tkamd73 

Very pretty, but if you plan on actually putting some miles on your bike, it’s a lot of money to pay for single pivot brakes, and derailleurs that don’t shift any better then your basic Suntour. That said, unlimited funds I’d buy that set for my 83 Bianchi.
Tim

longhitv

Yep Exactly.

ofajen

That hasn’t been my experience with frames from the 70s and 80s. I’ve been able to build up the bikes the way I wanted cheaply and easily. Indeed, people just about give away decent 26” wheels these days. And all the tools I need are still in production.

Otto

longhitv

*******************Update*******************

This popped up from a local Bike Mechanic in Vancouver who builds and upgrades his own and does some race events himself. It was his training bike inside.

Its a bit of a mish mash of new and lighter parts on a 2014 Masi Partenza. Aluminum frame - carbon forks.
This bike is generally an entry level bike. But he added a lot of other parts.
New FSA brakes and new carbon stem, new mavic helium rear wheel and Trek race lite front off a Trek Madone, all new cables/housing The owner changed the seat post to carbon Bontrager.
Shifters/derailleurs are upgraded shimano.
He replaced the cassette and chain with a better one. I paid $500 CDN ($350 USD)

I feel like that's an ok price.
So I'm happy to get out and use this and I'm going to hunt for a mid 90s steal frame bike and go back and forth. I sold my 82 Raleigh as it was just the worst. I also have a 1986 Lotus Mountain bike Pro Series 3000M. That Mountain bike is 10times faster than that 1982 Raleigh

Next sunny day I'm heading out to use it. And Ill hunt for a nice steel 90s example.

Fridays buy 2014 mish mash Masi

longhitv

The Lotus and Wifes cruiser hang outside under cover. Its not great but I have no space in the garage
Under cover from rain and snow but still exposed to air.

icemilkcoffee 

You are missing out on half the fun. Bikes are relatively easy to work on (compared with cars). Most problems would be obvious before you get to the end of the driveway.

hsuBM

Personally, I’d take that Lotus over the Masi.

I’d probably put $3K into new wheels, tires, drivetrain, handlebars, levers, saddle, racks, bags, fenders, and have myself a perfect bike that I wouldn’t care that I couldn’t sell for more than $1,200.

The Masi is probably great for sprinting up smooth paved hills. I hope you enjoy it.

icemilkcoffee 

Nice deal on that Masi bike. If you are still looking for a steel frame to build up- look into a Bianchi Volpe. This is one of the earlier cyclo-cross type bikes on the market. Bianchi made this model from the mid / late 80's all the way to today, so they are out there on the used market.

These bikes came with 32mm tires stock, and you can go up from there.
In general, bikes with caliper brakes will max out at around 32mm, while with cantilever brakes - sky is the limit (actually the fork/frame tubes are the limit)

longhitv

The lotus is actually very light. It has hybrid tires on it for pavement.
it needs a better handlebar set up than it has.

jamesdak 

Some of us do. I'll do everything from NOS frames new components to just refurb of old stuff. The joy is in the ride.


NOS Frame with Mint older components

NOS Frame, new components

NOS Frame, new components

NOS Frame, new and mint components

Mint frame with excellent used components

Mint frame with mostly new components

Frame with so so cosmetic wear and new components.

BobbyG

You can't know how a bike is going to feel without riding it. You can guess; you can even make an educated guess; but you can't know how your body will interact with it until your body interacts with it.

Tires also make a huge difference and can transform how a bike rides.

I guess my advice is ride as many bikes as you can and narrow it down to the bike that speaks to you.

That's what I did when I bought my last bike, and it's still magic.

rekmeyata

There are a lot of vintage bikes you can find, but you have to know a lot about components from that era so you know if you're getting good components, you also have to be sure that when looking at a vintage bike that it has all the factor original components, some people strip the vintage components off put on cheap modern stuff and then sell the vintage components for a nice profit while telling people they have modernized the bike hinting that it's now better then before, not true, plus it ruins the vintage value of the bike.

There are quite a few nice new bikes you can get for under $1,000, there is even one that has the classic look called the Raleigh Grand Sport that's less than a grand.

longhitv

100% There is a nice Rocky Mountain locally. 80s.

I think there are plenty of classic complete bikes out there in peoples garages.

Danhedonia

Just didn't work out that way for me with a PX-10.

rekmeyata

No doubt, but they're not selling them, they just leave them there to collect dust and cobwebs. I was at a garage sale once that an elderly couple, about in their mid 80's, in the garage was a vintage Colnago bike, I asked how much was the bike thinking it was part of the garage sale, "it's not for sale" said the old man, ok I said, but his wife kept prodding him to get rid of the darn thing because he hadn't ridden it in over 40 years! I didn't want to appear pushy so just told him to give me a price and I'll consider it, "it's not for sale" he repeated, again his wife stepped in but to no avail, the old guy said he might want to ride it again, and his wife laughed when he said that. I gave him my name and phone number if he ever changed his mind, I never got the call. I walked around a bit looking at other stuff till his wife stopped bugging him to sell it, then I left. That was about 13 years ago, he's probably dead, makes me wonder whatever happened to the bike.

DocJames

Maybe he took it out for one last ride -- and wrecked. And that is how he passed on. Probably not, but you never know.

DocJames

Hadn't heard of this model, went and looked it up. My goodness! What a sweet looking ride. I love the classic lines with modern componentry. Sadly it's totally out of stock and sold out everywhere. But man, that's a lot of bike for $799. I'm seriously considering getting on their wait list.

tallbikeman

Love this older Bianchi. Way Cool!!!

tallbikeman

Just wanting to comment on older style parts. Concerning freewheels. I thought that freewheels died out in the 90's when the cassette came along. I had to purchase a freewheel for an older bike just a couple of years ago. That is when I learned that freewheels are everywhere. All new Hybrids by Trek Specialized ect came with freewheels up into the 2000's and maybe even today. All department store bikes pretty much come with freewheels. Freewheels can be had as 9 speeds. So, no, freewheels did not die. That said if you are a Clyde and strong then you have to change out any freewheel hub for a cassette hub as you will bend that rear axle on a regular basis. Rear Cassette hubs typically come in 130mm and 135mm wide. Older frames from the 60's through the 90's or so may have a different spacing on the rear. Steel frames are easy to re-space accurately but aluminum, carbon fiber, titanium frames are not possible to re-space. So if buying an older bike frame and trading out the freewheel hub for a cassette keep in mind the rear spacing. There are work-a-rounds for everything but I just re-space my older steel frames to 130mm. Much has been made of the replacing older parts with newer actually being more expensive than the frame is worth. Several posters have already noted that after rebuilding and replacing parts on older frames they were still cheaper than newer or new equipment. I have found that several pound differences in weight between bicycles made no difference in how I placed when I raced bicycle. The older steel frame bicycles are very cheap and rebuilding is the principal cost. I don't worry about keeping an older bicycle original in form. I have no trouble fitting my favorite rear derailleur, Shimano Shadow MTB, onto a 1980 bicycle along with a 10 speed cassette hub. I love friction shifters but use Microshift index shifting on several bikes also. I don't use any disc brakes because all my frames are pre disc frames and forks. I love aero wheelsets on my bicycles so my 1980 bicycle has a modern aero wheelset. How do they work. Components are mostly backwards compatible into the 1960's and 70's. They work great and even though I spent more money than the frames and forks were worth I spent thousands less than new today. I put on about 3500miles a year on my fleet of bicycles. Am I ever going to make money on any of the bikes I own and maintain. No. I am going to wear them out and replace parts as needed.

Wildwood 

Need a reference for any 8 or 9sp freewheel.
Please.

JohnDThompson 

There are a few 8-speed freewheels available. I'm not aware of any 9-speed freewheels, but I haven't looked very hard. IMO, anything beyond a 7-speed is a real risk for broken axles, especially if you weigh more than about 80kg (176#). If you really need that many sprockets on the rear cluster, it's best to use a freehub rather than a freewheel.

Wildwood 

No, not looking to buy.
I never really looked into anything beyond 6, but acquired a couple of bikes with 7sp.
I just assumed by mid-90's, all the high-end lightweights had moved past 7freewhl to 8 on a freehub w/ cassette. And the rest had stayed 7 (or less) This is really a beneficial upgrade (freehub) for riders.

But what do I know???

That's why I am here, to learn arcane stuff. . That's useful.
Sometimes ya sift a lot of......... stuff... for what is personally applicable.

Trakhak

Allaying concerns with respect to aluminum fatigue life since 1997:

12 High-End Frames in EFBe Fatigue Test

(TLDR: two aluminum frames and one carbon fiber frame did not fail in the fatigue testing; all of the steel and titanium frames failed.)

hsuBM

per the OP:

you don’t need 9 speed, 8 speed, or even 7 speed for this. A regular 14-28 5 speed freewheel tugged at by a 52/42 pair of rings as found on 4/5 bikes with skinny tubes painted Celeste will cover any amount of wind in any direction on rides like that described in the OP.


What is this talk about spreading the rear of the frame for?


The only “nice” components that’ll effect those rides are the BB, the chain, the wheel bearings, and mostly the tires and saddle.

wheel bearings and BB can be serviced into niceness and chains are cheap.

There’s five or so posters in here who would be the worst bartenders ever...
customer: Hey I’d like a beer.
bartender 1: well we’ve got that but, man, you’ll love a pint of rum chased with a LI iced tea!
customer: hmmm
bartender 2: nah, for your size, you should totally just down a jar of applejack, hoot five or six lines of ‘caine and drop some LSD!

You could just put a fresh chain, some Rene Herse Naches Pass tires, and some different bars (North Road, Porteur, Albatross, etc.) on that old Lotus and call it a day.

longhitv

Im the Original Poster.

Yes, Admittedly Im lost when people are talking about all the gearing.

Im a bigger guy, a Clydesdale I think is the term. 😀

Sounds like a mid to late 90s frame with Columbus steel is the recommendation.

Building a bike I think would be fun, although the expense would be double what it were if I just bought one.

Unless I found a reasonable frame of choice, Klien, Bianchi, etc and puchased a donor bike with good gear and moved it all over.

Tallbikeman and Jamesdak have some amazing looking bikes.

Thats the look Im going for.

The Lotus, I got for free. So its a easy cruiser with the wife. I don't love the handlebars or seat so its something that could be changed for sure.