Originally Posted by
ericjd
Am I stupid to consider a 40 year-old bike or foolish to pass up a chance to get a classic ride?
Oddly enough many of the high quality British and French bikes of the '70's were designed for club riders, not road racers, with the requirements of the Audax and/or Randonneur in mind. Designed for riding long miles at pace on the rough secondary roads of the era carrying a self-supported load in Northern European weather conditions they have a faithful following on the BF sub-forum Classic & Vintage for good reason(s).
There is a current fad/sub-culture in C&V for the conversion of these machines to 650B from simple bolt-on retrofit to full-on bare frame re-furbish w/ a suite of braze-ons, re-raking and custom paint. Take a look at C&V and post a conversion question to 650B on a Grand Jubile where you will get a plethora of assistance from those who having done the conversion, drank the Kool-Aid of 650B.
-Bandera