rogerm3d

After years of riding with an assortment of equipment I finally upgraded to Campagnolo ergopowers and I am a convert. Frame is from 1989 (I think?) and uses Columbus TSX

RiddleOfSteel

Got those new Open Pro UST's it looks like, too! How do you like the ride?

slushA

good looking bike. never ridden anything made with TSX, what's it like compared to SL or some of the comparable-grade reynolds?

Rocket-Sauce 

Whoa, one can barely see the frame with that background!

rogerm3d

The Open Pro UST's ride great but are a royal pain to mount continental gp5000s on. Building the rear was a little tricky due to the lower tension of the rims and the high dish of the hub. Once setup they have stayed true and are stiff in climbing/sprinting
It's definitely stiffer than the other bikes I've ridden while still absorbing imperfections in the road nicely. I don't notice any flex at the chainstays like I have with some older lighter steel frames, but it's at least as comfortable over long distances. Of course I don't know how much of that is the frame geometry/build versus the tubing
Before your comment I never really thought about how much the paint is camouflaged. See below for how the frame was first built up against a grey wall

Reynolds 531 

Which brifters specifically?
I "upgraded" my bike with Campagnolo brifters (with the thumb lever) and I won't even ride it anymore. I'd love to change them to anything else.

rogerm3d

I am running Campagnolo Super Record 11 speed. I have ridden 8 and 9 speed Campagnolo in limited amounts and it was nice but the improved hoods and ultrashift are a pretty large improvement. Ultrashift allows you to shift the front and move multiple gears in the back at the same time so you are in the same gear ratio but in a different front gear (ready to attack or sprint up a hill). I always preferred being able to do this (crudely) with bar-end shifters).
I'm guessing by your mention of the thumb lever that this is what you don't like about the Campagnolo syste?. Sram and Shimano both have slightly different designs that don't make use of a thumb shifter which I know some prefer.

Mike V3

Here is my Merlin from 92.

himespau 

If I was ever going to move away from Campagnolo, I'd totally go to Microshift. The levers are super simple with 2 levers behind the brake lever. One to upshift the other to downshift. Dead simple. No moving of the brake lever or double clicking or whatever. If they made those with an ultrashift-like ability to drop half the cassette at a time while shifting front and back together or while making a big change (climbing into a sprint?), they might overtake Campagnolo for me, if for no other reason than the ability to use the more cheaply available (and more easy to find) Shimano-compatible components and wider range cassettes.

shoota 

All campy shifters have the thumb button. It's a pretty polarizing design.

Reynolds 531 

This:

Reynolds 531 

Thank you. I have many "swap meet" Campagnolo brifters, that have yet to be used. I went and dug through that bin last night, and they all have a "thumb button". I thought I was perhaps buying the wrong versions!


I HAVE heard of extended thumb buttons on some models, and I think even 3d printed thumb buttons that can be made/

My problem I believe is the same as everyone: I can't upshift when I am in the drops.
I just measured my thumbs, and they are 65mm long from web to tip FWIW.

himespau 

I think that might be about bar rotation/lever location on the bar as much as thumb length (but then I have fairly long thumbs so the fact that I don't have problem shifting from the hooks). Oh wait, you said drops, not hooks, I'm not sure anyone can shift from down there if you're not on bar ends.

shoota 

Yeah it's not great in drops. I can't even get along with with them on the hoods because the button sits too far back.

Reynolds 531 

Thank you. I guess I actually meant "hooks", but I have never heard that word used before.

RB1-luvr

These are my owned-since-new '89 SuperGo Access Comp drop bar conversion with Tourney 3x7, and '90 B'stone RB-1 on it's third group set, now a mixture of Shimano 105 and Ultegra 10 speed.

himespau 

Honestly, I've heard it both ways with drops meaning what some people call the hooks to some but drops meaning the bottom of the curve for other people. When I first responded, I was calling it drops too, but then googled and went with hooks based on googling making hooks seem more common.

slushA

Anyone here know what to do with odd-shaped downtube shifter bosses? I bought some concave dura ace cable stops, but it seems they are stuck sitting atop a square on the downtube, leaving an unsightly gap between the cable stop and the tube. I would consider just carving out the square part of the cable stop, but as you can see in the pic, it looks like I'll then run up against whatever part attaches the square to the frame itself.

BMC_Kid 

1991 Zullo with 11 speed Campagnolo Athena.



1989 David Tesch S-22 with a mix of Campagnolo Record/Super Record 11 speed.

Caliwild

Oh, c'mon! Two super hot bikes in one post?! You're killin' me...

Schlafen

1 lever for braking, 1 lever for upshifting, 1 lever for downshifting - on both shifters of course, good ol' simplicity. I feel like it's screaming for 1 more lever on each shifter, to be used as a bell and safety flag.

himespau 

Better than doubletap for SRAM or a moving brake lever for shimano. Given that I don't have a problem reaching the thumb lever on my Campagnolo ergos, I don't see the need to switch, but, if I was wanting to build up a wide range gravel bike, the microshift levers would be my way to go. Well, besides the Kelly Take Offs with 10 speed DA dountube shifters that are going on the Schwinn Voyageur that I'm building up next, but everyone thinks those are too ugly.

Schlafen

I'm a Sram fanboy, yep. It has the most natural mechanical shifting experience out of the big 3. Switched to Sram 10 years ago because of Shimano' brake shift surprise thing and can't seem to like dealing with anything else after that. I've got Force AXS on a bike, again, simple, literally, bolt the parts on and off you go. Press 1 paddle to shift up, the other to shift down, together for front derailleur shift. Ridiculous, right? Because I used Sram for so long I've noticed that most people that dislike Sram are usually of the hamfisted persuasion, and don't really get along with any type of shifting, however, almost all of them use Shimano. I'm not implying anything, just an observation. A bit of finesse is required when shifting DoubleTap, mashing the lever is...oh forget it just get Shimano you'll be fine.

Di2 is nice when you don't need to shift, you know indoor trainer bikes and the like.

I've ridden Campagnolo mechanical on borrowed mates bikes, F that ! The newer carbon stuff is fugly too, the 4 arm cranks and the rear derailleurs (OMG what are those?) yuck. The older silver stuff at least looked good and R11 and SR11 5 arm cranks are probably the best looking cranks in the history of cranks.

This is just my opinion and experience, YMMV, yadda yadda yadda.

Germany_chris

I prefer campy hoods but like SRAM shifting

cat0020

Picked up this Tuscany from FB marketplace few weeks ago.. $850.
Yellow tires really gave away how long it's been sitting.