JackJohn

I understand the dilemma, maybe rephrasing the question: what are your favorites "so far" ?

JackJohn

Poll updated!!! thanks for all your replies!

Campy Record hubs and Stronglight Delta/A9 headsets deserve a mention among preferences...

it's getting interesting...

steelbikeguy

The Altenburger parts are rather interesting. I've only seen a couple of bikes with them, and I think they were both Cinellis.
The derailleur does benefit from a special style of dropout, though...





Steve in Peoria

non-fixie 

Well OK, I'll play.

There are certain parts that I always buy whenever I come across them at reasonable prices, knowing I will want to use them some day. An evidence-based way of defining "favorite", methinks.

Cinq Vis cranksets, especially the venerable Stronglight 49D, are always on my shopping list. Light, good-looking and extremely versatile. With their 50.4 BCD they can be made into great compact double or triple sets for touring.



MAFAC "RACER" brakes. The best brakes in the pro peloton for decades, and because they ended up on cheap bikes in great numbers they can still be found for very little money. From last week's swap meet:



They will go with the rest:



Huret Duopar derailleurs. I like them, but in our flat-as-a-pancake country they are quite rare, so when I find one and it's not too expensive, I'll buy it.



Two-bolt seatposts. Campagnolo items are nice, but often quite expensive. Probably because they're called reggiselle. Anyway, SR seatposts work just as well, and are a lot cheaper. I always keep an eye out for them. These two came with me last week: a "CUSTOM" and a "ROYAL".



Leather saddles. Unsprung racing and touring models. The brand and age are less important to me than shape or condition. Saddles like this Idéale 90 make me very happy:

jPrichard10 

I see some people saying 7700 Dura Ace... Can we even call that vintage? Anyway, ai really love the 6500 and 7700 for classic bikes that have to be modernized, but their Achilles heel is that bottom bracket. Hard to say it's the best when an integral component is obsolete, and on top of that was only made as a cartridge bottom bracket.

Anyway:
Drivetrain: Cyclone derailleurs are my go-to, but I wonder if the first gen Superbe have longer lasting springs. Pair those with the ratcheting Suntour downtube shifters, the nice looking ones.

Crank set: almost everything I choose here is a Japanese clone of Campagnolo. Crankset and hubs are the only places I would be tempted to actually go with Campy. I think I'm actually torn between SR Royal (racey), Super Apex touring (compact double) or the Ritchey Logic triple (touring). On a bike that I don't mind mashing a bunch of random components on, I might take the Stronglight 99bis as my top choice. 86bcd is great; wish it was used more. I use modern pedals, so no real recommendation there.

Seatpost: is the Titanium record seatpost too new? That's always my top choice. Other than that, probably the SR Royal again, or Suntour Superbe fluted. Brooks Cambium isn't vintage, so no saddle recs from me.

Stem/bars: Titan stem and Philippe bars. Otherwise, Ice go consistent with SR extra light Royal stem and boring SR bars. I guess I'm not too picky on the cockpit.

Brakes: as much as I want to skip over Shimano entirely, I really really like the 6207 Shimano 600 levers and calipers. But top choice probably goes to New Gran Compe 202 and 450 center pulls that came on the 1982 Trek 720. First gen Suntour Superbe also a contender.

Hubs: two weeks ago I would have had a different answer, but I got my first Phil Woods (1st Gen) and they won me over. Still think they look boring. Sherriff star like Campy or Sunshine Pro-Am high flange win on looks for me. If I'm going cassette hubs, Shimano 6400.

Rims: No strong opinions here. Mavic MA2s if it's newer or Super Champion 58 for a more classic look.

kunsunoke 

• SHIFTERS: Simplex Retrofriction; Dura-Ace SL-BS7700 bar-end (indexed)
• REAR DER.: Dura-Ace 7800
• FRONT DER.: Suntour Superbe Pro
• BRAKE LEVERS: Shimano 600 (Tricolor) aero
• BRAKE CALIPERS: Dura-Ace 7700
• CRANK: (TIE) Sugino XD; Ritchey Logic
• PEDALS: Suntour Superbe,Pro sealed
• BOTTOM BRACKET: Campagnolo Nuovo Record (cup/cone); Phil Wood (sealed)
• HEADSET: Campagnolo Nuovo Record / Super Record (cup/cone); Chris King 1" threaded (cartridge)
• HUBS: Campagnolo Nuovo Record (freewheel); Shimano 600 Tricolor (cassette)
• FW: Suntour New Winner Pro
• RIMS: Mavic GP4
• SEATPOST: American Classic
• SADDLE: San Marco Rolls Titanium

non-fixie 

Forgot a couple of things thing in my previous post.

Which is a shame, because if there is one item among my favorites that deserves the moniker "best" it is this one. Maxi-car hubs. I have two touring wheel sets from the early eighties with these hubs, and man, are they smooth!



The other thing is Alfredo Binda toe straps.




I always bring my lucky Binda strap along on trips. They are very useful, such as when your trouser button goes AWOL:

steelbikeguy

Boy, I'm glad it's not just me having issues with Cyclone derailleur springs!
I've had the lower pivot springs break (at the bend), and the spring in the parallelogram weakens over time. Granted, the derailleurs have a fair bit of usage, but it's still a problem.

My first experience with a parallelogram spring that weakened was on a Superbe rear derailleur (2nd or 3rd gen?), so it's not just Cyclones with this issue.

I've got a few bikes with the Campy NR or SR rear derailleurs, and haven't seen any spring issues on them. They haven't seen as many miles as my bikes with SunTour, so perhaps that's the reason? Or maybe Campy's higher prices were due to more care during the design and fabrication of the springs? SunTour was certainly controlling costs by eliminating some of the more exotic details, such as the bronze bushings at the parallelogram plate hinges, so it seems possible that the same might be true for the springs.

Steve in Peoria

jPrichard10 

One of my many bicycle business ideas that would absolutely not pay off is copying the Suntour Cyclone but with threaded pins to make it rebuildable. Add some stronger springs and modify geometry until it shares the same cable pull as "the other guys" so it can be used with indexed shifters while you're at it.

Surely SunXCD would want to take this on, right? You could sell dozens of these things!

jdawginsc 

• SHIFTERS: Simplex Retrofriction Or Dura Ace 7400 series for index
• REAR DER.: SunTour Superbe friction and Dura Ace 7400 indexing
• FRONT DER. SunTour Cyclone Mark 2
• BRAKE LEVERS: Shimano 600 SLR
• BRAKE CALIPERS: Mafac Racer
• CRANK: Super Record or Super Mighty
• PEDALS: Suntour Superbe Pro, SR Sp11
• BOTTOM BRACKET: OMAS Big sliding
• HEADSET: Stronglight A9
• Hubs: Mavic 550
• FW: Suntour New Winner Pro/Regina CX series
• RIMS: Mavic Open Pro
• SEATPOST: Gipiemme aero
• SADDLE: Turbo

JackJohn

If I see one here in huret-land I can let you know…

non-fixie 

Thank you, Jacques-Jean. Much appreciated. But I've got two of them lying on my desk doing nothing right now, so for now I'm good.

However, should you come across an interesting randonneur or demi-course cadre in my 63-64cm preferred size for not too much money, I wouldn't mind a heads-up.

jeirvine 

• SHIFTERS: Simplex retrofriction
• REAR DER.: Suntour Vx-S
• FRONT DER.: Campy NR
• BRAKE LEVERS: Mafac Racer
• BRAKE CALIPERS: Mafac racer
• CRANK: Sugino Mighty Tour
• PEDALS: Campy NR pista
• BOTTOM BRACKET: Phil Wood
• HEADSET: Stronglight Delta/A9
• HUBS: Omas (Ti)
• FW: Suntour Winner Pro
• RIMS: Super Champion Gentleman
• SEATPOST: Campy Superleggero two-bolt
• SADDLE: Brooks Pro

JackJohn

Oh well, I might have one for you… will pm details…

JackJohn

Poll updated!!!

- Simplex retrofriction shifters eventually emerge
- Suntour dominates rear/front derailleurs although with multiple models
- Campy Record hubs and Stronglight A9/Delta headset confirm their leadership.

Keefusb

I have a mix of Dura Ace 7700 and 7800 on my road bikes. I especially like the DA 7800 brakes and outer chain rings. In my opinion the Dura Ace 7700 grupo is the best-looking and perhaps the best-functioning components that I have used. I'm also partial to the Ultegra 6400 ("Tri-color") grupo, especially the FD and the Tri-color hubs. I have several wheelsets I have built up around the 6400 hubs, and they have all been performing flawlessly for years.

I also have a strong preference for Avocet AirO2 R saddles, and Profile bars, stems and seat posts. The Profile bits are a bit heavy, but they are all strong and bulletproof.

Dovetube

Crankarms that are larger than the tretubi tubes seem icky. I would have thought that Superbe accushift drivetrain was earlier than 90's; I had that paired with Galli KL calipers on my Nashbar Razesa.

JackJohn

thanks, I see there are several preferences for these DA versions, I’m leaving them outside the poll because of their dating but it’s well noted…

Keefusb

DA 7700 although just shy of being 30 years old, seems to be a big favorite of BF members. I'm still amazed at how well both sets of DA 7700 brifters on my bikes work, the shifting is fast and crisp, even under load. Almost telepathic.

Also, the DA 7800 brake calipers are the best stopping rim brakes I have ever used. When they are set up with the tri-compound KoolStop pads, they are tough to beat in terms of stopping power, modulation, and smoothness.

I'm in the process of gathering another DA 7700/DA 7800 gruppo (just need 7700 brifters, HP-6500 headset and another Flight Deck computer) for current spares, or to build out another 1990's - 2000's era road bike, preferably a Litespeed or similar Ti frame.

jeirvine 

A related question: what's the best year for components? I think almost all of my choices were available in 1978. And my favorite frame is from that year.

MooneyBloke

Agree. The only reason I have a Fizik on my errand bike, is the Rolls wore out, and I had the other saddle in my parts bin. The Peter Mooneys and the TT bike have SSM Rolls Ti saddles.

Keefusb

I'm a big Root Boy Slim fan, used to see him playing live all the time around the DMV and RVA areas. Too bad he passed at such a young age. He went to Yale and was in the same fraternity as George W. Bush.

MooneyBloke

I know that some people here are passionately anti-brifter, but shifting from the hoods is something I'm reluctant to give up. Campy 10-speed is over twenty years old at this point, and thus vintage if you use the fashion industry notion of vintage. My Peter Mooney bikes from 2000 and 2002 with hand built wheels (a good way to spend time on a rainy day) with the best cotton sew-ups are about as close meeting my notion of perfect for the time in which I bought them as makes no never mind. I have my best in parts and frames right now, and all I might change is to have the works of maybe some other domestic master frame builder with the same group and wheels.

The Golden Boy 

rootboy was a former member here who passed away several years ago. He was great at crafting metal and leather goods as well as building beautiful bikes.

JackJohn

related and definitely as much subjective…