I wouldn’t do that to that bike. I appreciate that, at least as far as your overview in the video introduction, you seem to be planning to keep all the changes reversible. More importantly, if I understand correctly, you are being given several thousand dollars worth of equipment. That makes your project unique - unique in that I will never be in a position to do or even consider doing something similar. I appreciate your transparency about the cost. I wish you luck and many happy miles. But you’re answering questions that aren’t interesting to me. One interesting question, to me, is: how will the neo-retro bike ride compared to the, in effect, new-old-stock that you’re sacrificing. How much better, or worse, and in what ways, is new stock compared to what was new in the 90s? What were your thoughts on the ride quality of the bike as purchased?
Would probably not start drilling holes… there should be a drain hole under the bb that you could potentially put a “slightly modified” di2 cable through. 😂 Just don’t tell the sponsors!
That bike looked perfect as it is really, the only thing I would do is swap the crank for a compact one because I am not racing anymore...These kinds of neoretro builds are only worth the exercise when you buy a bare frameset or are equipped with worn out parts., this one was not the right candidate imho.
This just feels wrong. It's like touching up the smile on the Mona Lisa or maybe building an extension on the pyramid of Giza. Looking forward to the rest of the series though.
I did exactly this with a Peugeot Equipe - initially tried to restore it with vintage hardware but soon realised as my first foray into road cycling that tube shifters, heavy hardware and a limited selection of gears sucked! So I upgraded to a 105 groupset, new Campag wheels, even got it powder coated in yellow and I absolutely love it now ❤
I had exactly this with my Mercian. Had period correct Suntour GPX. I didn’t mind downtube shifters (rears were indexed and you don’t need indexing on the front), but a 52/42 and 11-21 cassette just made it a nightmare to go up hills so I swapped it for modern 105 and now I can actually ride it! Also, the spacing on the suntour freewheel was different to everybody else’s so to keep the indexing I had to have suntour replacements, which I could only find on eBay in France. Much more usable now. Doesn’t look as good though. However, I also had Time Equipe TBT pedals on there and they were the best pedals I’ve ever used. The float was perfect. You couldn’t tell your feet were attached until you went to unclip. They were so comfy. I only stopped using them because I couldn’t find shoes that fitted.
Love videos like this, good job Alex! Don't listen to people moaning about leaving it stock or ruining a classic bike, it's better for the bike to be enjoyed by bringing it up to a modern standard than kept on a wall and admired from afar
Concept sounds fun, but it would be a fail as aero frames do not have shifter bosses on the downtube to capture the shifter cable housings that run outside the frame on bikes with early Shimano STI. I say this but I do have two caveats. Both require that shifter cable housings be run complete from the shifter to the rear derailleur (not friendly for that era front derailleurs). The housings could be run from shifter to derailleur either completely inside the frame, or completely outside of the frame using "zip ties" to attach the cable to the frame which would make Simon have kittens.
WTF Alejandro? A cliff hanger? Where is episode 2? Do you think this is House of the Dragon or something and you can just leave waiting until next season to finish the build? I want to see this thing come together! Unbelievable! 😅
The 90's really isn't that old. I know because I was there, and only young people, in their teens and early 20's, think that the 90's bikes are "old". For anything considered "old" you need to go back to the mid 70's or early 80's. Because that's when they were still riding lugged steel, down tube shifters, and 1" threaded headsets. People who have been riding for 30+ years, know that lugged steel is the absolute benchmark. The 90's saw the advent of lots of aluminum bikes, integrated shifters, internal brake cables, Giant's compact frame geometry, and octalink bottom brackets. "Old" bikes wouldn't have any of this modern technology. I agree that this groupset is very nice, but for a classic Italian bike, riders should always go for some Campagnolo 2x9 or 2x10. The Dura Ace 7700 on this is still very very nice. There are still lots of older (40+) riders who lust after this groupset. Thanks.
That sounds like an incredible project! Combining the classic elegance of a vintage Pinarello with the cutting-edge technology of the Shimano Dura-Ace 9200 groupset is a brilliant way to merge the best of both worlds. Alex's mission to breathe new life into the retro bike by upgrading it with modern components should result in a bike that not only looks stunning but also performs at the highest level. The Dura-Ace 9200 groupset is renowned for its precision, lightweight design, and reliability, making it a perfect match for a vintage frame. The rim brakes will maintain the classic aesthetic, while the modern components will bring the bike up to speed with today’s cycling standards. Taking this upgraded retro bike on an epic ride will be the ultimate test, showcasing how a well-crafted vintage frame can still hold its own with the right modern enhancements. It's a great way to celebrate the timeless beauty of retro bikes while also ensuring they're equipped to handle today's demands. This project will undoubtedly inspire others who love vintage bikes to consider similar upgrades!
I'm Doing a Vintage Road Bike Build Project Peugeot Carbon Parts Only, Still Down Tube Shifters. Target weight 8KG 54CM Frame Reynolds 531c Steel Frame.
You just have to be careful depending on when it was built and where it was sold first, there is a non 0 chance that dimensions follow the French standard instead of BSA. In which case you're in for a lot of reading on Sheldon Brown's website.
I’ve done a few neo retros there are plenty of brace vent holes where you can get wiring out. Removal of the lower cable guide gives a route out from the seat tube.
Excellent. I’ve done this back in 2014 with my 1981 531 Dawes Lightning using campag, my 1986 Peugeot premiere with campag, and my 2001 bianchi ev2 with…. Super record! It was featured up against the “Sidegrade” bike and shortly after the video I had a problem with the rear hub and it’s been off the road since!
@@bikee1394 Something about the geometry of that frame makes it look bigger, I think it's the long seat stays and short chain stays. I do like the traditional frame of older bicycles, nice and simple 👌.
I love nothing more than a neo-retro bike! My only road bike is built with a Columbus SLX steel frame from 1988, new Ritchey zeta classic wheels and SRAM Rival 1x11 because I live in flanders and I don't need much range. I think it rides like an absolute dream, and I don't feel like it really holds me back at all!
Thanks Alex................... "Dura Ace " is eternal , keep it alive ! And , I've no idea where to ride it . Good luck and Godspeed .. {wear gloves} save skin
If U don't need the old Dura Ace group set, I'll be the happiest cyclist if U give it to me. 😁 I need exactly the same parts for my genuine retro project! Nice video, as always!
The reason 'they' are saying its criminal to wreck that lovely bike is because it damn well is. Leave the poor thing alone for somone who actually has a heart and soul to enjoy it as it should be. Ricardo, you disappoint me.
the original restoration looks beautiful but I would be interested in the numbers on those gear ratios. It doesn’t’ look like I could ride it anywhere around here (Dartmoor) with my power to weight ratio. To be honest -that would have been the only thing I would have been tempted to change but will watch with interest as to how you get on
The Deda Superleggera stem has a diameter that matches a classic steel frame better. I used it with my Colnago Master retro-mod build. Get rid of that ugly "sponsor-provided" bar/stem thing😂 Also alot of bike frames are really good and light but buried under heavy wheels and groupset to hit a price point .. so well worth getting a really high end used non-disc groupset to shed some weight
I Believe a bike is its frame ! the rest are just parts ! yes they do also represent a style and era ! but in terms of quality and functioning , the frame is what it really is ! it will receive , gather defuse and transmit all the energies set upon it ! Just as it happens with cars ! One can take a great classic car ans with the setting of new parts like new break pads , tires , shocks etc the car can and will perform as any other new one , plus ! then one can really see what it was really capable of doing ! In so , I would recommend and wish you made a video on such with the Lotus super bike ! ( both 108 & 110 ) But in order to NOT ruin a classic one MUST not only use modern parts , but also in style and material accordingly with the classic chassis ! So in this case of your nreoretro i suggest using aluminium wheels ! and strongly suggest NOT using electroninc shifting , 'cause that means drilling holes into that frame ! but if you insist , the bike will be So much better if better if you figure out how to attach the battery outside the frame !
I wish you'd stop using the word 'retro' as a synonym of old. 'Retro' is something contemporary, but inspired in old designs. A 2005 Mini is retro; a 1960 Mini, however, is not 'retro': it's vintage, or old, or classic - whatever. But surely it's not retro. That said this is a sort of 'restomod'. Never mind it, I like it. I have a vintage frame with modern components and I love riding it. It's fast, it's fun to ride and it's beautiful.
I pointed this out to them years ago and they just don't listen or do any research apparently, I think they just like the word retro and use it even though they know it's incorrect.
Sssshhh 🤫 ! People mis-naming vintage bikes as 'retro' is partly how we get great deals on selling sites! Joking aside, totally agree. I've done similar to a Harry Hall - love it for all the same reasons you love yours. Highly recommend it, there are some lovely vintage frames out there waiting to be rescued and put back in service.
well, everything is retro when old enough. If it's even more so old and vintage, still retro. But for retro it also has to have historic value. 2005 Mini does not. It's not even a starting year of a generation which was 2001. So as liberally GCN is using this term, you are not that much different either.
On my neo-retro 1995 Bianchi Columbus Genius, I’m running record 10s & 1200g extralite hyperclinch aluminium wheels. Whole bike with its quill stem fork weighs 8kg 🎉 and is a blast to ride
I have just rebuilt my 1996 Cannondale CAD 3 with Chameleon paintwork with a complete 105 mechanical groupset. Plus a new lightweight carbon fork. The bike weighs an incredible 7.6 kg. I'm very curious to see how you install an electronic groupset on this frame.
This would have been a great chance to introduce the Wheeltop EDS wireless group set. It is perfect for situations like this, upgrading a vintage bike with modern shifting.
The retro-grouch in me was hoping that Seal Team 6 would bust into this video early on and rescue this classic bike from the over-engineered, overly complicated parts being grafted onto it like the Borg.
What about the spacing of the rear dropouts? Is it correct for the new groupset? I remember that the dropout spacing kept getting a bit bigger with each new iteration of increasing cog number.
Join you on an adventure... now you're talking, Neo- Retros only Obv's. I have just the almost TDF framed build to join in with that. 👍 Been thinking for while a "Neo-Eroica" an event or even series would be awesome and a little less excluding, impractical or frankly punishing than the really old stuff - this could be the beginning of something great for grass-roots bike enthusiasm: do it!
Shame they don't offer a polished alum version of that groupset just for this purpose. My old Lemond would love that drivetrain, but I am NOT giving up the shine of my old Ultegra. As a fan of both youngtimer cars and youngtimer bikes, I fully salute this video.
Seems like the hardest part of trying to get an old frame to feel modern is tyre clearance. Most other things can be pulled apart and changed, either bolt on or with an adapter, but if the frame limits the tyre choice, that gets pretty hard to solve. And it's a pretty big part of the ride feel. Re: Sacrilege and all that: Mostly what makes me sad in this groupset change is that those old parts are so aesthetically pretty. Modern parts' design isn't quite as expressive. But then, if Shimano is sponsoring the parts it's hard to criticize them too much :D
It's really only the 90s and 00s that sucked for tire clearance. I personally think 80s is the sweet spot-excellent tire clearance and plenty of still-used standards. The dropout spacing is usually 126mm, but I've found a modern 130 wheel slides in with really minimal effort. I'm currently looking for a good 80s frame to put my R8000 group on.
Back when god was in nappies, I 'customized' my spanking Raleigh Europa by putting Chopper handlebars on it, as aero as the side of a house but bloody good fun!
wheeltop eds would fit similar gen bike (or those with downtube shifter) modernizing project as owner can keep using the existing wheels/casette/crankset
I have an older Paganini, same idea, has dura ace 7700 and silver aksium wheels, i love it it cost me not alot except my time I made a hybrid fir rhe mrs out of a trek like yours!
The adventure I would suggest you make on the finished bike is to do the U18R , 25 miles TT course, in a proper race with whatever has replaced the RTTC. This build is the sort of bike someone might do if they are just starting to get serious but don't want to spend thirty grand a top of the range bike. And what event most people in that situation would do is a time trial. Now the U18R was used in the 1991 national TT competition, so Chris Boardman got the course record the year before he get his gold in Barcelona. And the U18R is really close to the GCN mega base (I think it's on the A38 going north east from you, but not sure).
It shouldn't be too difficult adapting an older frame to modern components, provided that you have wire entry to an internal battery. I'm currently running a mix of Ultegra / Dura Ace 12 on an even older steel bike. I wonder what challenges you're running into?
I could have gone for a steel frame, like a 1992 Koga Miyata, but I'm afraid an aluminium frame would be too fragile. Metal "fatigue" is a fact. Helicopter blades, for example, had to be changed regularly when they were made of aluminium and are now indestructible in carbon.
I don't mind the project, but I do mind pairing such a decidedly slender, vintage looking round tube steel frame with that god-awful looking square hunk of an integrated handlebar. Surely you could've used a more understated round carbon stem.
Hi Alex, I wish you had road tested the bike first, then retested once build up using the latest parts etc to see if the cost makes it significantly faster or even better bike to ride…? Er.. it can’t because it’s sponsored by Shimano so possibly it’s outcome will be predictable. Apologies I just prefer the bike in its original restore state, without modern tec.
don't think you want to put big boy wheels on, maybe something like 303s. As for a challenge, how about Coast-2-Coast, or a supported NC500 (as I'm guessing you won't want to put bags on the frame) for a longer challenge. How is it on climbs, how is it on descents, how is it on the flat, how is it after several hours in the saddle?
Would be interested to know what you meant by 'functionally inferior' @ 0:20. I actually think there are functions/uses where vintage steel frames are _superior_ to modern carbon frames (e.g. audax/rando and touring). I accept that modern _groupsets_ can be demonstrably shown to be superior from a technical aspect (and may be more convenient to most users) but a broad statement such as 'vintage bikes < modern bikes, functionally' is a huge leap IMHO. FWIW, I think I've found the best-of-both by mating a vintage 531 frame with modern 105. Used for day-long riding.
When it comes to shifting, vintage bikes tend to have downtube, toptube, or stem-mounted friction shifters vs. brifters (or they've been upgraded to early brifters, as was the case with this bike). I absolutely have friction shifters and find them to be functionally inferior to indexed shifters on the handlebars.
A nicely restored '69 Camaro SS is functionally inferior to a 2024 Camaro -- by quite a lot. Not comparable in ride, feel, and experience. But which would be cooler to drive on weekends?
for the wheels, I feel like carbon can be allowed but they have to be shallow, deep section wheels would ruin the look! to me the whole point of the build is for the look of an old bike and the feel of a new one
I had this issue, and used a Nitto quill to 1 1/8" adapter. The steering immediately became as stiff as I would care to have it, and I got to keep the silver theme. :)
I love "restomod" projects like that ! I'd be interested to know what to look for in terms of compatibility, especially with bottom brackets, forks and steerers, and cassettes. As for the wheels, given that the frame receives a top of the line groupset, the only option is going 50+cm carbon fiber wheels. To test out the bike, a granfondo or an endurance race would be a great watch ! I'd probably have chosen a steel frame though, as your aluminum pinarello is likely to be harsh to ride
