StarBiker

Chrome bikes are tough finds...

The only one I ever found last year. If it was a mountain bike instead of a road bike I would have kept it. It was my size but as usual bothered my neck like most vintage roadies. Paid $35 with a rewards card, and a coupon. Dig spot wanted $100. I ultimately had $100 in it. $20 to replace that bizarre seat post which I gave the eventual buyer annoyed me. Sold $380.....

madpogue 

Dang, I was kinda liking the beausage/patina look of the semi-stripped finish. In any event, especially down there, I would leave it chrome.

"Symmetric", BTW, refers to how those shifters operate. As you move the right shifter toward smaller cogs, a little humunculus inside the housing shuffles over and pulls the front shifter a little, to move the front cage to the right to keep the chain from rubbing. All the more reason to just shoot some lube from the outside.

The Golden Boy , the 40-spoke rear is not a big surprise for a canti-equipped bike of that era; the '87 Nishiki Cresta I picked up a couple months ago is so equipped. The sealed bearings are, however, an especially tasty treat.

dbhouston 

[QUOTE=madpogue;22639545]Dang, I was kinda liking the beausage/patina look of the semi-stripped finish. In any event, especially down there, I would leave it chrome.

"Symmetric", BTW, refers to how those shifters operate. As you move the right shifter toward smaller cogs, a little humunculus inside the housing shuffles over and pulls the front shifter a little, to move the front cage to the right to keep the chain from rubbing. All the more reason to just shoot some lube from the outside.

I'm usually a fan of patina, too, but the asymmetric semi-stipped finish was going to really gnaw at my slightly OCD brain.

But, wow, I'm glad to learn about the shifters. I hadn't looked into them before. Nifty, if not exactly necessary, and very Japanese.

polymorphself 

Yeah I believe most if not all of the big brand tourers came with 36/40 in the mid 80s, no? My 86 Voyageur also did.

As for the sealed bearings, doesn’t this actually just mean there is a rubber seal to help from dirt getting in? Not that they are actually sealed cup?

madpogue 

^^^^^ A *LOT* of '80s and '90s vintage Japanese hubs I've re-greased have had the "SEALED MECHANISM" decal on the hub body, which indeed really only means there's a rubber seal over conventional cup/cone bearings.

Just noticed, also, that this bike is a 5-speed in the rear, from a time when 6-speed was well into the mainstream, especially for mid-level and higher bikes. My Nishiki was likewise equipped (per spec). I reckon the idea was that a wheel built around 5-speed would have less dish. I'm curious whether the rear triangle is spaced at 120 or 126mm (My Nishiki is 120).

rgvg

The hubs on my 83 Pro tour are cartridge bearing, like the ones that were on my Nishiki Internationals (84,85) and Sequoia (85). I'd guess the ones on the 84 are also cartridge bearings.

madpogue 

Interesting, Nishiki reverted to conventional bearings by '89. Wonder why cartridge hub bearings didn't catch on more BITD.

dbhouston 

I can definitively say these are cartridge bearings. The rear wheel was running rough, so I got in there to service them today. Thankfully, MiamiJim shared a great illustrated tutorial on BF.

Building back to stock, more or less, is getting close, with a few changes:

• The battle scarred seatpost is in the parts bin, now. I had an old 27mm carbon one to slip in.
• I replaced the Sakae road bars with a Sakae Randnner I had here. Looks a little cooler and a little wider.
• Replaced the Gran-Compe levers with another DiaCompe set I had, mostly to avoid removing the existing hoods.
• I had a fresher feeling chain on a hook, which turned out to have the same number of links as the original, so I swapped that on.
• And that's a nice leather Vetta Transverse saddle on there for now.

The bike has been relatively easy. I needed to re-tap a couple of bottle cage mounts, and service the cartridge bearings, but everything else has been pretty typical. A part is dirty, greasy, rusty, whatever; you make it clean and lubricated, then put it back on! I spent a long time on the front wheel, just using an old fork in the vise for the truing stand. I'll do the rear once I get the brakes set up to use as a guide.

All that's left is cabling. Maybe later tonight. It is so satisfying to go from unrideable and ugly to something downright neat. Looking forward to a good test ride soon. Maybe I'll throw on a rack and test it in a brewery run!

Late night addendum: Cabling hasn't gone so well!

• The rear derailleur hanger was bent inwards, so the cage hit the spokes. I don't own the proper tool, so settled for wrenching it back to what looks like straight. Probably a good excuse to add a useful tool this week.
• The Suntour Symmetric shifters are causing lots of pain. Without disassembling them, I simply put them back on and proceeded to set things up like normal. But, no! These are apparently not normal at all. I'll retry soon enough with printed BF discussions of how to do it. I didn't understand I needed to do the rear, then put that in the biggest cog before doing the front. Also, neither lever seems to have the tension to hold a gear, and the left lever is downright wobbly. Glad there are plenty of discussions on here about them.
• I didn't even try cabling the brakes, yet. But Kansas and Tulsa both won football games tonight, so that kept me distracted from my mechanical failings!

Finally, there is an old REI bike on the market locally that has a full set of Shimano RSX 3x7. Cheap. Seems like that group might be a good alternative build for this bike?

Hobbiano 

That turned out great. Were the hubs the Suntour's that take the special wrench? (.https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-hub-tool.html)

dbhouston 

I think in an ideal world, I'd have had that tool. But it was pretty intuitive to simply leave that side intact and make adjustments on the other end of the axle. I worked on the rear, which has the special fitting only on the non-drive side, so just lucky, perhaps. The front feels fine, though it's messing with my brain to buy an old bike and NOT play with the wheel bearings.

billew

About the the shifters, the little bit of "play" is normal. It worried me when I did mine and once I read up on them it was ok. I am used to having to trim the front DR for rub with the triple and half step rings on a different bike.

dbhouston 

Finished building the stock-ish version last night, except I'm getting very futzy shifting from the Suntour Asymmetric shifters. I'm going to print out and follow to a tee the set up instructions I found in another post. Grrr. I also need to replace the headset and replace the sealed bearings in the rear wheel. But it would be a rider with a few fixes and easily sellable when I'm in the mood.



Took a quick spin in the dark and believe it'll be a fine bike and close enough fit for it to be a keeper, at least for a while. Which has me thinking about a re-build ... that's what happens. Anyway, the changes I'd want to make would include a somewhat more modern drivetrain, wider handlebars, probably fenders and a rear rack. Again, more a citified tourer. Poking around FB Marketplace for potential donor bikes, I stumbled on this (early-1990s?) oddity:


Villiger Gottardo Comfort - https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...6183783036571/

Honestly, I'm almost curious enough to want to own that thing just for the novelty, but I don't have room to accumulate curiousities and can't help but see a whole lot of Pro Tour donor material on there:

• Trekking bars with 3x7 flat mount shifters and levers
• Shimano Nexave drivetrain - seems to have been pretty short lived
• 700c wheels including hub dynamo and lights
• 700c mudguards

I'd be left with the sad sight of that very unusual frame and its suspension hanging from the rafters, but the Pro Tour would acquire some pretty interesting improvements. Other potential donor bikes would be mostly for the drivetrain, but it would be hard to find more parts for less money if the Nexave is suitable for transplantation. Would love to hear any thoughts on this or other potential plans.

DiegoFrogs

The dynamo might be okay, but I wouldn't bother with the lights on that thing. Even cheaper modern dynamo headlights will be far superior. Maybe the rear is LED, but I'm not sure.

I'm not sure I'd "upgrade" to 7-speed. Probably has a freewheel. There's nothing wrong with that, if that's what you have, but the only time I've done this I went directly to 8-speed. Budget minded parts can be had easily and the freehub is an improvement.

icemilkcoffee 

As powerful as modern rechargeable lithium batteries and LED lights are, I don't see the point of dynamo hubs any more.

dbhouston 

Just a quick progress report ... on just a little progress.


Y'all talked me out of using the crazy Villiger as a donor bike. Plus, it would have felt like killing off the last of an endangered species. I won't be surprised if that bike ends up in my garage soon, just for the novelty ...

But, some quick changes:

• Brakes: I had these modern Tektro brake levers and decided to throw them on. Aero routing is so much nicer, and my greatest irritation in vintage bike life is when the cable end slips out of its slot inside the levers. If there's a good tip for keeping that from happening, please share it for future reference. Also ordered Kool Stop pads, but they are a hair too long for the front. I'll have to find something shorter for that.
• Shifters: Man, I wanted to like the oh-so-clever asymmetric Suntour Symmetric shifters and their elegant top mount, but I just couldn't get them to work as designed. But I found a reasonable pair of Suntour bar end shifters on EBay and figure that'll be an improvement. Looking around, it seems like there's a clear divide as to cable routing for them: following the bars to the top or shooting out from the drops. Again, any advice would be welcome before I waste another set of bar tape. I had a Suntour downtube double cable stop clamp thing, so that's going on there in lieu of the elaborare workarounds described elsewhere on BF.
• Freehweel: The RD on the bike is a Suntour Cyclone Mark II, and it seems they should work fine with a 5, 6, or 7 speed freewheel. I have a Shimano 6 speed 13-28 and plan on trying it out after I install the shifters. Seems like it should work fine, but we'll see.
• I also found a good deal on a Vetta leather saddle that I think shoud be the rough equivalent of the original. No harm in a spare old saddle at the right price, so if it doesn't work here, no harm.
• That Ibera rack is on loosely as a test, but I like it.
• In a bit of a splurge, I've ordered a full set of original decals in "Brick Red" from Velocals, plus the Tange #2 ones and a very retro Japan decal. Should look pretty cool.

I'll toss in a plug for St. Louis Bicycle Works, particularly their EBay store. This week, I ordered the saddle and barcons from them as well as a Campag cassette I needed for another bike. They use auctions, but seem to attract very little attention to interesting stuff, so give them a look: https://www.ebay.com/str/stlbicycleworks.

And finally, I get a kick out of this advertisement for the 1984 Pro Tour. It's a preview of the wilder graphics Centurion soon adopted:

dbhouston 

Apropos of nothing above, the gradual realization that I'm going to end-up as a four bike household (road, gravel, this one, and the next project) made me rethink my shop layout. So I've moved things around, sent old frames and wheels into the rafters, and installed two easily accessible hangers to a post. So I thought I'd share a picture of my happy place, where I fiddle with old bikes while listening to music or watching sports and sometimes even drinking beer. I expect many of you have a similar space ...

madpogue 

I just installed a set of those Kool-Stop canti pads on my '89 Nishiki Cresta, and yes, the very back tips hit the insides of the fork blades when I release the brake, keeping the arms from opening all the way. They still work fine, and provide plenty of room for a 27 x 1-1/4 tire to clear when I remove the wheel.
Before you waste any bar tape, ride it without tape for a while, just electrical-tape the cable housings to the bar. Good to do that anyway, and get a sense of the right brake lever position, before the full taping. This will also give you a chance to try routing the shifter cables both possible ways, just get a sense of how each affects the shifting feel, and what the housings do when you steer, and how your hands/arms interact with them, etc. Don't be afraid to ride for a while that way. I only finally taped up my Nishiki last Saturday night in the wee hours before the Bike the Barns ride here in WI on Sunday.
You may well have blown that "little attention" cover just by posting here... But yeah, some definitely nice stuff, and several items with a BIN / auction option (including TWO sets of those symmetrics you couldn't quite fall in love with....).

dbhouston 

The bike was on hold while I made some choices, then waited for the Velocals envelope to arrive. Went all "brick red" with the right Tange ones, the correct or nearly so Centurion and ProTour15 ones, and a traditional style arrangement on the seat tube of stripes and a head badge. The other head badge didn't make it, but will be here soon.

There's also a little retro silver "Japan" because it makes me smile, remembering when those stickers became ubiquitous in this country.

Before doing those, I had to strip off the wax I had used on the frame, a liquid carnauba from Meguiar's that I wasn't happy with. Seemed like it really wanted to take on fingerprints. If you have a suggestion for a better, harder wax finish, I'd love to hear it.

Parts will be ready to go when the frame is.

The Suntour bar end shifters are here. They ratchet in one direction with just friction in the other. One is quite stiff. I assume I can clean and re-lubricate them like any others, but you know what they say about assuming. I'll dig around the forum for tips and see if I can find a diagram before starting in on them. The rubbery grips don't want to be removed ever again, so no dunking into degreaser, I guess.

Rear rack and panniers will finish it off in time for fall weather in Oklahoma.
​​​​

polymorphself 

Wow this looks great with those decals.

noobinsf 

You can adjust the tension when you reassemble them after cleaning. Don't forget to use blue loctite on the little rounded locknut -- it's the part that is frequently lost on these.

dbhouston 

As always, C&V commenters know their stuff! I didn't have much time this evening, but made some progress.

• I gave it three coats of Mother's carnauba paste wax, and the surface seems very nice and is more resistant to fingerprints than the Meguiar's liquid produced.
• Cabled up the brakes and was happy to see the pads fit behind the forks just fine with room to remove the wheel and tire.
• Sure enough, Noobinsf, I'm missing one lock nut on the Suntour shifters. Hopefully, I'll get around to cabling them this weekend to see how things work.

At least it looks like a bicycle again!

Sir_Name 

Very cool. An ‘83 Pro Tour 15 grounded my interest in C&V quite a ways back now. I still have it, but it’s unfortunately retired. The decals on chrome of yours reminds me of my BMX days back when. Looks slick. Enjoy, that’s a very nice platform to build any number of bikes from.

Don’t try to disassemble the OEM shifters unless you want a puzzle. Barcons are a good choice for replacement as you’ve done. Also, mind that rear derailleur. Ride on!

dbhouston 

Shifting works great in the stand. Will see on the road tomorrow. I've also made no real efforts to adjust the fit. I'll close the thread with sunshine pictures after that. If you spot any glaring errors, let me know. Really pleased with this ...

cooperryder

It looks terrific!
Nice job!

I'm fond of Centurions and chrome frames so yours really appeals to me.

If I could find one in close to a 60 cm c-t I would jump on it.

Wildwood 

What a good thread. Thanks dbhouston for all the incremental updates.
I owned a 1985 ProTour15. My first adult bike and only one for many years - served me well.

Prior to sale


It was one of five bikes sold to a BF member. Years ago.


But I lived - and started buying lighter, sportier, non-touring models. The only bike I kept at the time was an AD Olympian. The only one I really missed was the Bianchi Special with Ishiwata022.