Car boot sale gems?

GordonB

Retro Guru
Went to our local car boot sale this morning and picked up a bunch of possible gems including a lovely frame pantographed SABA on the fork crown, pair of Cinelli Criterium bars (the dual groove version, bit damaged at the ends but not really an issue, just needs a quick trim), pair of Campag friction shifters, Campag Veloce front mech, a pair of Dia-Compe RGC-400 Royal Gran Compe calipers, and a Campag Chorus rear mech, the Dual Mode System short cage version.

Couldn't resist them at the price (22 quid after a bit of haggling!) but can anyone help with some information? I'd like to use the components to build up the frame into a winter bike but I really do want indexed shifting. Is the rear mech likely to be compatible with any of the Campag indexed shifting systems other than Synchro? Ideally I'd like to use something like Ergo levers but I don't want to risk buying some only to find it won't work out.

If anyone has any info about SABA frames I'd be grateful as the only mention I can find of them on the internet is as importers of lugs and tubes. The only info on the frame is a sticker that says it was supplied by Bucks Cycles of Ipswich (now long gone, I remember them well as I live just outside Ipswich). The frame is actually a perfect fit for me (54cm ctc for both seat and top tubes) so come what may it will be the basis for my winter bike.

Gordon
 
Your frame was probably constructed in the UK using said lugs by a local builder, so unless you have some of identifying frame number, it may be difficult to trace the origin. FWIW Veloce kit is far newer than the other parts - Chorus being introduced in the mid-80s. I expect you could get the rear mech to index with a 8 speed Ergo over 7 sprockets - it's probably limited in its capacity to handle a wider cassette / bigger sprocket range
 
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