1988 Schwinn Prologue TT

I won this on Ebay. Another one not needing a resto. It was packaged very well which will always win you karma in the bike collecting world. Thanks Dick! I have always wanted a "funny bike" and this was a good deal. I have not been impressed with most production bikes from the USA but my opinion away from such "'Mercan" bikes is changing. In contrast, US handbuilt bikes have always been very nice and the current market reflects that. Schwinn is now overseas-built(what isn't?) and sold in Walmart stores so I can't vouch for them today BUT I now know there are Schwinns, other than the Paramount, that are undervalued as collectables. Where this was built(likely Japan), will have to be researched. This thing appears to have been ridden rarely. Under what chips there are lies nice chrome. I'm considering stripping areas on the chain and seat stays to reveal this chrome and eliminate those few chips. I have to say this frame is as nice as most of those in my humble collection. Made of Tange DB tubing, it isn't heavy, the lugs are numbered, and the fit and finish rivals anything I have with the exception of the Tesch. I was warned by the seller that this is a bizarre ride and it is. Despite the appearance of lots of rake, it is not at all slack and is very twitchy. Without concentration, one can't walk it by guiding it by the seat without the bars flopping over. Here is a pic from the Ebay posting. You can see it was set up with aero bars with the shifters relocated to the ends. This may end up being the best setup(and period-correct to boot). I chose to reassemble it out of the box without the included aerobars and decided to mount the shifters back on the downtube. Shifting is no easier but this lightens the bike and puts it back to original(I think). I substituted some matching Look pedals I had and took it for a spin.
Plans are to replace the bars with some Nitto TT bars that have more rise and look more correct, possibly flipping the brake levers. I might find matching Suntour levers and a Sprint front DR to make the groupo complete. The Turbo gel seat isn't bad at all. I have a worn one and it's torture! I like the idea of a white saddle so we'll see.
Someday I might show up at a local TT just for the sake of lots of attention.
Well, I replaced the shifters and they work great. All else is the same. Afraid to take it too far without a backup 24" front sew-up spare. repairing a tubular on the road doesn't appeal to me at all.

Mercier 300

Here is an example not needing full restoration. It appears rather cruddy but the paint is quite complete. Remember, it can be original only once! I found this on the local CL and it was still there a week or two later. The owner knew little about vintage bikes, had no pics, and thought it was a 53cm or so(too small for me). For these reasons, I had my doubts as I'm done picking up stuff I can't use. I expected to find a model 100 or 200 low-range bike. Well, I was surprised for once. The Reynolds 531 stickers and Stronglight 93 crankset indicated a Mercier 300 and it was mostly original. I measured it at 55cm - just my size! I let him keep the over sized modern seat and got it for $115 or so. 70's French racing bikes are still undervalued when compared to the Italian marques so popular today. Fit and finish is certainly lacking but the then high-end bikes really ride nicely.
Here are some before pics:

This is the stuff you want to find - it comes off easily with a little degreaser and actually protects the underlying parts from rust.


Over several phone conversations, the owner kept saying he was out cleaning it up for my viewing. Strong work indeed! White tape over the rusted out cables? Dig that Italian bar tape scheme. Next would have been Comet on the paint! Nice enough guy but I'm fairly proud to say I saved this bike!

The rust on the fork blades looked thin but, French plating being as it was in the 70s, was actually pitted nicely. The rear stays looked much better - thank goodness for oily road grime!





Many bikes are clean enough with no major exclusions in the paint or decals. This was one. There was a lot of brown discoloration over the decals and the paint was faded and dirty - noticed once the various components were removed. Lug finishing and paintwork was par for the course for a bike boom-era French bike BUT Mercier had clear coated over the paint and decals so I had lots of room to work. Without the clear, cleaning the decals as needed would have ruined them. This also gave me the idea to clear over everything to seal in the patina. I did have to ruin the tattered 531 decals on the seat tube and removed what was left of one fork decal. Didn't want those under clear and then possibly peaking out from under the new ones. I'll order those later. 531 decals appear to never have been cleared over. I resisted the temptation to sandblast it and redo it all to be flawless. Greg from Cyclomondo(see his Ebay store) can make me anything I need but a bike can be original only once.

After complete disassembling, I cleaned the frame with car soap, then Dawn liquid soap, then Simple Green/409, the idea being to use only what the finish needs lest I stain it with something too powerful. I rubbed it all out with various levels of auto compounds to see what I had. The brown stains appeared to be old clear coat and I was able to rub this down without damage to the decals. I could not however remove the paint fading seen around the components to my satisfaction. Once the components are back on, it will be much less of an issue.
I touched up any chips in the decals with black enamel and a gold paint pen. For the body color, I mixed Sublime green and yellow model enamels and filled any major chips. I wet sanded with 400 grit or so and put down a few layers of clear enamel.

The components weren't too bad but a few will need replacement to have it look "complete". The shifters were almost flawless. Into the partswasher they go. The model 93 cranks were awesome under the grime - better than some I recently paid over $50 for! The rear Simplex Criterium derailleur was complete and not yet cracked. The front DR was a Shimano replacement so I will replace that. I'll rob the front Prestige DR from the UO-8 hanging complete in the basement. Since it's Simplex, I might use it for the time being. I was going to replace the ugly steel seatpost with an alloy one but it weighed less than any I had so I kept it - not to mention the fact that French seatposts are always a weird smaller 26.6mm or so. Cleaner turned the black plastic parts a grey chalky color. I have found that rubbing in a thin coat of motor oil will restore the color. The Normandy hubs and Gentlemen 81 rims cleaned up well but those early galvanized spokes will be a hastle to keep nice. I repacked the bearings - a little notchy but we'll see if they seat in at all. I have plenty of Campy wheels if I need to swap them out. You can see the other blog entry, "Cones", to learn what I finally did.
I need a chain, cables, brake pads, bartape, proper gumwall tires(optional but right), a new rear DR idler wheel, and an unchipped downtube cable guide. Oh and some French-style Reynolds 531 decals.
Well, I found a Symplex tension pulley on one of my Campy derailleurs so I scavenged it. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the ball bearings like the original - just bushings like all the Campy stuff.
Dropped by BikeSource on a ride last week and picked up some brake shoes and an extra tube(had a flat that day) but forgot to look for suitable bartape. Few bike stores nowadays carry the herringbone cloth tape anyway. The brake pads are not correct looking but stop fairly well and just remember those "used car tire"-looking pads on the Mafacs?

I found new white Jagwire cable housing and some new cables in my parts box(forgot about those). This is modern lined cable housing so will function better and still look the part. I suppose I could wipe off the foiled Jagwire script with acetone but it really doesn't bother me as is. I like the idea of improving the brake feeling a bit. NOS Simplex housing is around but why do that if you are wanting to ride the thing?




I prefer the design of Campy and Huret cable guides much better than that of Simplex but found one NOS so used it. Soaked the Sedis chain in the parts washer and lubed it up well. I rode it for a few test rides but replaced it with SRAM's 8-speed chain. I have used those on other bikes and like them.



I have been keeping an eye out for decent looking gumwall tires. Appears they are making a comeback.

Panaracer and Vredestein, among others, both make inexpensive gumwall tires in both 700c and 27" some even boast weights in the 230 gram range. Not sure about the thread count(TPI) but these tires mentioned are not expensive. In the tubular world, the cheap gumwalls are reportedly junk. I think modern tire technology has passed to all levels of clinchers but not so in the tubular world.
Remember to mount them with the labels at the stem. This is tradition and also helps reference punctures in the tube more quickly.
Well, here is how it turned out. Perhaps sunlit grass isn't the best backdrop for a lime green frame. It certainly isn't mint but from this distance you have to admit it looks pretty nice.

1977 Peugeot PX-10

The PX-10 was Peugeot's most famous race bike. Eddie Merckx, more recognized in Faema and Molteni jerseys, rode a PX-10 in 1966 when he first went pro riding for the Peugeot-PB team.
The PX-10 is arguably the most recognized and valued Peugeot by collectors. It is constructed of lightweight Reynolds 531 tubing - the standard in racing frames of the time. Despite this, and I know the earlier Nervex Pro lugged frames were claimed to be of very high quality, I am really surprised at the crudeness of the lugs and overall finish on this example. The Oil Embargo of the early seventies (yes I remember it) saw an increase in the demand for bicycles imports. Lower quality during these years is often blamed on the rushed production required to meet these temporary demands - apparently even on a racing bike.

This particular bike is a '77 and has seen some use. It was set up as a single speed using the existing cassette with a chain that was a bit too wide - the rivets rubbed the adjacent gears. No cables or brakes so I didn't even attempt to ride it. Rough as it was, I liked that it was black - unlike the majority of PX-10s you see which seem to be white. At a distance it looks like it could be touched up and polished but a closer look reveals many deep chips and cracks in the paint and several spots of rust. It needs to be stripped and repainted. Other observations? The lugs appear asymmetrical and untouched by a file, excess brass remains around joints, orange peel is visible in the paint, and file/sanding marks are visible under the now chipped chrome. The frame is straight and sturdy but honestly I have seen few "high end" bikes of the period with a poorer finish, aging aside. I hope to help this a bit without altering the factory marks too much.
My goal is to rebuild this bike as it might have been raced in the late 70s or early 80s. The right look and feel is more important than a concours resto. If I was to do that, it certainly wouldn't be with this or any PX10. Sorry Peugeot lovers!
Fortunately for me, most of the components were either original to the bike or period correct replacements. The bars/stem were stock. Brakes were Mavic Professionals though the levers were Shimano 600 (under cooked gum hoods). The crank was a Stronglight model 99. I have seen only the model 93 on PX-10s of this year so I purchased one off Ebay. Seatpost was Campagnolo NR with the correct but tattered Ideal seat. The derailleurs are Campagnolo NR, the rear with a very poor drillium attempt to the cages. Wheels: Campagnolo rear hub and a Miche front hub. The PO, a good egg and fellow bike nut, threw in a set of high flange Suzue hubbed wheels with the installed (and almost new) Suntour Pro Compe cassette. The Suntour Power Flo on the Campagnolo hub was a bit more worn. All in all, enough period parts to get started. The seller also included two new chainrings for the model 99 crankset.
Here are a few more random shots:





You can see the derailleur hanger has already been modified for the NR. It was retapped and a "keeper" notch filed underneath. This would later be modified to correctly locate the derailleur. Measure twice, cut once people.
Up close this looks like a lot more work!






I won't go nuts on either the paint or the components based on how crude the factory finish was. There are those who search for years for the correct NOS bolt and pay dearly for it. I respect them for that but ............ not on this bike.
A little about decals for an older bike. Greg of Cyclomondo (see his Ebay store!) agreed to do a run of repro PX-10 decals if I sent pics. While waiting for those, I scored a set or two of NOS waterslide decals from France. I went ahead and bought Greg's along with a few more sets for the other projects on deck. His decals are really nice. When compared to NOS, there are differences but then again, you avoid the cracking, typical of 30 year old decals, and trouble finding them. Some of the NOS decals were cracked on the backing paper (from age-shrinking) and some waited until application when the old brittle ink stretched with the curling of the wettened backing paper. Greg's decals are a thin vinyl adhesive-backed decal and unless you held them next to NOS, you wouldn't see what very few inconsistencies there are. I was surprised that the areas I thought would be off were very close. Color was one of them - no complaints there. With the seattube lion and such, the Peugeot artwork is a little more ornate than simple letters and stripes found on most bikes. Again, unless held next to an original piece, you would not likely know. In addition, my theory is that there were multiple subcontractors making decals. Though the pattern was the same, there are slight variations - this goes with spec'd parts, as well, on any bike, car, collectable clothing, etc. Quality of the decals' positioning was also subject to the finisher. This bike looked like the decals were applied while riding horseback! Really! If anything would give this restoration away, it is how straight all the decals will be. Enough about those.


Well, I stripped the bike and ended up with a pile of really dirty alloy. Each piece will have to be disassembled and detailed. This isn't difficult but it does take time and elbow grease. Here is where you really get out of this what you put in. The devil is in the details (I really don't know what that means).
I was surprised to find a Phil Wood BB hiding in there. What a score! I wish I knew it was there as none of my tools fit those 18-spline BB cups.




I had to fashion some tools for these cups ($14 from Phil if I had known) and to pull the crank arms. On the right is the 18spline cup tool and on the left is the crank puller.







Here are a few examples of before and after parts to give you an idea what can be done.

This seatpost example shows a rather dramatic change. Believe it or not, this was done without a buffer (all by hand) and took all of 10 minutes!







Here's another. The rear brake caliper.



I did use a buffer but it really wasn't necessary. In reality this is too shiney. Being aluminum, it will oxidize quickly and look more original.














Thought you might like to see the frame. I clear coated over the decals with the exception of the Cyclomondo "Reynolds 531" decals. I was just too lazy to shoot more clear as I had already finished up with the NOS decals and these were later to arrive. Greg says they can be clear coated and I will do that on future restorations (at risk of over-restoration). The originals were not clearcoated. I still need to wet sand and buff out much of the clearcoat as there is some orangepeel here and there.


Well, as my luck would have it, the original Guidons Philippe bar had a bend... in the wrong place. The Peugeot stem felt a little hefty as well. I will replace them with a set of Cinelli bars and a 3TTT stem - both lighter than what came on the bike. I'm now beginning to wonder if I can get this thing under the 22lb advertized weight. The stem was a bit small for the bars but was easy to coerce. The French sized fork steerer tube is another story. Judicious polishing brought the 3TTT to a nice friction fit. I really like the Shimano 600 levers. They seem beefy and high quality without much weight and with a good amount of leverage built in. I might just leave them. I know they make some good stuff but the lower end Mavic levers I have on a UO-8 are cheap feeling. I have some Campy NR and SR levers but will likely save them for upcoming projects.
Okay, well I put the NR levers on. There was just something I didn't like about the 600 levers on this bike. I like them - just not on here. New cables, housings, and modern brake shoes (sorry purists but these Mavics need all the help I can give) should make them work with alloy rims. I also mounted some Look-compatable pedals as that's what I'm used to. I put on some of the EuroAsia or whatever Campy knockoff hoods - they are worth about as much as they cost - very little. They are ugly, poorly made, and uncomfortable. There are other universal replacements that would be better but I'll replace them with some nice Campagnolo ones eventually.
The E-bay Stronglight 93 was fairly tarnished and might even have a bend in one arm so I used the model 99 as it had brand new chainrings. In addition, the 93 had french pedal threading and the 99 had 9/16. I don't mind the clip pedals but need to sort through a few pair to come up with a good set. Plus I like to linit the variables when testing bikes so I try to set them up the same. I borrowed the wheels from my Merckx project (pending) with Record hubs/red label rims, mounted some older Cycle Pro tires (with gum walls) and took it for a 5-6 mile shakedown ride.
I have to say I'm completely impressed. I came home and adjusted the calipers so there was toe-in with each brake shoe and adjusted the cables again. Next day I was off on our standard 22.4 mi route with Linda on her Cervelo and me on the PX-10 with GPS mounted. Despite my original opinions on the fit and finish, this bike cleaned up well and really rode nicely. I need to true up the crank as there was a little wobble - not uncommon and even my SRAM Force has a bit. The gearing selection was a bit limited but I was able to spin then coast to 41 mph on hills where I usually have to sprint on the modern bike to attain that speed. I was able to hold 28-32 mph on a few flats. Even with downtube shifters and an unfamiliar and freshly restored ride with few miles, I had to wait on her. The drops are much more comfortable and controllable than the anatomical bend on the modern ride - maybe I just got the angle right for once? I'm just shocked at how quiet, comfortable, and responsive this 30+ year old bike is. Oh, and the final weight without pedals and with clinchers is 21 3/4 lbs.
I hope the upcoming projects are as satisfying!

80's Tesch 101

Glad I found this one in my size. The late David Tesch, the "Manic Master", built bike frames in the 80's after working for Trek and subcontracting for Masi. His Highway 101 is an example of the quality that US "cottage builders" put out at the time. This frameset retailed for about $850 back then. I thought about sanding through the clear to see if just certain areas could be spot matched then clearing the whole thing with pearl but I have a feeling it's too far gone. Just too rough and rusty in spots to save the paint. Even with the damage to this example, the thinned lugs, perfect fitting/brazing, and otherwise flawless paint are a cut above most Italian frames of the time. Unfortunately, with rust, crazing, and two dings, the frame MUST be refinished. Such pressure to do this one justice!
Just too rough and rusty in spots to save the paint.
This is what sweat can do to a steel frame. Appears someone thought they could sand the rust away. I have seen this sweat damage mostly where internally routed cables enter/exit.
What a shame. I'll paint it again in the same pearl white. Adding some silicone at the housing exit points might help protect the internal steel but regular washing and waxing in necessary IMO.
This will be one of the highlights of my collection and something I will ride with pride. I have been collecting parts for it already.
Here is a link to Dave Moulton's blog with info on Tesch.

http://davesbikeblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/david-tesch.html

80's Merckx Professional

Dating is difficult. Early 80's for sure. Came as a complete bike with decent components. Project to come.

80's Rossin Record

Frameset bought from the Netherlands. Project to come.