I would really love to put Campagnolo Super
Record gruppo on all my vintage
bicycle builds, but those components are becoming harder and harder to find,
plus they demand premium prices. I would like to keep my builds within a budget
that is reasonable to me and potential buyers, so I have developed a few
strategies to combat the expense of the Italian parts.
I found that by stepping down a level or two
to Chorus or Athena components really helps, as many of those parts have a
decent amount of design features that have “trickled down” from the development
of the company’s top-of-the-line products. I have also discovered that I can
sometimes save money by buying a complete “donor bike” that has the components
I want, then simply swapping the parts to my project bicycle and selling the bare
frame. Occasionally I’ll find a donor bicycle that can become a project on its
own, maybe because it had some mismatched parts or perhaps some that were
inappropriate to the style or era of the bike.
The bike I'm currently trying to complete is called a Gios-Torino Super
Record for a reason, and I couldn’t really short cut to a lower level of
Campagnolo parts this time around. However, it didn’t take long for me to
become completely discouraged by the outrageous asking prices for the groupsets I
had seen online. I did happen to see an interesting 1979 Peugeot bicycle that someone
had equipped with mostly Super Record parts. At 58 centimeters, its size was a bit larger
than I usually purchase, but I kept an eye on it for a few weeks until the
price dropped significantly.
When I made an offer at just a few bucks
lower, and it was accepted, I began to look at the opportunity of doing a full French
build on this classic PX 10/E, one of the company’s most popular
professional-quality racing bikes of the 1960s-70s. Vintage bicycle fans have put together a few invaluable
websites which feature old catalogs that had
been scanned and uploaded, and I started to do some research on Peugeot
machines to find out what parts they might have originally included. I wasn’t
necessarily going to be exact, but I
could use these resources as a guide to get as close as possible and achieve a
bicycle build with a true Gallic feel.
This particular PX 10/E came to me with stem/handlebars
and seatpost made, respectively, by French companies Pivo and Laprade, so I
planned on keeping those. Also included was a classic leather saddle by BIM, a quality
French “Brooks-alike” product.
I quickly turned to searching for the appropriate
Simplex derailleurs, and found a set that was specially marked for Peugeot!
St.
Etienne-based manufacturer CLB had also
put out a special Peugeot brakeset, but those are extremely rare (and I would
guess pricey), so I settled for the standard version. CLB was second only to
Mafac as the leading post-WW2 French manufacturer of brakes, and I really liked
the unique shape of their GL-series calipers.
I was
really fired up to find a Stronglight (yet another French company) crankset
with Peugeot engravings and “drillium”. The boring out of the metal is really
meant as a weight-reducing measure, but it can be a real work of art if done by
the right hands!
A set of era-appropriate Mavic wheels with Atom
hubs and a Maillard 5-speed freewheel rounded out the collecting, and other than
a bit of polishing, the parts all came to me in really nice condition. During
preliminary assembly, I unfortunately found that the adjustable headset upper cup
included on the Peugeot had stripped threads. It appears the previous user had
just cinched down the locknut to hold everything in (somewhat precarious)
place.
I contacted the seller about the issue for a
partial refund, but I’m not sure which direction I want to go - replace the worn-out
part or the complete headset. It is a Shimano Arabesque model, a quality product
with very attractive markings, but it really requires a special tool for proper
assembly, and it is a Japanese
product not really fitting in with my overall scheme. I’ll have to wait for the
seller’s response and weigh my options, as far as cost and what other French
parts might be available to swap in.
 |
| Shimano HP-6200, 600EX Arabesque headset |
At the other end of the shop, the
Gios-Torino Super Record is coming together nicely, as far as the collecting of
parts goes. The Campagnolo group that I swapped out from the Peugeot will take
a bit of cleaning, but it is in really nice shape.
I sanded down some of the rough spots on the
Gios frame in anticipation of touching up those areas. I ordered a bottle of
blue paint that was recommended online as a match for the company’s famous blue,
but apparently the key is applying the reddish primer underneath to get the
correct hue.
We keep getting teased with a couple days of reasonable riding
weather, only to be followed up with some brutal cold and snow. The pattern is
driving me crazy, as I am pretty sick and tired of the indoor trainer. I
actually yelled “Whoo-hoo!” when riding with some friends up a hill near Valley
Forge, so excited I was to be out on the road for a little while. I don’t
remember ever looking forward to spring so much!
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