gazzer

Bikingshearer,

Thanks for the compliment. Actually the gearing is 52x42 with an 11-19 7-speed. 7-speeds were up and coming at the time but not common. Ron ask me what I wanted to do with the new frame so he tweaked the geometry for more long distance, even though I was racing at the time--its a 24" c-c. All the parts are period just because these are what I put on it when I brought this frame and another touring one back from England--I worked at a bike shop. All the Campy parts have been rebuilt but last time I took apart the bottom bracket spindle was in perfect shape. I love the bike and yes it rides like no other. Probably has less than 3K miles on it. Sadly, I only look at the bike these days since buying a carbon frame--actually felt okay to beat up and take on century rides. Plus downtube shifters were not exactly convenient when riding with a bunch of folks that had them on their brake levers.

gazzer

Bikingshearer, noticed you customized your and have the modern shifters--that's nice. Let me know if you ever get it painted. Some of the poly coating is starting to come off on the underside of the top tube and may consider this some day if I can get it back to original.

Roadieokie, that bike has the same markings as mine except that I noticed your doe not have braze-on cable guides on the top tube. I think he changed to braze-ons in 1980 or 81 and also change the bottom bracket ones too. Congrats on the find. Boy that would be a site to see all of our Coopers on a ride together!

alwayshungry

I just inherited my dad's early 70s Cooper and am starting to think through the updating process. Not interested in keeping it as a period correct museum piece-plan to have rear triangle set to 130mm thinking more of a fair-weather commuter with details that appear period correct- for example, barcons instead of brifters, silver instead of black where applicable, brooks saddle, etc...thinking of going 2x9 with a range of 12-25...welcome all thoughts and experiences with bikes like this which have been cold set for drivetrain upgrades.

Grapham

Ive cold setted my ron cooper from 120-130mm, no problems!

Roadieokie

I'm just getting started on my Cooper project. I too hope to update rather than stay with original equipment. Everything on the frame I bought was clamp on stuff. I have a guy who is going to do braze ons for me. But I was wondering what method you used to get it to 130 mm. I want to do that, but I don't want to screw the frame up in the process. Thanks for your advice.

Grapham

Hey buddy,

I took it to the local framebuilder (argos cycles) who did it all for me (I think using the sheldon brown method). I didnt want to risk messing it up. £30 it cost me.

Although I have just tried doing it myself to my brothers hack bike. He needed the forks spreading so we took a car jack to it and widened it. Slotted the wheel in and fingers crossed hope it holds.

Sixty Fiver

Weather has been beautiful and since I built new wheels thought I should take them out for a shakedown ride... will keep the Arvon / Araya wheels for Paris Roubaix type riding (aka spring in Alberta) and the new 700c Arayas should serve me well for spirited group rides in the country.

Went out for a nice 20 km to feel things out as I have not spent much time playing with those Zeus shifters and the Zeus 2000 centre pulls are nothing short of astonishing in how much power they have.

Gonna have to get these legs in better shape if I am going to push the taller gears I gained with the new 7 speed cassette or find some long hills and see just how fast we can go.

It is hard to put into words just how incredible these bikes are... incredibly stiff and yet... such a beautiful ride and so responsive that the bike changes direction at the speed of thought.

How I would love to spend a few days with Mr Cooper and watch him work what can only be described as magic and only hope that one day I can build a frame as fine as this.

bikingshearer 

Take it to shop or framebuilder who has the experience and the right tools. This is a comparatively cheap thing to have done (I don't think I've ever paid more than $40 or so). With tons of respect to Sheldon Brown, may he rest in peace, I feel pretty strongly that this is not the place for DIY, especially on so great a frame as a Cooper. It's not that you're likely to damage the chainstays, but gettng everything in proper alignment (including the rear dropouts, which you need to checl if you cold set the rear triangle) is a PITA at best and an ongoing problem at worst. Milimeters matter here. Let the pros from Dover do it. Save the DIY for the build-up.

I'd also spend a few extra bucks and have the same shop or builder chase the threads, make sure the BB and head tube are properly faced, and check the overall alignment of the frame. Don't assume it was ever done, and although on a Ron Cooper it almost certainly was when Ron finished building and painting it, who really knows what happened since. If there are no problems, the charge is minimal. If there is a problem, you want to know about it and get it fixed now, before you start wondering why your beautiful frame isn't tracking right and start going through the aggravation of: "Is it my bottom bracket? Is it my headset? Oh poop Ihave to strip everything off the frame." A relatively paltry sum now wil either (a) assure that everythng is as i9t should be or (b) save you a bunch of grief later.

alwayshungry

Thanks for the thoughtful advice.

alwayshungry

Still trying to figure out what to do with my dad's cooper- considering dropout spread work (good since I already have nice wheels with 130mm rear hub), single-fixie (since I already have a geared road bike), or original 5-speed (current 50-36 TA cranks would give a nice range even with a 5 speed freewheel). Welcome all thoughts/suggestions. Also if anyone has a frame and/or paint shop suggestion in norcal I'd love some tips.

Grapham

1972 Ron Cooper frame

Ive been reading about the bottom bracket spacing only being 66mm on some Ron Coopers. Is it a major problem if I didnt use a spacer to make up the remaining 2mm?

alwayshungry

Did you have the shifter bosses added also?

Grapham

Im assuming that was directed at me? They were on the frame originally for downtube shifters.

masispecial

If anyone is considering repainting a Cooper there are two different Ron Cooper decal sets available from Bicycle Decals

alwayshungry

Well, it wasn't what I originally hoped for, (which was a full period-look restoration with updated drive train,) but my dad's old Cooper is back on the road. Money ran out after breaking two cyclocross wheels on my Jake the Snake in a short time span, so I scrounged and scouted craigslist and found a good deal on a mercier frame with a Phil Wood flip flop hub. Using the new wheels, had the Cooper set up using the original TA 50-tooth chainring with a 20-tooth fixed cog and it is great for all but the biggest hills around here. Several 25+ mile rides had me smiling ear to ear and great compliments from a number of riders out on the Paradise Loop here in Marin County.

Bike rides and handles like nothing else, and I can still do the full resto when I get the scratch together, tho it makes such a great fixed gear bike I may not ever want to. I will post a picture as soon as I get a chance.

VNA

[IMG][/IMG]

I am very surprised to find a thread on Ron Cooper's frames, and thank you as these frames are incredible.

Today I rode mine and it is so stable and comfortable up the Berkeley Hills, over the year it was repainted twice and I had eyelets added and put on fenders for 23s the same color as the red frame--it is a true classique.

Several cyclists on my ride marveled at my bike, and it was a pleasure to show it off (only in a nice way)

Went to look for a serial number--but I could not find one--it is a Cinelli BB--I will keep looking--I bought the frame off the rack from Bicycle Odyssey in 82! Fits me like a glove! I upgraded some of the components (clip less pedals, brake cables in handle bars, 9 speeds, Mavic Ksyrium Wheels, fizik saddle etc.)

theLuz

I worked at Bikeology during that period. I bought my Cooper from them (at cost) when I left their employment. They had great toys.

dddd

I would caution against playing with the frame or fork spacing on such a nice bike until one has experience with a few lesser frames.

The Sheldon method is proper in that it does each side separately, unlike any kind of "jacking" of opposite-side chainstays or fork legs against one another.

Pulling or wedging frame tubes apart ALWAYS results in one side taking much more of a set than the other, so that initial frame alignment is lost in almost every case.

I do this kind of work at home all the time, but only experience allows me to feel comfortable about aligning an expensive frame.

I have a Cooper now and love it! It's medium-quality CycleArt repaint with a low-gloss clearcoat.

[img]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7040/6...a6aee979_n.jpg[/img]

It seems that I've lost the ability to post photos now, at the same time that the site has been seeing technical problems.

Can anyone identify what the problem is with this posting?

Grabbing the HTML doesn't work any more either:

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/18079002@N04/6975247427/" title="DSCF0031 by dddd2002, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7040/6...94a6aee979.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCF0031"></a>

EDITING here (after 3Alarmer helped) to restore the photo to the relevent post:

3alarmer 

Edit: The image loader is now configured with more options.
For what you guys usually do here, you need to select the
from URL tab when the image loader window comes up,
then unclick the " Retrieve remote file and reference locally"
option that comes up as selected.

You should then get your usual image coding and loading.
If you prefer the smaller thumbnails, leave the retrieve option
checked and the loader will grab and post a thumbnail.

Sixty Fiver

I am very surprised to find a thread on Ron Cooper's frames, and thank you as these frames are incredible.

Today I rode mine and it is so stable and comfortable up the Berkeley Hills, over the year it was repainted twice and I had eyelets added and put on fenders for 23s the same color as the red frame--it is a true classique.

Several cyclists on my ride marveled at my bike, and it was a pleasure to show it off (only in a nice way)

Went to look for a serial number--but I could not find one--it is a Cinelli BB--I will keep looking--I bought the frame off the rack from Bicycle Odyssey in 82! Fits me like a glove! I upgraded some of the components (clip less pedals, brake cables in handle bars, 9 speeds, Mavic Ksyrium Wheels, fizik saddle etc.)

When you ride a Cooper you are going to be in rare company as these may be one of the least common hand built bicycles out there although they certainly considered to be one of the very best.

Because Mr. Cooper has only recently taken on an assistant to help with the heavy lifting, you know that every Cooper is just that and that no-one else had a hand in building the frame and fork you are enjoying.

I am counting the days until I get my Cooper out for it's first ride of the spring... I have some new Michelin tyres mounted and ready for the road and despite their skinny high pressure nature they feel great under the bike.

Also have some tubulars in the works to run as a second set of wheels which should drop the bike into the sub 20 pound weight range.

dddd

Thanks for the info on photosharing! I'll digest it and try to figure out what an image loader window is. I'm thinking that it's on the Flickr site perhaps?

Can I not use the quick reply window to post photos anymore?

I'm just pulling the image URL from the properties box from right-clicking on flickr's image, and tucking it between[img] and [/img]. That what used to work altho I don't know what the limits on resolution were.

I do sense that Coopers are special. The handling is different from a Masi GC I once owned, but is distinctive just as that Masi was.
It feels like when I steer the bike, it moves moves more laterally with not so much a sensation of actually changing direction. Maybe that's mostly just that the steering feels quick, but I'll have to put more miles on it.
I first need a new good supplier of indexing springs for the bike's 9sp Ergo levers, since the left shifter won't hold the big ring if I'm pedaling hard enough to flex the frame.
I've heard these springs are not being produced any more, seriously, and will want to stock up!

I've come across enough repainted Coopers to realize that these bikes got real use and were special enough to justify a serious refurb, moreso it seems than with most other brands.
I'm hoping to give my Holdsworth a rest this summer and finally put a couple of thousand miles on this Cooper.
And thanks to Joe Englert for bringing this one in from way out of town.

dddd

Thanks for the coaching here, I did find the image window easily, but the image doesn't load from my view, just an x in a box.

Also I wondered if the thumbnail image is supposed to be stored on my own PC for it to be accessed locally, with the option box checked?

I could get neither to appear however.

BTW, have you even seen a paint scheme like mine on a Cooper before?
I'm wondering if this is Ron's creation or CycleArt's?

dddd

This is great, picture appears now.

Thanks for the help, 3Alarmer!!!

And at least I grabbed a British bike photo for this test:


...and the rare folding Colnago. Yes, always use a proper steel bike when sprinting:


I just can't figure out why the extra thumbnail poped up there.

theLuz

My bike is a "Touring" Ron Cooper: from him with eyelets for fenders and racks, as well as milder angles for a more comfortable ride. I have not seen another, just racing angles and no factory eyelets. Anyone know if this is rare?

theLuz

fine looking bike. I'm considering doing the same to my Cooper (fenders and racks). What a classic.