So here is where I've gotten to. The original tires were 700 x 28's, designed for road racing. But I'm going for a bike that is somewhat like the Pashley Guvn'or. These are 700 x 35 Schwalbe Delta Cruisers in cream (I have a thing for cream tires these days I guess). These tires barely fit between the chain stays in the back, and no need to worry about fenders... they will not fit. At some point, I may move the Conti Gatorskins I have on my Surly over here and put the Deltas on that bike... make it a real cushy ride for commuting.
This bike has taken a fall at some point. The frame is fine, but a couple of the components were in really tough shape. First was the brake levers - extremely scratched up. I ordered up a set of identical Dia Compe drilled levers from someone on eBay and they arrived almost the next day. Good thing about these levers were that they came with the original cable and housing as well. Saved a few bucks on this one. The cable/housing is a little shorter than I'd like, but it keeps it looking very sleek over the bars.
So I have a few other things on the way... The rear changer was badly damaged in the fall too. It ground the top swivel nut into the body of the derailleur causing it to wobble in the hanger and not swivel.... not good. So I have another changer being shipped in from, well, Hungary. I know, I know. Off the deep end. I can't put it all together until the changer comes. The chain is in a pot of lubricant working out the years of grime. I can't wait till the new Campy Nuovo Gran Sport rear changer gets here and I can put the drivetrain back together.
I shopped some Campy pedals from that era... sorry, just too pricey. I have a set of MKS Sylan Track pedals coming, with some stainless steel toe clips and leather straps. All via eBay.
And to top it all off, you can see the Brooks B-17 Special saddle from the Faggin now mounted to the Campy seat post. I have purchased two different sets of bar tape, and each time thought, it just wouldn't do to have plastic tape on this girl, so.... yes... a set of Brooks Honey leather bar tapes are coming. The best deal I could find on eBay has them coming from Northern Ireland...
This will end up a truly international bike!
charles
What an excellent find.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine has a Competition that he doesn't ride. I'm hoping to talk him out of it to fix up as a cool go-fast bike for my wife.
Stumbled across your nice website at the Raleightwenty site.
I have two Twenties that I'm hoping to fix up later this year, and just scored a Peugeot folder on Craigslist that's in near mint shape. Just needs some new brake cables and a shifter cable.
Cheers!
Tom Howard
Hey Tom,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments and welcome to my blog!
I really scored on the CompGS, for sure. I figured that by picking up the bike so cheap, I could afford to throw some high end accessories on her. I now have the bars wrapped with Brooks leather grip tape. Boy does THAT feel nice. She's in the shop right now (Recycled Cycles in Seattle) having the BB re-packed. There was a bit of a bump that simply tightening the cranks did not solve... I may opt to have a sealed cartridge BB put in...
The R-20s are a blast. I rode in again today on one of mine. If you have any questions, the raleighwebs site is great. I have a few articles I put together on this site too.
charles