jamesdak 

So this was listed locally and I tried to ignore the ad figuring it would sell fast. A week later (this morning) I looked at the ad again and realized I could not build it with the parts for that price. Especially since the seller had good pics and the parts looked pretty dang mint. Seller had it advertised as a SLX bike but it looked like it said Nova Special which I thought were SL. Still with the build I had to go look. Seller did say the frame was an old race bike and had it's share of "scars" but no dents or other structural damage. Needless to say, I do need to find some matching yellow paint.

Turns out the seller was an ex racer/mechanic and had rebuilt this one with a brand new Chorus 10 speed groupset. Wheels are built up with Open Pro Rims and DT butted spokes. Frame was solid with some paint scrapes and such. It does have an old beat up SLX decal on it but a peek inside the seat tube shows no sign at SLX tubing at the bottom of the seattube. No big deal too me as I fully expected it to be a SL frame. Funny thing is the saddle was only about 1/4" lower than my norm and the reach to the handlebars was spot on. That rarely happens. The seatpost is odd for me as is the stem adapter but I've got replacements in my parts bin for sure. I'll try out the saddle to see if it works for me. It's still got the $252 price tag on the bottom of it. Out of curiosity I weighed the bikes as I got it and as in the pics below. 20 lbs 7 ozs. The spare pedals I'll throw on it are 9 ozs so this will be an even 21 lb bike as is. That should drop with a real stem and seatpost as well as a better set of tires. Hoping to get a test on it tomorrow.

It's got the fastback seatstays so from what I've read researching that makes it a later 80s bike. BB seemed to be stamped SL56 and then maybe 9621 but it's hard to make out. This is the opposite of all my Lemonds. The top tube is about 1/4 shorter than the seatpost.

If this is half as good on the road as my CSI I'll be stoked!

scozim 

That is a sweet looking ride!!

Bianchigirll 

Beautiful

alcjphil

What a score. All those great components attached to a very well made beautiful frame. Bicycle bliss

OTS 

Nice
You find and have some mighty fine bikes.
Congrats

Sir_Name 

Nice score! Will be nice to see it with the seatpost and stem from the stash. I’d have trouble not splurging on a Campagnolo Ti post and maybe ITM stem.

The Golden Boy 

Sweet!!!

jamesdak 

Raining today so messing with the various bikes. Swapped out the hard, heavy tires it came with for some nice Veloflex Corsa 700 x 25's. Then I grabbed the really chewed up seatpost that came on the Colnago, wet sanded the upper part, polished it and then swapped it in for the Rock Shox seatpost. Finally threw on a pair of pedals.

As is now it's weighing 20 lbs 9 ozs and is ready for the first test ride. I'll settle on a final seat post once I sort out what stem I'm going to use. Almost put a pair of Zonda wheels on it but the one it came with are so nice, the hubs are smooth like butter!

Latest Pic:


It's getting there.

Classtime 

Can't wait for the ride report. Looks like my kind of bike if I could ever get my hands on alloy Campy 10 Speed. . (Please--No more pictures of that stem&#128578

jamesdak 

Ok, first test was a fail. Headset was binding up and there was no middle ground between binding and knocking from too loose. Everything else worked fine and the bike felt like it really wanted to go. Does feel quite different from the CSI, this one feel more nervous but really hard to tell with the funk front end at the time. Riding position felt great.

Today I finally got into the headset and replaced the knackered bearings. So much better now. The new Deda stem just showed up too so I put that on.

Getting ready for a real test on it in a few minutes.

How it looks now, so much better with that funky stem setup off of it.

jamesdak 

Ok, a so/so test ride today. Everything was working great today and the front end is now sorted out and feeling good. Wind pushed me out for about the first 7 miles but after that I had to work for it a bit. Spent a lot of time in the drops fighting the wind and the position felt great. 22 miles into the ride I was still holding an average pace on this that was above 19 mph. Great pace for the shape I'm in this year and it was better than the 19 mph even pace I did on the Davidson yesterday. That had been my fastest avg pace ride of the year and I held that pace over a 30 mile ride. Today on the Serotta I was doing the same route but cut out about a 5 mile section of it. The bike does not feel as comfortable as the Davidson or my CSI but it moves for sure. Hoping for a good full test of it tomorrow with no winds so I can better judge what I can make the bike do. Today from mile 22 to mile 25 the headwinds totally kicked my butt. No amount of tucking or gear hunting really did me any good. The winds were too strong and I was too old and weak, LOL!

I will say while no where near harsh this is not a champion for riding on our rough chipseal roads. But for a SL bike it's works really well under me. I'm still riding heavy this year at around 190 and a lot of time the SL frames seem to flex under me at around this weight and scrub off speed. I'm not sensing any of that with this one and that's a very, very good thing. Stem is up a bit higher than normal but I was comfortable in the drops with them like that. May leave it awhile and see how it goes.

jamesdak 

So for the heck of it I threw on a set of Campagnolo Zonda's I had around. Mounted up some Continental GP400s II 700 x 25 tires for more volume and then adjusted the calipers for the wider wheels. If I like how this feels on the road today then I'll be done sorting this one out. That's good because I've got too many bike projects going right now.

How it looks now with the Zonda's on it. Weighed in at 20 lbs 6 ozs this morning as pictured.