1986 Gardin Campy Super Record Restoration Project
08-02-20, 07:21 PM
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1986 Gardin Campy Super Record Restoration Project
Picked this up last weekend with my 17 year old son who asked for help buying a road bike for himself, to my surprise & delight he preferred vintage to more modern. Paid $425 CAD (figure about $300 USD).
My research has told me Gardin was a Italian immigrant to Canada who started a bicycle company in the 70s (another more famous Canadian - Marinoni also did this but hand-built the frames himself for I'm not sure how long, most people are familiar with Marinoni, I own two steel lugged Marinoni's built by the man). Gardin I believe created a company to sell Italian style road bicycles (not sure who built them). Anyway, my eye can tell this is a quality frame, not campy dropouts but respectable Gipiemme units. Plain Columbus decal with name on bottom in 52cm, so I'm guessing SL? Bike weights just over 22lbs. The big draw for me was the Super Record parts, all but the brake levers and headset are SR mid 80's. It’s surprising how mint the RD is (pulleys seem to have no wear)
I know that I could flip the parts and make a few bucks but the intent was to buy and make it like new (love restoring) and then my son will have an amazing road bike (he discovered that his MTB takes more effort to ride to his buddies many blocks away LOL). I put another $70 CAD into white saddle leather (restored the Concor saddle) white bar tape and white cable housings (my son wants white).
Here are pictures as bought:
I swapped the very nice Suntour six speed corn cob freewheel for a five speed Suntour unit with a 28 tooth as it was the only spare one I had available. The lower 1st gear is a must with 53/42 up front
I tackled the saddle first. The old cover came off without taking any foam cushion with it
Here are a couple saddle restore shots
I was torn how to deal with some of the more noticeable paint chipping. Sometimes I find the best rattle can match, mask the decals and respray the whole frame. Rattle can paint never holds up the same, the match I found was not perfect, bit darker. I decided to try selective spot painting with a bit of fade, masking around some lug curves to avoid painting areas that didn’t need it. Pretty happy with the result.
Paint before:
I had some Campy break levers with white hoods to replace the beaten up Diacompe units. I decide to leave the Shimano 600 headset as the only Japanese component, it's a really nice unit. The Super Record seat post sorley needed a sanding and polish. One of the most scratched posts I've ever polished.
It’s a solid bike, we both love it. At this point he has no interest in toe clips or clipless pedals, time will tell if he changes his mind. I warned him the white bar tape and saddle will attract dirt, he’s not to concerned.
My research has told me Gardin was a Italian immigrant to Canada who started a bicycle company in the 70s (another more famous Canadian - Marinoni also did this but hand-built the frames himself for I'm not sure how long, most people are familiar with Marinoni, I own two steel lugged Marinoni's built by the man). Gardin I believe created a company to sell Italian style road bicycles (not sure who built them). Anyway, my eye can tell this is a quality frame, not campy dropouts but respectable Gipiemme units. Plain Columbus decal with name on bottom in 52cm, so I'm guessing SL? Bike weights just over 22lbs. The big draw for me was the Super Record parts, all but the brake levers and headset are SR mid 80's. It’s surprising how mint the RD is (pulleys seem to have no wear)
I know that I could flip the parts and make a few bucks but the intent was to buy and make it like new (love restoring) and then my son will have an amazing road bike (he discovered that his MTB takes more effort to ride to his buddies many blocks away LOL). I put another $70 CAD into white saddle leather (restored the Concor saddle) white bar tape and white cable housings (my son wants white).
Here are pictures as bought:
I swapped the very nice Suntour six speed corn cob freewheel for a five speed Suntour unit with a 28 tooth as it was the only spare one I had available. The lower 1st gear is a must with 53/42 up front
I tackled the saddle first. The old cover came off without taking any foam cushion with it
Here are a couple saddle restore shots
I was torn how to deal with some of the more noticeable paint chipping. Sometimes I find the best rattle can match, mask the decals and respray the whole frame. Rattle can paint never holds up the same, the match I found was not perfect, bit darker. I decided to try selective spot painting with a bit of fade, masking around some lug curves to avoid painting areas that didn’t need it. Pretty happy with the result.
Paint before:
I had some Campy break levers with white hoods to replace the beaten up Diacompe units. I decide to leave the Shimano 600 headset as the only Japanese component, it's a really nice unit. The Super Record seat post sorley needed a sanding and polish. One of the most scratched posts I've ever polished.
It’s a solid bike, we both love it. At this point he has no interest in toe clips or clipless pedals, time will tell if he changes his mind. I warned him the white bar tape and saddle will attract dirt, he’s not to concerned.
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08-02-20, 08:53 PM
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Super nice final results here, but dang, that saddle refurb work is AMAZING!
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08-03-20, 12:22 PM
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08-03-20, 01:59 PM
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Very Cool, hope your Son rides the wheels off it!
08-03-20, 02:03 PM
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Good deal on the bike and the work you did is hawt. I rebuilt an 85 Gardin for my daughter about 6 years ago and she outgrew it in a year. So I ride it 
