Sacrilege or common sense?

oxfordRon · Jun 21, 2011

My first bike building project - ever,

frame is a genuine '92 Gazelle Champion mondial (NOS), the rest is new. I found most of the components on offer on the www and picked up the rest in the LBS.
I took it for it's first outing this weekend, the ride is even better than I expected! It is now officially my 'best bike' and has relegated the alu framed ribble to the status of commuting workhorse...

....so does it make sense to buy a great steel frame and build it with some good modern stuff or is it still frowned upon?

( in case you were wondering - the SPDs are on order)

Elev12k · Jun 21, 2011

I must say it looks like you did a very good job. Personally would try to find a more svelte stem solution, but I do like the overall pic a lot.

oxfordRon":2iq0iqpg said:
....so does it make sense to buy a great steel frame and build it with some good modern stuff or is it still frowned upon?

Yes, that does make sense. Many say that doing so you combine the of two worlds: Sincere old world craftmanship and dedication with the convenience of modern technology.

1duck · Jun 21, 2011

having seen the prices some of the old stuff fetches nowdays i'd say its just common sense to avoid the crowd and buy new stuff! most of it is a lot more user friendly anyway.

Qubit · Jun 21, 2011

Looks good to me

. Must admit i agree with the stem, in terms of modern gear the things i like the least on road bikes are generally the stems and some of the chainsets (yours is fine) which often look bulky to my eyes.

Garuf · Jun 21, 2011

It looks good, I can only really echo the comments earlier on the stem, for me though, it has to be downtube shifters every time, I can't stand modern brake level/huds/shifter combos, they're just plain 'ol' ugly.

hamster · Jun 21, 2011

I think it looks fine. Personally I'd slide the ergos a little bit round the bars or twist the bars a little - Campag design the hoods to be flat on the top, unlike Shimano ones which seem to point up a long way. I'd suspect it's an awful fiddle to reach the brakes when on the drops the way it is at present.

yo-Nate-y · Jun 21, 2011

Agreed about rotating the bars down and figuring out a more appropriate stem, but it looks great. Very nicely done, and no problem having modern stuff on a solid classic steel frame---cool paint to boot!

dutchie · Jun 21, 2011

Qubit":3lbt77n5 said:
Looks good to me . Must admit i agree with the stem, in terms of modern gear the things i like the least on road bikes are generally the stems and some of the chainsets (yours is fine) which often look bulky to my eyes.

I agree. All of modern bikes are to bulky. Frames, wheels. In the earlier years bikes were more smooth and gentle.

whiffysmiffy · Jun 28, 2011

Old frame, new kit is exactly what i am looking to do, hopefully the finished product will look as good as yours does....with a stem change

Now, just need to find the right project frame/bike....

Sacrilege or common sense?

oxfordRon

Retro Newbie

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Elev12k

1duck

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Qubit

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Garuf

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hamster

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yo-Nate-y

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dutchie

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whiffysmiffy

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