texaspandj

Nice '87 Ironman belacqua. How bout a run down on your components?
And since we're on page 187, let's post your '87 if you got em. Here's mine. I need to update my pic as it now has gripshift and a 7 speed dura ace freewheel, However all other components are the original shimano 105.

RobbieTunes

The black is subtle. Let the silver and polished bits bring out some contrast. Spokes, FD cage, maybe get a pair of polished bottle cages.....

You will pick up on what you want.

'89's are cool. The "Black Dog"

belacqua

Let's see what I can remember off the top of my head--
RD: Sram Rival
FD: 2nd-gen. Suntour Cyclone
Wheels: mavic aksium
Cranks: FSA Gossamer
BB: FSA megaexo
Tires: Conti ultra sport, my go-to budget tire
Stem: nitto
Bars: nitto b117 I think
Brake levers: Shimano SLR (another go-to bc plentiful and good)
Brakes: tektro dual pivot
Saddle: Brooks professional
Seatpost: can't remember. Probably a kalloy 27.0 replacement
Pedals: wellgo Wam-r4 spd-r clones, good pedals cheap from Revolve KC, my favorite used bike store.

I build my bikes on a small budget using mostly take-offs from CL finds. The modern drivetrain and wheels here are from a bikes direct cx I bought in 2008, same year I joined BF and began to learn about c&v.

​​​​​​​My other '87 is stock except for contact points.

Aim2bFit

Here is my recent purchase. Thanks to the excellent Sticky by RobbieTunes, I think I can safely say this is a 1989 model, even though it's stamped 1988. One wheel is original, but the other, even though it's not original, is a perfect match. Thanks for your attention and I can't wait for the next dry day.

RobbieTunes

Do I see black hoods on GPX brake levers?
Tell me, tell me, tell me about them!

Nice bike. I think I can ride mine under that one.

Aim2bFit

Sure RobbieTunes, their black, kind of rubbery and came with the bike. Still learning the history of the original bike and its equipment, so what do you think? Are they original?

That blacked out crankset of yours is sharp. Your tires look a good bit more comfortable than my 21s while at the same time their in perfect balance with the rest of the bike. Real nice set-up.

Classtime 

fleslider 

Ok i will play!
87 Expert and Master

fleslider 

Black paint and Suntour GPX .. definitely a 1989 Model.

Yes although the frame was stamped 1988 it is a 1989 Model, this is a simple explanation as in bicycles and even cars for that matter the Model year the car is does not always coincide with the year it was built. Usually the next year models usually show up at the shops/Dealers about September or so on the previous year. so the next year model could be built during the previous year.

Also to remember that the frames are usually serialized when they are built not when they are painted and assembled.

RobbieTunes

What he said. For bikes, it was to accommodate the Christmas shopping season (you know, when we buy ourselves bikes).

The "370" in CTL-370 by Araya, re: the rims, was the claimed rim weight of 370g. Actual testing found them between 370g and 380g. They were light for the time, but pairing them with the 700x18/19 Technova tires was a mistake, as they went out of true on bumpy roads. Swapping in 23's made all the difference, as Bicycling magazine did same, added Loctite to the spoke threads, and then continued to hammer their '89 test model.

1989 was the only year of Suntour GPX, a shame, because a refinement of GPX would have been a formidable down tube drivetrain, had they decided to polish a bit, go with 53/39, and move to freehub stuff. Probably too much to take on, given their financial position and Shimano moving into the bike components aggressively.

1989 returned to a bit more subdued graphics after the squiggle year of 1988, with Centurion's name taking over where squiggles had been.

The black '89 is as much of a blank canvas as you'll get with an Ironman, other than the solid red. It invited white wrap, housing, and saddle, but I've not seen any done that way. One with Sante would have been interesting.

Aim2bFit

Fleslider and RobbieTunes, thanks again. That pretty much confirms it then. I'm riding a 1989 and loving it. It was that way with my first car, a 1965 Mustang built in 1964. Should have held on to that thing.

The rim information is interesting. I understand, from you guys and the local shop, that these 700x18/19s are really too narrow for the kind of riding I'll be doing. Rough potholed blacktop. I may upgrade to some 23's sooner than I thought. Yesterday we had a break in the rain, so I took a spin around town only to realize the back tire has a bump in it. Can't see it, but can feel it every time the wheel goes around.

I'll put these on the shelf as backup then, but what are your recommendations for new 23's? I read that ratings suggest Continental Grand Prix 4000 S II's and Gators are right up there.

Thanks

T-Mar

SunTour continued to offer GPX in 1990 & 1991. Both years had freehub and Command Shifter options. It didn't sell well and WSI under its new ownership went 100% Shimano, but it was available.

texaspandj

We need to get t-shirts that say "T-Mar Knows".

rccardr 

Vintage_Cyclist

I made the switch to 25's on both my Ironman bikes years ago. Definitely a much better ride and they didn't slow me down any slower than I was already going!

Aim2bFit

So, you're say the Continental 4000 S II's, in a 700x25, will fit my 700x18/19 rims without any problems? It's a pretty bumpy road system around here.

RobbieTunes

+1

RobbieTunes

Yes. No problem.

fleslider 

yup i agree with the good Dr and RT, i run 700x25 on all of my IM's and have no issues at all.

canklecat

Try some good 700x23 tires. That's the sweet spot on my '89 Ironman Expert with the original Araya CTL-370 rims. So far the best I've ridden are old stock Schwalbe One V-Guards in 700x23. Sweet tires for the money, fast and tough without going overboard into lead filled garden hose tires like Gatorskins. If you shop around you can still find new unsold old stock Schwalbe One V-Guards for around $30.

After one of those Schwalbes was sliced up by razor sharp shards of broken slate I tried 700x25 Continental Ultra Sport 2. Not bad tires for the money but the 700x25 size ruined the handling. They felt squirmy on fast turns no matter what pressure I tried. I kept the 700x25 Conti on the rear but swapped the front back to the 700x23 Schwalbe One V-Guard since it was still in good shape (only the rear was sliced up by the slate). Perfect combo. Just a bit more cushy in the rear, while the front tracks like it's on rails again, very stable and secure feeling.

While the Conti Ultra Sport 2 lack any puncture shield they've been remarkably tough. Only one puncture so far, last week when I couldn't avoid a mess of freshly broken glass (common around here with drunks leaving the many roadside bars and strip joints). Just barely punctured the tire and tube, no real damage. Not bad tires for around $15 each. However they're a beast to mount the first time so buy a Kool Stop tire bead jack to go with any new Continental road bike tires -- the Kool Stop bead jack costs about $12 and is well worth it. I stash it in my jersey pocket on every ride, including group rides just to make tire changes quicker for everyone. It's just rigid, lightweight plastic and works really well. However I noticed the second or third time I remounted the Conti Ultra Sport 2 I could almost do it with just my hands, so maybe with a little wear the excess rubber over the folding bead scrubs down just enough to make it less of a PITA to mount. I doubt the folding bead actually stretches, so I'm just guessing the excess rubber over the bead wears down just a bit.

Incidentally, a few months ago I wrote about feeling some excess drive train tension in my '89 Ironman Expert with the Suntour GPX group. I did lots of experimenting and finally tracked it down to the rear derailleur. Way too much tension in the cage housing pivot spring. I disassembled the RD to switch the spring to the secondary locating hole... and there wasn't one! Most RDs I've disassembled had either two locating holes for pivot springs, or a sort of ratcheted interface with multiple positions available. But not the GPX RD.

So I bought a good used old style Shimano 600 rear derailleur (probably originally on a 5 or 6 speed freewheel, but worked on my 7-speed with only a few adjustments). Since I had to disassemble that Shimano 600 for cleaning and lubing anyway I went ahead and set the pivot spring to the lesser tension locating hole. Now it's perfect. Shifts smoothly, pedals far more smoothly and doesn't feel like I'm fighting the bike. Before it felt like riding with the brake pads rubbing on the rims, or something dragged against the rear wheel. Now it's smooth and my overall speed has improved on routes I ride often enough to feel the difference in various conditions. On one particular 20 mile roller coaster segment where I'd struggled all last year to average 16 mph, I could now average a little faster than 17 mph even on windy days.

To make the Shimano 600 compatible I switched from indexed to friction shifting. Took a few rides to get comfortable with it again but now I prefer the friction shifting mode. Less noisy (index shifting with the GPX RD emits a loud clunk) too.

Eventually I'll drill a second hole for the cage pivot spring for reduced tension and try the GPX RD again.

BTW, that also looks like the original Suntour chain on your bike. When you decide to replace it the KMC Z-72 works fine. I rotate a pair of identical Z-72 chains with KMC Missing Link quick links, both waxed using a little crock pot filled with Gulf wax/paraffin. I swap 'em about once a month or every 400 miles or so. Much cleaner since I keep the bikes inside and the cats rub against them. And I've been experimenting with Boeshield T-9, which seems compatible with the waxed chains (I think T-9 uses naptha as a solvent with paraffin). Takes very little T-9 and still runs cleaner than other wet lubes. But T-9 doesn't last long per treatment so I'll need to refresh it every week or two weeks.

Boeshield T-9 is also a great cable lube. I'm still using the original cables and housings that came with my Ironman. Drizzling in some T-9 and working the cables back and forth inside the housings restored the smoothness.

But after getting clobbered by a car last week which dislocated my shoulder I'll be off the bike for awhile, so this may be my best chance at redoing the entire bike. So far I've only redone the hubs but not the bottom bracket and headset. And I probably should replace all the cables and housings, although they seem to be in good shape and work fine after using T-9. And I've partially trued the rear rim but there's still a little hop, so I should do that while I'm recovering from the shoulder injury. Right now I can barely use my right arm, though.

RobbieTunes

We don't need our Iron canklecat to be down....

Good info.. I agree with the clumsiness of some Conti tires. So far, the GP4000SII is my cookie, in 23,25, and 28 on bikes they'll fit. I have used beaded UltraSports and they are good for the $, sometimes 14.99 each. Not into GrandSports or Gatorskins.

I have limited experience with Schwalbe but their customer service is good, excellent even.

As my GPX is on a 12-28 freewheel, I wonder if the spring is just stretched more? I like the thunk, but a ramped Shimano freewheel improves the smoothness lots.

texaspandj

@canklecat, man sorry to hear about your wreck. But is your bike ok? (Just joshing with you).
A few years ago my wife and I were riding on our mup when she went down and hurt her shoulder. I was in front and accelerated around a bend and there was a snake which I missed, but my wife went around it then over compensated on turning back and a couple wobbles and she went down pretty hard. She still ocassionally has shoulder pain. It should be noted that although she didn't go to the doctor she was 30 years old, very fit, and tough as nails. So,I hope you've seen a Doctor.
Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Aim2bFit

Just received a message that I was using a lot of memory, then it wiped a very long reply to you clean. I'll get back later, but very interesting stuff. Thanks

texaspandj

Well page 188 and time to post your '88 if you have one. The "squiggly" graphics set the '88 apart. Also first year for tricolor components on the masters and beginning of the fade color schemes. Only year a Carbon model was offered. The Carbon Ironman has the Centurion name on the down tube and seat tube, and here's mine.

canklecat

Heh! Yup, bike seems to be okay. I was riding my Univega. A friend who's a mechanic is checking it out.

I'm anxious to get back on the Ironman. I'd just tweaked it to my liking the day before I was clobbered by a car. The latest tweak was replacing the original long Win stem with a shorter stem @RobbieTunes sent me. I got to ride it twice and it felt much better. Better balanced both sitting and standing to climb or sprint, more efficient and much easier on my neck. Didn't seem to have any adverse effects on bike fit either -- saddle, etc., still felt right. Rode some of my fastest times on a familiar 20 mile segment and wasn't really even pushing that hard. When I stood to climb the bike felt like it was under me rather than behind me, so I was getting more efficient pedaling while standing. Eventually I'll try some compact drops with less drop. But it'll be awhile before I can ride again.

I was cautious on the first couple of rides with the shorter stem because I'd heard some comments that a shorter stem makes handling twitchy. But the balance and handling felt great to me, including fast downhills and curves. The most recent comments about twitchy handling from shorter stems may be related to the current trend toward smaller frames on road racing bikes, with longer stems and seat posts to adapt the smaller frames to taller riders. Either that theory doesn't apply to older frames that fit the rider according to the old conventional guidelines for bike fits, or I'm just not very sensitive to minor changes in handling.

I also tweaked the finger-reach on the GPX brake levers. Easy with the grub screws recessed into the top of the metal humps, and I left the rubber hoods off for the test rides. So I could tip the handlebar back a bit to suit myself for both the drops and riding the hoods, and still restore the brake levers to a position where I could easily reach them with my fingertips.

And squirting some Boeshield T-9 into the cables/housings really helped. Apparently I was fighting some dry cables and oxidation before. I should replace the cables and housings but they're still in good shape so I'll probably just clean and lube them all while I'm recovering from the shoulder injury. Although right now I'm still one-handed. I might check the local Aldi for one of those $30 bike stands I see people raving about.

But I'm betting it'll be a couple of months at least before I can ride again. Depends on whether I'll need surgery, etc., for the shoulder. I don't have medical insurance and we're still waiting for the driver's insurance company to respond, etc.

Fortunately my legs seem okay, just minor scrapes on the knees. So I can keep walking and doing squats, lunges, etc., to stay reasonably fit. And I might get a trainer to use the bike indoors.