I received a Ron Cooper frame set, fork & handlebars for nothing. I currently ride a commuter. Have never had a road bike.

I would like to get a road bike for this summer but have a dilemma. It looks like it will cost me about $500 for a group set and wheel set for the Cooper. But I have the opportunity to get a Felt Z5 for about a grand, even less if I sell the Cooper.

The Cooper is sweet looking but the cost of the Felt will be close to what it will cost to get the Cooper going.

Any advice?

Man tough call. I say buy the Felt and keep the Ron Cooper. Build it up later or piece by piece. Especially if it's your size.

Pics?

-D

What era is the Cooper? If you're patient you can probably find parts and build it up before summer for way less than $500. Pics please (of course!)

I think it depends on how you look at things. The Cooper frame, if in good shape, is worth nearly as much as the price of the Felt and will keep its value and probably appreciate in the coming years. The Felt will be worth less then the Cooper the first time you ride it and will continue to lose value for the foreseeable future.

The Felt is a mass produced, made in Taiwan bike while the Cooper is a hand built bike. If these are things that don't matter to you, choose the Felt. If you are someone who values craftsmanship and long term value, choose the Cooper.

Does it fit? If not, you have an answer. If it does, you are asking c and v. Keep it.

My brother just got a Z5 and he loves it. For me, I'd build the Cooper. It would be a no brainer.

I didn't know the Felts were made overseas. This would be my first road bike build so if there are any suggestions re: keeping the price down, let me know. Here's some pics. Sorry for the quality!

Nice frame, full Reynolds 531. Check to make sure the quill stem can come out. If the frame size is right, keep your eye peeled for a donor bike, with the grade of components you want. Usually, less expensive than piece meal parts gathering.

Well, it's not my size, so I won't advocate that you sell But in all seriousness, as you gain more experience with road cycling you'll come to see what a gem of a frame you have in that Cooper, and appreciate the level of workmanship, craft, detail, and design that went into it. Aspects that are rare to nonexistent in all but the priciest vintage and modern bikes. Cooper was one of the great builders in the history of handmade frames, and those that are left are all that will ever be.

Regarding the build, If I were you and on a budget, I would find the nicest used wheels I could, the nicest tires I could afford, any old forged crankset (maybe sugino or old shimano), Mafac racer centerpulls or diacompe sidepulls, sr or kalloy seatpost, and whatever seat you're comfortable with. Either that, or I'd find a well outfitted used bike on craigslist with decent parts, strip it and sell the frame and whatever else I didn't need. Then ride the heck out of the Cooper and slowly upgrade parts over time as you can afford it and feel the urge. It's a frame worthy of the nicest components, but that shouldn't stop you from riding it for now. Have fun and appreciate your good fortune!

What kind of groupset are you talking about? The thing with the cooper is that it has no braze-ons and it likely spaced at 120mm in the back. Shoving a 130mm wheel in there could be done, but you should not do it, IMHO. You're likely to need tektro long reach brakes also which will add cost because whatever comes with your group will not work (if you are talking modern)... it's going to cost you more than $500 to put together a modernish build on the cooper and I think most people are going to advocate you go vintage. Do you want to ride vintage components? I think if this bike fits you, you should build it up as a single speed or fixed gear and also buy the felt.

+eleventy on "is it your size"

If not, then the Felt or any other number decent bikes (in your size)

It looks like a late 70s early 80s frame. No brazeons, so what? This could be the best bike you will ever own. Dont bother with a fixie unless you really want a fixie. There are plenty of older parts you can get that are just as good even if not as convenient or easy to use as the modern stuff.

As bad ass as the Cooper is if you want to ride and not spend a ton of time hunting for parts wrenching etc I would highly recommend the Felt. If there is anyway you can swing it keep the Cooper as a project and build it as the parts come along at the right price. If you can do only one I really have to go with the Felt, they ride so nice. I have a Felt Z4 and as much as I love my old steel bikes at the end of the day I will choose the Felt for any ride over 40 miles hands down.

sell a full 531 frame in your size and kick yourself for all eternity.

love those olympic ribbons on the seat tube. they will open up several bar tape color combinations over time.

a donor bike with shimano 600 clamp-on stuff can be had for $250 or less. add a brooks, tires, and consumables, and you should be right at $500. and the bike will then look like a million.

if you need longer brakes, i'd suggest vintage long-reach center-pulls rather than new tektros, which often don't look quite right. if you do go the tektro route, you can often get a medium reach for the front that doesn't look so bulky. i did this on a couple 700c conversions on 531 frames. harris sells them individually.

i've seen a 65mm stem before, but that one looks tiny! like it's for t-rex arms.

My vote would be to keep the Cooper (assuming it fits), buy a used bike as cheap as possible and switch the parts over (as recommended by many above).

The handlebar and stem in your photos do not belong to this bike. The cheap brake levers with 'turkey wings' are a giveaway, but not just that. Is that a "BF" stem? If so, it is probably French (22.0 mm) rather than the 22.2 mm size you need; and, as eschlwc pointed out, it is very short (probably too short).

I'm sure we could find everything you need to build that Cooper in a classy, yet thrifty fashion.

Let me know if you need help, as I have gruppos, wheelsets, saddles etc.

Just sitting on shelves.

You got that right. My vote is to keep the Cooper If my vote really matters. The Paint looks right. Even it takes a while to get the parts 531 frames are great on the road.

Forget the Felt. Keep the Cooper. The former is a pretty generic modern bike. The latter is something quite special.

SP
OC, OR

That is reasonable. Fit first.

If a RC from the 70's those bikes were made often for clients who could not afford full Campag. as the British called it back then. Weinmann 500 brakes, Campag. hubs (maybe even Tipos) and derailleurs, a Sugino crank even were more typical than full on Nuovo Record. I would build it up with Weinmann, Suntour, Sugino, a plain aluminum seat post, 3ttt bars and stem, maybe even a no name headset, Campagnolo Record high flange hubs, sprints. (British for Tubular tyres and rims, you have a commuter, so have a full on road bike)

It depends what kind of biker you are. My brother loves to ride, he likes the performance and convenience of modern equipment, he's not into working on bikes more than he has to, and he couldn't care less about "vintage" stuff. For him the Felt would be the logical choice. I love to ride too, but I like working on bikes, I'm really into old bikes, I happily put up with their inferior performance and the difficulty of finding parts, and I couldn't care less about modern bikes. So for me the Cooper would be a no-brainer if it fit.

does it fit??? does it fit??? does it fit??? does it fit??? does it fit??? does it fit??? does it fit??? does it fit???

I think this is an apples and oranges question...what are your goals? What do you want the bike for? I'd obviously want the Ron Cooper, but I like vintage bikes.

As others have said - if you're patient and willing to look, you could find a donor bike for under $500 with parts you want.

Thanks for the comments. I wanted reasons to keep the Cooper, so posted in C&V! But I made a mistake- I didn't measure it first. It's 60- so probably too big. My other bike is 58 and fits perfect.

That ends the discussion! Consider trying to sell it in the sales forum - there are several fans of his here, though I don't know how many ride a 60.