you'd best leave them. It would surely screw up the clear if you removed them. Heck, there's not much good reason to remove them at any rate. I just like to mess with things.
I hear you about the original bike shop stickers. I have a current frame I'm tinkering with, complete with original shop sticker. But as it is in poor shape , and the fact that I will probably paint this frame anyway, I have no choice but to remove it. That's a different ball game, of course.

Stickers aren't too difficult Jim. If you get it off center, or tilted, you can sometimes get a second chance. But it's always best to get it right the first crack, of course.