1979 Urago 531

I've just got this too, from a seller in France. Mine is the rectangular one on the right:

Uragobadge.jpg



The search is now on for some early '80s Mavic brake levers with the cables running out of the tops of the hoods, as opposed to the late '80s versions I have, but it won't hold up the build.
 
In the end the 'crack' on the jockey wheel turned out just to be a moulding line, and the replacement derailleur I bought came with the all-important stop plate so here is the derailleur finally fitted with a chain.

derailleurinplace.jpg


And this is the complete drivetrain. I've noticed the front derailleur clamp is for a thicker diameter seat-tube so I need to think about making (or finding) a thin shim or something so that it will be a proper tight fit.

mavicdrivetrain.jpg


I took the frame to my local bike shop and had the owner fit the Mavic headset as I don't have the tools and didn't want to bodge it.

mavicheadset.jpg


The shop is run by an ex-pro called Patrick Bonnet who was one of Hinaults domestiques - there are some great photos of him on the shop wall competing back in the day. He's a nice bloke and his workshop looks like a bomb has hit it! :shock:

Next steps are to fit the head-tube badge and sort out the front derailleur shim, fit gear cables and adjust everything then ride it. I also plan to stop taking photos with my chuffing mobile phone and hope to get some pictures that do both the bike and this website justice... :oops:
 
Is Patrick Bonnet William Bonnet's dad? If he is, I might have spoken with him briefly at Paris-Roubaix in 2010. We parked up next to WiWi's fan club who were having a smashing time!
 
Terry - Patricks kids do race but William Bonnet isn't one of his.

Simon - Thanks! I hadn't thought to ask you what size the stem was and sure enough the diameter was too large..! I used a different one in the end, on the CBT Italia shown here:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... &start=105

I'll find a use for the CB stem at some point, I'm sure.

I want to put decals like the ones shown here on this yellow Urago on mine:


decalques.jpg


Has anyone seen this type for sale? I know GTS753 on eBay does Urago decals but not this type. Has anyone had any luck with taking a photo to a printers and having him reproduce decals from a photograph?
 
This is turning into a bit of a saga... Turns out it might not be an Urago after all - the seatstay detail is similar to but unlike any other Uragos anyone has seen, and there is no Urago serial number on the rear left dropout, where it should be. However it may have been sold by Michel Chenu in Antibes in '79, or may even have been built by him. My Internet research results have dried up, though not before someone in the US contacted me to say that he'd bought a bike from Michel Chenu in the 70s, with details similar to mine. Antibes isn't far from Nice, where Uragos were still being made in '79, and Michel Chenu would have known Urago. I will probably never know the exact story. In the meantime I'm looking at having some Chenu decals made, to my own design. I was also thinking about Jonny69s suggestion back in January about the white saddle and bar tape, and when I saw an old white Concor going cheap in a LBS thought I'd give it a try:

white.jpg


Cheers Jonny - I prefer it to the black. Somehow it "looks" lighter. I also replaced the Mavic aero levers with some Spidel levers, which are more in keeping with the era and the build. I'll keep looking for non-aero Mavic levers but I haven't found any so far.

spidellevers.jpg


Last addition were some NOS Modolo brake blocks, which I fitted to the Mavic calipers. Much better. The old ones were a mismatch and badly worn.

NOSbrakeblocks.jpg


Just need to fit a front derailleur shim, as the derailleur is larger than the seat tube diameter. Hope to get this finished next month when I'm next home.
 
Thats lovely

I thought it looked lovely in the first post but it just keeps getting better :cool:
Really interested now to hear how it rides after all the care and attention lavished on it. I expect it will be a classy ride.
Any more on its history?
Keep the updates coming.
Jamie
 
Cheers Jamie - for the time being I don't have any more information about its history. It still might be an Urago but simply unbadged and without an Urago serial number: the American who contacted me suspects that Chenu may have sold Uragos under his own name. I have an Urago head badge (see earlier in the thread) and due to the fact that I can't be sure what this is (!) I might put the Urago badge on the head tube, and the Michel Chenu decals on the down tube. I'm resigned to the fact that I'll probably never know, but it's still a lovely frame. The bike doesn't feel very heavy and I'm really looking forward to riding it.
 

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