Retro roadies- old frames with STI's or Ergos
#7151
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Witcomb
Here is my 1991 Witcomb which was recently handed down to me by my father. It still has the same 7-speed setup when it was built, so I just replaced the shifters with Microshift and a Deore LX NOS front derailleur (had campy record brake levers, 105 front mech, and 600 indexed shifters). Long term I'm thinking of going 8-speed in the back with 10-speed Campy brifters, but this will work for now. Oh, and I threw on my fav quill stem, the Nitto Dynamic II.
#7152
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Here is my 1991 Witcomb which was recently handed down to me by my father. It still has the same 7-speed setup when it was built, so I just replaced the shifters with Microshift and a Deore LX NOS front derailleur (had campy record brake levers, 105 front mech, and 600 indexed shifters). Long term I'm thinking of going 8-speed in the back with 10-speed Campy brifters, but this will work for now. Oh, and I threw on my fav quill stem, the Nitto Dynamic II.
#7153
Full Member
1981 Bertoni Superlight - latest iteration
Thanks to BF members Snibop (frame and panto’d bits) and Brockd15, I gave myself hours of entertainment putting this together. I originally built it up with period correct Campy parts, but somehow it never got ridden much. So when I impulsively purchased the SRAM Force 10 groupset I thought of the Bertoni, which looks super in black. I built the wheels with Mavic Open Pros and All City Go Devil hubs, spread the rear triangle to fit and voila! I swapped the 53/39 crankset for a 50/34 compact one to better deal with our local terrain and it works well. (Although the 53/39 SRAM crankset is an absolute color match to the frame, I go for comfort every time.) This really is too nice a frame to languish in the back of the bike line!
Last edited by Honusms; 02-17-19 at 05:27 PM.
#7154
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Thanks to BF members Snibop (frame and panto’d bits) and Brockd15, I gave myself hours of entertainment putting this together. I originally built it up with period correct Campy parts, but somehow it never got ridden much. So when I impulsively purchased the SRAM Force 10 groupset I thought of the Bertoni, which looks super in black. I built the wheels with Mavic Open Pros and All City Go Devil hubs, spread the rear triangle to fit and voila! I swapped the 53/39 crankset for a 50/34 compact one to better deal with our local terrain and it works well. (Although the 53/39 SRAM crankset is an absolute color match to the frame, I go for comfort every time.) This really is too nice a frame to languish in the back of the bike line!
.....................and that Bertoni turned out very nice, good work.
#7155
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@Honusms I had meant to write, back when you had a picture of you with the huge Crescent wrench (getting a bottom bracket cup off), that I couldn't wait to see your Bertoni completed because I thought that the SRAM groupset was going to look stellar on that frame. And it does! Beautiful work!!
#7156
Full Member
Thank you, @RiddleOfSteel. I’m very new to this brifter stuff, but I think I’ll get used to it. Just need to keep track in my mind where the chain is ... The challenge of getting the aesthetics right is what I like ☺️ Gotta respect the original design. I just wish the newer cranksets weren’t so garishly branded.
#7157
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Thank you, @RiddleOfSteel. I’m very new to this brifter stuff, but I think I’ll get used to it. Just need to keep track in my mind where the chain is ... The challenge of getting the aesthetics right is what I like ☺️ Gotta respect the original design. I just wish the newer cranksets weren’t so garishly branded.
The branding and color scheme, well, and design, of newer cranksets and groupsets in general makes matching them to vintage frames a bit tricky. Non-metallic paint colors with simple graphics allow a sort of 'blank slate' approach with components. The paint and graphics recede, allowing the wheels and boldly-designed groupset to take center stage. Metallic paint colors like their complement of silver-adorned groupsets (kind of anything up until about 2010 it seems), though in the case of certain colors, like your Bertoni, the moody grey-champagne tone works with the serious-yet-restrained black components and finishing elements (bar tape, saddle, etc).
Modern groupset design has pretty well matched modern frame design in that both are bolder and louder and thicker etc etc etc. Put the newest stuff on a slender, traditionally-tubed steel frame and the frame will ask "Why are you shouting?" Big diameter frames like original Cannondales from the '80s (and continuing on) and Kleins allow the newest components to be hung on them because the big tubes match the thick, bold components (mostly cranksets). Both are proportional to each other. Cannondale's simpler non-metallic paint colors around the '90s help that as well.
If choosing a house is guided by the mantra "Location, location, location!" then outfitting C&V bikes in general (let alone with brifters/modern pieces) lives by "Composition, composition, composition!"
#7158
Senior Member
The brifter stuff is something I'm a big fan of. I still do downtube shifting on a few bikes--indexed very preferably (9 or 10 speeds, too)--and enjoy it, but I like the best-of-both-worlds result of modern (aka very capable) componentry with a vintage frame (ride quality and handling, looks too).
The branding and color scheme, well, and design, of newer cranksets and groupsets in general makes matching them to vintage frames a bit tricky. Non-metallic paint colors with simple graphics allow a sort of 'blank slate' approach with components. The paint and graphics recede, allowing the wheels and boldly-designed groupset to take center stage. Metallic paint colors like their complement of silver-adorned groupsets (kind of anything up until about 2010 it seems), though in the case of certain colors, like your Bertoni, the moody grey-champagne tone works with the serious-yet-restrained black components and finishing elements (bar tape, saddle, etc).
Modern groupset design has pretty well matched modern frame design in that both are bolder and louder and thicker etc etc etc. Put the newest stuff on a slender, traditionally-tubed steel frame and the frame will ask "Why are you shouting?" Big diameter frames like original Cannondales from the '80s (and continuing on) and Kleins allow the newest components to be hung on them because the big tubes match the thick, bold components (mostly cranksets). Both are proportional to each other. Cannondale's simpler non-metallic paint colors around the '90s help that as well.
If choosing a house is guided by the mantra "Location, location, location!" then outfitting C&V bikes in general (let alone with brifters/modern pieces) lives by "Composition, composition, composition!"
The branding and color scheme, well, and design, of newer cranksets and groupsets in general makes matching them to vintage frames a bit tricky. Non-metallic paint colors with simple graphics allow a sort of 'blank slate' approach with components. The paint and graphics recede, allowing the wheels and boldly-designed groupset to take center stage. Metallic paint colors like their complement of silver-adorned groupsets (kind of anything up until about 2010 it seems), though in the case of certain colors, like your Bertoni, the moody grey-champagne tone works with the serious-yet-restrained black components and finishing elements (bar tape, saddle, etc).
Modern groupset design has pretty well matched modern frame design in that both are bolder and louder and thicker etc etc etc. Put the newest stuff on a slender, traditionally-tubed steel frame and the frame will ask "Why are you shouting?" Big diameter frames like original Cannondales from the '80s (and continuing on) and Kleins allow the newest components to be hung on them because the big tubes match the thick, bold components (mostly cranksets). Both are proportional to each other. Cannondale's simpler non-metallic paint colors around the '90s help that as well.
If choosing a house is guided by the mantra "Location, location, location!" then outfitting C&V bikes in general (let alone with brifters/modern pieces) lives by "Composition, composition, composition!"
Last edited by sdn40; 02-18-19 at 09:52 PM.
#7159
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And I just recently found a bike that does better without modern wheels. I mocked up a Prologue frame with a modern wheelset after stripping and it didn't work. It puzzled me because I find modern wheels always look good to me. I finally figured out that the Prologue has enough going on with the two tone fade and multiple decals, that a modern wheelset just makes it too busy. I tried Fulcrum 5's and Bontrager Race Lites. I'll put the near new anodized MA 40's back on even though its more weight. Of course, this is all personal opinion
Red/white Prologues (or any red/white bike) are tough to visually compose. It's either fully or near fully traditional (silver components, 7-speed, silver rims or MA40 dark grey) or fully aggressive with all black components and deep section wheels. The red/white just sort of sits on the fence, visually, to me, and it's up to me to take it one direction or the other. It offers no hints or desires, unlike, say a black or dark colored bike.
Anyway, here's what I have, and I think it's one of the best ways to compose this bike (there are not many bad ways to compose a grey/black Prologue, IMO). [pardon the interior shot]
#7160
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Thank you, @RiddleOfSteel. I’m very new to this brifter stuff, but I think I’ll get used to it. Just need to keep track in my mind where the chain is ... The challenge of getting the aesthetics right is what I like ☺️ Gotta respect the original design. I just wish the newer cranksets weren’t so garishly branded.
#7161
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Every bike is a balance.
The black and grey of the groupset matches the paint, and works to make this smoked and sinister looking bike.
Red/white Prologues (or any red/white bike) are tough to visually compose.
Anyway, here's what I have, and I think it's one of the best ways to compose this bike (there are not many bad ways to compose a grey/black Prologue, IMO).
The black and grey of the groupset matches the paint, and works to make this smoked and sinister looking bike.
Red/white Prologues (or any red/white bike) are tough to visually compose.
Anyway, here's what I have, and I think it's one of the best ways to compose this bike (there are not many bad ways to compose a grey/black Prologue, IMO).
#7162
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Has anyone tried this sort of conversion on a bike with "aero" mounted DT shifters? Ie, downtube shifters on the top of the DT instead of the sides? How does it look?
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#7163
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I'm going to put barcons on a bike with an aero mount in the near future. I can post a pic here so you can see what it looks like. The cable stop will look a little flashier than normal cable stops.
#7164
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Cool. Looking forward to it.
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#7166
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#7167
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#7168
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An original Suntour part, to work with their bar ends. Probably unobtainium, but I lucked into one with the frame.
#7169
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Here is my 1991 Witcomb which was recently handed down to me by my father. It still has the same 7-speed setup when it was built, so I just replaced the shifters with Microshift and a Deore LX NOS front derailleur (had campy record brake levers, 105 front mech, and 600 indexed shifters). Long term I'm thinking of going 8-speed in the back with 10-speed Campy brifters, but this will work for now. Oh, and I threw on my fav quill stem, the Nitto Dynamic II.
love the stem- it's my favorite too for vintage bikes. I have the stem on the 3 older road bikes i use the most. I like it way more than a super high -17deg technomic.
Last edited by mstateglfr; 03-01-19 at 07:24 PM.
#7170
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#7171
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My 85 TREK 500 Series just updated with a full, near new 105 8 speed group and a few other goodies. Rides nice and smooth
on 25mm GP 4000 tires.
And as purchased
on 25mm GP 4000 tires.
And as purchased
#7173
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To make the tube strong enough I cut another tube to the same length then slit so it sits inside the first tube
Tighening the nuts expands the overall length. I go about half as much again to allow for springing back.
Its one job that has to be done slow and careful.
#7174
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Braze On is Better
I have never liked these bolt-ons but as I have got older, don't like downtube shifters either.
Most of my restorations for old frames involves respraying and new decals, so I normally remove any evidence of downshifters, and braze a single or double underneath.
If if want to use modern gear then I have to use modern shifters, but I have also installed handlebar top thumb
shifters such as Falcon which are easy to use but of course no indexing. Depends on the bike and who it's for..
Most of my restorations for old frames involves respraying and new decals, so I normally remove any evidence of downshifters, and braze a single or double underneath.
If if want to use modern gear then I have to use modern shifters, but I have also installed handlebar top thumb
shifters such as Falcon which are easy to use but of course no indexing. Depends on the bike and who it's for..
#7175
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