My Vintage Build

rower63

commuted two days on it now. suddenly-forecast deluges for this evening so was quite anxious to get home before introducing road grit into the Delta brakes. Thankfully made it dry *phew*.

teething tasks for the weekend:
- replace rear derailleur cable guide and add feral
- very slightly tension Brooks saddle, as the front shackle rattles when I get off the saddle
- tighten up the headset, it's a leeetle loose, got a bit of fork judder under braking
- tweak the limit screws on FD, occasionally over-shift and throw the chain over the top on front
- apply propanol to braking surface, terrible brake squeal (OEM pads)

Ben6899

rower63 wrote:

commuted two days on it now. suddenly-forecast deluges for this evening so was quite anxious to get home before introducing road grit into the Delta brakes. Thankfully made it dry *phew*.

teething tasks for the weekend:
- replace rear derailleur cable guide and add feral
- very slightly tension Brooks saddle, as the front shackle rattles when I get off the saddle
- tighten up the headset, it's a leeetle loose, got a bit of fork judder under braking
- tweak the limit screws on FD, occasionally over-shift and throw the chain over the top on front
- apply propanol to braking surface, terrible brake squeal (OEM pads)

They probably just need toe-ing in.

rower63

Ben6899 wrote:

rower63 wrote:

commuted two days on it now. suddenly-forecast deluges for this evening so was quite anxious to get home before introducing road grit into the Delta brakes. Thankfully made it dry *phew*.

teething tasks for the weekend:
- replace rear derailleur cable guide and add feral
- very slightly tension Brooks saddle, as the front shackle rattles when I get off the saddle
- tighten up the headset, it's a leeetle loose, got a bit of fork judder under braking
- tweak the limit screws on FD, occasionally over-shift and throw the chain over the top on front
- apply propanol to braking surface, terrible brake squeal (OEM pads)

They probably just need toe-ing in.

thanks - I hadn't thought of that, I'll give it a go

ugo.santalucia

rower63 wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

rower63 wrote:

commuted two days on it now. suddenly-forecast deluges for this evening so was quite anxious to get home before introducing road grit into the Delta brakes. Thankfully made it dry *phew*.

teething tasks for the weekend:
- replace rear derailleur cable guide and add feral
- very slightly tension Brooks saddle, as the front shackle rattles when I get off the saddle
- tighten up the headset, it's a leeetle loose, got a bit of fork judder under braking
- tweak the limit screws on FD, occasionally over-shift and throw the chain over the top on front
- apply propanol to braking surface, terrible brake squeal (OEM pads)

They probably just need toe-ing in.

thanks - I hadn't thought of that, I'll give it a go

The joy of anodised rims... I seem to recall I had a bit of squealing too... how's life on tubs

itboffin

Ah btw I found that stem and it is 100mm with a spare locking screw and nut, I also found the very old shimano down tube shifters my oh my for shimano kit they're bleeding lovely.

Ben6899

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKm8vfsBnP1/

rower63

Ben6899 wrote:

Very pretty, but 2016 group on 1990 frame? Not sure I approve.

Tweaked up mine over the weekend, and rode in today. Toed-in the brake shoes, no squeal any more. Tightened up the headset, no fork judder any more. Replaced the RD cable-casing and included a ferrule. A bit better, but still not right. A little too much tension, easily fixed by reducing it a bit, but I suspect there might be too much friction in the cable-guide under the BB shell, which is just a groove in the metal. I might have to fabricate a plastic liner-guide of sorts.

dhope

rower63 wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Very pretty, but 2016 group on 1990 frame? Not sure I approve.

Needs disc brakes :twisted: :twisted:

rower63

just found this: [Sheldon Brown:] "Synchro derailers and shift levers are incompatible with anything else, and the Synchro system worked so poorly that it is not a good idea to try to set the system up on a bike you intend to actually ride."

Haha this helps explain some of my issues, especially my spontaneous chain-skating crash while competitively sprinting up Broomfield's 13% at 900W+ which probably tested the set-up beyond what was wise...

they are pretty though

MrSweary

rower63 wrote:

just found this: [Sheldon Brown:] "Synchro derailers and shift levers are incompatible with anything else, and the Synchro system worked so poorly that it is not a good idea to try to set the system up on a bike you intend to actually ride."

But apart from that what's wrong with it?

rhodrich

Another thing that Sheldon said, regarding European freewheels (such as your Regina one):

Sheldon Brown wrote:

European freewheels with grooves running along the tops of the teeth were prone to a semi-freewheeling mode, as the side plates of the chain would skate along the grooves.....
I used to regularly modify Regina and Atom freewheels by re-grinding the teeth of the sprockets so that they somewhat resembled those of Sun Tour or Shimano sprockets...a treatment later known as "Sheldo-Glide."

It does indeed sounds like your combination of Syncro gears, plus a Regina freewheel is the problem.

MrSweary

Rhodrich wrote:

Another thing that Sheldon said, regarding European freewheels (such as your Regina one):

Sheldon Brown wrote:

European freewheels with grooves running along the tops of the teeth were prone to a semi-freewheeling mode, as the side plates of the chain would skate along the grooves.....
I used to regularly modify Regina and Atom freewheels by re-grinding the teeth of the sprockets so that they somewhat resembled those of Sun Tour or Shimano sprockets...a treatment later known as "Sheldo-Glide."

It does indeed sounds like your combination of Syncro gears, plus a Regina freewheel is the problem.

Sorry I asked!

rower63

It's not too different from what I expected.

Very much like an old restored MG car, it works fine except under fairly extreme pressure, it's very good-looking, it draws a LOT of admiration. But basically compared to today's "riding experience", it's a bit sh!t.

leeefm

rower63 wrote:

It's not too different from what I expected.

Very much like an old restored MG car, it works fine except under fairly extreme pressure, it's very good-looking, it draws a LOT of admiration. But basically compared to today's "riding experience", it's a bit sh!t.

Yeah... I found it to be like that too. Steel rims in the wet were not good then, and they're not good now. Then again, mine is only a Falcon :oops:

london-red

leeefm wrote:

rower63 wrote:

It's not too different from what I expected.

Very much like an old restored MG car, it works fine except under fairly extreme pressure, it's very good-looking, it draws a LOT of admiration. But basically compared to today's "riding experience", it's a bit sh!t.

Yeah... I found it to be like that too. Steel rims in the wet were not good then, and they're not good now. Then again, mine is only a Falcon :oops:

Which is why modern equipment on vintage frames is the way to go for, bike tarty or no.

london-red

Speaking of bike tarty, who was the chap on the Colnago Master tonight?

veronese68

Ali rims are a must, chrome rims were lethal. The 9 speed indexed down tube shifters on my sons bike are brilliant, look old and just work. Careful selection of components to get the best of both worlds.
Old MGs have always been more than a bit rubbish.

ugo.santalucia

rower63 wrote:

just found this: [Sheldon Brown:] "Synchro derailers and shift levers are incompatible with anything else, and the Synchro system worked so poorly that it is not a good idea to try to set the system up on a bike you intend to actually ride."

Haha this helps explain some of my issues, especially my spontaneous chain-skating crash while competitively sprinting up Broomfield's 13% at 900W+ which probably tested the set-up beyond what was wise...

they are pretty though

I seem to remember synchro can be setup to be like a normal friction shifter, ie not indexed and should work fine that way

ugo.santalucia

London-Red wrote:

Which is why modern equipment on vintage frames is the way to go for, bike tarty or no.

But if you are not interested in the period experience, then what's the point of an old frame to start with?

london-red

ugo.santalucia wrote:

London-Red wrote:

Which is why modern equipment on vintage frames is the way to go for, bike tarty or no.

But if you are not interested in the period experience, then what's the point of an old frame to start with?

Because they look pretty.

rower63

ugo.santalucia wrote:

...I seem to remember synchro can be setup to be like a normal friction shifter, ie not indexed and should work fine that way

yes this is the direction I'll be heading I think.

rolf_f

London-Red wrote:

leeefm wrote:

rower63 wrote:

It's not too different from what I expected.

Very much like an old restored MG car, it works fine except under fairly extreme pressure, it's very good-looking, it draws a LOT of admiration. But basically compared to today's "riding experience", it's a bit sh!t.

Yeah... I found it to be like that too. Steel rims in the wet were not good then, and they're not good now. Then again, mine is only a Falcon :oops:

Which is why modern equipment on vintage frames is the way to go for, bike tarty or no.

Weak argument surely? The best you can say on that logic is that it isn't a good idea to use steel rims on a vintage frame and not many would disagree with that in most cases. Unless you think that steel rims are a modern idea?

Modern equipment on a vintage frame tends to look a bit sh1t really. It just implies confused priorities. About the only exception is chainsets - I'd certainly agree that my RRA is harder work to ride than my modern bikes because of the gearing but otherwise the old bike is as much fun to ride as a modern one if a little slower.

London-Red wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

London-Red wrote:

Which is why modern equipment on vintage frames is the way to go for, bike tarty or no.

But if you are not interested in the period experience, then what's the point of an old frame to start with?

Because they look pretty.

But not when you put clumsy looking enormous modern STI shifters on them and black components.

london-red

I wasn't suggesting using fugly components..

rolf_f

London-Red wrote:

I wasn't suggesting using fugly components..

Ahh, but what isn't fugly these days? Even Campag Athena at it's 2010ish modern but period best looks clumpy compared to the proper period kit. At best it is acceptable but even then the shifters are just too large to look that good on slim period tubed frames.

leeefm

Rolf F wrote:

Ahh, but what isn't fugly these days? Even Campag Athena at it's 2010ish modern but period best looks clumpy compared to the proper period kit. At best it is acceptable but even then the shifters are just too large to look that good on slim period tubed frames.

That's why I like my old Sachs friction shift drivetrain. Actually I put a - *gasp* - Shimano freewheel on it, and you'd be surprised how well the sprockets shift with hyperglide. Back in the day it used to rattle for about 20 yards before you got it sorted (or was I just crap?).

itboffin

Ben6899 wrote:

i think mine looks better
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/H7acPEqGCAqnHy674vkBp-ynfsINtL_B6ITZ1Yy1NDsOrPZIr0bz0rvjN6M_SFxZJvfDsk9-UH4itw=w1366-h768-rw-no

rower63

itboffin wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

i think mine looks better
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/H7acPEqGCAqnHy674vkBp-ynfsINtL_B6ITZ1Yy1NDsOrPZIr0bz0rvjN6M_SFxZJvfDsk9-UH4itw=w1366-h768-rw-no

Agree, nice.

Incidentally, my Bottecchia is now converted to pure friction shift, has been for a while, but apart from a short test ride I've not had a chance to take her for a proper ride, it's been too wet whenever I might've had the chance.