Nothing replaces experience but...

[GoodLifeSpud]

Hello all

As I've been looking around different websites for parts and on Gumtree/Ebay etc for a potential project I've struggled to piece together what is a good/bad component.

I've read a little on frame construction and the different ratings (probably the wrong word) 501, 531 etc but am mystified by the different spec parts around, and how they have changed over time. When I was a teenager I had a rough idea of what constituted a good MTB gear set up and how Shimano classified their different spec gear systems but as someone who is a complete beginner when it comes to road bikes where's the best place to start?

I've read a lot on the Sheldon Brown website about how to do things like removing BBs etc, and I know I can google named bikes and read descriptions but how do I learn whats good/expensive (I know the two don't always go hand in hand) and what's not? It's particularly difficult looking at older bikes when I wasn't around in the 70s/80s to gain the experience.

Is there a bible out there dedicated to listing how components are spec'd.......

 

[raindog]

Just buy anything with Campagnola written on it

 

[biggs682]

normally speaking if its reynolds 501 /531 then you would normally expect it to have had decent components on it originally

as for bibles find a good local bike shop who were around in that era as that will help with repairs

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Just buy anything with Campagnola written on it

don't, it'll be fake campagnolo…

 

[gilespargiter]

Always avoid Campagnolo. It is for fashionistas who like to pay twice the price for a label. Plenty of kit at half the price or less that snaps at it's heels.

 

[sidevalve]

+1 for the above. Campagnola means up the price by 50%. Look for good names like Dawes etc and the frame materials you have mentioned above. Double butted frame tubes and named components [weinmann brakes for example] and alloy rims. You may be better starting with a complete bike and tailoring/modifying it to suit rather starting frome a bare frame with a bike from this era.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Is there a bible out there dedicated to listing how components are spec'd.......

If you haven't seen it this has a good, large body of information, similarly here, here and here amongst others have great, interesting and useful info.

It depends on what you want your project to achieve. Components from vintage Campag higher groups are expensive, but then they keep their value and indeed ime have been appreciating over time at a rate it makes you wonder why you would want to put your money in your bank/house/etc... On the other hand if you ask around which e.g. is the best rear derailleur ever made, many would say it is not a Campag, let alone a Shimano... But then if you are building a vintage Colnago, putting anything but Campag on it would be a bit like drinking Chinese tea with milk.

If in doubt asking around, including here, might help.

 

[GoodLifeSpud]

Thanks all. Will check out the links and do as you suggest. I got thrown a little by a previous post (helpful) saying it looked like the 531 frame I had possibly got non original parts on it.

I've tried to id the bike but not much luck so far. Will carry on looking at the Raleigh catalgues from 1980 etc.

The rear mech says Suntour Tourney? Does that mean anything to anyone in terms of where in the range it sits? Low end I guess.

The bike came with the original weinmann brakes (cantilever) which I hope to rewire. With the aid of Zinns book on road bike maintenance.

 

[GoodLifeSpud]

Sorry for typos. Cold fingers don't work on touch screen properly.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

The rear mech says Suntour Tourney? Does that mean anything to anyone in terms of where in the range it sits? Low end I guess.

Tourney is a Shimano model, not Suntour afaik. Bottom of the range, unfortunately, but like 99% of Shimano parts quite serviceable.

 

[Cycleops]

The Campagnolo of the seventies and eighties were a different proposition to their current stuff. Most Shimano gear is quite serviceable. Also brands like Cinelli and Mavic were well regarded back then. There an interesting site which chronicles the various gears, good and bad from that period http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/Site/Home.html which you might find useful. Also a site from a Canadian guy who restores vintage bikes http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpeeds_1/FREE_SITE_1/FREE_SITE_INTRODUCTION.htm You will gradually build up knowledge of what is quality and what is not. Good luck.

 

[gilespargiter]

As mentioned above it does of course depend on what you want to achieve from your project: A bike that has complete fidelity with the original? A bike for a specialist purpose that you wish to ride? Something for all round use for your purposes?
As mentioned above good idea to stick to well regarded makes if you are not sure what you are doing. I might add a couple of words of warning; be very careful with hand built cycles from, say Holdsworth or Roberts, they are superb frames but may have been custom built for a particular individual with particular requirements and uses in mind. Also the cycle industry went through a very bad patch in the early seventies and some otherwise well regarded frames went through a period of pretty low quality. Evans for example made some, shall we say, pretty "average" frames during this period.