jamesdak 

That I did not ask him but I will tonight when I reply and ask him. I did find another post on a similar era Ribble bike from several years ago where that posted stated that the decals like mine are no longer available. I have searched and been unable to find the same font/size myself. So maybe it's original although I'd be really surprised.

The paint was pretty flat when I got it. I used a paint polish and wax before snapping the pics. Decals all want to lift but that's supposedly the norm for these even when new.

jamesdak 

Ok, a little more information from Eddy Martens. They used to sell unpainted frames to a Belgium wholesaler back in the day who used the Brand Diamond. There still is a Diamond bike company in Belgium so I'll try reaching out to them too.

Still hoping Ribble comes up with some answers.

I also was playing around with wheels on this bike the other night. A set of Fulcrum Racing 3's with Conti GP 4000s II (my normal preferred setup) got the bike down to 20 lbs 5 ozs. That tells me this will be easy to get under 20 lbs if I want with no carbon fiber on it. Then I threw on a set of wheels with some tubular Veloflex Vlaanderen tires. They cleared the frames and brakes just fine despite their larger size.

Snow and ice down on the roads now so this probably won't get a test ride until the spring. I don't like taking my nice bikes out on the winter roads.

jamesdak 

Well, spring is coming so I'm getting this ready for it's initial ride. Put a used set of Kyserium SL wheels I found locally on it with some Vittoria 700 x 25 Open Corsa CX tires. I also swapped out the too narrow Selle Italia Coda (I think) saddle for an old Avocet 02 saddle for now. I've got a black and green Fabric saddle on the way. It's now weighing a respectable 20 lbs even. Pretty dang good for a 1985 steel bike in my book. I'm still thinking this is going to get the R8000 groupset on it but want to get some rides on it first to see how it feels to me.

I still have to try and find a green bar tape that matches the dark green on this frame and then switch the backwards brake levers around. If I do go with a black groupset on this I'll probably grab the black Eurus wheels off my Davidson and put these Mavics on the Impulse. They both should look better that way.

Anyway, as it sits today. Just realized I haven't put a bottle cage on. So the 20 lbs isn't a legit weight by my standards.

dddd

That thing looks sharp!

Was the frame spaced 130 already?

I'm guessing that the Dura-Ace SIS levers do actually index with the pre-SIS rear derailer, is that in fact the case here?

jamesdak 

No, but it it did have a modern Tiagra wheelset shoved in there. I did the same with this Mavic wheel but will either cold set it if going to the R8000 parts or find a proper 7 speed wheelset for it.

As to the indexing... The bike is a hodge podge of parts. There is no adjuster of any kind on it right now for the RD. So I've got it set up right now where the limit screws keep me out of trouble in friction mode. When I switch to indexing it's jumping around a good bit. The cable tension might still be off as I just quick set it to a general tightness since it was very loose when shifted all the way to the smallest cog. I've got a broken RD-7400 that I can steal an adjuster off of it see if it will work. I've also got a NOS 7402 I can try on this if I want to keep it more period correct. They are SL-7402 shifters on it so they can shift the 8 speed. Would just need to throw on an 8 speed cassette and then dial the RD back in.

Edit: And that's why the indexing is off. 8 speed shifters, 7 speed cassette....duh....

top506

Those shifters will only index with a 74XX-series RD.

Top

jamesdak 

Unless the RD has the alternate cable mounting position, right? Not sure about the old Shimano 600 on it. Not a big deal though as I do have the right RD-7402 on hand if I decide to stick with the old school setup.

jeirvine 

Looks like it may have been raced, since it has a number tab on the TT.

jamesdak 

Yep, but I haven't been able to confirm at all. Eddy knows nothing and Ribble was not able to explain how the bike came to look like it does.

jamesdak 

Just to update on the shifting questions earlier. I did try moving the cable to the RD around on the mounting bolt but no matter where I put it the indexing was off.

So, I threw on the Dura Ace RD-7402 I had as well as a brand new 8 speed cassette, chain, and cable. Tweaked in the adjustment in just a few minutes and BAM, perfect indexing over all 8 gears. Now it's going to be hard to upgrade this with the new Ultegra.

I also cold set the rear the other day to accommodate the modern wheel. The new fabric saddle arrived yesterday and I put that on. The green of the saddle is pretty spot on with the darker green of the bike and the handlebar tape. Now I need to find matching replacement tape so I can swap around the backwards brake setup. Oh, threw on a bottle cage too. Today it weighed in as in pic below at 20 lbs 4 ozs. 6 inches of fresh snow this morning so far and still coming down hard. I have no idea when I'm going to be able to get this out for a test.

How it's looking today. Sorry for the poor quality, indoor, cellphone pic.

jamesdak 

Well, I finally got around to swapping the brakes around on this today so that they are not backwards. In the process I confirmed that it's a solid tube running through the top tube for the rear brake cable.

Before I started though I stumbled on a mint set of Dura Ace 7400 brifters at a great price. So I guess I may be making more changed to this if I add those on. I also held off using the matching replacement green tape I bought since I may be changing these out shortly. I just used some black SRAM cork tape I had on hand for now.

Hopefully tomorrow it'll get it's first test ride... finally.

rccardr 

unworthy1

the race "number tab" was a popular feature on MANY Benelux frames, doesn't mean this was any team's issue. I was going to guess "Benelux" but maybe a "Cornelo" or "Vagacini", but if Martens claims it why argue?

jamesdak 

Yeah, I have no doubts as to the Martelly origins. The rest, who knows? Temps will be near 40 this afternoon so I'll take this out for a few miles. Still coming off 4 months of doctor banishment from riding so it'll be a month or so before I work myself back into shape where I can properly judge a new bike.

jamesdak 

Another update for those referencing one of these bikes. I'm getting my fitness back so I got this out and ready for a better test. Looking at how much room the Vittoria 700 x23's had I decided to try a set of Conti GP4000s II 700 x28's I had on hand. They fit just fine with several mm's of clearance all around still. On the wheels over inflated a bit to 80/90 psi they are both measuring at right around 28.5mm. There's easily room for true to size 30mm tires. I'll report back on the ride once the rains stop and it warms up and drys up.

jamesdak 

Ok, I think I got enough miles in before the storm killed my pace to judge the bike. First off I'll say the tire change made a big difference in feel. The first couple of times I took the bike out it was real skittish on the rough, cracked chipseal and never felt planted. If that makes sense. Today I was feeling good and the bike took off like a rocket. I was running my fastest pace of the year and had to keep checking the various wind indicators because I thought I was riding a strong tailwind. But for the first 9 miles I was actually going into a very mild headwind. The bike was stable and taking everything my legs could throw at it. It is an SL frame and I'm still overweight at 197 lbs today but I really did not feel any flex. When I stood and attacked on rolling hills it seemed to dance lightly under me. Miles 7 and 8 were uphill yet I still carried a 19-20 mph pace here which is really good for me. This bike does like to dive into the turns though and is a bit nervous on the front end. Nervous in a good way though. I stopped at mile 9 to fix my MP3 player and a wall of wind blew in bringing unforecasted rain and hail. So the rest of the ride just planned sucked and I cursed the stupid weathermen the whole way back. I really think if it had stayed calm I could have pulled off a really fast ride as I was still running a pace faster than 20 mph at the 9 mile mark before the storm. Anyway, I finally feel safe in saying this bike is a true rocketship. What a blast I had before the storm blew in!

As I rode it today with the 700 x 28 tires. I also took off the messed up green tape and put on some black I had temporarily. One I install the brifters and other Dura Ace parts I'll rewrap them in the bright green tape I found that matches the original.

thinktubes 

jamesdak 

Well my support car was busy today...

jamesdak 

Well, I still haven't "updated" this yet. But today I threw on a decent C.F. tubular setup for a test ride tomorrow. As in tonight's picture the bike is sitting at 19 lbs 9 ozs. If it's fairly calm tomorrow I'll take it out and wring it out as much as I can.

jamesdak 

Hmmmm......So after two other rides this week (Y-Foil & PDG Paramount) where I held a better than 20 mph avg I decided to give this bike with it's deep, light tubular wheels a shot at that pace. I just couldn't do it. It felt like I was fighting to hold speed the whole route and despite working hard I ended with just a 19.1 mph avg. Today the bike felt flexy as I got on it and just didn't react to what I was putting into it. The rear seemed to be jumping around a good bit as well. Weird when I read my impressions of how it rode in my post back in April when it was running the clincher wheels and bigger tires. Doesn't seem like the different wheel/tires would make such a big difference but maybe it does.

rccardr 

Clearly, you've completely ruined it, forever. No chance of bringing it back.
Please send to me immediately for free disposal service.

easyupbug 

So true, I have tried everything to get these straight, latest attempts have been some 2 layers of blue masking tape to set a limit on the upper and one of the transfer sides, and then hope.

jamesdak 

LOL, not a chance.

I will be playing with different wheel/tire combinations on it until I find the sweet spot for this setup.