White Shimano Groupsets
#1
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 17,965
Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace
Mentioned: 41 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10425 Post(s)
Liked 11,900 Times
in
6,095 Posts
White Shimano Groupsets
I've seen two videos recently of bikes from the 80s/early 90s with Shimano groupsets painted white. One was 'Sante', which I guess slotted in between Dura Ace and 600 but the other was RX100, which I have on one of my bikes, but in silver. Anyone know when and how long these groupsets were produced in white?
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Berkeley, CA
Posts: 7,244
Bikes: '72 Cilo Pacer, '72 Gitane Gran Tourisme, '72 Peugeot PX10, '73 Speedwell Ti, '74 Peugeot UE-8, '75 Peugeot PR-10L, '80 Colnago Super, '85 De Rosa Pro, '86 Look Equipe 753, '86 Look KG86, '89 Parkpre Team, '90 Parkpre Team MTB, '90 Merlin
Mentioned: 87 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 834 Post(s)
Liked 2,126 Times
in
555 Posts
I believe Sante was available from 1987-1989. I'm not sure about RX100.
Here's a link to the Sante Brochure dated December '86, but presumably for the 1987 launch of the group:
Shimano Sante - brochure
Sante is still included in the 1989 catalog:
Shimano Bicycle System Components - 1989 scan 14
Here's a link to the Sante Brochure dated December '86, but presumably for the 1987 launch of the group:
Shimano Sante - brochure
Sante is still included in the 1989 catalog:
Shimano Bicycle System Components - 1989 scan 14
Last edited by gaucho777; 03-02-21 at 02:44 PM.
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 23,223
Mentioned: 654 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4722 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3,036 Times
in
1,874 Posts
RX100 was manufactured for the 1990-1999 model years. I don't recall it being offered in white, other than the white nylon covers for the headset cups. Circa 1988-1989, Sport LX was offered with white outer parallelogram arms on the derailleurs and white covers for the shift levers.
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 23,223
Mentioned: 654 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4722 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3,036 Times
in
1,874 Posts
I believe Sante was available from 1987-1989. I'm not sure about RX100.
Here's a link to the Sante Brochure dated December '86, but presumably for the 1987 launch of the group:
Shimano Sante - brochure
Sante is still included in the 1989 catalog:
Shimano Bicycle System Components - 1989 scan 14
Here's a link to the Sante Brochure dated December '86, but presumably for the 1987 launch of the group:
Shimano Sante - brochure
Sante is still included in the 1989 catalog:
Shimano Bicycle System Components - 1989 scan 14
#5
Phyllo-buster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 8,847
Bikes: roadsters, club bikes, fixed and classic
Mentioned: 133 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2298 Post(s)
Liked 2,054 Times
in
1,254 Posts
Sport LX was also available with a bunch of white-accent components. Except perhaps the crankset?
Likes For clubman:
#6
Senior Member
Sante was the Sora of groupsets and RX was the Claris back in the day. Shimano was approached by bike companies to build a group set to a price (not much has changed these days) corners are cut on chains, cassettes, mechs and chainsets, the weight of OE product vs blue box products is what makes the price difference.
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,394
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1562 Post(s)
Liked 1,734 Times
in
974 Posts
RX100 was manufactured for the 1990-1999 model years. I don't recall it being offered in white, other than the white nylon covers for the headset cups. Circa 1988-1989, Sport LX was offered with white outer parallelogram arms on the derailleurs and white covers for the shift levers.
#8
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 17,965
Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace
Mentioned: 41 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10425 Post(s)
Liked 11,900 Times
in
6,095 Posts
RX100 was manufactured for the 1990-1999 model years. I don't recall it being offered in white, other than the white nylon covers for the headset cups. Circa 1988-1989, Sport LX was offered with white outer parallelogram arms on the derailleurs and white covers for the shift levers.
I imagine in use it was a pain to keep clean - especially the hoods - but it's a nice look.
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
#9
Master Parts Rearranger
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Portlandia's Kuiper Belt, OR
Posts: 4,403
Bikes: 1982 Trek 720 - 1985 Trek 620 - 1984 Trek 620 - 1980 Trek 510 - Other luminaries past and present
Mentioned: 221 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1556 Post(s)
Liked 2,024 Times
in
989 Posts
Sante was the Sora of groupsets and RX was the Claris back in the day. Shimano was approached by bike companies to build a group set to a price (not much has changed these days) corners are cut on chains, cassettes, mechs and chainsets, the weight of OE product vs blue box products is what makes the price difference.
Likes For RiddleOfSteel:
#10
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 17,965
Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace
Mentioned: 41 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10425 Post(s)
Liked 11,900 Times
in
6,095 Posts
So Sante was discontinued before RX100 in white came out, but it seems to be more prevalent.
Of course, I had to look on Ebay. There were 3 bikes with Sante groupsets, luckily all of them too small for me!
Of course, I had to look on Ebay. There were 3 bikes with Sante groupsets, luckily all of them too small for me!
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
#11
Newbie
Timely thread! I never got my Sante group set so I am painting a 105SC group white. We will see how it turns out, lol! The Sante is fairly difficult to find in good condition. I have some RX 100 in white lever / hoods. There is also some SRAM Apex in white. I recently saw it on Ebay UK, but their crank is black.
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 8,515
Mentioned: 69 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3241 Post(s)
Liked 2,512 Times
in
1,510 Posts
There's also Suntour Ole. I have a couple of white Superbe chainrings as well.
#13
Death fork? Naaaah!!
Top
__________________
You know it's going to be a good day when the stem and seatpost come right out.
(looking for a picture and not seeing it? Thank the Photobucket fiasco.PM me and I'll link it up.)
You know it's going to be a good day when the stem and seatpost come right out.
(looking for a picture and not seeing it? Thank the Photobucket fiasco.PM me and I'll link it up.)
Likes For top506:
Likes For eom:
#15
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 17,965
Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace
Mentioned: 41 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10425 Post(s)
Liked 11,900 Times
in
6,095 Posts
Timely thread! I never got my Sante group set so I am painting a 105SC group white. We will see how it turns out, lol! The Sante is fairly difficult to find in good condition. I have some RX 100 in white lever / hoods. There is also some SRAM Apex in white. I recently saw it on Ebay UK, but their crank is black.
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
#16
framebuilder
1n 1987 to promote Sante components, Shimano teamed up with Bicycling magazine to sponsor a contest asking frame builders to make a bicycle with Sante components. The winner would be awarded $3000. That was an amount like winning the lottery back then for builders. Besides that there was the expectation that the winner and perhaps the others on the podium would get big spreads in the magazine. The rules were to submit photographs of the finished bicycle and the editors would choose 8 to be brought to magazine headquarters for further evaluation to determine the winner. The deadline for submitting photos was April 15, 1987.
Between the time when we were notified of the contest and the winner was announced in the fall (I forget when exactly), Shimano had decided to drop the Sante group from their lineup. The winner was Bill Davidson in Seattle and there was barely a mention of the results in the back pages of Bicycling magazine with just a tiny accompanying picture.
What I recall from Shimano's promotion at the time was that this group was marketed to Yupies. A supposedly cool component group for those young urban types that had some money that wanted to ride a cool bicycle. It was not marketed for racers. I remember it to be in price and quality between Dura Ace and Ultegra 600 (I don't remember if the Ultegra name was being used in 1987).
Sante's pearl white color did not go well with all frame paint colors. I remember discussing this with my colleagues. Shimano was not a company to keep making something that didn't sell well and Sante's life was short.
Between the time when we were notified of the contest and the winner was announced in the fall (I forget when exactly), Shimano had decided to drop the Sante group from their lineup. The winner was Bill Davidson in Seattle and there was barely a mention of the results in the back pages of Bicycling magazine with just a tiny accompanying picture.
What I recall from Shimano's promotion at the time was that this group was marketed to Yupies. A supposedly cool component group for those young urban types that had some money that wanted to ride a cool bicycle. It was not marketed for racers. I remember it to be in price and quality between Dura Ace and Ultegra 600 (I don't remember if the Ultegra name was being used in 1987).
Sante's pearl white color did not go well with all frame paint colors. I remember discussing this with my colleagues. Shimano was not a company to keep making something that didn't sell well and Sante's life was short.
Likes For Doug Fattic:
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,394
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1562 Post(s)
Liked 1,734 Times
in
974 Posts
White hoods! Bad in general. Certainly bad when it's white hoods on brake levers. I have white hoods on my Ultegra 600 tri-color STI and it turns yucky and gunky within 3 weeks of me taking the hoods off and scrubbing them clean with Simple Green.
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Santa Fe, NM
Posts: 4,599
Bikes: Vassago Moosknuckle Ti 29+ XTR, 90's Merckx Corsa-01 9sp Record, PROJECT: 1954 Frejus SuperCorsa
Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 174 Post(s)
Liked 157 Times
in
75 Posts
1n 1987 to promote Sante components, Shimano teamed up with Bicycling magazine to sponsor a contest asking frame builders to make a bicycle with Sante components. The winner would be awarded $3000. That was an amount like winning the lottery back then for builders. Besides that there was the expectation that the winner and perhaps the others on the podium would get big spreads in the magazine. The rules were to submit photographs of the finished bicycle and the editors would choose 8 to be brought to magazine headquarters for further evaluation to determine the winner. The deadline for submitting photos was April 15, 1987.
Between the time when we were notified of the contest and the winner was announced in the fall (I forget when exactly), Shimano had decided to drop the Sante group from their lineup. The winner was Bill Davidson in Seattle and there was barely a mention of the results in the back pages of Bicycling magazine with just a tiny accompanying picture.
What I recall from Shimano's promotion at the time was that this group was marketed to Yupies. A supposedly cool component group for those young urban types that had some money that wanted to ride a cool bicycle. It was not marketed for racers. I remember it to be in price and quality between Dura Ace and Ultegra 600 (I don't remember if the Ultegra name was being used in 1987).
Sante's pearl white color did not go well with all frame paint colors. I remember discussing this with my colleagues. Shimano was not a company to keep making something that didn't sell well and Sante's life was short.
Between the time when we were notified of the contest and the winner was announced in the fall (I forget when exactly), Shimano had decided to drop the Sante group from their lineup. The winner was Bill Davidson in Seattle and there was barely a mention of the results in the back pages of Bicycling magazine with just a tiny accompanying picture.
What I recall from Shimano's promotion at the time was that this group was marketed to Yupies. A supposedly cool component group for those young urban types that had some money that wanted to ride a cool bicycle. It was not marketed for racers. I remember it to be in price and quality between Dura Ace and Ultegra 600 (I don't remember if the Ultegra name was being used in 1987).
Sante's pearl white color did not go well with all frame paint colors. I remember discussing this with my colleagues. Shimano was not a company to keep making something that didn't sell well and Sante's life was short.
IIRC Ultegra replaced 600 in the 90’s, so 600 carried through the 80’s.
I remember Sante catering to “lifestyle” consumers - the same folks who would opt for the gold emblems on their cars, with “smooth jazz” as their preferred soundtrack.
Really cool components, though, with very good performance.
Now that 30+ years have passed, these stylish components are retro-cool today.
#19
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 23,223
Mentioned: 654 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4722 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3,036 Times
in
1,874 Posts
I went back and checked my Shimano literature. A white option is listed for RX100 in 1991 and 1992. It's not mentioned for 1993 (or 1994-1996). I don't have any 1990 literature but presumably it was available in white that year based on November 1989 date codes on some crankarms that I found on-line. RX100 was the replacement for Sport LX, with both groups being just below their respective version of 105, so the white finish appears to be a price point carryover.
#20
Ride, Wrench, Swap, Race
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 9,194
Bikes: Cheltenham-Pedersen racer, Boulder F/S Paris-Roubaix, Varsity racer, '52 Christophe, '62 Continental, '92 Merckx, '75 Limongi, '76 Presto, '72 Gitane SC, '71 Schwinn SS, etc.
Mentioned: 132 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1565 Post(s)
Liked 1,296 Times
in
866 Posts
Sante was the Sora of groupsets and RX was the Claris back in the day. Shimano was approached by bike companies to build a group set to a price (not much has changed these days) corners are cut on chains, cassettes, mechs and chainsets, the weight of OE product vs blue box products is what makes the price difference.
It was also offered in a 7s cassette freehub version.
Finish and materials were to very high specification throughout.
Last edited by dddd; 03-03-21 at 02:34 PM.
#21
Senior Member
cool info here!
IIRC Ultegra replaced 600 in the 90’s, so 600 carried through the 80’s.
I remember Sante catering to “lifestyle” consumers - the same folks who would opt for the gold emblems on their cars, with “smooth jazz” as their preferred soundtrack.
Really cool components, though, with very good performance.
Now that 30+ years have passed, these stylish components are retro-cool today.
IIRC Ultegra replaced 600 in the 90’s, so 600 carried through the 80’s.
I remember Sante catering to “lifestyle” consumers - the same folks who would opt for the gold emblems on their cars, with “smooth jazz” as their preferred soundtrack.
Really cool components, though, with very good performance.
Now that 30+ years have passed, these stylish components are retro-cool today.
Being a teenager in the late 80's I loved Sante the minute i saw it, there was a draw to me because it wasn't polished/Chromed. I know thats Blasphemy to some, but thats how it seemed like it was. Think about Sport LX, 600 Ultegra and 105 (both 7-Speed 105 and 105SC) they all went away from polished components until the late 90's (Shimano that is).
Suntour also did white components in Cyclone, Sprint and Superbe. along with a one year only and one model bike only that has White/Grey XC. (1988 GT Avalanche)
Sante is such a different groupset from the others in the time, besides the color there was alot of design differences that Sante had. such as hidden bolts for the chainrings, and enclosed back side for the pedal on the crank arms.
__________________
Likes For fleslider:
#22
Master Parts Rearranger
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Portlandia's Kuiper Belt, OR
Posts: 4,403
Bikes: 1982 Trek 720 - 1985 Trek 620 - 1984 Trek 620 - 1980 Trek 510 - Other luminaries past and present
Mentioned: 221 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1556 Post(s)
Liked 2,024 Times
in
989 Posts
It is too bad that Sante's version of that pearl white didn't go well with all frames. Perhaps if we're critical, The "ice grey" of certain 7400 components didn't either (I will admit this is the case for me). Pretty, but 6400 had the lock on the late-'80s look. I also wish Sante's finish wasn't so fragile as they can go from hero to zero in the looks department without much wear. I'd rock Sante on a super rad late-'80s bike, but I'd have to find one my size, paint it, and then get Sante. Tall order!
Likes For P!N20:
#24
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: City of Angels
Posts: 4,870
Bikes: A few too many
Mentioned: 42 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1364 Post(s)
Liked 2,181 Times
in
1,183 Posts
^^^^^^
You beat me to it, words are sometimes good but as T-Mar says .....A picture is worth a....
T-Mar Best, Ben
You beat me to it, words are sometimes good but as T-Mar says .....A picture is worth a....
T-Mar Best, Ben
__________________
"EVERY PERSON IS GUILTY OF ALL THE GOOD THEY DID NOT DO"
Voltaire
Voice recognition may sometimes create odd spelling and grammatical errors
"EVERY PERSON IS GUILTY OF ALL THE GOOD THEY DID NOT DO"
Voltaire
Voice recognition may sometimes create odd spelling and grammatical errors
#25
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 23,223
Mentioned: 654 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4722 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3,036 Times
in
1,874 Posts