Originally Posted by
Miele Man
I've read a lot of posts here and elsewhere about what components or groupset was on a particular Classic bicycle. I'm gradually restoring a nice red Bianchi that was given to me a number of years ago. I like it and it rides really well. Following advice from here, it seems that most of the components were Suntour Cyclone but with Dia Compe 500 brake calipers.
As I've been working on this bicycle and reading other posts from people wondering what components/groupset was original to their bike I got to thinking.
What about those Classic frame that when bought new were fitted wit the components that the original buyer wanted rather than what was offered on a complete bicycle. I know that a lot of our customers put a pretty good mish mash of parts on their frames. Those bikes might now be called Frankenbikes.
Thus, it's possible to see a used bicycle advertised for sale and that bicycle have a number of components on it that would NOT show up in a catalog listing for that frame. I've often wondered if people pass up a great bike with all original components because those components don't match what's show in a catalog showing a complete bicycle as supplied by the manufacturer.
Comments?
Cheers
To begin with, when the bike was made the concept of "Gruppo" may not have even existed. Furthermore, during the heyday of the Bike Boom parts often were in short supply and bikes were built at the factory with what was available, which may not have happened to match what was shown in the Catalog. Also, customs often were delivered as frame+fork+headset, with the choice of components left up to the customer. When I bought a custom Jack Taylor back in the early 1970s it made no sense to buy parts from them, because we could get parts cheaper in the US than they could at the factory in the UK, and in any event with a custom there is no "standard component set".
Furthermore, stock configurations seldom remained that way for long. My 1972 P-15 Paramount was delivered with a Regina Oro freewheel that didn't survive through the first service: the LBS stripped the slots and had to destroy the freewheel to remove it. I replaced it with a SunTour and never looked back. Why would I want to replicate the Regina disaster when the SunTour was a better design and what's more, the LBS had a full cog board permitting custom gearing? Also, the Campagnolo Triple crank with its 36T granny gear didn't remain stock very long once I'd learned of Jim Merz' 31T granny ring. Little additional need be said about the Campagnolo Gran Turismo rear derailleur that came with the bike; its many shortcomings were quickly remedied by the replacement Shimano Titlist (I couldn't afford the Crane) and then the magnificent SunTour VGT Luxe. And once I'd experienced a SunTour Comp V backwards-acting front derailleur on my new tandem, I retrofitted the Paramount with a backwards-acting SunTour SL. And I was hardly unique in all this; it was standard practice.
Really, much depends on what you want. If you are in search of a time-travel experience, wanting to re-live the year your bike was made, building it up with the components of the time would make sense. Historical re-enactors go all the way - just as Robert DeNiro wore silk underwear while portraying Al Capone in The Untouchables because it helped him get in character. You understand Gettysburg much better if you're wearing a wool uniform carrying a 9 lb 4.7' muzzle loading rifle in the July sun as you climb up the hill at Little Roundtop.
But if you want to build up your new-to-you 1963 Jack Taylor Sports as a bike to ride, you may wish to do as I did a couple of years ago. I had no need to re-live 1963; I'll never forget what happened that year.
I had a 700C wheel set left over from upgrading my randonneur (part of the VW Cheating Diesel settlement was a cash payment that I used to buy a new wheelset) and a NOS XTR M900 drivetrain I'd had in my parts store for some years. I had a custom 8 speed 13-32 cassette I'd made for some experiments with my touring bike and a set of SPD pedals. I had a Berthoud bag I wanted to carry up front to take advantage of the Jack Taylor low trail geometry and the best way to get a front rack on the bike and fit the slightly smaller wheel set was with a TA rack and a set of Mafac Racer centerpulls. The front wheel was built on a Schmidt dynamo, and I had a headlight I'd bought from a friend, and the bike had a lamp mount on the fork.
I ended up with this:
An extremely pleasant bike to ride, set up the way I like a bike to be set up. The fact that the gearing is far superior to anything available (or even imagined) back in the cold spell in February of 1963 doesn't bother me at all, nor does it detract from the enjoyment of the bike or of my recollections of dealing with the Taylor brothers back a half-century ago.