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So the year nicely informs the component choice, taking a lot of the hassle out of deciding what to want. And after 6 months compulsively accumulating everything that says Dura Ace on it, there aren't many things left to worry about:
I'm still on the look out for some slightly tidier cranks, but having a pair to hand has taken the pressure off. The seatpost is a little more scuffed than I'd like but I'm not too fussed about that, everything else sits between either very good or very very good condition, and I've got some NOS hoods to go with the levers once I pick which ones I'm going to use. -
The hubs are 32h, and I'm not quite sure what to build them to. I was thinking something like archetypes to match tb's cosmics (at least until a good pair of cosmics come along). The standard shout would be to ambrosio nemesis, but I've already dealt with that in my accumulation spree:
The other option is to break the 7700 streak and go for something a little more unusual, like these NOS Giro d'Italia rims on some 7400 hubs which are sitting waiting to be built:
They have the benefit in terms of usefulness in being clincher, but the negative of being horrifically expensive :/ -
I've also primed Vaz to give this thing a respray. Not 100% sure I'll do it yet, but I already have some replacement decals in the post.
They're not black/yellow decals though, they're green and yellow. Which is silly – after getting everything 1997-ish correct, I'm thinking I might get it sprayed in a 93/94 fade, similar to the Serotta TTR that @mheldring sold recently. Which would go really really nicely with the Giro/7400 wheels.
I still need to acquire an english thread bb (I've got 2x7700 italians, if anyone wants to swap...) and a band-on adapter for the front derailleur, and then make a choice of handlebars. Other than that, it should be a relatively painless build.
(famous last words)
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It's not awful, a bit ratty here and there and a few touch ups. sellers pics. I think a respray is somewhere between puppy-killing and smothering with affection. Hence the difficulty deciding whether to go through with it or not.
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I think it's a real shame to respray an original frame when you don't have to, particularly when it's a nice paint job in the first place. Plus the paint durability is unlikely to be as good so it will. Probably look just as chipped soon enough.
Are you sure 7400 hubs will work? Aren't they hyper glide?
Personally I'd go for the TB14 as they are; easy to source, wide, not too heavy, clincher, right look. You could try and find some grey ano Mavic Open Pros. That's what was laced to my 7700 hubs from a complete 7700 groupset... So i assume they were a period correct clincher choice.
If you have the NJS Easton seat post I'd sell it and get some thing else that fits aesthetically. They usually go for decent money and I didn't think they were very good.
Oh and sorry for what sounds like an overly negative post. This looks like it will be lovely!
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Plus the paint durability is unlikely to be as good so it will. Probably look just as chipped soon enough.
I think you overestimate just how much use this bike will see :) Vaz did my tandem and 2,500 miles and six weeks of outdoor locking later it looks as-new, and that's without leaving to cure for any measureable amount of time, so the repaint would be up to the job of wall hanging just fine.
I'm pretty sure the 7400s will work - they mark the crossover of uni- and hyperglide. The issue with them is usually that they're 126mm not 130, but it looks like this one has been spaced to 130 with an extra cone nut. They're from @dan, and I think he was running them on a 10 speed setup problem-free.
Open Pro CDs are still available for about half the price of tb14s, so that's definitely an option, but the Nemeses with some sensible tubs will do for a non-precious wheelset for now. The seatpost is part of the group, and I think fits the aesthetic, so is staying until suddenly and irrecoverably ends up in two pieces as they are wont to do, and then I'll think of something else.
Paint - still not sure. Now the girlfriend is home she likes it too, so hmmm. It's definitely rattier in the flesh than the photos really capture.
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Sell this sportive frame and get a racer. The wonderful wheels would go nicely with something like this.
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Touch that paint up! Not that hard. Just buy some humbrol reds, and yellows, and mix them till they look the same...
First touch in some primer to put into the bigger chips and scrapes (wherever you can see the steel), then touch in with your matched colour.
The model shop on Lower marsh has some humbrols, though actually they were out of stock of a couple of the nice bright reds when I was there this week. I touched up my Neil Orrell and it looks fine.
Seriously, don't repaint. Keep the decals for a rainy day, or to sell with the frame if you part with it.
What a lovely bike this will be. Who's building your wheels?
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speak to @bainbridge about Cycles PS LOLtastic wheelbuilding skills.
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Camberwell. They did sort it (eventually) but there was a serious fuck up with the build which ended up with a rim being ruined. They replaced it at their cost and rebuilt it pretty quickly, but it wasn't a good first experience. I'll use Edwardes from now on.
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Slightly further down from the green opposite cycle ps is seabass cycles. Nice little place that does wheel builds
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About
1997 Serotta Atlanta
Posted by
@6pt
My first road bike was a modern aluminium job, and not long after that I moved on to carbon. I've never really 'done' steel.
After tb's bike was stolen last year she purchased a Look KG243 to cheer herself up, and as lovely as it was the parts it arrived with were mish mash in variable condition. As it was more wall-hanger than daily-driver this annoyed me, so I went about acquiring lots of shiny bits of period-correct Dura Ace to cheer it up a bit, and once the job was done I was happy with the outcome.
But at the end of all the sourcing and shining and piecing together, the ebay sniping and the internet scouring, I didn't have a new shiny bike.
Not that I need a shiny new bike, but the more I acquired, the more I liked the 7700, and there's always room for one more shiny bike in my life.
So I started searching for more 7700, and a 243 in my size for some his 'n' hers coolness. Eventually I completed the groupset, but fate just wouldn't hand me the frame. So I got bored and purchased this from @2velo:
1997 Serotta Atlanta. The right year for the DA, and in colours that sort of sit nicely with the KG243.