Rider without a clue

NeilM

Retrobike Rider
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I'm an MTB'er, I haven't owned a road bike in something like 35 years.

Anyway, my son is a keen roadie and I keep pondering whether I should get myself a road bike. If I did, it would (obviously) have to be retro, but it would also have to be light (I recently serviced a BSA Weekender that weighed more than my car!), lastly I don't want to spend too much on a first attempt.

So, some suggestions of what to look for please, and also some advice on size, as I'm just a nudge over 6' 1" with around a 34" inside leg.
 
NeilM":3nxem7ac said:
I'm an MTB'er, I haven't owned a road bike in something like 35 years.

Anyway, my son is a keen roadie and I keep pondering whether I should get myself a road bike. If I did, it would (obviously) have to be retro, but it would also have to be light (I recently serviced a BSA Weekender that weighed more than my car!), lastly I don't want to spend too much on a first attempt.

So, some suggestions of what to look for please, and also some advice on size, as I'm just a nudge over 6' 1" with around a 34" inside leg.

Something with a Reynolds 531 Competition or Reynolds 653 frame from the late 80s/early 90s seems a reasonable bet - eBay ought to yield something good. Peugeot, Raleigh, Orbit, Dawes and Nigel Dean - amongst others - from that era are certainly worth investigating. If you go for a bike with a Shimano or Shimano-compatible 14 or 16 speed drivetrain you'll also still find parts (chiefly cassettes/freewheels) on the market to keep it running whereas Campag kit from that time might prove more of a struggle spares-wise.

David
 
Hello, I am about the same height as you and I find a 58cm frame the most comfortable. I also have a couple of 56cm frames but I feel that I ride more efficiently with a 58. But best to get measured up properly, all sorts of body shape and size variations matter to bike fit.

Expect a higher end steel racing bike to weigh round the 20-22lb mark, depending on the tube set. Cheaper bikes will of course get heavier.

Fully agree with David B's suggestions.

Johnny
 
Brilliant, thanks guys.

I have looked a few times on the bay and know enough to be able to spot a good frame from a ships anchor, but the intricacies of the running gear pass me by. That said, Campag is Campag, whether it's road or MTB :roll:

I'll start looking around and se what I can find.
 
£100 will get you a run of the mill something-or-other that you will want to upgrade; £200 something rather decent that you might want to tweak; £300 will get you a nice bike that won't need any work (not withstanding points of contact).

Peugeot didn't make the switch to English threads until the mid-Eighties and took a few years to complete the switch; also watch out for their seat posts as they did come in non-standard sizes which are as rare as hen's teeth and cost accordingly.

According to Sheldon Brown, Raleigh used their own threads "right through the 1990s".

I haven't had any problems sourcing Campag, though you'll likely pay more than Shimano. You do need to know your onions though: there is more "Record" on eBay than Campag ever made...

I would hold out for something suitable on here.
 
ScillySuffolk":2pn80kl5 said:
You do need to know your onions though: there is more "Record" on eBay than Campag ever made....

Thanks for the tip.

I tend to stay away from Campag for the MTB's, as it's very cool looking, but very hard (and expensive) to get all the little bits'n'bobs that I can still get at my LBS for Shimano.

I've bought plenty of MTB stuff from the classifieds and been happy with all of it, so I'm just as happy to buy here, if only I knew what I was looking at, and if it was a good price.
 
ScillySuffolk":25w86bm6 said:
Peugeot didn't make the switch to English threads until the mid-Eighties and took a few years to complete the switch; also watch out for their seat posts as they did come in non-standard sizes which are as rare as hen's teeth and cost accordingly.

According to Sheldon Brown, Raleigh used their own threads "right through the 1990s".

That's a good point re. the seatposts. Not sure about that Raleigh info, though - I've owned a few Nottingham products from the mid 80s to mid 90s era and never had any grief mixing & matching with BSC stuff. Although wasn't the BSC format pretty much laid down by all those bike firms that ended up under TI ownership?

David
 
A couple of Raleighs I've now had from that era have been ok for threads such as the BB, but the headset and crown race sizes have been awkward.

Beware anything pre mid eighties, round abouts, as thats roughly when the change to 700c became the norm it seems,

I don't know about MTB's but for me, the sweet spot seems to be late eighties early nineties, as 700c wheels, standard oln's of 100-126/130/135 etc (except for one weird problem i've still got with a randonneur :) ) In general it's quite easy to happily spend a small fortune on new bits as readily available, instead of a big fortune on rarer bits :)
 
David B":249zkx3x said:
...Not sure about that Raleigh info, though...
I've no experience of Raleigh (apart from the fetching gold Medale I owned in the early Eighties), but I wanted to mention them as I was referring to Peugeot threading and Sheldon was the first item to come up in a search.

Surely Sheldon can't be wrong? :shock:
 
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