Upgrades for a retro bike
Discussion
I posted in the classic bike thread a couple of days ago but thought I'd start my own thread about the rebuild of my bike.
It's a Peugeot Europa from circa 1989 I believe. I got it 2nd (or 3rd / 4th / 5th...) hand about 5 years ago for £80. I originally bought it just to test the water with road bikes and see if I enjoyed it, which I do. It's nothing special but I really enjoy the way it rides and on group rides with friends I've never had any trouble keeping up with more modern machinery ridden by people of similar fitness, I did a 400 mile trip over 4 days on it with no trouble at all.
It's starting to get a bit tired now though, headset is crunching, bottom bracket wobbles a bit, the gears occasionally skip, the brakes need servicing... so it's pretty much at the point where for the money it's cost me I've well and truly had my monies worth.
And yet, I just can't bring myself to replace it! I don' do a huge amount of riding, maybe up to 50 miles a week with commuting + a few longer rides in the summer so I don't need anything too fancy and so can't really justify spending the best part of £1000 on a newer bike.
So it got me thinking about upgrading this one. I figured if I pick up some things second hand and don't go silly with the spec I could have something relatively decent for less than £300.
I've started looking around and found the following:
Wheels - A chap at work is selling a pair of Mavic Open Pro wheels on Ultegra 6500 hubs for £50, which appear to be in very good condition.
Groupset - Looking on ebay it seems I could get a full Shimano 105 5700 groupset (brakes + gears) for around £150 in used but good condition.
Which would leave me around £100 to get a bottom bracket, headset, and all the little sundries required for building it up.
The end product would be my current frame + forks, with decent components for the £300 mark (probably closer to £350 if I go for new saddle and all the other extra bits you forget about.
I'd build it up myself and would finish with a bike I'm currently familiar with but with more modern components that give a better ride such as the STI shifters instead of tube shifters, 10 speed instead of 7 speed.
Does this sound like a ridiculous idea? Would £350 otherwise get me a much better specced 2nd hand bike? Or just a more modern frame with similar / lesser spec?
Sorry for the long post, I'll probably use this as a build thread when I do go ahead with it. Here's a picture of it for now from before the start of our 4 day Peterborough to Paris trip a few years ago.
It's a Peugeot Europa from circa 1989 I believe. I got it 2nd (or 3rd / 4th / 5th...) hand about 5 years ago for £80. I originally bought it just to test the water with road bikes and see if I enjoyed it, which I do. It's nothing special but I really enjoy the way it rides and on group rides with friends I've never had any trouble keeping up with more modern machinery ridden by people of similar fitness, I did a 400 mile trip over 4 days on it with no trouble at all.
It's starting to get a bit tired now though, headset is crunching, bottom bracket wobbles a bit, the gears occasionally skip, the brakes need servicing... so it's pretty much at the point where for the money it's cost me I've well and truly had my monies worth.
And yet, I just can't bring myself to replace it! I don' do a huge amount of riding, maybe up to 50 miles a week with commuting + a few longer rides in the summer so I don't need anything too fancy and so can't really justify spending the best part of £1000 on a newer bike.
So it got me thinking about upgrading this one. I figured if I pick up some things second hand and don't go silly with the spec I could have something relatively decent for less than £300.
I've started looking around and found the following:
Wheels - A chap at work is selling a pair of Mavic Open Pro wheels on Ultegra 6500 hubs for £50, which appear to be in very good condition.
Groupset - Looking on ebay it seems I could get a full Shimano 105 5700 groupset (brakes + gears) for around £150 in used but good condition.
Which would leave me around £100 to get a bottom bracket, headset, and all the little sundries required for building it up.
The end product would be my current frame + forks, with decent components for the £300 mark (probably closer to £350 if I go for new saddle and all the other extra bits you forget about.
I'd build it up myself and would finish with a bike I'm currently familiar with but with more modern components that give a better ride such as the STI shifters instead of tube shifters, 10 speed instead of 7 speed.
Does this sound like a ridiculous idea? Would £350 otherwise get me a much better specced 2nd hand bike? Or just a more modern frame with similar / lesser spec?
Sorry for the long post, I'll probably use this as a build thread when I do go ahead with it. Here's a picture of it for now from before the start of our 4 day Peterborough to Paris trip a few years ago.
You're not a million miles away from what I intend to do with my old Bianchi, although mine is in fairly good running order as it stands.
The way I see it is that I have a bike that owes me almost zero. Therefore if I spend say £400 to completely overhaul it, I'll end up with a very good bike worth probably less than I spent but not that much less.
Edit: plus I like the bike and I've had it so long I can't imagine not having it. Perhaps similar to you and that's why I'm prepared to spend more than it's worth on it.
The way I see it is that I have a bike that owes me almost zero. Therefore if I spend say £400 to completely overhaul it, I'll end up with a very good bike worth probably less than I spent but not that much less.
Edit: plus I like the bike and I've had it so long I can't imagine not having it. Perhaps similar to you and that's why I'm prepared to spend more than it's worth on it.
Edited by tobinen on Friday 29th May 08:29
Aesthetically I'd build it up with Campag not Shimano if possible as it just looks a lot more 'period'.
Seems a sensible idea though, if you like it then why not improve what you have as for the money you want to spend although you can get a reasonable bike it isn't going to be much 'better' than what you plan to build.
http://www.wiggle.com/verenti-technique-claris-201...
Seems a sensible idea though, if you like it then why not improve what you have as for the money you want to spend although you can get a reasonable bike it isn't going to be much 'better' than what you plan to build.
http://www.wiggle.com/verenti-technique-claris-201...
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