Hey all,

I've been thinking about picking up a nice classic steel frame, restore it (if needed), build it and ride it. I have a few that have come up and all look nice, but I don't know all that much about steel. They are in random order:

Lemond Tourmalet
De Bernardi
Gilardi Super Record
Eddy Merkx Corsa Extra
Bianchi Campione D'Italia in classic Celeste of course

They all seem nice.

Thoughts and advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Brandon

you dont need to know about steel per se... like one needs not be a chemist and understand rubber compounds to shop for tires. and presumably youre not shopping purely on the basis of tubing.

one thing to consider is how you are building up the bike - vintage or modern components? if the latter, think about the spacing of the rear dropouts. (although steel can easily take a bit of stretching). also, threaded or threadless steerer? determines whether you use classic quill stem or modern ones (arguably uglier)



lastly, dont forget the gios gran torino with the coined fork crown... this baby is just as iconic as a celeste bianchi

Funny; as I read the list I thought Gios too. Rode that same one for a few years and the ride quality was incredible.

a few more to your list

Colnago Master (any master) Olympic Gilco tubing
Basso Loto SLX
Concorde SL/SP

The type of tubing is the first thing I would look for.

WOW! That is beautiful! Thanks for the reply. Are tubing types really that important with regard to the frame itself? Regardless I'll be putting Campy on it but I'm on the fence about the classic silver (Potenza), or Chorus. I do have a Cuevas steel ride that was built for my father by Cuevas himself, that I pulled the quill stem from and it has a mixture of Athena and Chorus. There is just a limited choice of handlebars that will fit the smaller quill stem not to mention having to completely unwrap one side to get the bars out if you need to make any adjustments or change anything.

My Cuevas also has 126mm rear spacing and I just opened it up a bit to fit the rear wheel. Rides like a dream although the frame it a bit tall for me which is why I'm in the market for another. I also plan to perform a complete restoration on the Cuevas. My father gave me the frame and I am thinking of giving it back to him after the restoration is complete. He used to race on it back in the early 80's.

Are you kidding me?? Wow. Is there a thread for this bike? How in the world did you find all the matching Gios bits?

Here is mine:





Are you looking to build it up with a modern or a vintage drivetrain? And don't worry too much about the tubing...the color is much more important!

Do it.

I'll put modern drivetrain on it, but on the fence to go with Potenza in silver or Chorus.

Lots of good discussion on this thread.

Also, regarding the question about the quill stem. There are some quill stems that take a 31.8 mm bar, for example.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/361558-retro-roadies-old-frames-sti-s-ergos.html

And threaded to threadless adapters

not mine

agree.
31.8 quill stem is ugly I'd rather use an adapter

https://wearefactoryfive.com/products/f5-titan-stem

yet there is none (on the internet) a picture of it on a full bike - drive side

Well, I've gone this route pretty much totally. Ditched the two C.F. road bikes for a bunch of quality steel frames.

As to the Tourmelet, I have one and it's a sweet ride. In fact all three of my Lemond bikes are sweet. The Tourmelet I have is a 2003 and was built back up with Dura Ace and Ultegra components as well as a handbuilt wheelset. Light, responsive, and comfortable to ride.



Patient shopping should find you some really good rides for next to nothing that may need nothing more than basic maintenance to be back on the road.

This Bob Jackson needed nothing but the locknut on the headset tightened:



This was just tires, otherwise it was freshly greased and tuned up.



This was $50. Needed new tires, levers, and bar tape as well as a major cleaning. I've now posted a PR on my 24 mile route with this.



As an opposite I picked this one up cheap and looked to be in great condition. But dried up grease from sitting for years, bad seals, broken jockey wheels, etc took thier tool. As well as wheels that just would not stay true. They were great parts but probably originally not built well. I've probably got around $600 in the bike now even though it's not worth that value wise. And I still love it.



Then I found this frame NOS from the old distrubutor. Bought Campagnolo parts cheap from the U.K. and built up one heck of a classic steel ride. In fact, I'm getting ready to take this out for a century here in a bit. Under 20 lbs as you see it.



The latest is this one. Pure mint and totally stock (except saddle) for a song. Has sat in a basement for years. Took it out yesterday for a 22 mile test ride, on the original tires that surprisingly are still supple. Grease is all dried up so it will need a tear down, degrease, and relube. But for little money I'll have a like new bike with a classic Italian steel frame geometry and decent working Campagnolo parts.



And that's not even half of them. Take your time, decide what your really want and need, and then spend wisely.

Heck this one is some yet undetermined mid 80s bike that's fairly beat up. I don't know how many owners it's been through. But it's got a hodgepodge of parts with probably $150 in components, brake pads, tires, etc put on by the previous owner over the past 6 months. I wouldn't hesitate to ride this one 100 miles itself. The kid really did good work on it. It may not be pretty but for next to nothing it works really well. It's even got a 10-speed cassette on the back that works flawlessly with the old DT friction shifters.

Why wouldn't it..?

Some people/setups have issues with fine-tuning lever position on friction shifters with lots of speeds. There's no theoretical limitation stopping friction shifters from working with 10-speed and 11-speed systems, but it's often reported that it's just too hard to use comfortably.

I wonder if it partially depends on shifter type. The old SunTour power ratchets feel amazing, for instance, but those barcons only do about 24 pawl clicks from bottom to top. Pure friction shifters feel heavier, but they might be more precise in these cases.

But, I'd have to try it out. The most speeds in back on any friction setup in my stable is 7!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Why wouldn't it??? Think about it man!

French shifters on a Spanish frame shifting a Japanese RD through Taiwanese cables to move the chain on a Italian cassette and hub surrounded by a french rim and connected with Swiss spokes. How in the heck can that ever work??

Hmmm, maybe the U.N. can learn something from this bike, LOL!

Does anyone here know MAZA? No, not MASI. I had a MAZA Prestige back in the late '80's. It was Columbus TSX tubing and the detailing and paint was the most beautiful I've ever seen. Unfortunately I didn't take pics and I can't find one via Google. I made the mistake of selling it to a LBS owner who gave it to his adult daughter. After several years she wanted to sell it so I went and checked it out. She had totally trashed it. Looked like it was kept outside. I'd buy another in a heartbeat but can't find one.

Thanks for all the beautiful examples above. They are very nice. I ended up finding an original Bertoni Corsa Mondiale frameset and I should have it next week. I was planning on stripping the paint and repainting it in it's original color ways, but have been told to keep it as it. Unfortunately the paint seems to be a bit beat up and I like to have nice shiny things. We'll see just how it looks when I get it.

Just can't decide between silver Potenza or Chorus for the build.

I've never herd that but I've also never heard of anyone using friction shifters with a 10-speed rear...

Which is honestly what I was initially referring too. Most claim problems with friction shifters once you get past 9 speeds.