What would you do with this?

neilo23

This lovely old thing was my first racer as a grown up (showing my age now) and has been sitting in the cellar for the last 15 years (note the cobwebs):







If I can scrape together a few bob I'd love to do something nice with it but what?

At the moment I'm thinking about a nice Campag Athena groupset (I think aluminium components would suit it better than carbon) and trying to sell the old Shimano 600 group. As the frame isn't that old I don't want to get too retro but it doesn't have to be a mean, lean, racing machine as I have my Wilier for that. Definitely new wheels. Carbon forks?

Any good ideas?

veronese68

I'd clean it, service it and ride it occasionally as it is. Replace things if necessary, new wheels wouldn't be a bad thing. I'd love something like that.

BillyMansell

If it's all wprking okay then I'd do very little. A good clean, repacking bearings and some Bianchi green bar tape, probably some new wheels as those look well used.

neilo23

Why wouldn't you guys do anything with it (just out of interest)?

freezing77

I'm with the others, a good clean up perhaps new wheels and definately some Bianchi Celeste bar tape.

neilo23

BillyMansell wrote:

If it's all wprking okay then I'd do very little. A good clean, repacking bearings and some Bianchi green bar tape, probably some new wheels as those look well used.

The rims are grey. It's not only years of accumulated dust

neilo23

It's also a touch too small for me. I seem to remember my knees occasionally saying hello to the handlebars. I can't say off the top of my head how long the stem is but it surely can't much longer.

neilo23

I also need some Bianchi celeste nail varnish for a couple of chips in the paintwork :-)

ugo.santalucia

You can leave the groupset... 600 was Ultegra and it's top notch... it just needs a bit of TLC in the form a thorough clean, new cables and probably new tubes and tyres... wheels might need to be retensioned... minor things...

You can also fit a modern groupset, but the investment will not make it a better bike. As it is now, you can ride the Eroica, the Retroronde and many other events for period cycles even if it is not stricly "period"... beautiful bike

neilo23

ugo.santalucia wrote:

You can leave the groupset... 600 was Ultegra and it's top notch... it just needs a bit of TLC in the form a thorough clean, new cables and probably new tubes and tyres... wheels might need to be retensioned... minor things...

You can also fit a modern groupset, but the investment will not make it a better bike. As it is now, you can ride the Eroica, the Retroronde and many other events for period cycles even if it is not stricly "period"... beautiful bike

Thank you. It's a shame it's just been forgotten about but luckily my cellar is very warm and dry and everything's in great condition. It's a beautiful paint job, too: still shimmers in sunlight as if it were new.

rolf_f

Lovely as is. Aside from a cleanup, it doesn't want a thing doing to it. Might not even need the cables replacing (I didn't replace them on the bike below!).

To re-iterate what Ugo said re 600. I have that on my Raleigh Randonneur - which was the most expensive bike Raleigh sold in the late 80s. It's very nice.

veronese68

My son has an old steel framed road bike that I put together on a budget with bits that I had and what I could buy cheaply. It has a mix of modern and old components as a result, including the same seatpost as yours. It still has down tube shifters, 9 speed Dura Ace, and I actually kind of enjoy using them in a slightly warped and nostalgic way. Because the frame is not designed with 9 speed in mind there is no clearance for the smallest cog on the cassette as the chain hits the seat stay. Old style square taper bottom brackets seem to last a lot longer than newer types with external bearings so stick with the chainset it has. It just looks right as it is. You have your Willier as your best bike so keep this as it is and you can take it for smaller rides and not worry too much if you leave it locked up somewhere, if you spend too much on it you will worry about it more.
Enjoy it for what it is, don't try to make it something it isn't. Especially if it's a fraction small you don't want to do a load of work and find you can't get comfortable.
Hope that makes sense and isn't too disjointed I keep being interrupted by work.
Oh, and referring to your other thread, make sure the gear hanger is straight. ;-)

neilo23

Rolf F wrote:

Lovely as is. Aside from a cleanup, it doesn't want a thing doing to it. Might not even need the cables replacing (I didn't replace them on the bike below!).

To re-iterate what Ugo said re 600. I have that on my Raleigh Randonneur - which was the most expensive bike Raleigh sold in the late 80s. It's very nice.

I know it's nice: never had a problem with it and the indexing still works perfectly. It's just that I've been a Campag freak for a while now and..... I'm sure you know what I mean If I ever win the lottery I'd love to have a pair of the lovely (but useless) Delta brakes on it. My mate at school had an early Vitus carbon frame with Super Record and Delta brakes. The young Neilo was a little envious....

neilo23

I think that I'll listen to you lot It IS a lovely bike and still works as well as it did when I bought it. I think it would be best as a town bike. I still have the Christophe pedals it came with so I can use it with regular shoes.

By the way, does anyone know if some kind of thingy (the technical term) exists to put into Christophe pedals so that the ridge for the plates doesn't dig in to your feet? I seem to recall that such a thing used to exist but I'm not so sure.

ugo.santalucia

neilo23 wrote:

I think that I'll listen to you lot It IS a lovely bike and still works as well as it did when I bought it. I think it would be best as a town bike. I still have the Christophe pedals it came with so I can use it with regular shoes.

By the way, does anyone know if some kind of thingy (the technical term) exists to put into Christophe pedals so that the ridge for the plates doesn't dig in to your feet? I seem to recall that such a thing used to exist but I'm not so sure.

Yes, shoes used to have a cleat, but getting off it was not easy and I suggest to avoid it if you use it as a town bike.
Also, do get modern tyres, there has been significant advance in puncture protection over the past 15 years and older tyres virtually puncture every ride if you use them in modern cities (there used to be less garbage around, less glass on the streets etc... )

neilo23

ugo.santalucia wrote:

neilo23 wrote:

I think that I'll listen to you lot It IS a lovely bike and still works as well as it did when I bought it. I think it would be best as a town bike. I still have the Christophe pedals it came with so I can use it with regular shoes.

By the way, does anyone know if some kind of thingy (the technical term) exists to put into Christophe pedals so that the ridge for the plates doesn't dig in to your feet? I seem to recall that such a thing used to exist but I'm not so sure.

Yes, shoes used to have a cleat, but getting off it was not easy and I suggest to avoid it if you use it as a town bike.
Also, do get modern tyres, there has been significant advance in puncture protection over the past 15 years and older tyres virtually puncture every ride if you use them in modern cities (there used to be less garbage around, less glass on the streets etc... )

Sorry, I meant cleats, not plates. The ridge went into the slot in the cleats and due to this ridge the pedals aren't exactly comfortable with a pair on Converse on. But the Christophes would look a lot nicer than chunky regular pedals.

rolf_f

neilo23 wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

Lovely as is. Aside from a cleanup, it doesn't want a thing doing to it. Might not even need the cables replacing (I didn't replace them on the bike below!).

To re-iterate what Ugo said re 600. I have that on my Raleigh Randonneur - which was the most expensive bike Raleigh sold in the late 80s. It's very nice.

I know it's nice: never had a problem with it and the indexing still works perfectly. It's just that I've been a Campag freak for a while now and..... I'm sure you know what I mean If I ever win the lottery I'd love to have a pair of the lovely (but useless) Delta brakes on it. My mate at school had an early Vitus carbon frame with Super Record and Delta brakes. The young Neilo was a little envious....

Ahh, but you see modern Shimano just looks pig ugly whereas the old stuff was actually very nice. If you had to Campanolo-ify it, use period components and do it properly!

As for pedals - I have an old Raleigh Randonneur (fitted with Suntour gears and brakes - the smart choice back then!) - the pedals I used for that are the Shimano period style cage pedals with an SPD clip on one side. I've never used the flat side but they work really well on the clipless side and don't look out of place on an old bike.

ugo.santalucia

There is no reason to fit Campagnolo... your bike belongs to an era (late 80s to 1990) when Shimano was superior as Campag. C Record was pretty but pants and even great champions moved from Campag to Shimano...
The equivalent to your 600 in Campag terms is Victory Triomphe... on balance I'd keep the 600

Polish, polish, polish...

neilo23

Rolf F wrote:

neilo23 wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

Lovely as is. Aside from a cleanup, it doesn't want a thing doing to it. Might not even need the cables replacing (I didn't replace them on the bike below!).

To re-iterate what Ugo said re 600. I have that on my Raleigh Randonneur - which was the most expensive bike Raleigh sold in the late 80s. It's very nice.

I know it's nice: never had a problem with it and the indexing still works perfectly. It's just that I've been a Campag freak for a while now and..... I'm sure you know what I mean If I ever win the lottery I'd love to have a pair of the lovely (but useless) Delta brakes on it. My mate at school had an early Vitus carbon frame with Super Record and Delta brakes. The young Neilo was a little envious....

Ahh, but you see modern Shimano just looks pig ugly whereas the old stuff was actually very nice. If you had to Campanolo-ify it, use period components and do it properly!



As for pedals - I have an old Raleigh Randonneur (fitted with Suntour gears and brakes - the smart choice back then!) - the pedals I used for that are the Shimano period style cage pedals with an SPD clip on one side. I've never used the flat side but they work really well on the clipless side and don't look out of place on an old bike.

I had a pair of them on my (hangs his head in shame ) mountain bike....until it was nicked.

neilo23

I'll go and give it a clean and post a couple of pics. The sun has come out especially for the occasion

neilo23

That's about as clean as I can get it for today. A couple of new bits and pieces and the old girl will be pretty again.

ugo.santalucia

Awesome... remove the silly cabled computer and ride by feel... the saddle clip is also off topic... other than that, you've got a fantastic bike there, maybe with a pair of new tyres...

rolf_f

Oooooh! Get the chain and chain rings properly clean!

Anyway, it's looking good but do you know what it is saying? It's saying "Please neilo, buy me a pair of those nice Veloflex Master tan wall tyres in the Ribble sale with the cash10 code - http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... elxtyrf300"

neilo23

Thanks gentlemen. I'll need to soak the chain in something unpleasant for a while to get the gunk off it. Still, quite pleased with what I managed to get off it in about 40 minutes. Computer will be off soon. Been riding long enough now to know how slow I am :-)

neilo23

It's only coincidence that the bike's standing on the waste fat containers from my pub: could have half filled them with the old grease off the bike

neilo23

Rolf F wrote:

Oooooh! Get the chain and chain rings properly clean!

Anyway, it's looking good but do you know what it is saying? It's saying "Please neilo, buy me a pair of those nice Veloflex Master tan wall tyres in the Ribble sale with the cash10 code - http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... elxtyrf300"

They look very nice. Thanks for the tip

veronese68

Looks great, I agree with the above comments. I'm jealous.

neilo23

I tempted to get the white handlebar tape. I'm worried about a celeste overdose.

There are nice nice bits and bobs here:

http://www.bianchistore.de/Parts-Accessories

ugo.santalucia

neilo23 wrote:

I tempted to get the white handlebar tape. I'm worried about a celeste overdose.

There are nice nice bits and bobs here:

http://www.bianchistore.de/Parts-Accessories

It looks nice as it is, I wouldn't start spending money in silly things, or it'll look like one of those american trucks... get some good quality tyres because it deserves it and leave the coloured bits where they are

term1te

If she were mine, I'd swap in a contemporary silver/polished quill stem and celeste or white bar tape. I just don't like quill stems any colour other than silver, maybe if they match the hubs and the bars, but otherwis its just wrong. I'd also recommend the Veloflex master tyres, I've got them on an 80s bike and they don't only look right, but also ride better than most top end tyres you can buy.