A classic lightweight, a curly wurly, and the rest of the parts bin

[themidge]

I've done a build thread about my Cannondale Supersix, but I have other bikes, so this is their thread .

Vitus 979
I got this bike in October (I think) 2016, and it's been wonderful. It's made of aluminium alloy tubes, bonded into lugs of the same material with what is apparently aerospace grade glue. There are horror stories on the internet about these coming apart, but mine hasn't yet! What certainly is true about them though, is that they are pretty flexy even by the standerd of 1980's road bikes. Mine is a size 52 (a bit small for me really, but I love it too much to get rid of it) and I can make the front derailleur rub when sprinting (I'm about 52kg ), so I don't do much sprinting on it. Being aluminium, it's fairly light (as these things go) at about 8.5kg, and rides and handles wonderfully what with its super tight geometry.
I don't have any good photos, and at the moment it has a flat tub that needs sorting but once that's done I'll take some better photos.
Here it is soon after I got it:

And here it is just recently: yes, the saddle has gone up, I've grown at least half a hand since I got it

I told you the photos were bad
Here's a basic parts list, I daren't take either of my 'retro' bikes apart to weigh them or whatever; I don't have the right tools or skills.


Hetchins Brilliant
Until today, this was my Grandad's bike, but he has just given it to me seeing as he doesn't use it any more. It's lugged steel, good old Reynolds 531 tubing, and from looking at the frame number (on the drive side rear dropout, underneath a modern RD hanger add-on) the frame was made in November 1938! My Grandad was born in 1940, so obviously he hasn't had it all the nearly 80 years it's been in existence. When he bought it it was fully chromed, but in need of a refinish, which is the gloss black there today. Some time before then, it had been adapted to take gears by adding some cable guides brazed onto the bottom bracket, and the aforementioned RD hanger thingy, which made it easy for modern (at the time! 1980's mostly) parts to be hung on it.
I took plenty of photos of this one:











A few things want changing (I've already taken off the rear reflector and rack for the moment) like bar tape and possibly saddle, but here's the current part's list:


B'twin Triban 540
This was my main road bike from summer 2016 until this May (when I got my supersix), and it served me well, well enough that it will be my bad weather/gravel bike in the coming winter. Not much to say really, it's heavy but handles very nicely I think (maybe I'm just really used to it) and has been absolutely bombproof .
Here it was originally:

In winter mode last year:

And it's currently looking a bit sad, but not for long:

As I mentioned, I plan to make it into a kind of gravel/adventure/beater/winter bike soon. Here's the plan at the moment:



That was a long one!

[smacd]

That Hetchins really is a thing of beauty!

[Wingnut]

I really like the Vitus!

[Calnago]

Nice post @TheMidge. That’s quite a collection you’re amassing for such a young guy. I guess there’s hope for today’s youth after all .

A couple of winters ago I spotted an old bike locked up outside a grocery store and instantly recognized it as something that would fit me and be totally appropriate for the l’eroica ride in Italy some day. I waited by the bike for its owner to come out. A young kid in his late teens/early twenties who had just moved to the area. Turns out the bike was his dad’s at one point. All vintage Campy SR, decent condition. Offered him $1,000 for the bike as is right there. But no dice. Said I’d build him another so much more appropriate for the Seattle hills as the lowest rear sprocket on it was like a 21 tooth. But still no dice. Gave him my phone number in case he changed his mind. This thread reminds me of that rainy evening. Even still have some of the iPhone pics I took while waiting...

[themidge]

Thanks dudes. I spend pretty much all my money on bikes, so I've amassed quite a few . The Hetchin's was a gift though, and the B'twin the last bike I didn't have to save up and buy myself, but yeah, I have quite a lot of bikes for my age*.
@Calnago, it's a shame you couldn't wangle that bike, it's pretty nice. Campy Nuovo (not super ) Record is very nice, certainly better than what I have, and for it to be on a Raleigh frame the whole bike must be a high end model.

*Mind you, there aren't very many other 16 year-olds who are 'cyclists'.

[Calnago]

Yes, “Nuovo” Record, of course. It was a Raleigh Competition GS frame.

[themidge]

Yes, “Nuovo” Record, of course. It was a Raleigh Competition GS frame.

Looks pretty good, very late 70's/early 80's.

(not mine, obviously)

[bm0p700f]

nice hetchins. The Vitus is pretty cool too.

[themidge]

Thanks @bm0p700f, I just bought a seatpost from your shop to go the Vitus (current one is too short), looking forward to it!

I went for a first ride on the Hetchins today, and I have to say I'm in love (more or less ). It rides so nicely, like people say steel rides I suppose (very smooth, even with 20mm tyres!). It's heavy, which I felt on a few steep ramps, but in general I didn't feel the weight. I thought the 6 speed block on the Vitus was gappy, but this 5 speed one is worse, it was basically one gear for every situation, the adjacent ones were too low or high! Part o' the charm though innit.

I put some Tesa tape on, which fits rather nicely with the 'step down' that the Cinelli bars have:

Unfortunately, the front mudguard is a bit wonky, so when I get out the saddle it rubs. I'll have a go at bending it back, but I might just take them off until winter at least:

There's something feels a bit wrong putting a Garmin on top of an old bike like this, but if it's not on Strava then it didn't happen!

Sorry about the picture quality, my phone's camera is reeeally bad .

[Miller]

Unfortunately, the front mudguard is a bit wonky, so when I get out the saddle it rubs. I'll have a go at bending it back, but I might just take them off until winter at least:

Those front mudguards always do that, in my experience, and they resist attempts to straighten them.

[bm0p700f]

gappy gearing what you need then is a corn cob 13-18T 6 speed micro drive. So even with 6 gears it feels like you have one. utterly brilliant.

The vitus is crying out for one of these.

[themidge]

Those front mudguards always do that, in my experience, and they resist attempts to straighten them.

Yeah, I think this one has been like that for at least 25 years! For the last few days I've been trying to persuade it to relax back to straight, but today I just (with an extra pair of hands) twisted the whole thing a bit using the fixing at the back of the brake, which seemed to work. It was harder than you might think, even for two people, to turn a bolt, twist a mudguard and its fitting, and stop the brake going out of alignment all at the same time .

.
The vitus is crying out for one of these.

Ha I'm not sure I'd make it up the hills with that staring at to back of my head, 38x28 is already harder than I'd like on the steepest of long climbs! Mind you, it's retro to grind a big gear isn't it?

[bm0p700f]

38x28 thats almost modern gearing now 42/18T or worse on my alan 44/18T lowest gearing is a proper retro grind. A 10% hill is a real challange on those bikes.

[themidge]

Parcel day today! I got a new tub (just stretching on the rim right now) and glue for the Vitus from Wiggle, as well as a new seatpost from TheCycleClinic (thanks @bm0p700f ):

I couldn't resist a bit of a weighing session!

A bit heavy, but look at the one it replaces! It (the old one) has got some kind of expander mechanism, which is probably a good thing given that the grub screw Vitus frames use to hold the seatpost up is quite good at putting dents in seatposts. Hopefully this new one has walls thick enough to cope.

The new post came wrapped in a German(?) newspaper, I couldn't tell you why:

I weighed my saddle too, it's suitably heavy:

This saddle is totally the wrong shape (I prefer SLR style ones with cutouts/channels) but this has a good centimetre of padding so it's alright on the shorter rides I take the Vitus out on.
Doesn't look half bad, if I don't say so myself:

I hope my legs don't get too much longer though, otherwise I'll need to start looking for a new frame to hang all these nice parts off.

[bm0p700f]

Maxalami delivery that why. I get newspapers from around the world. Since its a £15.50 seatpost it's allowed to be a bit heavy