Strawbunyan

Thank you. I figured these parts would have been an upgrade to the originals and possibly something someone would have actually done to the bike in the 80s. I just remember a large period of time where EVERYTHING was made in Japan and while i was too young to be involved in international trade discussion, I do remember the guy from the movie "gremlins" being particularlly upset about it.

Aubergine 

FWIW I leave my toe clip straps a bit loose, and I can easily get out of the pedals without needing to undo anything. Same with getting into the pedals. Obviously, I am using flat cycling shoes with no cleats.

Strawbunyan

I dont know if i mentioned this, so i probably sound like a doofus to some of you, but....this is my first drop bar or road bike, my first vintage bike, and my first bike build so I am stuffing a lot of learning in at once.



Where is the best place to get one of those funky cycling caps? 🤣🤣🤣...no, seriously.

Strawbunyan

this is the route ive been going for now. Loose enough to hold me but still let me in and out. I am not wearing cycleing shoes but these ole suede converse have the vintage feel atleast LOL.


I happen to have shoes that match my bike well but they are skate shoes and have alot of padding and just dont feel good in the clips.

Mr. 66

I go with the Tigers, fairly narrow toe, leather and rubber tips.


I have black pair without the directional tread, those work smoother with the clips use.

Strawbunyan

do you get these new or are they old school?

Strawbunyan

Took the junk test saddle off and replaced it with a slightly less junky one that had an even lower profile. Was able to easily adjust it from the side. Still not nearly as nice as the period correct touring saddle that dave sent but it is a major improvement on the one that I installed and I can actually adjust it. When I feel like getting tortured ill try the vintage again.

Mr. 66

The shoes are new, of an old Asics pattern. Lifestyle shoe, now under the Onitshuka brand. The black pair I have are slightly lower profile.

I used to use Avocet but those have been out of production many years.

jdawginsc 

I bid on some of those on eBay about 3 or 4 years ago. Lost. I had a pair but have no clue where they went after I left home!

Come to think of it, not sure where my Lake cleats went either...

noglider 

You've done really nice work on this bike.

There are tricks to adjusting this type of brake caliper. Make sure there is a bit of oil between the return spring and the caliper arms. A bit of friction will make it work asymmetrically. But the most common cause is unequal spring force. Back in the day, I had a technique to equalize it, and I have not found a video that demonstrates it. I've been meaning to make one. You can't loosen the attachment nut, reposition the caliper, and re-tighten the nut. The unequal spring forces will almost surely take over.

My technique is to determine which side is a bit too strong. Place the back end of an adjustable wrench at the top of the spring near the center bolt. Bang on the wrench with a hammer.

The_Joe

Best place? Not sure. Enough research might turn up some small companies that are worth doing business with. Failing that, you could probably find any number of sites that have Puch replica hats. I've found fun designs on eBay and Etsy.

jdawginsc 

Probably easier to find Puch than Austro- Daimler for sure.

Probably easier than trying to find touch up paints for AD. They obviously had competitions in house to come up with the least reproducible paints.

RustyJames 

Walz caps makes cycling caps but they aren’t branded Bianchi, Colnago, etc.

https://www.walzcaps.com/

I found a Legnano cap on eBay. Made in Italy and I believe the same company makes many other brands. eBay search should yield results.

Chombi1 

The Brooks Imperial saddle works perfectly on these Campy Record seatpost rail clamps. It's almost like they were specifically thinking of the Imprrial when they designed the seatpost.

jdawginsc 

I have one of those in the stash. Are they comfortable?

Strawbunyan

I will look into this for sure, I would like to get a more period correct saddle on it ASAP as it is currently the only part of the bike that stands out as modern.
thank you.



Edit: I looked it up....Brooks is REALLY proud of them it seems.

Aubergine 

As I recall they are basically a B-17 with a cutout. So if you fit a B-17 they should be comfortable enough.

Strawbunyan

Brought the bike to work with me today to get some test rides in on nicer roads. Stood up to get up a hill and suddenly the bike just stopped moving. I checked to see if maybe the brakes were sticking or rubbing. Upon closer inspection i found the back wheel to be completly locked up. It had twisted in its the drop outs it seems and was jammed against the frame of the bike. I loosened the QR and got it straightened enough to start moving again enough to roll it back to my car and it seems no matter what i do here it doesnt want to stay centered in the triangle. And when i clamp it down it squeezes the triangle in quite a bit. I adjusted ot straight with those little screws in the drops and stuck it back in the car. I think ultimatly ibmay not have had it tight enough (i have a bad habit of over tightening things so I am trying to avoid that)and it pulled it hard when i put the power down, unsure. Will do more testing and give results.

jdawginsc 

Sounds exactly what may have happened.

As far as the rear drops pinching a bit, I spread them to 128 and then realigned them....I believe, so that both 126 and 130 spaced hubs could be used.

Strawbunyan

I believe tightening the QR did the trick. I rode the same hills harder than the last time with no issue.
next question: did I install the FD too high?
I am going to swap the chain this weekend and figured i would adjust the FD as well if i did it wrong.

IdahoBrett 

I usually set my FD 2-4ish mm above the teeth of the outer chain ring. I use an appropriate size allen wrench (3mm) to check the gap. My memory skills could be lacking, but I believe that to be the measurement I got from watching a Park Tool video. Very helpful videos by the way. I was dumbfounded a time or two when I was learnin’ myself about derailleurs. They helped straighten me out.

jdawginsc 

That’s exactly how I do it.

daverup 

One thing to watch out for is the slightly oval shape of your Biopace chainring. You have to set the FD clearance with the chainring at it's highest point.

Strawbunyan

when i got them i had to google it to find out that oblong CRs are a thing, ill make sure to remember that when adjusting, thank you for reminding me cause i sure would have forgotten.

Strawbunyan

MY American brain does not visualize in metric so i checked it and I was WAY off. It is currently closer to 7 or 8 MM....whooops. thank you.