Stuck on a few things while building an all Italian bike.

salsarider79

I have a new, well I say new, it's more a 90's bike, but new to me. Sorry OT

Ok, so I'm building the bike as an updated version of an old bike with new 10 speed campag centaur (with alloy levers/cranks not carbon as I'm trying to keep it looking original). Now I'm a little stuck on a few build choices.
I have the original bars but at 40cm they are far too narrow for me. I need some non oversize bars in a 44 cm flavour, in silver. Any ideas? I'd love some with etching to look more original....a picture of Italy perhaps...?
Ok then the next question. I'm going to be building a set of wheels for the bike. I want them to be as light as possible hence I'm tempted by a set of tub rims. But having never ridden tubs before, I'm a little unsure about what to do if I get punctures. It worries me enough to wonder wether to go for 'normal' rims instead.

Can you lovely people help me? You help will be renumerated with pics.

p.s. I pick the frame up in a month....can't wait to get started!
p.s.s. The parts that come off this bike are being put towards a fixie project. Back wheel I swapped for a PSone, Steel frame/forks I was given, bars, levers, headset, front wheel + cranks from the Bianchi...when I've finished I'll post pics of both bikes.

Monty Dog

Traditional, silver bars are becoming harder to get - Cinelli Giro D'Italia were popular but most were made in a 26.4mm size so careful with your stem choice. You are more or less limited to ebay , bike jumbles or 2nd hand.
If you want lightweight tub rims, there's Mavic Gel 330 or even 280s which you can pick up NOS/secondhand for a lot less than a modern equivalent.

crankycrank

Agree that ebay should have some bars that would work for you. TTT, ITM, Modolo, Cinelli, plus a couple of others I can't remember were all very popular Italian brands and most were 26mm clamp. As for the Cinelli's, towards the end of the quill stem era they started producing their bars with a 26mm clamp along with their trademark 26.4 so make sure you know which one you're looking at. I actually have a set of the silver model 64-44cm wide bars with the 26 clamp.

acidstrato

theres a place in swansea caled Recycle ltd where the council encourage people to send there old bikes/parts that they dont want no more to this place but its amazing what one persons junk is. loads of old fashioned/retro stuff down there and a workshop you can use.

most of the stuff is cheap and already stripped. ok you wont get an unworn crankset but a suitable stem and bars...maybe

ynyswen24

I've got a feeling that Nitto might make oversized stems to get the old quill look with a new handlebar. Might be worth checking on.

2alexcoo

The Nitto Noodle bars are nice, 26mm clamp, nice etching, but not Italian obviously!

Anonymous

Deda bars

http://www.dedaelementi.com/En/Products ... Master=385

salsarider79

They look like track bars, but I will consider them.

Where are Nitto from then? I notice they do perfect non oversize 44cm width bars. I thought they where Italian...

crankycrank

salsarider79 wrote:

Where are Nitto from then?

Made in Japan.

Avanti Roman

You can strip the black powder coating or anodized finish of most modern handlebars back to bare alloy with some wet n dry (using WD40 as a lubricant) then wire wool & metal polish & get a really good polished finish. The same can be done with the stem (though the powder coating tends to be thicker). Same with seatposts or any alloy components for that matter.

I think tubulars will look right (and feel great) - especially with a spare tub strapped neatly under your addle with a cut down toestrap.

I once had a pair of wheels built with Mavic Argent 10 rims - 310g each so midway between GEL280 & GEL 330 in weight but anodized silver finish. Then again Campag Shamals would be another option.

You need to peel back the backing tape & unstitch (& restitch) the tyre around the puncture before repairing. There used to be a repair serviice advertised in the back of Cycling weekly. Best to buy a few reasonably priced tubs at once if you can.

Steph_li

NapoleonD wrote:

Deda bars

http://www.dedaelementi.com/En/Products ... Master=385 lingerie

I was looking for these!