Thing I learned from building Vintage bike up.
 

So today I finished my 1990 raleigh olympian up ( I say finished but lord knows I'll keep changing something) and these are the things I've learned during it.

Trying to take a vintage bike and make a good road worthy machine that can hold it's own against most group rides/non races is very do-able, scoring kom's on downtube shifters is a pain but possible. It's better to just buy a new bike unless you already have stuff laying around/ don't care about end cost.

I changed the stem,seat,crankset,wheelset,went from 6 speed downtube to 9 speed sti levers, dual pivot brakes, 9 speed chain, new 9 speed derailleur, and changed bottom bracket. With the help of a friend I have a bike I consider capable of keeping myself competitive in my B-class group rides with about 250$ spent total.

While I'm sure the bike is no where near the quality of even a 500$ bike I consider the bike + all the wrenching experience to have been well worth the overall time.

First test ride out I got 1 second slower than my kom on the climb and 2nd overall on another hill segment and knocked 25 seconds off my previous best.

Pics?

The performance of your bike is likely well within 90% of a new bike, but the "cool factor" is much much higher. And as you said, what you've learned and the fun you had doing it, is priceless.

There's a >200 page thread in the C&V section of vintage bikes with ergos / STIs. Have you posted pics up there yet?

A new bottom bracket will do that every time.

I'll never have any KOM thanks to this guy so my bikes irrelevant

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I think I will build my next bike down instead of up.

no, when I posted my initial idea of building it up I was basically told that the bikes value was too low to be worth it, family history didnt apparently matter so I took the hint that they didn't care about it. I may have had just a few rude people but i just removed the thread and moved on with my life.

bottom bracket is the same as it was on my last best, I did the upgrades over the course of a few months (college budget)

It's hard to argue with putting a bike back on the road, that otherwise would've been thrown in the bin or stuck in a shed!

agree'd I'm going to switch out the wheelset to vuelta corsa superlights that will bring me down to a cute 24 pounds lol

I don't know about scoring kom's and all that silly stuff, but a good vintage bike can hang just fine in any group ride. It's about the motor.

I agree, it's funny how so many people believe performance is so dependent on equipment. Good marketing at work?

If a rider cant keep up with a group on a decent older (or newer, for that matter) bike, jumping up several grades bike-wise isnt going to change that, imo. It's all about your fitness level.

Currently riding a 1984 Olympian with 10-speed Tiagra and I like it a lot. Huge headaches in getting it all to work (brakes, bars, seatpost, seat, entire drivetrain incl shifters, headset) but a $35 garage sale find is now my daily ride. I could trim some weight with some wheels but I don't see where saving a pound will make a huge difference in ride enjoyment, and I don't do Strava ...

So yes .... i could have bought a bike as good for what it cost (particularly if I add in time, energy, and frustration) but I don't regret it.

It's true. People knew how to build bikes even as far back as 30 years ago. Crazy, isn't it?

I think he was just pulling your vintage chain with that comment, it's that dry, cyclist kind of humor, eh?

This differences between a vintage bike, and upgraded vintage bike, and a new bike are a bunch of little things that all add up. Going through that process shows you exactly what those things are and what the effect is. Sure, you can hang with similarly fit people with new bikes on a group ride. But you'll be working a little harder, a little less comfortably.

I didn't used to believe that, because I was riding vintage bikes when they were new...I got away from it for a while, then came back to what is now called C&V, but in recent years I learned by upgrading and finally buying a new bike.

Not sure old steel rides significantly worse than new alloy .... does weigh more, though. Point is, when you have a garage-sale frame and a bucket of mismatched parts, you can either toss the whole mess or n+1 for less than a bargain-basement new bike ... or about the price iof a decent rebuilt C&V. Hmmm ......

In my case I had been lugging that damned frame from home to home for so many decades, I wasn't about to let ti go without it lugging me around for some miles.

I had the experience of building up a 1987 Gardin from my youth using same era Shimano 105 groupset. I thought it was a good experience for me. The parts were purchased used locally and through eBay. In the end the project cost more than what I anticipated. I couldn't even recupe my cost if I were to sell it today, but the emotional value it carries is priceless.

The confidence I gained from that build allowed me to do two more conversions.

Odd that you were greweted with negativity in the c&v section. I don't know the bike model in question but a raleigh is usually a decent bike and these upgrades are pretty common.

I'm not racing. I've been experimenting with Brifters... but my main bike still sports downtube shifters, and almost all of my Strava PRs are still with DT shifters, mostly flat sections, but I have a couple of hill climbs that I'm working on. Hopefully I'll start snagging a few KOMs this year, but may eventually away from steel. :eek:

Anyway, lots of good riders have ridden with DT shifters.

As far as cost, I think one is always better off buying used if one can do the work on the bikes. A scratch build allows custom options that might not have been available in a store bought bike.

You can always create new segments. Snag a few people "just riding along" (which can still be fast), but until the KOM hunters find it, you'll have a chance.

I'm in a small town, so perhaps the KOM's are different in big cities, but there are still a few KOMs held by 13 mph avg riders that can hammer it hard for a couple of minutes.

:)

I'd love to see a couple pics of your bike.

OP, would love to see photos. I'm glad it's working out for you.
I tried the Vintage build route with two bikes. The first is a 86 Nishiki Prestige that I built up with 8speed, Shimano 600 STI, Aero rims and dual pivot brakes. It performed OK, but the newer CF bike is faster. Then I had a bike shop build up a 92 Paramount with OS tubing, fairly light for a steel frame. I used a Campy Chorus 10 speed drive train with Campy brakes, Ksyrium Elite wheels and Mavic Pro tires. It never panned out. I've timed myself on several rides and found I'm consistently 1 to 2 MPH slower on the Paramount than on a late model ride. No way I can keep up with a fast group on the Paramount. It's a shame cause IMHO it's the best looking bike I own. Don't be surprised if you change to a late model, good quality bike with a good wheel set if you pick up an extra MPH.

It's all about the motor, not the bike.

This cold response didn't sound like the C&V crowd I'm familiar with, so I dug up your original post out of curiosity: http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...e-project.html

The majority of respondents were actually quite supportive of you overhauling it, and generally provided friendly, helpful advice. And to be fair to the one or two folks who recommended against it based purely on financial considerations, you hadn't really conveyed any sentimental attachment to the bike ("my uncle has a vintage laying around"). It really is a friendly group over there.

In any event, nice job on the overhaul!

I must be confusing this posting with the one I did and deleted on another bike forum. I agree every other posting I've seen about basically the same topic has been positive,must have just mentally Confused the groups.