[dd74]

Billy - you might want to consider what I did. I obtained a 1987 race frame and bought for it newer used Ultegra brakes, Ultegra cranks, Ultegra rear cluster and Dura Ace downtube index shifters. The bike has Shimano 105 clip-in pedals and Mavic CXP 33 wheels. It uses a quill Nitto stem, Cinelli classic bars, a Thomson 27.2 seatpost and a modern race seat. The forks are Goodrich steel, since I don't like carbon forks on steel bikes.

I rode this bike today in the mucky L.A. runoff from the rains we had last night and this morning, and the bike, for an older machine, worked flawlessly. As old as it is, it weighs 19lbs for a 53 cm all-steel Columbus SL frame. The upgrades less the wheels, cost me about $400. The beauty of the shifters is they can be adjusted to friction shift, and will then adapt to any gearset made as long as the big gear in back is not above 29 teeth. In short, you could run any wheel/gear combination you want with the bike because of the Shimano downtube index shifters.

Option #2 is what I did with my old Colnago - just went ahead, took some old lighter wheels with a 9-speed cog, and thought WTF, let's see if this thing will fit on the back. Well, it did. Again, because the Colnago uses downtube friction shifting, it will shift anything from a six speed on up to a ten speed cog just as long as the hub fits in the rear. The cool thing is the old style derailleurs can handle upwards of a 29-tooth cog if you adjust them correctly. That should get you up most hills with a little effort. And, because you'll more than likely be going faster, you might want to upgrade your brake pads.

Something like what I did with my Colnago should only cost you the wheels, a gearset in the rear, and brake pads. My old Colnago is otherwise stock as it was in 1985 when I bought it.

Of course, for the first frame, I had to do some looking around and playing catch-as-catch-can. But with patience, as did I, you can net a lot of nice used parts for a fraction of their original price. It becomes sort of a fun game after a while. Kinda' like building a hotrod.