Custom Steel 753 Resurrection

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

This is my Custom 753 Joe Waugh bike I had built in 1992. Used for several years, then for various reasons I stopped cycling altogether, and the bike just collected dust in the garage.
Started cycling again seriously in about 2004, started afresh with an aluminium Kinesis, then added a Beone carbon etc. Then converted the Joe Waugh to fixed, but didnt really get on with it, so it started collecting dust again. After another recent bike build, had a few bits lying around, including a set of open pro wheels with 10 speed Campag freehub. I was presently surprised how easy it was to squeeze this into the original 126 rear drop outs, so decided to rebuild the bike with the 10 speed cassette, but keeping the original down tube friction levers and ancient Mavic rear mech. Kept my original Campag Chorus chainset, Campag monoplanar Mirage calipers , Campag seat post, and Cinelli stem. Ditched the Cinelli bars which I never liked and fitted a more modern compact set of bars I had lying around. The brake levers are modern Centaur ergo power levers, however the shifters were faulty any way, so removed the shift levers and mechanisms so are now purely brake levers. Hoping to ride it for the first time properly this weekend.

greasedscotsman

Liking the drilled bottle cage!

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

Well spotted! drilled it myself years ago when I spare hour or two!

Meirionatron

That's a delightful looking bike

Bordersroadie

Aah, happy 1970's/80's memories of gazing in Dentons Newcastle window at all the Joe Waugh and Dave Yates frames. In my dreams.

Is it okay to squeeze a 130 OLN hub into 126 if it's 753?

Lovely bike.

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

@Boardersroadie, I hope so, the rear dropouts felt quite springy, and its only 2mm extra per side, and it didnt need much effort to simply pull the dropouts apart slightly whilst sliding in the 130mm axle.

Wheelspinner

That is a beautiful thing indeed. What's the saddle? Looks slick but is it comfy?

Bordersroadie

xdoc wrote:

@Boardersroadie, I hope so, the rear dropouts felt quite springy, and its only 2mm extra per side, and it didnt need much effort to simply pull the dropouts apart slightly whilst sliding in the 130mm axle.

I only mentioned it because I nearly bought a 753 frame but decided not to because the body of evidence from framebuilders etc was that 753 cannot be coldset.

I guess squeezing in a 130 hub produces less stress than coldsetting as the act of coldsetting requires bending at least twice the 2mm on each side to get it to stay rather than spring back. Or maybe the universal advice is basically correct, ie you cannot cold set it, maybe because it is just too springy, but perhaps the fact is that you can "spring it out" as an alternative without any worries. I guess going from 126 to 130 means you can get away without realigning the dropout/derailleur hanger too, especially with less-critical DT friction shifters.

Good luck to you, I wasn't trying to pee on your fire, honestly, it really is a beautiful bike!

My well-used 531c winter bike started life as 120mm, spent 25 years with a 126 wheel squeezed in (it became 122mm) then I cold set it recently to 130. You have now made me think that a 753 frame is an option after all.....

ugo.santalucia

I'm off to drill my bottle cage...

luv2ride

Really gorgeous bike First you tempted me to get my own Crosslight pro 6. Think I'd better stop looking at your posts xdoc, I'll be looking at classics next 8)

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

Well took her out for a quick 12 mile blast around my local lanes this morning and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was like putting on your favourite old pair of comfy leather shoes, the fit still felt spot on. Having to reach down to the shifters feels a bit awkward after Ergo levers, but probably means you change gear less which I think is no bad thing. Being used to compact chainsets it feels a bit overgeared but Iḿ not sure the Mavic rear mech will cope with a larger cassette.

@Boardersroadie, thanks for the feedback, I must admit I didnt really know about cold setting etc, and didnt really research the issue, I just thought I would see if I could easily squeeze a 130 mm hub in. If the frame cracks and I live to tell the tale Iĺl let you know

@Wheelspinner, its a Specialized Toupe Expert. Bought it off Ebay to try on my summer bike, as a lot of people seem to get on with Specialized saddles. Its okay but after an hour or so it starts to feel a little hard under my old sit bones so ended up replacing with a Charge Spoon. Iĺl give it another go on this bike as I dont think Iĺl be going for long rides on it and it does look nice.

@ Ugo, have you finished drilling yet I weighed the bike today, about 8.5 kg, that drilled bottle cage makes all the difference

@ Luv2Ride, thanks for the compliment. Id better not post up pics of my £7000 custom carbon Legend with full Super Record then :shock: .................only joking, Im too tight to spend that much on a bike :