Viscount modernisation

HowardG
HowardG Posts: 29
edited June 2011 in Road buying advice
Hi fellas.

In addition to my Felt F4 I have my old and much beloved Viscount Aerospace - a 1970's steel framed racer that I've had for over 25 years. The thing is, bits are broken and it needs some tlc.

Can you give me some advise re: the following. I'm tempted to modernise the bike with a modern groupset and wheels - the whole shebang. My 700c wheels fit the frame (it's 27" wheels) though the brakes need some thought.

This is all based on my want for a second bike to knock about on and the sentimental value of the old bike.

Given the brakes drop can, I believe, be overcome, what are the pitfalls? I could get some RS20 wheels and a tiagra/ 105 groupset reasonably but this would still be the best part of £450 if bought new.

Am I mad?

Thanks for any advise. It would be great to hear from anyone who has done the same.

Howard

Comments

  • HowardG
    HowardG Posts: 29
    Helllooo! Anyone there? Someone must have some experience/ thoughts.

    Thanks

    Howard
  • centimani
    centimani Posts: 467
    Very do-able Howard but as you say very expensive.
    Done similar, upgraded an 80s 531 to 8 speed with a mix of Sora shifters, a mix of Tiagra wheelset, Tiagra chainset, Sora derailleurs, new cartidge BB to replace the cup n cone version, deep drop brakes, new Ponza saldde and an alloy seatpost, got rid of the shallow old style handlebars and fitted a pair from a dawes galaxy wreck that i had, using a 1 to 1.1/8 quill adaptor, plus all the various odds you cant remember afterwards.
    it cost me IRO £250, the Sora shifters and handlebars were effectively free, wheelset was new, the remainder a mix of stuff off ebay, i just made sure i got nearly new or good condition stuff.
    its my winter commuter now and given me sterling service through 3 winters with all the crud that throws at you.

    Deep drop brakes, you'll probably want nutted ones, they dont jump out at you if you want a bargain. I dont find braking efficiency as good as 'normal' calipers even with a variety of pads. Ultegra pads are working ok at the moment, but its just not as good as my main bike.
    Ive got a mix of Alhongas and tektro (just the way the bargains came at the time).
    You'll have to cold set the rear triangle to accept wide hubs, Sheldon brown did an excellent bit on that, i didnt struggle.
    Any wider than 8 speed and you may have to consider the angle of the rear hanger, Mines ok, but perhaps the wider you spread the rear, the further out that hanger will be which may cause alignment problems for your RD.
    Any Q's, keep em coming :wink:
  • HowardG
    HowardG Posts: 29
    Thanks very much for your reply. I'm really keen to make my old bike useable and modern.

    I think my frame is ok and will need no adjustment, which I'm surprised about. As I said, I put my existing RS20 700c wheels in and they fitted.

    As for the drive train, am I right in assuming it's just a bolt on job? If I get a groupset with a threaded bb will it just bolt in and be right? And brakes - I saw some Miche items on wiggle for £17. - they were deep drop items but I'm not sure how they bolt on or whether they were modern double pivot items as per my Felt ultegra calipers.

    Probably the most important factor for me is the fitment of sti levers. I find down tube shifters such a pain now.

    Did you put clip in pedals on your conversion? I use Keos on my felt but figure I'll need to be able to ride in regular shoes. We'll see.

    Perhaps I'll just have to jump in and try it.

    Thanks
  • centimani
    centimani Posts: 467
    Forgive me if i tell you stuff you already know..
    You existing calipers will probably be nutted, modern bikes use and allen key to fit them. You may be able to adapt the bike to take allen fit, but its a pain. better stick with nutted calipers. (if thats what the Viscount has)
    Tektros and Alhongas do dual pivot (mine are), Miche may well be DP as well. I think its the extra length of the caliper arms that reduce braking efficency.

    One point...although mine turned out well, sometimes i look at it and think, maybe i should have kept it retro, does it look a bit of a mix. I'll post some pics later if i can.

    AFAIR, most of the transmission was straight bolt on, as you say just make sure your crankset is compatible with your BB.
  • HowardG
    HowardG Posts: 29
    It would be great to see some pics. I'll look closely at the brakes when I come to buy bearing in mind your recommendation.

    Best I get on with it!
  • centimani
    centimani Posts: 467
    Ok Howard...looking at the photos reminded me of a couple of problems i encountered.
    Downtube bosses for the shifters. Mine had a band on set of shifters, i stripped the shifters off and used the band by welding some lugs on to accept the adjusters. I was trying to keep it realistic financially, the alternative is to buy band on downtube adjusters. my system works though.
    The photo shows a cheap pair of handlebars and stem i used off another wreck, its now got the galaxy bars and stem on. Because i like my bars quite high (and the frame's a tad small) i had the quill set quite high, which if i'm honest, looks naff. I cut some plastic tube to thicken the exposed quill a bit. Bear in mind, for me this is a working bike,a workhorse for the winter, not a thing of beauty. :D
    It started like this (stripped down)
    [img][/img]DSC01505.jpg
    Now looks like this (ish)
    [img][/img]DSC01978.jpg[/url]

    Again, the pedals i fitted have gone, there's now a pair of Look Delta's on (PP356 i think) which i ride quite happily with just cycle shoes, no cleats, for short commuting.
  • ynyswen24
    ynyswen24 Posts: 703
    The rear spacing on the dropouts is probably 126mm on the inside faces so the rear end may need resetting to 130mm to take a modern cassette wheel, though reading through you seem to have been able to fit one in...
    I had a Viscount years ago, pale metallic blue, nice bike but I think there were problems with some of the forks, a quick google search gives
    http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lambert.html
    having said that, I don't know which fork mine had but it was fine even after I trashed the rest of the frame after being run over by a car pulling out of a side road. A new 700c fork would be easy enough to source from any decent LBS to be on the safe side.
    Fond memories of it, the first decent bike I had and built up from a frame. Pretty light and I remember it being a nice bike to ride.