J.Higgins 

Hi, Everyone. Yesterday was a pretty good day for me. I was just drinking my morning coffee, still in my PJ's, when I saw this on CL. I almost spit coffee everywhere when I saw it, grabbed my phone, and immediately called the seller, who was in Pawtucket, which was a three hour drive. He said there was a guy who already got ahead of me and was making plans to come look at it. I said, "Call me if the deal falls through. I will come promptly and pay full price in cash." Well, that worked because 45 minutes later he called me and said that the other guy wanted to postpone until the weekend, and it was mine if I still wanted it. I just about feel out of my chair right then and there. He even said he'd gladly meet me halfway! That would shave and hour and a half off my trip! I got dressed and let the dog out out and was on my way. We figured out that Burlington, Massachusetts was halfway between us, and we met at The Cheesecake Factory, which was right off the highway.

Nice guy. Said he bough this at an estate sale, which he attended to purchase vintage camera equipment. The guy at the sale asked if he was interested in the frame, so he called a friend, and the friend said ,"BUY IT NOW." I have a feeling this guy got it super-cheap. Thing is, I feel that I got it super-cheap, and I am totally happy with this bike. It wasn't made for me, but the dimensions are perfectly suitable for my body.

So what I'd like to do here is begin a build thread for this bike, and I'd really love to hear suggestions from everyone here. I'm mainly interested in suggestions for components and what gruppo I should use. The rear dropouts are spaced at 130mm, so that means a maximum of a 10-speed cassette. I'm not opposed to using an 8 or 9-speed group if a nice one comes my way. Aesthetically, I would like to keep the bike looking traditional, meaning that I think it would look best if the components are all silver - no black! This frame is nice, and a frame like this deserves the very best.

Please help! Any and all advice welcome!

GrainBrain

Wow super nice!! Jealous as it looks my size too. Looks like maybe it had wheels briefly clamped in, but looks to have never been built up?

With all the cool white lining I'd go with a full Sante group. Can't wait to see the build

J.Higgins 

I think it may have been fit with a rear wheel to check the size, but it was never built. It even came in the original bubblewrap baggie.

Wileyone 

Nice Frame. To put it mildly. Do you know the year?

krecik

​​​​​​​

J.Higgins 

The seller listed it as '90's, and I'm guessing he is right because of the 130mm spacing. Right now, I'm composing an email to Peter Mooney with the serial number to actually nail down the details on this frame.

J.Higgins 

The seller listed it at $625, and that's what I paid. Add on top of that half a tank of gas for my truck, and a Wendy's Dave's Double with cheese.

nlerner

Wow, that’s the fanciest Mooney I’ve ever seen. Nice score! I’d suggest giving Peter a call at Belmont Wheelworks and seeing what he might tell you about it.

krecik

​​​​​​​

krecik

​​​​​​​

Locomotief

That's an awesome find! Im subscribing to

Wileyone 

I have a soft spot for Dura Ace 7700 with DT Shifters.

J.Higgins 

That's my plan for later this morning.

J.Higgins 

And $495 for the fork!

Peter Mooney is a well-regarded New England framebuilder, and he's been around quite a while. This is a grail bike for me, and yes I will make this the build thread. Happy to have you subscribe!

J.Higgins 

I was thinking of going full-Campy, maybe C-Record, but I have to admit that the Dura Ace 7700 is gorgeous groupset. In my eyes, the Campagnolo trumps it by a small - very small margin, mostly due to the Delta brakes. Maybe I'll do the Dura Ace, then up the ante with Phil hubs. Of course it goes without saying that I need to sell off a couple bikes to fund this build!

J.Higgins 

Oh, and I would like to clarify that the pics in the first post were lifted from the seller's CL ad. He's an amateur photographer, and those pics are nice, so why not? I'm still learning how to use my Canon, despite the Dummy book my wife bought, haha. From here on, most pics you will see will be on the stand in my shop.

jet sanchEz

She's a beaut! Lucky guy.

Funny that the frame has fender eyelets but not the fork, maybe Mr. Mooney can shed some light on that from the serial number.

I'd look for a 10 speed alloy Chorus group to make it a go-fast rando type of racing machine.

Delta brakes would look great and of course an aero Record seatpost and maybe a Brooks Swift, Antique Brown always looks great on a red frame.

Record hubs laced to H+Son TB14 rims are a pretty classic look.

KonAaron Snake 

That customer made a LOT of requests...sort of an odd mix of some british and italian nods to style.Love the color.

Definitely like it, and I'm not sure I've seen that brake bridge on a Mooney before. Odd they didn't go with a head-badge given the other choices.

For build? I'd probably go fat tire roadie with a light rear rack. Maybe a ti Tubus. You can't go wrong with Campy 8sp record...or the 9, especially the alloy earlier variant. Nice alloy bar - maybe traditional Cinelli.

TenGrainBread 

The bike looks to be late 90s to mid-2000s given the head tube extension, which is a more recent design feature.

The presence of rear rack mounts and the head tube extension indicates the bike is intended for sports touring or commuting. But the lack of fender mounts is a bizarre choice given the rack mounts.

I'm sure Mooney can tell you the year and tubing, and maybe even the reasoning behind the somewhat odd frame spec.

I wouldn't build the bike with Sante or Dura Ace, as suggested. The fancy British-style lugs, 70s styling, and sports touring features ask for centerpulls and classic sports touring components in my mind, something like how a 60s or 70s Jack Taylor would have been built.

Some GB Coureur 66 centerpulls or modern equivalent would be cool. Maybe TA cranks and a Suntour Cyclone drivetrain. Some nice 32-35mm tires.

I personally wouldn't put on a traditional racing handlebar like a Cinelli. The deep drop and unusable ramps of a Cinelli cancel out the benefit of the head tube extension. Something with maes or randonneur bend would be better in my mind.

I'll also have to disagree with those who suggested a brown saddle or bar tape. Brown clashes with red. Black is a better choice to my eye.

Rocket-Sauce 

Awesome score. I saw that listed on CL and loved it.
And I am about to start a build thread on my recent Mooney score!

130 rear spacing will fit 11 and 12 speed too.

francophile 

So, related, quick question since I'm seeing it. Can anyone familiar with Mooney provide a guess on this?

Is Mooney not a fan of thinning certain lugs stylistically or is it a by-request kind of thing maybe? I notice most when looking at the seat cluster .... the point forward the seat post, I often see other notorious builders (US, Italian and otherwise) love to really thin down but Mooney left this one rather thick here, starkly perpendicular edges. To me - personally, not to even trying imply anything negative - it's the one thing that looks somewhat out of character when I look how ornate and incredible this frame is otherwise.

shoota 

130mm = 12 speed too. I'd go full Campy Super Record 12s.

TenGrainBread 

None of the lugs on your bike are particularly thin. I'm guessing Mooney took quite a bit of time shaping and carving the lugs so spending even more time thinning them was just not in the books for the price of the bike. Additionally, I've no idea the weight of your bike but it looks to be built with durability in mind.

J.Higgins 

Yer tawkin' me language now! I want to keep it classic-looking, and I love all of your ideas, especially the H+Son rims, which I can get through my distributor.

J.Higgins 

That would probably make the bike go fast enough to go back in time, but I'd rather keep it looking classic with silver components.