1991 Masi Gran Corsa

Advertised as an entry level racing bike, the Gran Corsa is about the only older Masi I can afford to own. The prices on the 70's bikes have actually gotten laughable.
I think I gave $250 or so for this frameset. It is a far cry from the Mouton, Tesch, and Confente days of Masi but it is lugged steel. As guru Bob Hovey told me, "It likely never saw a file." Even so, it does get looks and comments, chipped up as it is. At least I won't feel bad if I decide to repaint it. Been considering making a breakdown travel bike out of it.
I built it up with the Campy Veloce group that came on my first decent rode bike - a '93 carbon Trek(14 yrs old when I got it). Okay it flexed when climbing, spontaneously shifting and...... well enough about that one.
I ride this Masi every once in a while but the shifters need to be rebuilt. We'll see what it becomes someday.


Grace is always present but seldom impressed. To her this is "Not Food"


There's something about a chrome fork with maker's panto.








I practiced my drillium techniques on the chanrings and polished the crank arms.

1983 Trek 510

This was an impulse buy - one of those that makes you wanna kick yourself asking, "What was I thinking?" I had been looking for a vintage Trek (they are really nicely built). This was on Ebay for "buy it now" or "make an offer". It was also local. The guy wanted $500!!! These are bikes that are often given away! I saw there were several offers so I offered somewhere between too much and half of his asking price in an impulsively competitive way. I sis this while out of town and thought/hoped it was over when a few days later I got a winning e-mail. Crap!
It is not my size, the advertized date was off by 5 years, it won't even roll or shift, and I paid WAY too much. The seller didn't divulge the overall crappy nature of this thing. I hadn't really looked the bike over too well and even thought for several months that the rims were tubulars as the tires felt glued on. They may come right off once the spokes are tight enough! My only hope is that the Campy Victory group, hardly prized by collectors, will polish up well(such groups cry for drillium!) and that the frame cleans up. I like the seat post and the one good Campy NR hood(like I'll find a matching one!) These parts and the brake levers were pirated already as it hangs in the basement. Overall, I could likely break even by selling it in parts but I don't do that - that's for hacks IMO.
Well, there is some hope. The GF wants a steel bike and I think it will fit her. I would hate to repaint it so I'll just tear it down, clean it up, and replace the necessary parts. I hope I can convince the GF that down tube shifters are acceptable in the modern world. We'll see. I do think it will ride nicely.


Here she is laughing at me when I got it home - or so it appears. It really is a turd. At the time she didn't know it would one day be hers. Then again, had I been dancing around, she would have thought it was a steal.
Since it doesn't look so bad, here are a few closeups.

1980's Borgognoni

This is a bike I bought off Ebay earlier this year just because of the novelty. I was told it was one of four such bikes imported to the US from Italy. Reportedly it's a "climbing" bike hand made for a small team outside Rome but there just isn't much out there about the maker. That's sorta what drew me to it. It's something that in years will likely become more novel. The Super Record RD is dated '82 but that doesn't mean much. Wheels are tubulars and components are Campy Super Record. The chromed stays and fork and the lug cutouts are indicative of a higher end frame.



The pantographed stem, chainring, and matching engraved pump make it nice too. The front caliper was "milled", not with grooves but with just one through cut.
I find the embedded rear brake cable and the "aero" seat tube to be interesting.




This bike will need to be disassembled and cleaned but certainly there is not much to improve on the paint - maybe a touch up here or there. Doing a deep clean like this allows you to date parts and find little nuances about the construction that you'd miss by just cleaning it and hanging it on the wall. I will be able to document all the parts codes and come up with a better date idea. The parts should polish up nicely. It's basically been sitting here for months but I did swap wheels and pedals out and took it for a 40-mile trip just after it arrived .......... averaged the same speed as on my modern bike even with the DT shifters. Rides nicely.

Cones!

Cones are the outer races of loose ball bearing wheels. They are a tapered nut(thus "cones") that trap the loose bearings against the inner races. Most of my old wheels are built with Campagnolo hubs and, as such, need little in the way of repair. Normandy hubs adorned many if not most French bikes of the vintage era and these don't enjoy the robustness of Campy.
If you dismount the wheel, remove the skewers, and spin the entire wheel between your outstretched hands, you can assess the condition of the hubs. They should feel smooth and frictionless. Some seem to spin endlessly, some feel dry and/or gritty. If you feel catches and notchiness, the cones or inner races are likely at fault. The inner races, integral with the hub, are less likely to pit but pitting of the adjustable cones is fairly common. Greasing and adjustment of the bearings might help but if catchiness continues there's something wrong. The repair is straightforward.
This is what pitted cones look like:

Cones for Normandy hubs are not easy to find. Knowing the model (Competition, etc.) would help but it seems some "plain" Normandy hubs had variations without obvious model nomenclature. Even if an NOS set show up, they may not fit your hubs. For example I removed the cones from a '75 Peugeot UO-8, a very common bike of the era, and though the hubs looked similar the cones were not.
The best way to tackle this is to measure your existing cones and go to http://www.loosescrews.com/index.cgi or a similar site and search for dimensions of some available cones. Typical French axles are 9mm X 1(diameter by thread pitch) in the front and 10mm X 1 in the rear. I used calipers to come up with measurements from the existing cones. Some come with seals and some don't. I found some Sansin cones for the front and some Shimano(with seals) for the rear. Diameter appears to be the most important followed by the depth. Within reason, the hub could be shimmed if the cones are too short. Thread and pitch must of course match your axle. It is a good idea to replace the loose bearings at the same time. They are not expensive. VBX even stocks ceramic loose balls in common sizes but I'm just not that pimp.
Here are the replacement rear cones:

These were not easy to install as the flats(for the cone wrench) were deep on the cone - even inside the rubber seal(how is that supposed to work?!). They were far too recessed into the Normandy hub to reach with any cone wrench. I've never rebuilt that specific Shimano hub so I'm not sure how the balls are so close to the flats and where the seal seats. Anyway, cleaning the threads of the axle helps and judicious use of needle nose pliers(when finger friction failed) helped in final placement. These are the problems you run into when trying to make non specific parts work - get used to it!
Unless you are shimming the hubs (from new cones that are too short) the wheel will remain centered in the frame when you are done. If shimming, you would certainly rather adjust the hub left or right evenly with shims than re-dish the whole wheel needlessly! Don't sweat it if you find perfect replacements. Mine were within a mm either way so it was fine.
A word on adjusting the cones. It's an art - not a science. If all slack is removed, they will be too tight once the outer nuts are secured. Even with slack the skewers will exert enough force to tighten them more. You have to play with it to get them just right but better a bit of play than too tight which will wear the hub out quickly. As of the first try, the rear has no play at the rim once installed (of course it could be a bit tight rather than perfect - how can you know?) and the front has too much play at the rim. I used blue automotive axle grease but there is cycling specific stuff out there that is supposed to be great.
Of course, there have been times when I've just swapped in a set of vintage Campy-hubbed wheels and called it good!
Good luck and feel free to comment if I have miscommunicated something.

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!