surgeonstone

Love the crankset, Stronglight correct?

papik

Yes ,it is a STRONGLIGHT 93 model

surgeonstone

I have always really loved the aesthetics of that crank, among my favorites. Had one on a PX-10 I had and sold ( ug, sob) back in the seventies.

papik

These STRONGLIGHT cranksets are splendids, my favorite is the 49D (on my PEUGEOT PS10)


and also the 49 D with TA chainrings as we can see on my L.AIMAR

papik

Two better picts of the 49D with TA chainrings...

digthemlows

maybe a little nicer to say "Hey that looks big, curious, how tall are you?" ......... cause I'm a tall guy and most bikes look super small to me, but I would never say "What are you, like 5 foot or something" .........

Kingshead

I get the same thing alot when people see pics of my ride with the seat now adjusted for me. The pics posted here were upon delivery and before aligning the seat angle and adjusting for my long ass legs, LOL.

tommyblair22

Paletti Lightning

tommyblair22

Hah the two upside down ones are Miyatas. 1000lt and 414

zymphad

Is it worth it to get a custom steel bike or just get a bike Miyata, Peugeot etc off of craigslist? I'm thinking about building, restoring a steel bike.

Kingshead

Motobecanes are great bikes. Look on Ebay, you can often get great deals on bikes. Picked up My Grand Jubilee in mint condition for a song.

link0

1989 Schwinn Prologue with a mishmash of vintage and new components. Comes in at 20 lbs without pedals.

Tim_Iowa

You can get excellent deals on excellent vintage steel if you look for them. Because the economies of mass production, exchange rates, and material costs have changed significantly since, many 80s/90s steel frames are higher quality than many made today.

If you're looking for quality vintage steel frames, look for:
* forged dropouts, not stamped
* butted tubing
* tubing stickers (Reynolds, Columbus, Tange, some others. Heirarchy of each maker's tubing can be found online)

Generally, go for the top-of-the-line models from known manufacturers. They'll have the best steel and you may be able to rebuild and re-use some of the components.

Get the type of bike suited for your riding. Racing bikes are always going to be fast and tire-limited. 80s/90s racing steel can be very light and still give a good ride.
Sport/touring bikes (most 80s 10speeds) are good all-rounders, fast but with provisions for racks and fenders. Good light tourers.
Quality 80s touring steel is excellent, there was a big touring bike boom right before mountain bikes showed up. People treat the Miyata 1000 and its brethren as holy grails, and there are lots of great tourers by all the Japanese makers.
On MTBs: Rigid steel MTB frames can make excellent touring/commuting bikes with some conversion. Again, go for high-end frames of their lightest steel. They'll still be strong enough for anything you load up/dish at them.

Just price it out. You can find top-end 80s/90s frames for under $200, and then spend a bunch on the build. Or you can buy modern steel and then cheap out the build. Soma, Rawland, Surly, Velo Orange, Gunnar, and others offer great, capable, versatile modern frames between $500 and $1000.

Tim_Iowa

More than you ever needed to know about Reynolds decals: https://www.hlloydcycles.com/531%20history.pdf
Their decals are usually pretty specific. The butted frames usually have the "531" at an angle.

Yes, you can get decals and fake a frame. That's why most folks stay away from re-painted bikes and they usually sell for much lower. There are vintage gurus on the C&V forum or Classic Rendezvous who can help you tell the difference between fake and authentic. Lug shapes, braze-ons, and other clues can unravel a mystery.

zymphad

Thanks Tim. When I started riding I was just focused on getting a light aluminum with carbon fork. But I'm starting to really like the idea of riding an older steel frame. Will keep all of your advice in mind when looking for a bike suited for me needs. This thread is great, the bikes look fantastic.

Tim_Iowa

My lugged steel collection. '97 Rivendell (650b conversion), '97 Giordana, '88 Schwinn Project KOM-10 (townie build)

Mr. Thompson

Here's my dirty 91 Alex Moulton Speed. Just one of the steel barn finds in our shop.

RJM

Great looking Rivendell.

zymphad

Damn, won't be buying a Rivendell ever, just checked the prices for the frame. $2K. Ugh.

JohnDThompson 

If you're lucky you can find it stamped right into the tube:



The steer tube is the most likely place to find this. Although the other tubes were also stamped, the stamps were often lost when the tubes were trimmed to build the frame.

a77impala

My latest buy, 2000 Zurich, I had removed the brifter to soak in WD 40, Reynolds tubing, carbon fork.

gomango

Agreed.

Rode a Rambouillet last summer in the Bavarian Alps and it was a very nice rider.

zymphad

This is my favorite thread. Trolling Ebay and Craigs for lugged steel bikes!

What's your opinion on a Surly Pacer? Seem to be one of the few reasonably priced steel framesets I could find.

Or save up for a Soma Stanyan. Looks incredible. Love at first sight.

the sci guy 

my first road bike. picked it up last weekend. well technically i guess it's a cross bike, but whatever, i don't do cross just road


I've since ordered Shimano A530 pedals, and much better bottle cages. i'll post a new pic when i have it updated. in the meantime be excited for me!

zymphad

Nice, a Surly. That's on my list of bikes I'd like to choose from for my next build. Curious why did you not want brifters? The 105 brifters are best shifters I've ever used!