vintagecycleguy

Hi all,
It has been a while since I posted anything here after a serious accident I suffered (non-bike related), but happy to be back and alive planning my next bike built!!! All well now for those who are more concerned, and thank you.

I am currently looking into building a Neo-Retro Steel bike for my day-to-day cycling and some weekend pedaling with my friends. So as this will be my go-to bike for everything in this return to cycling, I am looking for a classic look with an 80s or '90s frameset with Columbus SL, SLX, or Genius *or in this category with modern groupset and wheelset. The idea is to balance classic look, and lightness (as much as possible) with some comfortable performance lol

With that said, please let me know if I should be posting this in a different thread category.

Now to the bike. I have a few framesets in mind and currently negotiating - Focusing on tubbing lightness and Rear hub spacing 130mm to fit more modern wheels/hubs/ 11 - 12s groups

FRAMESET OPTIONS SO FAR:
De Rosa Professional *Columbus SLX - super light and beautiful - early 90`s
Gazelle Special Reynolds 531 - still waiting more information on weight - mid 90s
Ciocc San Cristobal - Columbus SL - super light and personally the most beautiful from this list but somewhat expensive
Atala Professionisti - Columbus SL - Dont know this brand but from my research is 100% Italian vintage top frame building
Fausto Coppi Lugano - Columbus Genius - I love this frameset but dont know much about
What are your thoughts on the above options?

Wheelset
This is something I do not know anything about. What should I look for in terms of measurements? Simply to confirm that is compatible to my 130mm rear dropouts spacing? Should I buy it after purchasing the groupset?

GROUPSET:
Looking for a Shimano Durace or Ultegra, lightweight but used one to make it cheaper.
Campagnolo Super Record is a possibility but I find it will be more expensive to buy initially and after maintenance parts.

The remaining components I will try my best to buy them in carbon fiber for stiffness and lightness but depends on how the above will impact my budget as I judge they are the most important in terms of upgrades and that I could potentially use alloy components missing like handlebars etc and upgrade them gradually.

Looking to start this project and would appreciate your insights and suggestions. Tried to look for something more dedicated to neo retro builds but could not find it so far.

Thanks!!!!!

Mr. 66

All those frames are very fine in their own. I’m not sure but you appear to have a wide budget for your choice of frame. Shimano would probably be an easier group to acquire, depending on the make level.

I am happy to hear your positive recovery

vintagecycleguy

Thank you for your reply.
Where should I post this? I dont mean to post on wrong groups but could not find a specifc thread for this one.

I am almost certain to go on the Fausto Coppi Lugano 53.

Mr. 66

You are close, if you go to forums(above) it will be right above this one.

ljsense

This is a fun challenge to have, and since you're soliciting opinions, here's one:

Based on the photos, I'd pick the Atala first, then the Ciocc. The others are good too, but I don't like how the seat stays on the Coppi join the seat tube below the top tube. If you're going to have a classic steel frame, why pick one that has lines more like a carbon bike?

As for building it up, 7700 era Dura Ace is beautiful, looks appropriate on a steel frame, and is not terribly expensive. You could blend in the same era 9-speed Ultegra, which is super affordable, to come in under budget.

Some shallow carbon rims would make the bike pretty light and look like anodized alloy of the 90s. Rim brake wheels aren't crazy expensive anymore. I'd pick a stem and seatpost that go together and match the silver of 7700 components rather than going with a carbon seatpost and whatever stem.

seagrade 

Five very fine racing frames, any of which could be built into a great retromod road bicycle.

Priorities vary, but I’d consider tyre clearance and frame weight as key factors. Having raced on 21-22mm tubulars in the 80s/90s I find modern 28mm-plus tubulars and clinchers so much better now and wouldn’t go back unless I was buying a rideable ex-team classic (not a replica or tribute, but an actual team bicycle).

The De Rosa looks like it has room for 28s, if that’s a factor for you, as long as they’ll fit between the chainstays. Hard to say for the others but mid-late 90s steel frames such as the Gazelle and Coppi often had minimal clearance, 25s or even 23.

As for weight, that also may or may not be a consideration, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a 1lb/400-500gm range across those frames. In a guessing game I’d expect the Coppi with its oversized down tube, and perhaps the Gazelle also with oversized tubing to be the heavyweights of this quintet, but they have threadless steerers which usually leads to a stem and headset weight saving so perhaps a wash.

I’ve found frames with threaded steerers and quill stems more versatile in terms of refining fit, although quill stems take much longer to swap, if that matters.

Personally I think the Gazelle is an unusual and distinctive frame among this group, probably not often seen outside Benelux, but it’s a fine selection to choose from.

If you’re building a retromod with integrated breake/gear shifters it won’t matter, but the Gzaelle and the Coppi don’t have down tube shift lever bosses.

Bianchigirll 

IMHO it would be a sin to put an ugly black group on one of those frames. Depending where you live and what your idea of "comfortable performance" is but the bikes in the '80s and '90s had lots of performance and most were confortable. Do you need a triple? a late '80s early '90s group will take a 39T ring and paired with a wider 7spd cassette should get byou lots of comfort and performance. You could usea 600 group and get a slightly smaller inner ring and use a Deore RD for even wider cassette and with DT shifters you still have index shifting. "Brifters" are overrated

AdventureManCO 

Paging jamesdak , who has quite a plethora of experience w/ super classy racy frames w/ modern components. If he has any opinions, I would definitely listen to them.

BTinNYC 

Of those beauties, I think the Atala is the most beautiful.

zukahn1 

+1 you can run a 36 easy or a bite of on small ring 3433. Or a maybe vintage MTB crank I have run ones pretty east low gear A nice triple will give you a solid 23-36 options front and 23-38 you should to find a gear'. I have found I can do 90's 16/38 .

vintagecycleguy

Thanks everyone.

I have decided to go with the Fausto Coppi frameset for a bunch of reasons, but the main ones being price and measuremens that will allow me to opt for more options of components. As soon the frameset arrives I will make sure to post new updates.

Still dont know what to do in terms of wheelset.....? thoughts?

Thanks!

jamesdak 

Late to the party again.....

Some gorgeous frames but if you want to stick to a modern groupset I think you made the right choice. I've built up a similar Coppi and if yours winds up performing like mine it will be a rocket. They seem like they should be really stiff rides but I have not found mine uncomfortable at all on rough chipseal. Some of that may be due to a different saddle than I run on most of my bikes. These bikes are very fast, carry speed well, and are just plain fun to ride. I did find out the 700 x 25 tires are about the limit on mine so consider if that is an issue to you. Despite the current mindset now days I still feel that a good 700 x 25 is plenty plush to me and my choice of tire size for fast riding.

I was running various shallow allow rims at first but when to some nice Mavic Cosmics which really woke the bike up at faster speeds. It'll now cruise in the 25+ mph range limited only by how long my old legs can keep it up.



Detailed pics here:
https://pbase.com/jhuddle/coppi

Some build threads here in case they help. I don't remember any real issues building this one up.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...i-content.html


https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=282208


More info here on these Coppi's:
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/.../#post-3423538

Good luck on the build and keep us posted on things. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

vintagecycleguy

Thank you for sharing this! I am super excited and anxious about the arrival of the bike to start adapting to my personal use and taste! I am extremely happy with the choice I made... for the record, the Gazelle ended up not being an option so really happy also with the Coppi and fine with 25 tires, have been using 23s so it will certainly be an upgrade already.

The bike should arrive next week together with some components I`ve already ordered and I will post here more updates and pictures as of next week.

Still have an open doubt about the wheelset I should go for in a range of 500USD/EUR????

Thanks everyone!

jamesdak 

Well for years my go to wheelset has been the Campagnolo Zonda/Fulcrum Racing 3's. You can usually find them for a good price from the various European sites. Hard to beat them for the price to performance ratio.

They are getting harder to find but seem to be in stock here. I got my last set from them but usually get them from Merlin's.

https://www.bike24.com/p2184286.html?sku=657395

vintagecycleguy

I will definitely look out for these!Thanks so much!

jdawginsc 

Where are you located in Europe?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/15605470452...Bk9SR8aq6626Yw

MattoftheRocks

Buy all the frames. They won’t all ride equally good to you. The Ciocc is the only one with paint that looks like nice cafes & restaurants would be likely to be okay with you bringing it inside while you sit & eat. I think I’d want a gold anodized/plated headset with it though.

A locally laced set of polished Bitex hubs, DT Aerolite spokes, and grey H+SON Archetypes would be a nice Nice Wheelset that’d look good, be reasonably light, be decently stiff, and give great braking.

Campagnolo Scirocco & Zonda wheels are quite a bit more modern looking but still have alloy braking surfaces and are reasonably affordable prebuilt wheels. Boras… Boras would be cool.

I can’t comment on components and keeping it all in one grouppeaux. My bikes are all totally matching silver from 20’ away, but up close they’re completely mismatched mutts. Some DA here, Superbe there, Nuovo over there, S-T/A over here, Suzue there, etc. I love the look of 7400 cranks but the only Shimano shifter I actually like is Golden Arrow. I love the look of old ITM & 3ttt stems, kinda dislike the look but love the security of freshly forged Nitto stems. Most of my C&V roadies have some kind of townie handlebar on a slammed low & long Nitto stem and all have Fizik Arione saddles. They all have some kind of dual pivot caliper on the front.

vintagecycleguy

I am based in Portugal.

jdawginsc 

Oops. The link I sent was based on UK. Even with shipping it should be reasonable in euros?

vintagecycleguy

Need to evaluate and compare, because apart from shipping there might be taxation when in Portugal... thank you