Classic Steel Road Bike Restomod | Simon Smythe's Stunning 2001 Chas Roberts Dream Build! 

I have a Rourke, made from Reynolds 853 pro team tubing. It is six years old and looks just as good as when i collected it. Steel is the best.

Oh mate, I reckon you’ve inspired a wave of us “older riders” to rethink our dusty old frames that have been in the garage. The thing you didn’t mention is that it, most likely, has lived in the lounge room since it was finished. I’m both envious and very happy for you. Enjoy 😉👌

Change the tape for one little logo? Sharpie it. Steel is now officially the connoisseurs' frame material. One has to be really mature as a cycling enthusiast to be willing to give up a pound or two in a build for a sublimely riding rig and at the end of the day, the more comfortable one is, the longer they can ride and the more enjoyable the experience is. I don't think I can ever ride carbon or aluminum again and titanium just doesn't have that "real" feel that steel has. Steel lets you feel the road while not being jarred by it. For me, it's "the" most connected feeling of all the modern materials out there.

Beautiful! I have dumped all my carbon bikes and only ride steel. I prefer how they ride. I am not a racer so the extra weight is a non issue! Steel is real!!!

I built up a Colnago 60 on a Super Record groupset which cost around 2,300 USD for the groupset, which cost less then a Shimano Di2 setup. It was well worth it to me.

I’m 74 today and totally agree with you about Chas Roberts frames. Several decades ago I rode from Welwyn Garden City to Penge and back just to look in the window of the shop. I remember there being a tandem frame on display and to me at that time it was almost unworldly in its’ flattened tubed beauty. More recently I spoke with a couple in Woodbridge, Suffolk who each had Robert’s frames road bikes. There are many well constructed British hand built frames from that and previous eras but few if any are better to my eye.

Chorus was an excellent choice for the groupset, best value / style combo out there, sets the bike off beautifully and nice attention adding the Vitt Graphenes on the Boras. Sitting still the bike looks fast - you're going to need a very big bag of excuses ready if you're not first to the cafe on that!

Beautiful bike! I miss my custom made Waterford built paramount OS from 1990. Loved the lugged steel frames from the 80's and early 90's.

Really enjoyed the video. I laughed out loud at the sram powerlink....as that's what is holding together my Campag 11 chain. Lol

Love the build! 💯 There are lots of neo-retro builder’s on RU-vid doing “museum piece” projects, but this is the only one that I have seen with a true modern “performance” build. A few years ago I started a similar project with a 1986 Bianchi Mondiale SL. It was my very first racing bicycle and had been bouncing around my basement workshop for decades. The original fork was destroyed in a crash, so I also used the Columbus carbon 1” steerer fok because I wanted a modern cockpit (I like the points of contact to be the same on all my bikes). I originally rebuilt it with Campy 10 speed Centaur shifters/detaileurs, brake calipers, and an old Chorus aluminum crankset/sealed tapered bottom bracket combo with Scirrocco wheels. The bike came back to life life beautifully, but I found that I rarely rode it because it was too heavy/slow (9.5k) for the competitive group rides that I typically do, and I rarely ride on the road alone these days for safety reasons. This year I decided to take the build to the next level to see if I could get it to the point where it really delivered a modern performance feel. So I upgraded the crankset to Record 11s UT, and the wheelset to BORA 50 tubulars with Vittoria Corsa Pave tires. The newer build comes in at 8.5 kilos with pedals/bottle cages, and definitely delivers the performance ride that I was hoping for. It is now fully rideable in most “flattish” competitive group rides. The steel frame delivers a stiff responsive ride with a built in dampening quality that is not present in my carbon or aluminum frames, although I must admit that it does not climb as efficiently as a carbon bike frame from say ten years ago. The current crop of road disc carbon bike frames are another story, but I digress… It is very satisfying to know that after nearly 40 years my Italian steel frame still performs very well for much more than just L’Eroica rides. Steel is indeed real! Cheers!

Stunning paint. And a classy build. Enjoy your dream bike.

Campagnolo Chorus= excellent choice sir! Nice frame color too.

I would just hang it on the lounge wall and look at it-a real work of art.

Steel bikes are just beautiful and I actually prefer them being modernised like this. I'd love to have a go at doing a build but it's all the tools that I'd need to buy that would mean I'm better off just buying a new bike

Roberts frames are some of the BEST steel frames made in the UK, there not easy to get hold of due to being now sort after, I bought "The Roughhstuff" frame back in 2007, its a Touring frame and to this day its as goid as it ever was, the craftsmanship is incredible and from a comfort point of view its second to none, Fantastic Frames

Thank you from Italy, for pronouncing "Campagnolo" perfectly!

Roberts is still open. Younger brother Geoff now runs it.

I've started riding mine

Very nice build looks beautiful I would love to see more videos like this. Resto Mods of any kind are always beautiful. Old world hand craftsmanship with new world technology living in harmony beautiful bike thank you for sharing

Had a Roberts bike tailored made for me in 97 with Campag. Record (Record is the top at that time, no Super Record), 9 speeds. I think it is a Columbus frame, forgot after all these years. There is no label on the tube to identify which is strange. I only done 500 miles and then left it hanging on the wall all these years to admire at. Last week, I started using it for the first time after all these time. I am 70 and retired. I was thinking of finding my Roberts a good home. After watching your video, I think I ought to give it another go.

I don't have this kind of money, but I think I have a similar appreciation for steel bikes. The Schwinn I've been riding is a semi- compact geometry Reynolds 853 frame with a slightly sloping top tube. I added a 3T ergonova handlebar, Bontrager stem and Ponza saddle to make it feel less like a late 90's bike and I assembled it with a used Veloce 9 speed group and Campy wheels. Cost all in was about five hundred bucks.

I have 2 Bob Jackson one 1973 another is 1983 both beautiful bikes to ride.

Running with Chorus group set on my Tommasini Tecno. Love it. It is a 2004 frame and originally put chorus group set on the bike, but two years ago I had a new Chorus group set put on. I think Chorus is a excellent choice.

An absolutely beautiful build. Superb paint job. Incredible value too. Only thing I would change is the Chris King headset for a Campagnolo thread less. A minor point though. Next time use the Campag chain tool ;-)

A black Sharpie pen will take care of that handlebar tape. Great bike!

I have a 1983 Carlton Pro Mk 5, which I retro-retro modded to use 9spd Campagnolo Racing-T. Utterly superb to ride, and I really like the Racing-T - "trad" 53x39, with a spare 30 chainring. Gets my old butt up the Scottish hills in Style and down the other side at lightning speed .I used a set of gold Khamsin wheels to offset the scarlet paintjob the previous owner put on the frame. Looks great, handles beautifully, rides sublimely, and weighs just over 9Kg.

I've got a Gunnar Roadie made in Wisconsin and it's 1.6kg for the frame. I have never owned a carbon road bike. Only steel and titanium for me.

Geez what a stunner!

I'm still riding on my steel race bike, that I raced on from 2002 to 2017. Built from True Temper OX Platinum, with a 1-1/8 top and down tubes. I built it with Shimano 7800, and a 53x39 crank. When I was racing, I used a 12-23 cassette.(I now use a 12-25, because I'm out of shape, and old-old-old)

Amazing, the bike looks fantastic!

What an absolute beauty. No carbon bike gets me as interested as steel.

Happy for you! It looks amazing 👏🏻 🍻

You got that beautiful paint job done for $200 pounds you got a real bargain. My custom made frame the builder was asking $850 US for a two color fade . I ended up spraying it myself with automotive 2K and a 2K polyurethane clear for a lot less. My color was a very dark British Airways Blue but with a Pearl that really pops in the sun light. The reason you can't quit staring at it is it's a beautiful bike. I think the most admirable bikes are steel round tube. Carbon bikes have no appeal to me. Since you can't keep those wheels some Campagnolo Shamal Carbon wheels are great wheels at a good price.

Gorgeous!!

Always wanted a Roberts frame as a kid. Now 55 n have had three, still got two in boxes in the garage gotta build them up again. Started building frames myself back in 2010 n have customers all over the world since then hence my Roberts frames in boxes.

That is a gorgeous bike! Wow!

That's a beautiful machine; good luck and enjoy the ride!

thank you sir for sharing your technology and latest products of your classic bike, more power.

Stunning bike!

Great inspiration for me. I’m a fixie rider who’s wanting a road bike, but wanting to stick to steel. Where I live, there are a lot of older steel frames in circulation, and this is precisely what I plan to do with my new build

She's stunning; you are a lucky man !

Gorgeous bike! I’m going to go down the same road with a 12s Chorus groupset and a classic aluminium Orbea frame, custom painted. A dream build !!

Just stunning!

I agree. Chas Roberts steel frames do look extremely well made

That' is a great looking wagon. 👍

Wow the frame still looks modern for being 20 years l Old

Nice build. Thanks for sharing my friend.

Surprised that a frame that age has a sloping top tube. Also the geometry looks more laid back than I'd expect. Gorgeous. I had a Nigel Dean ( think I've remembered that correctly) that this reminds me of.

What a great bike!

Absolutely beautiful

That does look really beautiful 😍

What a colour ! Amazing . Beautiful bike, great chorus group set and high end wheels match perfectly. The integrated bars looked too modern for me. Great work by the way

Wow 🔥🔥🔥

A thing of beauty.

Just Awesome

Lovely bike! Your color scheme is gorgeous, and your choice to use up-to-date componentry makes sense. I've made a different choice with my 1980 Motobecane, opting to reuse the original cockpit, Shimano Altus groupset (retaining the downtube shifters, of course), and 27" Rigida aluminum wheels. It's getting resprayed in a non-original color but will get 95% original decals -- reproductions, but spot on aesthetically. I hope it turns out half as nice as this one.

That looks amazing. Beautiful build. I’m doing something similar with an old aluminium frame I’ve had lying around. I’ll be using this as inspiration.

Beautiful build. Congratulations!

Fantástica!!!

Class job 👏👏👏👌🏻👌🏻

Beautiful! Careful where you park it at the pub!

That is a beautiful build. Great color, as red is the fastest. Ride on. KB

Campag cable kits are such high quality - you'd never want to hide those. I hope you turned the cables so the logo is facing outwards!

Gorgeous

Gumwall tires makes it perfect

Excellent built,, love the head badge made out of steel.. all new bikes are decals ,,,steel is real….believe it until you ride one….

Freaking awesome, nothing compares with steel and Campagnolo, what an awesome bike, enjoy ❤

Great and beautiful 👍

That is a gorgeous bike! I recently got a new steel Gunnar (made by Waterford) road bike with full Ultegra and some pretty decent HED wheels - loving it.

l LOVE it pass it forward when you re done with it :)

Beautifully done. The nicest riding bike I own is steel (a 1984 Basso Astra Columbus EL). I'd be interested to see the tyre clearance at the chainstays though, must be super tight (you didn't say what tyre width you'd chosen). I would have chosen Deda for the finishing kit but really can't fault your choices, looks superb; but what bottle cages will you use?! Thank you, great content.

i always dreamed of building a roadbike like this .. nice one !!

looks amazing

Looks fantastic . .. I love Mercian with rim brakes. Steel looks far better.

I’ve got a Roberts White Spider which I had custom built in 1990 from Columbus Max OR with its original Campagnolo MTB groupset.

Simon very much enjoy your videos. Jealous of your work space. I work as a professional comedian and bike mechanic. I do most of my tours via bike. I'll be in the UK starting in August hopefully get to join and your cycling club for a ride at some point!

Thank you for sharing this beautiful frame and build. What bottle cages are you planning on using?

have done similar with a 80's pinerello, but have kept the Ambrosio excellence wheels it came with. see you on the Sunday run

Can’t wait to turn my Merckx CorsaExtra into a build like this one

Very, very nice bike, I would choose a straight seatpost .....

Who cares if it is a bit heavier than a modern bicycle frame , the feel of driving it and it's durability´is way above what a carbon frame will give you so in my mind worth any penny you paid for it ! Beautiful paintjob btw ! I own an old Dawes Syntesis and just love how it rides. Have fun !!!

Beautiful! If you're gonna put a bottle cage on it, I suggest the Lezyne Power Cage (black, naturally). I guess it depends on how far it is to the pub really....

Great product and company

Yes i have pretty much gone back to steel i have rebuilt a 1992 cliff shrubb with 2008 Dura ace & hand built wheels using Hope hubs weight is 9.3kg which is about 1.5kg heavier than my carbon bike but the strange thing is the steel bike is not much slower even on the climbs & it just feels as if it holds the speed better & handling is sharper .

Cool video

You should run tubeless tires on those, it drastically improves the ride quality.

Beautiful setup. Probably would have gone for period correct Dura Ace or Record off eBay. Totally agree with the saddle rather than 3d printed with carbon rails _albeit lighter_

It looks great! Only caveaz is that plastic fork, which makes it almost as fragile and life threatening as full plastic bikes.

Chas Roberts retired in 2015. His son setup on his own and Winston Vaz setup Varonha frameworks.

pretty!

I love red bikes!

Really good bulid. I have peugeot competition 4000 on columbus thorn custom tri tubi frame, with campagnolo super record 11s from 2009 i use it mostly daily ,it's beautiful and weights only 9kilos

That bike is stunningly beautiful. Great build and everything just looks very nice. I was wondering was width tires you used and how much clearance you actually ended up with front and rear.

At 5:20 when you're presenting the bars to the camera and just sitting there with your elbows on your knees and your hands grasping the bars it looks like they are about 10 inches too wide. i mean it's obvious they are too wide (which is just preference I assume) but the margin is enormous. Two of you could squeeze side by side between those drops, lol!

Absolutely stunning build

bellissima

This has inspired me to restore my Roberts. I love the finish on your frame Simon, what are the colours used (RAL)?

Does it need any upgrades? No, I think it is about as high speed as it will get. Maybe go 12 speed? LOL! Beautiful bike. I am starting a rebuild of a Picchio Special and will be going either full 11-speed Super Record, or 12-speed controllers, shifter, and cassette with 11-speed crankset and brakes. It will be painted a very similar color of red, Mazda Soul Red Crystal Metallic but without a fade. Your looks spectacular by the way. I am sure in the bright sunlight it is amazing to look at. I've not purchased a Campy chain in years, or Shimano. All my builds get Connex chains right out of the box.

I hope you enjoy it. It suits deep wheels (Hunt's as an alternative?). What, hopefully not being impertinent, is the full weight?

nice! You were lucky that you were able to pick up that frame. Steel columbus frame, rim brakes, mechanical Campagnolo groupset, external cable routing, carbon bars and seatpost, this bike ticks all the boxes. Paintjob is pretty awesome too, looks really expensive. Question about the wheels: can you remove the decals easily (stickers) or are they waterslide decals and thus impossible to remove?