RiddleOfSteel

Destiny is yours, should you care to take part in it!!

Trust me, I saw this and debated pulling the trigger. Alas, I love Cannondales, and they only sort of love me back it seems. Darn steel...still, my heart will always beat for vintage aluminum, even if sellers take photos of it inexplicably upside down...

sdn40

Certainly tempting - going in my ponder list.

laffin_boy

Don't know if anyone wiil wade to the end of this ancient thread but here's my very un-traditional treatment of a classic Vitus 992 which got lightweight 650 x 32 wheels (w/ long reach brakes) along with a "compact", although classic looking, crankset, fairly wide range cassette & 10 sp Ultegra brifters. Rides like a dream but still handles as well as it did w/ 700x 23's:

thook

wow! is that 650a? b? c?

yes....i waded. it's a great thread....for obvious reasons

edit:...oh, it's in your sig. anyway, beautiful....exquisite!

seypat

Shiny and super hot!

Milan dura ace

damn, this bike look very clean

Essthreetee

Well...here I go again. All of my bikes have ended up in this category, so why should it be any different for my latest acquisition?
Started with my 2001 LeMond Nevada City....I know it’s not REALLY C&V, but it IS STEEL... anyway, upgraded its group to Ultegra 11 speed.
Then my 1984 Torpado got modernized to 10 speed 105 group...before selling off the F/F and moving the group to my 1991 Merlin...where it now lives.
Then my 1984 Schwinn Tempo got 9 speed Sora.
Now, the 198x Mikkelsen “Road Special” that is on its way to me will be joining forces with a SRAM Rival 10 speed group. I will post pics once it gets here and gets built...just wanted to post.

rockdoc

I think it's a Comp GS; not sure. Sweet ride with Dura Ace 9 speed and cross clinchers. Along with a couple of old pics with downtube shifters. Sweet bike either way.

samkl 

My own retro roadie, sans STI's but with a modern drivetrain and wheels. Building this up as a rando bike, so sadly all the gorgeous 1st-gen black Dura Ace - with its ultra-high gearing - had to come off. Still, really happy with how it turned out! A little dirty from a ride on a muddy trail...

droppedandlost 

Nice mix of black and silver, well done

nightshade18

My 1992 Raleigh mtrax 6000R. Mixture of titanium and 531 tubes. Wearing mostly 105 5800 and a sneaky compact chainset

BFisher

Hey now!

That is a very nice looking build! Attractive bike all around.

How's the ride?

mstateglfr 

Never seen this model before or anything similar from Raleigh USA. Really nice colors and a sharp looking modernization by you!

nightshade18

Thanks guys. It's a very smooth ride, feels very quick and low compared to the modern endurance type geometry I'm used to. I've only taken it out twice, but both times its attracted attention.

Essthreetee

Here is my group in order of age:
1983 Mikkelsen Road Special - SRAM Rival 10 speed
1984 Schwinn Tempo - Shimano Sora 9 speed
1992 Merlin Titanium - Shimano 105 10 speed
2001 LeMond Nevada City - Shimano Ultegra 11 speed

Rocket-Sauce 

^^^You have good taste and all your bikes look to be my size.... NICE

athrowawaynic

Beautiful. Which is your favorite?

Essthreetee

Comfort/Fit - Mikkelsen
Smooth Ride - Merlin
What started it all - LeMond
Purely Sentimental - Schwinn - This is just in honor of a bike my grandpa bought me before he died.

mikemowbz

I might have to make a whole thread for this one at some point - but this seems like the place to show off the whip I've most been enjoying so far this summer!

Ryffranck, hand built in Sherbrooke, Québec. Columbus EL OS. 'Freuler' style geo w/extended HT and ST ('dropped' TT). R8000 Ultegra w/H+Son Archetypes.

Rides nice.

Milan dura ace

Beautiful steed,i have a cannondale Sr 2000 1989,coming soon photos

RiddleOfSteel

Another day, er month, another groupset on my 1987 Schwinn Prologue. This particular build was finished up as I sat with an injured left IT band from a 4th of July ride. Apparently too many miles too close together? I just rode an easy 1.5 miles today on this bike after sitting out two weeks. Need more time to heal more, but at least it was progress! The Prologue needs no introduction, and its superb qualities have been written elsewhere with different modern groupsets.

In short, I took the 7900-gen Dura-Ace from it to put on another bike. I felt somewhat bad as all the 7900 parts and these wheels were more or less, finally, her parts. An interim groupset was placed on the Prologue, and I waited for some sort of inspiration which came in the form of yet another stupid cheap electronic shifting groupset from a local LBS. I have always wanted Di2 on a bike as I thought the shifters looked the business and felt really nice. And now I finally have a groupset of it!

This era of Di2 is the Ultegra level, 10-speed "6700" generation. "xx70" designates Di2 in a Shimano generation of this era ("xx50" is the Di2 designation now, with "xx20" being hydraulic braking, and "xx70" being hydraulic braking with Di2). While 7970 (10-speed, same era as 6700) was Shimano's first Di2 groupset, 6770 was Shimano's first Di2 groupset to feature their E-tubes and modern/current wire connection system. Compatibility!!! And as such, the shifters can be programmed to shift the newer 11-speed in addition to easily accepting the upgraded internal battery offered several years after the debut of the 6770 groupset.

So that's a lot of modern mumbo jumbo, and I took the plunge on a(nother) used, 5-7 year old electronic shifting groupset, and you know what happened when I hooked everything up without having charged it yet (charge level was then unknown)? It worked. Welcome to Japan, everyone.

Time will tell how the battery will perform, but so far it's just fine. The system is tune-able on the bike and is easier than the Campagnolo EPS system. Shift button effort is higher/different than the Campy system (they did a really great job) and shift time is near the same speed, if a touch faster. Shifting accuracy is very good and the RD possesses plenty of "authority" which disallows noisy delayed shifts on the small end of the cassette where less chain tension is present.

We're here for the pictures, though. Di2 wire routers/guides again were instrumental in keeping a clean look. The shifter junction box on the stem/bars is bulkier and less willing to work with a stealthy vintage setup--EPS was much more cooperative on that front. Tires are Vittoria Corsa G/G+ 23mm. They absolutely make the look of the bike, IMO. Bike is 20.5 lb as shown.



My super light and venerable Williams Maxim ACS bars are back on a flagship bike! The "textured" paddles engage a bigger cog/gear as they are the "big lever" while the aft-located smooth paddles engage smaller gears/cogs. So for all of you people that dislike Shimano's mechanical STI units for their lateral movement under brake lever actuation, just move to Di2! Another fun fact: the shifter lever blade "flare" (when viewing the levers head-on) on the right/rear shifter is much more so than the flare on the left/front shifter. Shifter body is extremely comfortable to hold. Likely the best I've ever felt.


Ok, these calipers are 6800-era Ultegra (11-speed), but employ nearly the same aesthetic while possessing the new-era of Shimano's brake lever pull. New pads. I uhhhh....kinda wish it had a lot more initial bite. There's certainly a ton of modulation, but that's because it feels indifferent initially. I'll need more miles and pad break-in (maybe?) to see if anything changes. [update: they work just fine. Very smooth, just keep squeezing harder when on the hoods and rear tire lock-up is easy] In the drops, the brakes obviously clamp extremely hard. The shifter/brake lever blade on these Di2 levers is quite full feeling. Feels really nice and substantial.


There are totally not a bunch of wires wound around the base of the seat tube.... I had to pick up the 6700 crankset separately, but was able to find a good deal on one. Looks really nice with the frame's paint!


The matte finish of this era of Shimano groupset (7900/6700/5700) lends itself to not looking great when scratched, even when touched up. Oh well. At least it works extremely well. Very quick, sharp, confident feeling shifts.

malcala622

@mikemowbz Holy moly donuts that Ryffranck!!

Stupid sexy Flanders....

Reynolds 531 

I love the bikes pictured, and what y'all have done.
This is the best place to ask:

Is there a "retro" appearing brifter? I mean gum hoods, brake cables coming out the top, but with hidden shifters?

If so, that would be really cool, to have a completely CV bike but keeping both hands on the bars when riding in a group.

I looked around on ebay and don't see anything, partly because what name would I search for?
"gum brifter"?
" sorta old school lever"?

curbtender

I've not seen any. Brifters use that top portion of the levers for its mechanics.

kwhiner

Used Dura Ace 9 speed barends rather than brifters, also have XT 730 crankset and XT 750 RD, Tektro dual pivot brakes, and some other goodies. Frame was purchased off CL($50) and powdercoated here in Reno. Rides very well.