The I'm turning 40 bike.

Stick Legs

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I am 40 in 2017.

I quite fancy building a bike from the year of my birth.
I like Raleighs and am very interested in the SBDU frames being a Dyna Tech owner of long standing. I fancy something 753 ideally.
I would imagine that Campagnolo Record would be the way to go, and I have to use Mavic rims, as anything else makes me feel a bit wrong.

On to the stuff I don't know and would struggle to find out...

Geometry.
I ride a L (large) modern sloping carbon thing.
I ride a 57cm 1993 Dyna Tech which is a wee bit small for me as the Campagnolo seat pin has the limit line just showing.
I ride a 55cm Merckx Corsa Extra, which should be too small but I love it.
How do 70's bikes translate, I notice a lot seem to be 'square' frames, and I have measured all of my road bikes and am coming up with a 56cm effective top tube. but surely a 56cm would be a bit on the wee side. Is there a formula or do I have to get busy mocking things up?
I do run 130mm or 120mm stems on my bikes. Should 70's bikes have shorter stems?

I am guessing but do not know that tubs will be essential as good clinchers did not exist then.
However would it be dreadful to back date some MA40's or should I just man up & get gleuey?

Any help and advice gratefully received. :)
 
Re:

What a fantastic idea.

With respect to the sizing, if you look at pictures of Joop Zoetemelk, Jan Raas and Peter Post on their TI Raleighs, they are still in the fist full of seatpost era. They have quite long stems too. So if your 57 is on the limit, a 58 or 59 might be better.

A 753 frame is likely to be custom so the top tube will be whatever was ordered. I have an off the peg Raleigh from the early 80s and it's 60 on the seat tube and 56.5 on the top tube, so not square by a long way. Good if you like a long stem.

Period correct tubular wheels would be quite easy to get hold of at cycle jumbles, or on the classifieds here. Perhaps get a slightly more modern set of clinchers as a second set of wheels for convenience.
 
Re:

When I first started running a pair of Mavic G40's back in the very early 80's no-one could tell the difference between them and tubs when fitted ;)
 
Thanks guys, I'll do some more digging but as you say, a fistfull of seatpost is the look I'm after.

G40's would probably be the ideal compromise. Thanks again.
 
If you want to go completely period correct then your choice of seatposts will all be quite short by today's standards and you'll have to use a larger frame. If you were to use a modern plain unbranded alloy post, I'd say it wouldn't look out of place and it would allow you to use a smaller frame and set the bike up with more modern (i.e. aggressive) geometry. This is what I do.

You could get longer stems back then, they are around. Or use a new Cinelli 1A in whatever length you want as the look pretty much indistinguishable from the originals. You can polish off the anodised layer if you don't have anodised components. It's a little work, but it's a handsome stem.
 
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