celticfrost

Delivered today. Time to think of a new sig. More pics. Some minimal rust on fork to deal with, tubulars are a bit dry and cracked, handlebars are VERY narrow, a few small nicks here & there and could use just a bit of cleaning, but the bike is in overall excellent shape.

Seems like it'll fit me like a glove -- I've got to get a tape measure and accurately measure, but it seems more like a 57 than the advertised 58. Groupset appears to be in great shape & is very purdy. Bonus: found out it's an 8 speed (13-26), not a 7.

So a new set of tires would make this bike rideable. But...... I'm debating whether or not to bag up the existing, "period correct" pieces (groupset and wheels) to retain any resale value the bike would have. Currently, I would NEVER consider selling this bike, but who knows in 3, 10 or 40 years from now. And in the meantime buying a new groupset and wheels. This bike will share equal riding time w/ 2 other bikes in generally hilly Colorado terrain and not being the strongest rider out there, I can see myself benefitting from 10 gears instead of 8.
THOUGHTS?

Then there's the Campy vs. Shimano dilemma: I prefer how Campy feels, but I can't stand how most of their new stuff is carbon fibre. There's no way I'm putting a CF groupset on this bike. Can a '04 or '05 Chorus or Record groupset be found? I don't want to spend too much extra time and $$$ hunting down new, non CF Chorus/ Record one piece at a time. I could always just go new Ultegra or Dura Ace. THOUGHTS?

Bars, bartape and saddle will be changed regardless. Not sure about the bottle cages.

Anyway, it should be a (hopefully) fun process overall. I think I got a pretty good deal on this bike and I'm happy it's here in one piece. Also, I now know how Smeagol felt when he possessed "The One Ring".
















^^color in pic shows up aqua blue, but in person it's more of a metallic green^^

celticfrost

^^new EM bar plug ends^^

Namenda

Its a beauty. I have nothing else to add.

jfmckenna

indeed and in great shape too.

eippo1

Omg, beautiful. Parts are really pretty too. Shame that you're not using 'em. That bike would look hawt with a polish to those parts.

daneil

The only thing keeping my jealousy at bay is the fact that the 58's too big for me.

My personal opinion on the groupset... don't you dare get rid of it. Take it off if you'd like (though I wouldn't), but don't get rid of it. The 8 speed D/A is one of the finest production groups made. Durable, clean crisp shifting, and easy set-up. The only downside is the proprietary shifter/rear derailleur.

celticfrost

Of course I wouldn't get rid of it! What I meant was that I was thinking about LITERALLY putting them in a bag, setting said bag to the side so IF I ever sold the bike, the period correct pieces (groupset) would be intact. I've owned too many old cars to not realize the value collectors place on original parts.

celticfrost

Thanks.

Not sure what I'm doing with the parts. I'll probably run them until the new ones come in. I prefer not to trash them as they'd be awfully hard to replace.

big john

Good score, Eric. I didn't know you were into that stuff. Why not just put the biggest cog you can on the rear and ride it? Or were you thinking compact?

caloso

I thought I just saw an alloy Record crankset on sale at Nashbar.

Hocam

Beautiful.

I say get rid of the shimano 8 speed stuff, it's nice an good but srsly, who cares?

I agree with the no-CF thing to a T. You can find record/chorus double an triple cranksets still in stores as well as the bottom brackets. The FD shouldn't be a problem, the only trouble may come with the RD an brifters, but keep your eyes peeled on ebay and they'll be fore sale eventually. Build up a modern campy groupset with a 3x handbuilt set of campy wheels then either put the shimano stuff aside or sell it.

mollusk

I saw it and it would fit me, but I didn't win the Lotto this week or last week so ... In fact there was a Merlin Cielo with full DuraAce at sub-$5K Buy-It-Now on Ebay that I would have jumped on if I won the Lotto. That looked like a SWEET ride!

Enjoy your new bike. You can spread it now to 130mm if you must because you can always bring steel back to 126mm if you ever feel the need to make it "correct".

celticfrost

Of course I'm into that! I guess you never saw me in my wool jersey, did you?

I was thinking of doing just that -- finding a bigger 8sd cassette and just seeing how it goes.

Never even thought about compact until now....hmmmmm

eippo1

True. Makes sense that you wouldn't want to wear the parts down. If I took those parts off though, I'd polish them and put them in a display case like a shadow box. I second that alloy record crank in Nashbar.

celticfrost

Lotto Schmotto! I was going to keep my pie hole shut about how much I paid for this rig until I had my hands on it. Well, I paid $1225 for the complete bike and another $112 for packing & shipping. Not exactly chump change, but I did OK. Just yesterday and SLX tubing Merckx 7-Eleven frame only went for $2280 (https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...yphotohosting).

I had previously believed it was 126mm, but the Campy dropouts should already be 130mm (see https://www.velo-retro.com/tline.html).

old and new

GREAT BIKE,truly a good find,an old TSX, top notch classic for sure.You Could find NOS Campy,pre-2006 the "old" stle group or psrts, I've seen it out there. Prettier, no carbon parts for sure,"fits" the character of the bike as you say. An entire group may be dufficult to find, any/all components seperately, not so. The pre-07 stuff is interchangeable going back to,92 ?. Your DuraAce is fine, I wouldn't change it. I don't care for the boloney-slicer look(oppinion), what benefit do you get by an entire 10 speed system, that cassette swapping can't do? As far as newer Campy Veloce or Centaur,is the new crank design THAT meaningfull? I believe that the jury's still-out on that question. What you CAN do is forget the compact idea, buy a NOS or non-scratched used triple, new or good shifting component or an "up-grade kit" that's sold new by at least five net stores. It will make it more suitable.Keep in mind that the 8/9 speed DuraAce is selling at very low prices, even new.

celticfrost

You did, you did. Thanks for the heads up.


Yes, that's probably the plan I'm leaning towards regarding the Campy. But I'm going to hang on to the 8sd Shimano. Wheel plan sounds good too.

Well, I plan on keeping this bike for a long time and will probably use-up at least 1 groupset in that timeframe and I prefer it not to be the original 8sp STI (for reasons stated in my initial post) and that's what would happen if I only swap out the cassette. Another thing that has me thinking about a new groupset is the existing TUBULAR wheelset (in general I believe I'd be better off w/ clinchers).

So basically (after taking off the 8sd & tubulars) I'm left with a frame to build up. I think I'm leaning towards going the non-CF Campy route.

Maybe (just for fun) I'll start a poll in another thread.

jschen

Cool.

ggg300

nice

cmh

Nice - what year is it? I am surprised to see brifters on a 7-eleven team era bike. I didn't think there was overlap there - maybe they are not original parts? or maybe I'm wrong about the timing?

If you put modern parts on this bike you will take it out of its retro grouch or historical appeal, so they may as well be CF. I would leave these on and keep the mileage down using it only for special occasions, but thats just me.

Enjoy your ride - it is sweet.

SoreFeet

I would keep it stock and ride the hell out of it. Let the parts wear then upgade. Screw the modern bling, you got a classic that won't lose value like the plastic carbon bikes. I'm giving you a big high five for buying steel. Throw some Dugast tubulars on and pray to god you don't go flat.

daytonian

....I need a minute to collect myself.....

San Rensho 

Was this bike really used by one of the Slurpy riders, and if so who? If you can prove the provenance of the bike as being the ride of some hot shot Slurpy, then it I woudn't touch it or even ride it. Treat it as a collectors item.

Hocam

Miche used to make some really nice looking aluminum double cranksets, I think they were supertype. They've since gone CF but maybe you could hunt down some, keeping the dura ace until then (which will work with campy). That's the kind of touch to set that kind of bike aside from a lot of similar builds. Maybe some NOS campy rims to boot, but no reason not to go modern chorus/record hubs.

Handlebars too. Maybe something engraved..

mmmmmm I could spend months and thousands building that up.

Don't forget you can keep the seatpost, stem (love that stem btw), calipers, and cages. So it's kind of inbetween a group and a kit.

Hocam

Hell no, knowing that one of those guys rode your bike would be some great inspiration. Save it from rainy days but ride the **** out of that.