sheddle

Changed up a few things, removed the Cinelli Criterium bars in favor of Cinelli Giro d'Italia road bars, and replaced the absurd straight-block Campagnolo 13-18 freewheel with a slightly less absurd Suntour 13-24 freewheel, and got new white bartape (thought about other colors, but white seems like the best option)



Thought about doing the "correct" thing and routing the cables over the handlebars, but I need to put a light and possibly computer on them. Also got a bike shop to repack the front wheel bearings, which were getting a bit noisy.

Next on the list is a replacement Columbus decal (for some reason, De Rosa put them on the outside of the clear coat meaning they always get torn up), and possibly a smaller crank, because a 53-42 is maybe not the best for Seattle terrain.

wsolberg

My favorite bike (although I do not own one) Nice saddle. What make and model?

sheddle

Selle Italia RS80, which I gather is basically the same thing as the Turbo

DeanSams

Here's an old schwinn brought back to life with 1x9 XT groupset and brooks leather.

fishboy316

70 Raleigh mk1. Love this bike!

DQRider 

It's easy to see why. That's a beauty.

.

fishboy316

Thanks DQRider. Thanks for your service!

Padgett

My Schwinn I use daily to get to school. Took it all apart when bought but it just needed cleaning. All bearings were fine and everything in good condition. Must've been stored inside.

DQRider 

I haven't posted these to this thread yet. So, for the benefit of those who haven't seen them, I present my take on the classic steel Cafe Racer bike.

First up, my Bianchi Sport SX:



And then, my 1981 Waterford Trek 412:



This is a build-style specially suited to my riding environment; wide gears to tackle the big hill I live on top of, and a more upright riding position for comfort - disguised by upside-down touring bars mounted on a riser stem. Some folks criticize this, but they have been riding drop-bar road bikes all their lives. I came up on Mountain Bikes in the mid-`80s, on Big Bear and Mammoth Mountains in Southern California. Better days, those... But I don't like drop bars at all. Give me one place to grip, but make it comfortable, and I can ride all day long. Of course, 40 years on motorcycles probably had some influence as well.

My current project is an Italian Viner Special Touring frame that I am also building into a cafe racer. But this bike will have much more of the traditional road bike ethos in its design. Really, the only thing that will be missing will be drop bars. But the SOMA Sparrow handlebar that I'm using is plenty sporty enough for this build. Stay tuned...

.

Jon T

My N bike. '84 PH10LE purchased new. I love the ride and handling. Jon

royphotog

Very nice, I had a varsity for years back in high school and college (way back) but it got stolen off my front porch.

tyler_fred

DQR, I love all of your builds. Always cool, always done to the *nth degree.

royphotog

At least purchased in 1979, Been hanging in the garage

My 1979 Centurion.
for years, got it down this year, new tires, new seat, peddles, bag and just the other day, new chain.

mechanicmatt

This De Rosa is beautiful. Nice find! Love the high flange hubs. New pics somewhere???

DQRider 

Thanks, @tyler_fred. It's nice to be appreciated. I know that some elements of my designs irritate the sensibilities of roadbike purists, but I'm not building these bikes for them.

I'm building them for guys like myself, who have never gotten used to drop bars and prefer a more upright riding position. I still want the bikes to be stylish and beautiful, but comfortable as well.

That's not as easy as it sounds. I've seen quite a few examples where the builder used some of the same ideas and parts, but ended up with some kind of Frankenbike that didn't look "right" at all. Here is a case in point, from the "Are You Looking For One Of These?" thread:



First, they chose the wrong frame to start with, then they just went crazy with the accessories and no sense of proportion. This is one of the worst I've seen where the quality parts (Brooks Grips, Woody's rear mudguard) are just wasted alongside the Chinese knockoff of a Brooks Swallow saddle, and that absolutely HIDEOUS seatpost rack.

Hey, at least I've stopped using sprung Brooks Flyers on my roadbike builds. The Viner I'm working on now gets a nice, lightweight, reissued Selle Italia Turbo in dark tan suede. So far, without the brakes and cables installed, it weighs 20.6 lbs. I'm predicting 23 lbs total for the finished bike.

.

bianchi4harley

I've been motivated by the Classic and Vintage forums on here and decided to resurrect my old 82 Bianchi IV. It was a good opportunity to build a new bike for my son who helped out with the build. I was planning to sandblasts & repaint it in the original colour, but when I asked him what colour he wanted.... he chose White. Then we worked together on the remaining accents and components. Ultegra 9sp groupo with a set of new Fulcrum wheels, new wider handlebars, and some cool white/black platform pedals. Got the decals and the front crest online. Just got it together tonight.... test ride tomorrow.
I have had many great rides on this bike, and loved the way it handled. I'm glad to see it back to life.

JayVee

Great father-son project!

stormpeakco

Beautiful pics.
New to this forum, and haven't read all of the posts on the 87 pages of this thread (yet)....but is there a generally accepted/set definition/guideline for classic/vintage bicycles?
Is it similar to classic (~20+ year old) and antique (~45) autos?
https://www.wcshipping.com/blog/clas...age-vs-antique

smontanaro 

Not as tightly defined as all that. Generally speaking, most of the bikes which turn up here tend to be 90s or earlier, of the steel road bike variety, with a median in the early 80s I'd guess, but that's not hard and fast. You'll see the occasional balloon tire bike, and there are threads about resto-mod builds (newer components on older frames) or the reverse (not sure what to call them - a waste of vintage components? ). Many folks have some very special bikes.There's a great thread right now about the restoration of a mid-40s Herse tandem, but there's also lots of bike boom stuff (early 70s -crank 'em out as fast as possible low- to mid-range bikes) as well. We are a pretty accommodating lot.

qcpmsame 

stormpeakco , Nothing I could add to what Skip already told you above, but I'd like to say Welcome To The C&V Gang.

Bill

camjr

DQRider 

That's a beautiful bike. I've been looking at one for sale locally, and the only thing that has put me off is the seller's claim that it is built with Reynolds 531 tubing. Of course the seat tube decal has been obliterated, just like on this one. My research indicates that this model was only available with either butted hi-ten tubing or Vitus 172 chrome moly. Is that correct, or was there actually a year or more when they built these from 531? The paint scheme is the same as yours.

Thanks.

camjr

Thank you. The frame is Vitus 172 tubing. Mine is a 1976 model, and has been in the family since purchased new. The ride is fantastic.

Cheers!

tashi

What a paint job! Awesome!

Terzot

nice bikes