Re: My 1991 Nortel.le renovation
no pics yet as I never have time to take any while building a bike (even though it usually takes me months to finish one!)
first thing was to fit the headset. I was more or less forced into using the old one, as it was a french threaded ultegra tricolor model, and they have one of the shortest stack heights around so finding something else was going to be difficult.
Next was the BB - I wanted 111mm shimano fitting to go with the cranks. The old french threaded shimano cups, shimano balls and campag 111mm spindle all fitted well together so no problem there.
A set of 175mm c-record crank arms, very nicely polished by Tel and fitted with 10 speed chainrings went on next.
seatpost is a 27.2mm chorus aero model
saddle is a white rolls
bars and stem are minty 3TTT
brake levers are shimano RX100 with the logos taken off and brand new white hoods fitted. I had some 105 levers, but the plastic part that separates the hoods and lever is darker on those, it's a light grey on the RX100 so doesn't stand out so much. The lever blades are silver too, which fit the build better
brakes are campag mirage monoplaner. I had some athena monoplaners, but I prefer the more rounded look of the lower range mirage model.
cable outers are grey dura ace, with a section of grey shimano STI cable (the thin one that hung out in front of the handlebars) for the rear mech loop.
gears are where things got more complicated! My first idea was to use campag 9 speed barend shifters mounted on the frame as DT levers. But they don't fit the bosses well and I'm not keen on filing them out too much, and also they're index only, no friction mode. Second idea was either c-record friction or simplex retrofriction, but neither of those have a long enough cable pull for what I needed. So the final option is Dura Ace 7700 series 9 speed DT levers.
I had an athena 8/9 speed mech, but that didn't give enough movement with any of the levers I tried for a standard 8/9 speed cassette width. Playing around with numbers, the cable pull and pull ratios just weren't compatible. So in the end I've gone with a more modern shimano 105 9 speed mech with the logos polished off. That gives me a full range of movement with the 9 speed levers, and I can use friction mode so that more or less any wheel I want to use will work.
That is important, as I currently have some 8 speed ventos (and a 9/10/11 speed freehub body to convert them if I ever get round to it), more modern campag record with GP4s (and both 9 and 10 speed cassettes), and when I find time to build them, some hope pro 2 hubs on mavic open pro clinchers, which have a shimano 8/9/10 speed hub body (and 8 and 9 speed cassettes for those).
The ventos are fitted at the moment, but I'll be trying all the other wheels too to see how they ride
chain is a 9 speed KMC
front mech is older campag record
pedals will be look delta - either look, or shimano depending on which colour goes best with the bike
bar tape will be white
bottle cage silver
did I forget anything?