Hey all!
As I am walking a fine line between trying to reduce the weight AND maintain some some semblence of 'period correct' for some of my vintage road bikes, I'd like to know more about what period changes or modifications were common or typical of race bikes, back when they were raced as new/nearly new.
Off-topic example: my dad used to have a 1969 Yamaha AT-1 enduro 125cc motorcycle when he was younger. Living in Southern California, he did all sorts of local racing back in the early 1970s. In order to make the bike more competitive, he modified the frame using a frame lowering kit that brought the engine down and improved the center of gravity, gave it a lighter weight flywheel, changed the fenders to alloy MX, a lighter exhaust pipe, etc. Possibly other modifications, like removing excess hardware not essential to racing. Bike was considered 'trick', and looked a lot like this one:
What would be the equivalent in the 'vintage road bike' world? I've seen lots of examples of drillium, so I know that was a thing. What else? I've heard of 'race day' mods like removing the hub grease and just using oil in the center port. What about part replacement? What types of parts and materials were swapped out? Was titanium even a thing back in the 1970s? What type of changes were made to the cutting edge legit TdF bikes from yesteryear? Or track bikes? I've seen that Panasonic with the exposed ball bearings in a bike article.
I'd like to make some changes, but it would be kinda cool if they were also period correct if possible.
We've got a host of forum members that were involved in either racing or bicycle mechanics from this era, and your thoughts and stories on this topic, as well as any pictorial examples, would prove highly interesting! Thanks!