Here's my winter 2015 project--a complete overhaul, refurbishment and upgrade of my 1986 Vitus aluminum road bike.
I created custom graphics for the bike (I'm a professional designer), since the old decals were ugly and scratched. I had a local signmaker cut the vinyl film for me. While purists may recoil at this, I make no apologies--it's my bike, and I like the way it looks!
I also decided to add orange accents to the bike, not just for some bling, but also for a little added visibility to drivers. Silver and black tend to be somewhat muted, and the orange helps with that.
I replaced the bottom bracket with a ceramic bearing one, which I got for half-price! But, the crankset then had to be replaced, because the new BB only fits Campagnolo cranksets. I found a Record alloy crankset that was rebranded as a Chorus, which was another decent bargain, for a top of the line crankset. Pedals are clipless Mavic Zxellium SL's (made by Time), which are half the weight of the Look clipless pedals the bike used to have.
The drivetrain retains the original Dura Ace 7400 derailleurs, which were cleaned up and overhauled. They're in very good shape, as are the brakes, which received the same amount of TLC. The freewheel is a SunTour Winner Pro 7-speed which is brand new, and has been in storage for 30 years. I did swap out a couple of cogs with lightly used ones on it, to get better gearing. The chain is a KMC X8.99.
The Mavic CXP Pro wheels and Dura Ace 7400 hubs were also built from scratch with Sapim Laser DB spokes, and they wear Continental Attack & Force tires. I replaced the Dura Ace quick release skewers with lightweight Halo allen key skewers.
I also replaced the headset with a sealed bearing Woodman--it's really elegant, lightweight and economical. Handlebars are Modolo anatomic X-Tenos which are NOS, fitted to the bike with an SR Sakae quill stem I've had forever. The carbon-look tape is capped with chrome bar ends which I customized with orange anodized paint, to match the other orange accents on the bike.
The shifters are another blast from the past. The bike originally had Dura Ace 7400 indexed shifters, but they were broken. I've never been a fan of indexed shifting anyway, so I changed the shifters to friction Modolo Kronos levers. I had a pair of these once before which I loved, and managed to find a pair online. They are also modified with orange anodized dome bolts (secured with some low-strength threadlocker).
The Specialized carbon fiber bottle cages I've had on my steel bike for 29 years were transferred to this bike, and are bolted on with the same style fasteners I used for the shifters.
The saddle is my faithful Viscount titanium rail model, which was also on my steel bike. It is significantly lighter than the one that was on the Vitus previously.
In total, I managed to shave another twelve ounces off the bike's weight. It weighs 18.45 pounds without the pack and bottle; 19.2 lbs with. My steel road bike by comparison, is 23.6 lbs, so I'm sure this bike will feel much different. First ride of my renovated baby will be this week!