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Recent Univega Competizione find

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Recent Univega Competizione find

Old 06-04-18, 01:51 AM
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Recent Univega Competizione find

This is one of those ebay finds that you don't expect, that make you a little nervous, and about which you ultimately have no regrets. I've had three Univegas -- first a 54cm that was too small, and then a 58cm, which was too big. At 56cm, this one is perfect. It arrived missing only the stem and handlebars, which the seller had parted out separately (neato Nitto aero bits, which I am happy not to have), and covered in a protective layer of grime. After some degreasing with rubbing alcohol, some new grease, and a coat of wax, it shined up beautifully. Had a busy weekend...

Some details:


Seller's pic


Tange Ritzy alloy headset


Sunshine Pro-Am hubs


Original tires (dried and cracked)


Serial starts with J -- 1982?

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Old 06-04-18, 01:56 AM
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More details


Suntour Pro dropouts


Shimano fork ends


Tange fork, with some illustrative grime


Badly pitted spindle -- this is a goner (but the cups are in great shape)


Araya rims
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Old 06-04-18, 02:10 AM
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Frame all clean


All cleaned up and roadworthy, but not yet final. Low mileage drivetrain moved over from my previous Univega, including Suntour 14-32 freewheel and Sakae CX triple (vs. the Aerox crankset that came mounted). Brooks saddle, temporary bars, Superbe levers. Wheels are Mavic clinchers laced to Sunshine Gyromaster.


It came with a short cage Cyclone MKII, but I added a GT version I recently overhauled and had in the parts bin. Matching front derailleur was in great shape, just needed cleaning. Also came with the "good" Laprade seat post, with the alloy mounting bits at the top.


Original AGC 300 brakes are in excellent shape, but I will likely replace them with a set of Superbe brakes I have that match the levers I mounted.


And what really sealed the deal -- the hat and vintage gloves fit!

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Old 06-04-18, 05:46 AM
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I remember discussing this bicycle in the Appraisals & Inquiries forum. It's slightly older than originally suggested, with the serial number and steering tube code both indicating a 1982 model manufactured in very late 1981. Did you check the rear derailleur code to verify if it is OEM?
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Old 06-04-18, 09:05 AM
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Yes, thanks for the reminder! The code is XJ, which according to the Vintage Trek site should indicate an Oct 1981 manufacture. It’s not definitive proof, but it certainly doesn’t weaken the OEM argument.
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Old 06-04-18, 11:20 PM
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Following up with some more date codes...

Cyclone MKII front derailleur is stamped XG, which is July 1981. The Pro-Am hubs that came with the bike are stamped “12 81” for Dec 1981.

My guess is that the only things the previous owner swapped out were the stem, bars, and brake levers, and the shop that did it probably kept the old ones, since the originals would not have been perceived as special at the time.
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Old 06-04-18, 11:58 PM
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I love these Univegas. They don't get enough respect.
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Old 06-05-18, 05:58 AM
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Originally Posted by noobinsf
Yes, thanks for the reminder! The code is XJ, which according to the Vintage Trek site should indicate an Oct 1981 manufacture. It’s not definitive proof, but it certainly doesn’t weaken the OEM argument.
That would certainly increase my confidence level for the Cyclone derailleurs being OEM.
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Old 06-05-18, 11:56 PM
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Love it!
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Old 06-06-18, 08:52 AM
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Originally Posted by vintagerando
I love these Univegas. They don't get enough respect.
Originally Posted by artclone
Love it!
Thanks, I'm thrilled!
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Old 10-06-19, 02:43 PM
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This one has taken me a long time. I wanted to make it a brifter bike, but I couldn’t get past some issues with the front shifting — the cable stop wasn’t immobile, the housing fought with the ferrules, the position felt a smidge too stretched out. I gave up and came back to friction, and I couldn’t be more happy. Here is the current build:

- Suntour Cyclone GT rd and fd
- Shimano bar end pods with Suntour friction shifters
- 7-speed Sunrace freewheel 13-28
- Sakae CX triple with 50-34-30 (compact + extra climbing capacity, and didn’t want to swap out the triple that I already had on it)
- 105 brake calipers
- Tektro RL341 short reach aero levers





Last edited by noobinsf; 10-08-19 at 04:49 PM.
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Old 10-06-19, 02:47 PM
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I had a cable stop from before, the one from a kind Aussie soul who machined them as custom pieces, but I couldn’t figure out a satisfying way to shim it to immobilize it. So, I followed a thread here to jury rig a spare Symmetric base to mount a couple of standard stops.

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Old 10-06-19, 02:48 PM
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And still haven’t figured out the right place to put this sticker, since these shifters came from the box...

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Old 10-06-19, 02:51 PM
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Great looking bike and fine job making all of this work right.
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Old 10-06-19, 03:20 PM
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Those comps are high quality frames. Digging the blue colour. I had an 83 Sportour and thought it was super, yours has icing!
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Old 10-06-19, 04:47 PM
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High quality for sure. Could be raced if you threw on some sew ups. These were from the top tier of Univega. The price was a bit lower than the Superstrada because it wasn't Dura Ace. I preferred the Suntour and Gran Compe stuff myself.

The electric blue color was a trend at the time. Everyone was ripping off Gios, who started it.
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Old 10-06-19, 05:03 PM
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I have what I believe is a 1984 Univega Gran Premio (does not have under BB cable routing) which was next in line down from the Competizone. It was marketed as a "club bike", whatever that means, maybe slightly more relaxed angles. It has that same blue color.

Fine riding machine, I would take this thing anywhere. And since it's pre-'85, it has decent tire clearance, likely room for 32's, since (oversized) GP4000II's in 28 mm fit with room to spare.

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Old 10-06-19, 05:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Lemond1985
I have what I believe is a 1984 Univega Gran Premio (does not have under BB cable routing) which was next in line down from the Competizone. It was marketed as a "club bike", whatever that means, maybe slightly more relaxed angles. It has that same blue color.

Fine riding machine, I would take this thing anywhere. And since it's pre-'85, it has decent tire clearance, likely room for 32's, since (oversized) GP4000II's in 28 mm fit with room to spare.
The 58cm frame I mention in my original post was a Gran Premio from 1986. I loved it, but it was too big. I was lucky when this one popped up on the ‘bay. Nice GP!
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Old 10-06-19, 05:30 PM
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From the 1984 catalog, I'm sure you've seen these, they're a hoot.


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Old 10-07-19, 04:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Lemond1985
From the 1984 catalog, I'm sure you've seen these, they're a hoot.


I love these catalogs -- they look like the Takara catalog peoples' happier, more successful relatives.
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Old 10-15-19, 04:01 PM
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hello! @noobinsf

so, what bars did you wind up using? how'd you manage the suntour levers on the shimano pods and were they original symmetric levers? lastly, where's that thread you mention converting the symmetric shifter base to cable stops?

thanks!

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Old 10-15-19, 04:13 PM
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Originally Posted by thook
hello! @noonisf

so, what bars did you wind up using? how'd you manage the suntour levers on the shimano pods and were they original symmetric levers? lastly, where's that thread you mention converting the symmetric shifter base to cable stops?

thanks!
Let's see...

1) Bars are Nitto B115 in 42cm width, which I had from another build, and I used the SR 80mm stem that came stock on a Univega Viva Touring that I sold long ago as a frame.

2) The shift levers are standard Suntour fare -- I just had to forego using the standard lever stop spacer because the square of the spacer was obstructed by a tab on the Shimano pod's square boss. I know that's kind of a fuzzy description, so I will try to take some pics later and post to better explain.

3) Here is the thread I followed for the "custom" Symmetric cable stop: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-shifters.html

Hope this helps!
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Old 10-15-19, 04:21 PM
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Originally Posted by noobinsf
Let's see...

1) Bars are Nitto B115 in 42cm width, which I had from another build, and I used the SR 80mm stem that came stock on a Univega Viva Touring that I sold long ago as a frame.

2) The shift levers are standard Suntour fare -- I just had to forego using the standard lever stop spacer because the square of the spacer was obstructed by a tab on the Shimano pod's square boss. I know that's kind of a fuzzy description, so I will try to take some pics later and post to better explain.

3) Here is the thread I followed for the "custom" Symmetric cable stop: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-shifters.html

Hope this helps!
ha! figured those had to be nitto's given the bend profile

yeah, that is a tad fuzzy. anything you'd care to share on how to would be appreciated

and, thanks for the link. i'm on it!

btw, have i mentioned how lovely that blue is?
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Old 10-15-19, 04:41 PM
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Originally Posted by thook
ha! figured those had to be nitto's given the bend profile

yeah, that is a tad fuzzy. anything you'd care to share on how to would be appreciated

and, thanks for the link. i'm on it!

btw, have i mentioned how lovely that blue is?
Thanks for the compliments!

I could not use this spacer:



...because the pods have this tab, visible on the lower pod. There is a half-moon tab at the top of the square, which should be visible in this pic. I suppose I could file the tab off, but I chose to leave it as is, and the shifters work fine without the spacer/stop. If you get the bar end pods from Rivendell, they will not have this tab. I happened to get these randomly in a parts lot.

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Old 10-16-19, 09:53 AM
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yer welcome for the compliments!

i do have some friction dt shifters that have that spacer you show, but one of the top mount shifter bases i have (on my super letour) has the stop integrated on the base vs having the spacer. i think i will use that base to fashion into a cable stop as you've done. thanks for that link!

fyi, there's a set of pods on ebay right now with the flat spacer like what rivendell sells for using friction levers....if you should be needing another set

thanks for taking the time and pics!
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