RobbieTunes

Reynolds 501 goodness, or 555? BF member cehowardGS has collected one of each model from the Racing USA series, and they are really cool bikes, with really heavy bottom brackets!

Nice build, all the way. Thanks for posting this.

And welcome to the forum, too.

waters60

I had the '92 Chorus group on it originally. Over the years I swapped to a Chorus racing triple on the front and a Chorus long cage in the back. Of course, the Ergo levers needed replacement, but I got many years out of the old Chorus parts. Part of me misses the brushed / polished aluminum classic look, but riding the new Chorus is a dream! What started the chain reaction was that I was tired of scrounging for 8 speed Chorus rear hubs. Once I decided to update it made sense to go whole hog.

ls1togo

NOS 90 Colnago Super with Shimano 105 11-speed and 60mm carbon tubs...ridden only about 15 miles so far...

Sixty Fiver

Anywhere they want to...

Forrest got a 9 speed upgrade last fall... I don't have much use / need for brifters but the 9 speed bar ends are just sweet.

ezln64

there's been two bikes in here recently with 8/9 speed bits and 8/9 speed indexed dt shifters.

I'm wondering if some old campy friction shifters would be up to the task of shifting through a 9 speed cassette? what's the 'widest' number of cogs you've been able to shift through? using what components?

RobbieTunes

most of them will pull plenty of cable to do the job

rms13

Robbie, I think you have almost convinced me to place my order. I am starting to believe I "need" a Wraith

RobbieTunes

Wraith moved me from 12 to 4 bikes, and moved 2 of my 3 carbon bikes out.

It has almost convinced me to sell my remaining carbon bike, which is a Cinelli, therefore no slouch, and the only one I've seen of that model.

I had some C&V cred. I had some riding cred. I thought I knew my place in the firmaments.
Then, I bought a Wraith.
Things changed.

I realized a couple of things. I still have some C&V cred. I still have some riding cred.
My place has shifted, the planets re-aligned.

5 bikes is a max (Italian C&V, an Ironman, a carbon, and two Wraiths). There is no need for more.

If I wasn't afflicted by lugged steelyitis and a respect for Cinelli, 2 would do, a Hustle and a Paycheck.
One thing Wraith does not do is exxagerate. They have me for that.

icepick_trotsky 

This seems a good a place as any to ask this question. What are the choices out there for a carbon fork with a 1" steer tube?

coastiescott

Not particularly, this thread is about shifters not forks...
I think Origin8 makes one, I'm sure several others do too.

mech4matsnova

My '92 Bianchi Forza I just finished (CL find):



I added the Mavic wheelset (28h, I'm a Clydesdale)
Continental Sprinter tires (x23)
Deda bars
Coda stem
Velo seat
And a Jandd micro bag

It's my only road bike right now, I may go to a 9 or 10 speed cassette in the next month or so.

bres dad

Nashbar has one. Little heavy for carbon fiber but works well on my '89 Schwinn 754.

Camilo

Is it fair to assume you checked out the taller Nitto offerings? Maybe they don't have enough reach? I agree that a quill would look better. I have a Nitto Technomic Deluxe which gets my bars up nice and high. It's not as tall as the regular Technomic, but has has a different finish, like the Pearl (I happen to prefer it, but the regular Technomic is fine). I have it paired with a Soma Hwy1 bar in silver which looks great and has a shape similar to what you're using, I think.

Camilo

If we're allowed to post DT shifters, I just might upload my most recent (maybe final) iteration of my 80s Sannino built with 90s Campy 8 speed SyncroII shifters and similar later era levers, brakes, etc.

As for your second question: I've used friction shifters on 8, 9 and 10 speed cassettes. I believe you'll find there's plenty of range in the shifter. The cassette spacing is the issue. 8 is really OK, but when you get to 9 and 10, it just gets a little fussy for my taste. I could probably learn to do it, but it's just too fine a mark to hit to hit and I really prefer indexed for 8 and more. I would think I hit the shift and even have it trimmed quiet running, but then the chain would jump a cog. The shift and the trim are just tiny movements on the lever and it was too distracting (too much hand time on the lever) for me. Not like the quick "grosser" movement need for accurate shifting with a 5-7 speed or the even quicker and surer click of indexed.

For what it's worth, my Campy Syncro II 8 speed shifters work perfectly..... with a Shimano 8 speed hub/cassette.

I originally built the bike with 9 speed Dura Ace indexed DT shifters with the same wheel + 9 speed cassette after trying the friction shifters, and that worked really well too of course. I'd go with Campy 9 speed if they made a Syncro 9 speed DT shifter but 8 sprockets work just fine (same range as the 9 speed and 10 speed bikes I have).

RobbieTunes

There are almost always a few available, comrade....eBay will have some, always does, Q-Roo, Kestrel, others. Easton's EC90 was the best, but Look had the better value IMO. Try calling Performance or nashbar directly.

I've tried a few, used some. Depending on the fork, you may not see significant improvement. I've had much better results replacing a whippy aluminum fork with carbon than good steel forks with carbon. I've replaced a few Ironman forks with carbon, always went back to the OEM steel one. You'd think I'd learn. In that, I'm with bres dad, above. I put one on a Centurion Facet, realized an immediate difference over their very stiff aluminum fork. I've also done this on a Schwinn 564 that had an abominable fork; replaced it with a white Kestrel EMS and it was a new bike. The current owner says people mistake it for a carbon bike all the time.

I think some builders offered forks that were part of the engineered, designed package. I think some builders offered good forks as a plugged-in component. It just seems that way sometimes.

In my experience with 1" carbon forks, market-wise, eBay is where sellers are trying to take advantage of the short supply, and CL is where sellers are trying to get rid of them. I've also bought entire bikes for $50 to get the 1" carbon fork on them. Think aluminum Schwinns, etc. Scour CL for bikes/bike parts and look at the lower-end aluminum bikes (KHS, Trek, Schwinn, others) and most have carbon forks. Figure out if they're 1". You'll have a headset and fork, and often can part out the rest.

xcmaniac

Beauty Bianchi, but in my opinion silver quill stem will be better.

pm04

Posted this in the Raleigh Grand Prix thread but included here also.

Raleigh USA '86 Grand Prix
Updated with 105 STI / Sora mix (9 Speed).


Just getting back into Road cycling, Lovin it

icepick_trotsky 

Nifty paint!

jpsawyer

Heres a link showing you how to use 10 speed campagnolo bar ends as down tube shifters for those of you that want to do it. https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...onversion.html

RobbieTunes

I know one that has done it, in Iowa, successfully, thirdgenbird here on BF.

T Stew

Question for upgrading vintage... I see on here there are lots of folks with mixed parts and I'm a bit confused on what needs to be matched and what you can mix. Lets say I want to upgrade my old Suntour Sprint 7 speed to a modern 11 speed, I know I'll need new wheel w/ freehub, cassette, rear derailleur, and chain.. lets say 11 spd Campy Chorus cassette, chain, Athena rear Derailleur and Ergos... Can I leave the chainset alone with the vintage stuff and friction dt shifter? (I'd still use both Ergos so they match, just the one would just be for brakes). I don't actually shift off the large chainring hardly ever anyhow, for specific reason, and because its pretty flat around here anyhow. Want to upgrade but not spend a fortune on a complete groupset, but I'm not sure what all wiill mix and match. I don't see why the cranks and chainrings would really matter or are the shape of the teeth different now-a-days?

D1andonlyDman

You'd need an 11-speed chain, which is significantly narrower than a 7-speed chain. The narrow chain will cause problems with the older crankset. The teeth on the crankset are probably too wide for the 11-speed chain, so it might well stick on the chainring. In addition, when you did shift off of the big ring, you would have a tendency for the narrow chain to fall between the rings, rather than on the rings.

My experience is that cranksets up to 9 speed are pretty compatible with 7 and 8, and 9 speed drivetrains in general, and 10 speed are pretty compatible with 9, but more than that is a problem - In other words, moving from 7 to 11 speeds means you almost certainly need to change out the cranks - and you probably need a new bottom bracket as well, since 11 speed cranks don't come with square taper BBs, but other newer architectures.

One other complication - I don't think Shimano makes 11 speed DT shifters that have friction shifting on the front side. Their 9 and 10 speed DT shifters do have friction shifting on the front.

My suggestion - Upgrade to 9 or 10 speed, not 11 speed. Moving to 9 speed will allow you to retain your front cranks and BB, and you can get the Shimano DT shifters which will do what you want. Moving to 10 Speed will mean you probably want to get a new crankset (but one that takes a square taper BB). But you can get a clean used Chorus 10 speed 53/39 crankset for ~ $40 on ebay, not too bad.

Given that you say your terrain is pretty flat, I don't think you'll miss having 11 speed, except for the newest/greatest factor.

T Stew

Thanks, that makes sense now. I threw 11 speed out there but I don't have any particular desire to have the latest greatest so yeah 9 or 10 speed certainly in the running too. I'm not sure if it changes your answer but you missunderstood one point: I don't want DT shifters - I want brifters - just thought I'd keep the down tube shifter on the front gears since I don't use them and if it saves me from having to buy new derailleur and crank set. I may still upgrade everything but entertaining the possibility of just doing what I need and maybe being able to buy higher end parts if its just some of the parts.

plonz 

I've seen the Technomic but not the Deluxe. Call me vain but I ended up going with what I thought would be most aesthetically pleasing given the circumstances. I need 130mm reach on this bike and that, in conjunction with a -17/18 degree quill stem, would mean a silly amount of stem sticking out of the head tube to get the height I needed. A Technomic sticking out 6 inches on my beach cruiser is one thing but not what I was going for on this bike (there's that vanity thing again ). I could have used a mountain bike stem with positive rise but ultimately decided the threadless Ritchey classic with +6 degree rise was the better of the two alternatives. Thanks for the tip on the Nitto Deluxe though; might come in handy on another bike I'm building.

D1andonlyDman

Well, I actually really like the Shimano Dura Ace 9 and 10 speed downtube index shifters, and they are also cheaper than brifters (between $65-70 a pair bought new). I also find that they shift more accurately and cleaner than brifters because of the shorter cable run (which avoids a couple of cable bends around the handlebars). Plus, you would have a set of matching shifters that do what you want, not one brifter, and one used only as a brake lever, and 1 downtube shifter. But you could certainly go with one DT shifter and one brifter if you want. I just think it would look weird. But your bike, your preference. These Shimano DT shifters use friction on the front, and will work with just about any bottom pull Front Derailleur, so you won't need a new one.

Also, right now, 9-speed parts in general are dirt cheap on the aftermarket.

When I recently built up my Paramount Series 7 frame (I went with a 9x3 drivetrain using a tripleized Campy Record crankset, and the rest Shimano), I found that going 9x3 saved me about $50 compared to going 10x2, and around $100 compared to 10x3. I didn't even really price out going 11x2, but it probablly would have been around $200 more than the 9x3 build I went with.