himespau 

Hudz makes a replacement cover for many types of integrated brake/shift levers. One of the cover colors that they offer (is often harder to find than most) is called Bordeaux Gold. It almost looks like a gum lever. When I finally get around to doing my next build, I'm going to be putting those on a set of campagnolo ergos with the aluminum levers to get as close as I can to a retro-ish look.

athrowawaynic

GAAAAAAHHHH! Want!

greg3rd48 

I passed on the original 8 speed Campy Stratos groupset and Mavic Cosmos wheelset, replaced the quill stem and original bars and seatpost. now it sports a new FSA headset, Deda 100mm stem and 42cm Deda bars, carbon Ritchey seatpost, Vuelta wheelset with Mavic Yksion Elite tires and Shimano 105 groupset. Rides like a rocket.

DaleEArnold

That HETCHINS makes for a beautiful frames...The curved rear triangle is very unusual..

Thanks for posting

curbtender

Older post, best to quote on those...

TimmyT 

Nice looking bike, but tt looks like the bars are a little low for you.
Flip your stem and rotate your bars down so the levers aren't pointing at the sky. It will increase the stack to the bars for you.

greg3rd48 

You are right. I did feel like I was riding too high. I will flip the stem and try it out. Thanks!

mstateglfr 

I've been meaning to ask this about other member's upper tier late 80s schwinn road bikes, but keep forgetting.

I have an 87 prelude and an 88 premis, both tenax, and the seat tube is quite literally slammed and squished into the bottom bracket shell to fit with the down tube(vs being mitered/coped to fit inside the shell with joining tubes).

Any chance you happened to look at the joining method of your Prologue? I know the Prologue is Panasonic built with Prestige tubing, vs Greenville built with Tenax tubing like the rest of the upper tier of bikes, but just curious if the slam and squish build method was used for the highest level bikes too(with Prestige or SL tubing).

mstateglfr 

Very neat! You don't often see a c&v frame with a lugged head tube extension like that.

RiddleOfSteel

Since I don't want to disassemble my Prologue again, I will have to look at pictures I took of it, as well as my Peloton (same top level Panasonic build, same exact lugs--not kidding), to see if I took any. Nothing stood out to me when I did look at it, which usually means the tubes all go straight into the lugs with no mitering--they just don't protrude into free space very far at all. Seems to be pretty standard on other high end frames. No squishing--plenty of clearance for bottom brackets.

RobbieTunes

Haven't played in a while, that's for sure. Member @cpsqlrwn did me a solid on selling me this, and I'm fairly certain it's a climber for my future.

10-sp Centaur triple, Aerohead rims, and all the usual suspects. Went to Xpedo Thrust 7 pedals because they're cool. Finished it, finally.

BFisher

I see you're a sandal guy too.

Beautiful bike! Pedals look great on it.

mstateglfr 

Ha, yeah disassembly is well past reasonable.

This is the inside of the Premis shell. I get that fitting the tubes by mitering is extra time and therefore cost, but wasn't sure if the late 80s Japanese built frames went that extra step due to higher quality/qc/different process.

mikemowbz

Indeed! The wacky thing? I own *two* such frames, really very similar, from two fairly small-scale Canadian builders.

My Cyclops, built in Vernon (BC) by Mike Mulholland, is remarkably similar with lugged HT and ST extensions!

It's not as though I've sought out this construction style/feature - just so happens that these were the bikes by these builders that came available to me in a suitable size...

RiddleOfSteel

I don't think I ever noticed that on either the Prologue or the Peloton. Weird though I suppose not out of the realm of possibility to have that happen (smushed tubes)?

RobbieTunes

Yes.
Tires-perfect
Colors-perfect
Setup-perfect.
The C24 is one of my favorite all-time wheels.

That is capital Nice. Clean. Smooth. Executed with vision and class.

Cycle Tourist

You are so right.... I was considering brifters for a '82 Panosonic before I came to my senses. I did substitute indexing 7speed Sun DT shifters and a Sun freewheel. I think that just qualifies for a halfway house.

RobbieTunes

It's a slippery slope.

RobbieTunes

This conversation actually occurred during a recent group ride.

"Why put 11sp DA on an old bike?" (1988 Centurion)
"Why put 11sp DA on an new bike?"
"Because it works."
"Well, (duh) there you go."

One of the guys in the group is from Ireland, and splits his time between a 7900 BMC and a 9000 Dogma.
He was riding along, and just grinned. I showed up later on a Bob Jackson, and he said "you are sick."

RiddleOfSteel

This is also precisely why I put newer stuff on older bikes, because it works. I don't know the exact tone of the Irish guy's comments, but it's pretty interesting that a guy riding a Dura-Ace equipped BMC or Pinarello would be shocked by a very nice vintage bike (that may or may not have been modernized) as either of those new bikes would cost mulitples of a Bob Jackson in today's market. $1100-1200 gets someone a pretty fast Shimano 105-spec road bike. Or it gets that person a very clean vintage Paramount. $1500-1800 gets one near or at Ultegra...or it gets a vintage Paramount frame with modern Ultegra components. A DA 9000 Dogma is $10k easy. I like saving theoretical money.

Thank you, BTW, for your extremely kind compliments of my Prologue!! It was certainly an execution of a vision (as you pointed out). I may be a pound over my fully mechanical 7900 setup's weight (with a lighter quill adapter and lighter, older Vittoria tires) at 20.5 fully dressed, but this looks even better to me, and of course the shift levers feel wonderful and shift sublimely. Lower gearing while still being able to brain fart a 53-28 big-big combo without issue. More black to make the tan wall Corsas pop (I am in love), and of course the C24s--or their immediate, incremental-improvement predecessors, of which I own two (this pair included) and nearly snagged a third, all because people are finally dumping their high-end 10-speed wheels.

Your Battaglin looks great, and is the exact same frame (assuming SLX) as my taller version...minus the missing original fork on mine....and the good paint, of which mine lacks....and the booger weld at the drive-side rear dropout/chainstay....

RobbieTunes

The Irish lad is a fan of C & V. He has the kids/mortgage/race of rats thing going, and he’s still a hammer. Enough so his bikes show it. Met him in a paceline while I was on a Raleigh Competition and a week later on an Ironman. He laughs every time.

In an odd way, he has his vicarious grip on C&V thru me, and when the paceline takes off, I just tell him “mow ‘em down.” He grins and obliges.

RobbieTunes

This thread rejuvenates.

BFisher

Love this thread!

So many great builds here, so many members with great skills and excellent attention to detail. No reason why these old frames can't be "rejuvenated" as well with fresh new mechanicals (or electronics!). It's very encouraging to see what others do with their visions. @RiddleOfSteel, that Prologue is a perfect representation of how refined a build like this could be.

I've got an '89 Puch - Columbus Cromor tubing - that rides so nice. I don't expect the Suntour Accushift stuff on it to be problem-free forever. When the time comes to start replacing parts, it'll get a modern group. I went that way with my Ironman, and it gets ridden the most for that reason.

RobbieTunes

Dual cult member.

BFisher

Guilty.