December 2008 Archives

I was quite surprised yesterday when my wife gave me a 2008 Masi Speciale Commuter for Christmas.  This is a real 'swiss army knife' of a bike that comes set up as a single speed bike, but has all of the braze-ons, rear frame spacing & rear derailleur hanger to add as many gears as would make a guy happy.  I would imagine ultimately the bike will end up set up with a compact double front chainring and 9 speed rear + bar end shifters + (probably) fenders....which, by the way, is what Masi is selling in their '09 line as the "Randonneur".  The bike's not hard on the eyes, and a nice ride too!  Here are some pics of it with the family + one to show the really cool curve of the handlebars.....very cool!

Along with photos of the other bikes, I wanted to add one more photo of the 56cm Bertoni Professionale.  This is Columbus SLX tubing with a mix of the original Campy Record rotating parts (ie, headset, bottom bracket, hubs) and new Campy Veloce drivetrain.   I bought the bike in this build...at the time not realizing there were folks who were marketing this sort of retro/modern bike build.  That said, I can see why. This bike rides like a dream & is very comfortable in every way...including being easy on the eyes, in my opinion. 

I thought I'd put some photos up of the Le Tour.  This is a nice, simple US-made Schwinn that I am tempted to build a cool, "city bike" style bike out of.   The running gear is all good.  I have a feeling that some of this bike was grafted with a Peugeot at some point in time because it has Hueret detrailleurs (as opposed to SIS Shimano, which I believe would have been correct for '87), a Stronglight crankset and French Rigida 27" aluminum rims.  In it's current state, it's a few cm too small for me, but I am thinking with stem, bar and seatpost changes it could be a great upright greenway cruiser.
   
 

Like a lot of my bikes, this one has also been modified and reborn as something slightly different.   Today - October 2009 -  it looks more like this:

The original drivetrain remains on this bike.   I changed the handlebars for mustache style bars and installed Suntour ratcheting bar end shifters.  The seatpost was replaced for something longer and a new take-off seat gifted from a friend was installed on it.  I used a set of aero brake levers (circa late 80s) paired to a set of 105 dual pivot brake calipers also of a late '80s/early '90s vintage.  I added the rear rack and usually run some type of SPD pedals.   It got new cables, re-lubed bearings and the usual fare of "clean up" work you would expect.  It makes a very nice urban bike that isn't bad at all to log 30+ miles at a time.  I am hopeful the 27" Rigida wheels hold out.  I was lucky to find a pair of virtually new, good tires for the bike from the local Craigslist for $5 for the pair.  I am sure this bike will continue to evolve.  In fact, it has already evolved a little bit since these photos were taken!

This is going to be an early spring project.   It should get fenders and a rack (or racks).  All indication, it that it's a 1996 model like the one in the catalog clip above.  Right now, it's resting after apparently having been a campus commuter and then riding all over the US strapped to the back of an RV to be used as a scooter during car shows and camping trips.  I had a friend who had a (probably 10 years older) version of this bike back in the late '80s and I loved riding it...at least around town, that is.  This seems like an excellent candidate to build a budget-minded version of something like the Trek Portland , Raleigh Detour, or a Kona urban bikes.  I know, there's generally a tire size and brake technology difference there, but I think something reasonable can be worked out to breath new vitality into the M400.   It had a huge comfort seat on it that I had to change for the one in the pictures.  Otherwise, all the important parts seem to be in good shape, so after some cleaning, new cables/housings, some component upgrades and some accessories, this ought to be a nice bike.  This is the basic 'today' condition of the M400:
   
    By the way, you can find the 1996 and other Cannondale Catalogs online at Vintage Cannondale.

This bike has been leaning on various walls around the house since some time during the summer of 2009, but I just got around to getting it out on some test rides.  There are some tweaks left in store for it and some minor tuning to do here and there, but basically, this is it:

Here's a basic run-down of what happened with it:

• Replaced crank with Sakae (traditional) touring triple crankset (170mm)
• Replaced cantilever brakes with Tektro V-brakes and levers
• Replaced rear derailleur with Shimano Deore LX 7-speed
• Replaced front derailleur with Shimano Deore ("9 speed)
  
• Replaced shifters with Deore LX 3x7 thumb shifters
• Replaced handlebar and grips (inverted 'city/touring' bar and cork grips sealed with shellac)
• Replaced rear wheel with complete, built used wheel
  

and a few additions...

• Planet Bike fenders with mudflaps
• Front rack
• Rear light
• Front Taskforce Cree LED light
  
• Nashbar mini-panniers
• Crank Brothers Eggbeater pedals
• Kenda 1.5" urban tires
  

This turned out to be a rather slow and randomly accessed (ie, done in bits & pieces here & there...with bits & pieces from here & there) project, but I have almost completed Phoenixing  the 1982 P8 Carbolite bike into a nice, sturdy urban commuter (or tourer) bike.  This was done using take-off parts mostly, along with some Ebay bargains.  The wheels migrated from the PSV10, since they were 700c, aluminum, 7 speed rear, and generally in alright condition.  The handlebar was swapped with an aluminum drop bar that came attached to a stem I needed for Elliot's bike and the Shimano 105 derailleurs and brakes were all random spares from Ebay.  Mounting modern brakes with recessed bolts required some minor drilling (one side) of the brake bridge and upper fork to accomodate post-1985 style road bike brakes.
 

This Carbolite 103 frame is not the finest piece of craftsmanship to ever leave Europe, but on the other hand the geometry is great and it's probably unbreakable to the same extent as you'd imagine a 1965 Schwinn!  The frame originally did not have a rear derailleur mounting tab, but rather incorporated an adaptor as part of the original derailleur.  I modified this adaptor by tapping it to fit the 105 derailleur and grinding/welding the metal to mate correctly to the tensioner mechanism.  Ultimately, this turned out nicely, though having to do such work may be the first clue to move to another frame for someone who doesn't have access to basic machining tools & a welder.

The brake levers are Shimano 105 and the bar end shifters are Shimano ultegra (currently set on friction).   I have not tried the light out in truly dark situations, but this is the Cree LED Lowe's Task Force flashlight that was recently highly acclaimed as the best bargain on a bright bike light. The saddle is a vintage suede Turbo saddle from the 1980s.
 

   

Not sure the year model, but this is a Bertoni Nuovitalia, with Columbus Matrix tubing and a mix of Shimano 600 and Campy components.  It should be from some time between 1986-1988.  I'm still researching this marque and the models.  This is the same size as the Bertoni Professionale, but there are a number of subtle and not-so-subtle frame construction differences.  Still, to me it's a beautiful machine and it appears to be quite original in its current state.   Of course, the challenge will be for me to see if I can resist giving it a few modern amenities....well, or maybe which ones to give it....or....well, for now, it's almost a time capsule to the '80s.

I thought I should add an update to this section to show the current evolution of this bike.  For the purists who love ribbon tape and gum hoods, I'm sorry.  I love those things too, but I realized quickly that there were some things I wanted on the bike in order to really have it be one I reach for when I want to go for a ride.  So, here it is today...well, as of August 2009....

What's different on the bike is now it has the Cinelli bars original to my Bertoni Professionale (probably need to have a good angle shot to get a sense of these...not much flat area on top with these..made for hammering in the drops!), Tektro brake levers (very practical Campy hood copies, imho), new brake cables and housings, new Campy Veloce brake calipers.  Since the photo was taken, I have also replaced the Columbus stickers that has been scratched off when I got the bike.