1990s Pinarello Stelvio restoration

This is such a cool thread.

For the price you paid, I must say that is a high value paint job! Amazing end result. Being a Shimano guy, I can really appreciate your choice of Shimano 600 parts. It is a very durable group, although they shifter do tend to lock up if you don't lube them enough.

Good luck with the build!

P.S. The Pinarello frame above came from my Flickr page. You can find more color schemes here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/quality_vintage_bikes/sets/72157633267920378/

You sir have plenty of nice stuff!

Are you sure your levers are bolloxed? They usually just need a liberal injection of cleaner/grease solvent then lubing. The factory lube turns to glue after a few years..

Are you sure your levers are bolloxed? They usually just need a liberal injection of cleaner/grease solvent then lubing. The factory lube turns to glue after a few years..

I guess as he has bought new levers its not worth the effort now! But I agree, don't chuck them.

Really want updates on this!

Brilliant thread!

although they shifter do tend to lock up if you don't lube them enough.

Are you sure your levers are bolloxed? They usually just need a liberal injection of cleaner/grease solvent then lubing.

I guess as he has bought new levers its not worth the effort now! But I agree, don't chuck them.

I will upload some photos of the shifters to show how utterly shagged they are. I managed to get a lovely pair of 600 STIs for about £40 anyway, so I'm happy.

Last year I resurrected a pair of DA7700 STIs through assaulting them with GT-85, as they'd seized up after the eBay seller posted from Italy. Perhaps the chilly altitude caused the gloopy mix of lube and dirt to become a more solid ice cream texture?

I agree on the levers. Wit WD40 I have resurrected quite a few sets of 600 STI's.

Really want updates on this!

Yeah sorry to keep you waiting, I've been putting off collecting the frame because it's sat about 14km away in a workshop the other side of downtown Nairobi. My options are:

• Ride the 14km return journey with the frame around my torso like a messenger bag
  
• Attach the frame to my rack and risk it falling off again
  
• Take matatus (hilarious little buses) there and back, which will take probably 2-3 hours of sweaty initmacy with Kenyan commuters/hustlers/mothers
  
• Taxis, costing half a week's wage
  
• Motorbike taxis which will cost me half the taxi price and possibly a limb
  
• Persuade and then inconvenience another expat to drive me the 28km round trip through colourful areas of downtown Nairobi (I've seen car-jacking attempts in nicer areas)
  
  
  

I'm probably going to do 1), or possibly 5). Maybe I can cycle there, and then have the motorbike taxi carry the frame back. I could even draft the motorbike at 45kph down the highway. #notrafficlaws

You might have already said but I can't spot it, but may we ask how you've ended up living in Nairobi? (I may be incorrectly assuming that's not where you're originally from)

My first reaction was a motorbike Ndeipi. Relatively cheap and least likely to damage the paint - if you wrap it up and carry it to the side.

I use the moto-taxis alot here in Kisumu and have never died so make of that what you will.

Kisumu? I thought you lived in Virginia Water!

Kisumu? I thought you lived in Virginia Water!

Yeah I did for a year. Been in Kisumu for the last 7 months or so - nomadic lifestyle of a geography PhD student.

Kisumu's nice though! 2 of my brothers used to be in Molo - (Eldoret express from Nakuru).

You might have already said but I can't spot it, but may we ask how you've ended up living in Nairobi? (I may be incorrectly assuming that's not where you're originally from)

Ha no, I'm an Essex boy. I'm an intern for Practical Action, an NGO operating from here in Nairobi - I once also interned at their HQ in the UK. Practical Action use appropriate technology (i.e. low-tech & locally producible) to challenge poverty in East Africa and all over the world. My specialty is energy so it's all about cooking, lighting etc. I'm considering a shift into agriculture, particularly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar which is pretty bloody exciting.

My placement was organised through Engineers Without Borders UK. If anyone has some technical knowledge/experience and fancies some overseas experience then it's a great way to find a placement in a developing country. Anything from coffee processing in Uganda to wind power in the Philippines. PM me if you're interested.

My first reaction was a motorbike Ndeipi.

Yeah I might actually do this. I'l ask for advice from some local Kenyan guys too.

Whilst the motorbikes are popular in Western Kenya (Uganda's influence), they're rare in Nairobi and you have to know the number of a decent driver or you'll get some dangerous knob head. There's plenty of misbehaviour, i.e. wrong way up/down motorway slip roads, etc. I miss shouting "boda!" at random motorcyclists in rural Uganda to see if any would give me a lift. Then that feeling of unease after about 30 seconds when you smell the alcohol wafting from the driver's breath.

Ndeipi, I work with Practical Action also (not employed, alongside my research) I think we've missed that somewhere along the line, ha! Sounds like I should pay you a visit sometime - and if you've got a spare bike, go for a ride.

In my experience the motorbike-taxis are worse in Kampala - my first day visiting there and a guy took me on the pavement the wrong way up the street. Probably about 10% are drunk you are right and I never call the ones in rural areas anymore - too many bad experiences of dropping me in random places because "i'm not allowed to go up that street" - so I get the "official" ones waiting on street corners.

Did you get the package btw?

wow

I will upload some photos of the shifters to show how utterly shagged they are. I managed to get a lovely pair of 600 STIs for about £40 anyway, so I'm happy.

£40 is a good price! You don't happen to have the logo'd faceplates still on the old shagged ones do you? I resurrected a pair and those label things are IMPOSSIBLE to find. I would gladly donate to your project in return for an envelope with them in!

i can send you two 5 forint coins from hungary - they fit just fine ;)

Updates

I've emailed my mates who are, coincidentally, working on a biofuel startup in Tanzania and are coming back for a wedding in a month or two so there will no doubt be people flying in and out in the not too distance. Sounds like it might be worth speaking to them anyway..will PM.

I built up the bike in a back-alley bike workshop in the middle of Nairobi, where riders come to chill out and fiddle with bikes. I got a couple of friends to help me.

So I packed all the components in my bag, and bungeed the wheels to my rack. Then cycled down the highway into town, carefully threading between the stand-still morning traffic.

.

A rolling frame. Tight rear wheel clearance, if poorly dished! I'm so lucky to have found a nice, clean pair of matching 700c wheels (a rare find in Kenya), even if half the nipples are rounded and the races are pitted. And even if they weigh exactly 2kg....

.

I cycled down the road to the main EasyCoach terminal in town, and penetrated the bustle to reach the parcels desk. The clerk checked my I.D. looked through three separate hand-written log books before finding my name in the first one, and then retrieved this package, dutifully sent by Sandbag from the Kisumu office. One seatpost, two rear mechs (cannibalised to make one nice frankenmech).

Because I am too tall for the frame (193cm), I am using a big stem which is not particularly elegant:

--- So let me be the first to say...

It's a shame to use such a stem, but when I rode this frame with a standard Cinelli 1A stem I really trashed my neck and shoulders. So I ordered this longer, raised 3ttt stem which does the job. I could have probably got away with a less offensive incline, but this works well in slammed position.

On the plus side, I found some Dura Ace cables! After barely convincing the head of the workshop that you really must rotate the Italian BB cups in the right (wrong) direction, I fitted a fresh one and then the chain set, and a friend sorted the rear mech.

. .

Complete sans-tape. The saddle was not in this position for long. I feel the bike looks better from the rear.

.

I've actually now taped up the bike and ridden it a few times arounds the hills and through packed traffic. I had a scary moment on a ramp when my front brake didn't grip the rim, I checked the pads to find little glass pieces in the pad faces, sticking out like studs from a tyre. I dug them out with a knife, now I can brake!

This Pinarello feels so whippy and agile! The steel frame is also gloriously forgiving over rough bumpy tarmac. The frame feels stiffer than other steel (i.e. 531) frames I've ridden, probably because it's a smaller size and the tubes & stays are beefier. High-power behaviour, like sprinting up steady inclines, is very rewarding as I don't get the massive flex I would expect.

I'll get a couple of photos put up in the next few days of the finished bike, with carefully applied black Cinelli gel cork tape.

Nice work mate, looks excellent. Can really appreciate you getting it all done in Kenya especially. Wouldn't worry too much about the stem - whatever is comfiest for you is best: can't imagine a too aggressive riding position is ideal for Nairobi roads/traffic. How did you manage to find the tyres in the end? and what you gunna do about flats - can't image 700c tubes are easy to find. Glad I could be of assistance as well.

Great story.

Being from Africa (albeit South Africa) myself, I can totally appreciate the outcome of this.

Gaston style saddle!

Love this thread.