Best options for my bike?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

After years of being off a bike, Ciocc's, Pinarello's, Kestrels and OCLVs long gone, I've gotten back on an ancient Roberts (531) with Campy Record.

I like the 22lb weight of the bike, frame is pretty stiff and responsive while being comfortable on Boston roads. After just a few rides, I can feel the love coming back.

I don't see the need for a new/used lightweight wonderbike, but the shifting and brakes on the current bike have to go.

Looking at the groups these days, I'll have to build a new rear wheel at the very least, but I wonder if these crazy 10-speed rear cassettes will even fit in my rear geometry.

Anyone know about that? Or where I could get a a good condition, complete old school (late 90s+) Dura Ace shifter/derailleur set-up?

Or should I just be looking for a more modern bike and forget upgrading?

A recommendation getting back on: Sidi Genius 5 Pro. shoe fits like a glove, super comfortable, make you want to ride more.

[billybek]

I have Sidi's Dominator mountain shoes and they are excellent. I will have to look at their road shoes because they seem to fit my funny looking feet!
I just took my old Proctor off the rollers and back on the road so I know the dilemma with component upgrades. I decided just to throw on a new six speed cassette with a 28 tooth low gear for climbing the big hill at either end of my commute.
MikeZ had a very nice Carbon Fiber Lemond that he was looking to sell. I believe it was a 55 cm bike.
The guy that was my unofficial coach when I was racing loved Roberts frames and was constantly tinkering with frame setup with custom built frames from them.
Good to see you're back from the island!
Cheers,

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Bill, not sure on mt., but on road shoes, Sidi's (at least this style) come in narrow, medium and wide. I have a relatively narrow foot, but the mediums are perfect.

thanks for the note on MikeZ, I'll send him an email on his bike, also going to the local shop today to see what their thoughts are, maybe they have something stashed way in the back. if this Roberts frame can accept modern components, I will just slowly build it up.

[David]

I have a CrMo frame, Campy Record bike too and it's became art hanging on a wall in the house.

I've been riding my 29er mountain bike with street tires for a while, but I think it's time to start looking at getting back on a road bike.

So how do the carbon frames feel compared to a steel frame? I'd get a 58cm if that makes a difference in feel. Is there a reason not to buy a lower end carbon frame like Trek or Specialized's low end carbon?

Then there's which components to get. The SRAM stuff looks pretty good and is a little cheaper than the Shimano and of course Campy Record is off the chart. I read a review on the low end SRAM Rival group that said the latest stuff it's pretty good for the price. Anybody here have experience with SRAM?

[greglepore]

Current rear spacing is 130mm-yours is likely 126mm-you can fit a modern wheel, but don't count on quick changes...better option is to have a local framebuilder cold set it for you to 130.

If you're getting back into it, strongly consider a compact crank-say 34-50. You won't miss the top end, the lower low is easier on the knees, and you'll retain normal gear spacing as opposed to using a wider range cluster.

Most bikes are overgeared stock-sorta like Duc's....

[Shaun @ Tru6]

thanks Greg, I know what you mean about over-gearing. I have been using 4 total gears since I started riding. I could use 3 more when I venture into some bigger hills, but can't understand why we 20 speeds these days. On the Duc, I recently put on a new chain with 14/39 gearing. It's perfect for me.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about in terms of upgrading the bike. Just went to put on some 105 calipers (always loved them, never really needed more) and the rear crossmember is set too high. Feel like I'm going to run into that a lot.

I think if I could mount my early 90s era Dura Ace shifters on the downtube with rear derailleur, I'd be 80% to what I need to get more out of the bike.






Bike.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Ya can never have too many gears.

Nice bike - steel is real. To be fair, my old Pinarello had a six-speed rear and two up front. I (like you) always believed "that's plenty" until I got my new one (10-speed rear cassette). Man, what a difference. Granted you probably don't "need" the extra gears, but it gives you a better chance of finding one for a given grade/situation that will match your desired cadence/power output far more easily without forcing things or compromising.

I love old steel bikes, but I've gotten VERY used to an aluminum/carbon setup with modern geometry and lots of gears. There's a reason - there are really some great trends in bikes out there now.

Kind of like the difference between a 70s 911 and a 997. The 997 is far more refined but it doesn't mean the raw and visceral 911 is "bad". Just different.

[gchappel]

I think I still have my downtube dura-ace shifters- I upgraded to sti in the early 90's.
If you are still looking for them- I can look in the next couple of days
Gary

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Hey Gary, thank you for the kind offer. I'm getting the bike back on Thursday and will let you know. Bike is at Belmont Wheelworks now, man that place was buzzing. I don't know if people were buying bikes, but there was a parade of testers everywhere and 5 techs were building/working on bikes.

Went in to buy some new brake pads and met one of the techs, an old guy, long white beard, skinny as rail but muscles everywhere (you could tell this guy rides a lot!), he noticed my '56 speedster T-shirt and said he has a 356. So of course we got to talking. 10 minutes later we turn to the bike. He looks it over, notes that it's super record and I should stop complaining and ride it as is, asks me if I need to win any races soon. He was a hoot! He then just takes it and puts it up on a stand and starts to go through it. Headset needs to be R&R'd with new bearings, he's going to go through the shifters/derailleurs and brakes and true the front wheel. He thinks I'll be happy with it after he's done. We did talk about how to fit a modern 10 speed group to it and you would need to spread the rear triangle, $120 just for that. He said people these days shift too damn much. just learn how to ride and tough out the hills, builds muscles (he points to his legs).

I think it will last me through next year, will report back later this week.

[Tobra]

That bike is already all you need. After the old head at the shop goes through it for you, ride it for a month before you do anything rash, like toss the Campy stuff.

I greatly prefer steel to aluminum. I am told that titanium is the *****, but will probably never find out.

[Laneco]

Really stands out how laid back the seat tube angle is on that bike. Bet it's as steady as the living room couch on a fast broken pavement downhill.

angela

[Tobra]

yeah, but Taxachusetts is almost as flat as Florida

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Laneco

Really stands out how laid back the seat tube angle is on that bike. Bet it's as steady as the living room couch on a fast broken pavement downhill.

angela

It is Angela, it's a very comfortable geometry, bike is really unflappable, prolly why it works so well for me now. I'm going to write to the factory in England and ask more it.

[Kraftwerk]

Shaun,
That Roberts is a time capsule don't mod it. You just need to ride it and maintain it (buy new wear items like tires & cables, sounds like you got brake pads?) Eventually, after clocking some miles, get a full carbon or aluminum or steel bike from this century with Modern geometry , 'brifters' and more gears.
Then you will have TWO bikes a classic and a future classic ..... enjoy those MA roads that is where I started riding.

PS no body needs more gears, I do some of my best riding on a single speed or a fixed gear.
(Then have lots of power on my geared bike) but it is nice to have a gear for every single slight change in speed elevation or mood.
It is just different. Smoother. Borrow a newer bike you will see.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

got it back 10 miles ago, very happy I took it in, even more so that I met a fellow Porsche owner. This guy went nuts on the bike, gotta make him a one-off 356 T for all the work he did on his own time, he really treated it like it was his own.

Shifts beautifully, super comfortable but still quick while carrying momentum...that's the beauty of steel. Love the 90s Flite Ti, best seat ever made.

[alf]

Beautiful bicycle.

[GrindingGears]

such a laid back geometery on that bike, must descend and ride smooth. well done.

but...

those old cranks are ****ing noodles. that's my problem with these old rides. i'm thinking of building an old columbus frame around a modern groupset....

[David]

I broke down and bought a new bike. The old Campy equipped Viner is going to stay hanging on the wall as I'll be riding a new Trek 4.5 Madone:

The old girl:




The new girl (actually this is a 2010 and they're sold out in my size so I'll wait a couple weeks for the 2011 which has blue accents):

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Good lord man, that is one gorgeous bike!!! Tell us about it...group, specs, weight...

[David]

The 4.5 is the bottom of Trek's carbon line, but since the frame is pretty new, I figured it was about as good as carbon would be for the price. It's a little thing, but the frame accepts a wireless sensor for wheel speed and cadence, which seemed pretty cool and keeps it clear of clutter. They didn't have my size in stock, so I road a 62cm. It really is amazing how little frame flex there is under hard acceleration with the carbon frame.

It has Shimano 105 group, but I couldn't see spending more than the $2,000 price to lose a pound or two with a better group. They don't post the weights and I don't have the bike yet, so we'll have to wait a week or two til I get it, but I figure it's about 18 pounds stock.

The wheels are Bontrager SSR which aren't super light, so I figure if get more into it I can spend another $1000 for wheels and a lighter cassette and lose over a pound.