Bike porn

But it is hideous.

You can see what they've tried to do, but it's overkill and does not work. Mismatching reds, a chunky crankset and shifters on a skinny frame, stack of spacers.... I'm not saying it's porn but mdcctesters look with the mismatching campag / sram is a eg of how thing's that "shouldn't" be put together can aesthetically work. That just doesn't, and probably got put here more on the strength of the frame and the £££s of the parts than anything else.

You 'think' you can see what they have 'tried to do', but as I said last night, it's pretty simple....

"I swear, putting a modern group on a bike that previously had 8-speed Dura Ace STi on it is like getting a brand new machine. I loved the "period correctness" of the last build but man, riding 52/46 with an 11-24t cassette up 5,000+ feet of elevation sucks! So when I came across a deal on my Phil Wood road wheels, SRAM Force shifters and RED Black cranks, I pounced. I really, really, needed to upgrade."

No mention of aesthetics or whether it 'works' or not.

Cool. You've got me there. I'd have probably done the same, although switching the rings and cassette would have probably been cheaper.

However, I'm still maintain that visually it doesn't stack up, and that there's more to it than just personal taste.

You can't go to 110bcb rings if you've got a 130/135bcb crank though hugo7.

You see where this is going?

Yep I do. I'm sure it was the best choice, but porn is meant to be a balance of functionality and looks.

Anyway....the last few pages were good and this ones shit because it's full of idiots arguing.

heads to flikr

Wow, you're a guy who knows his retro velos! This is a mate of mine's bike. And you are spot on about the levers. It's hard to tell from the pics but these are the same graphite grey as the rest of the group and the whole bike is in fantastic condition considering it's age. This was rediculously cheap from eBay and apart from putting on his Keo pedals to give it a quick test run it is all original. It was custom built new in 1990 as it was only available as frameset only as Raleigh's flagship frameset. It's hard to find evidence of any real use.

He's getting all OCD with it now and has ordered a NOS seatpost (at great expense) to replace the one pictured as it's "slightly scuffed" and he's also just ordered some campagnolo rubber bungs to fit in the top of the hoods as one was missing. I suspect 1990 pedals are next on the agenda.

It's a size too small for him but would fit me like a glove. I'm working on it...

He has a bit of an obsession with bikes of this era and has a Raleigh Record Ace that he has polished back to as new condition, but I have to say this Dyna Tech Pro is in another league.

Did he pay about £300 quid for it?
If so I watched the ebay auction with interest, as I was building my 700 at the time, and considered buying that too.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/files/alpinestars_pic4_608.jpg

what really bothers me are rims... and number of spokes on front radial. it only ocurred to me that MT was always right in this regard

:O

You should re-read that. Sarcasm? You sound like an arrogant prick, which I'm pretty sure your not.

I thought on this forum at least that sarcasm was the assumed position. That's how I always post and never feel the need to add whether a post is sarcastic or not.

I wouldn't go as far to say that I am not an arrogant prick though. I am very good at everything and one of the things I am best at is self awareness.

Right. I wasn't sure. Perhaps comprehension or humour fail.

Sarcasm on the internet is like winking on the phone etc.

:)

http://www.pbase.com/smera/image/136897009/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/smera/image/136897009/original.jpg

Christ I need to get out more. Here I am playing snap with some distant and unknown person's living room.
^that's rather tidy, and they used to have (probably still do) a rather tidy Look 595 too.

It would appear as well as updating bikes he's moved his dining table.

Nice. Way nicer than most Colnago paint jobs and one hell of a lot less logos.

As for the cross bike above it the forks almost look like they were put on back to front, the crown just looks all wrong although it might just be the angle of the pic.

Which bars are on that cross bike?

....and the tyres have some dirt on them, and I'll bet there's some DNA on the saddle, and mumsy made my toast far too dark this morning.

Listen to yourselves FFS...It's just a bike! Prolly upgraded because the ratios were too high before, he got a good deal on the new stuff, and it works better.

+1
Probably loves the way the frame rides. But wanted modern mechanicals.

I have a taste for steel framed bikes, lightened with modern components myself. Looks like a nice ride.

ED: I actually like the look too. But based on my taste that probably damns it further.

sexy cross bike

Love this so much.

I'm hoping it has the clearance to be a monstercross.

maybe should put this in the beater/rat-thread but I think it has a place here too:

frame heavily modified from this http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6176/6197261807_c2ec311c28_z.jpg

Win!

Cool. You've got me there. I'd have probably done the same, although switching the rings and cassette would have probably been cheaper.

However, I'm still maintain that visually it doesn't stack up, and that there's more to it than just personal taste.

On my concorde there's a mtb cassette and a 39 up front - pretty happy on hills.

Like!

The gearing on that looks very high for a cross bike. Is that a 50 tooth chainring?

Right. I wasn't sure. Perhaps comprehension or humour fail.

Sarcasm on the internet is like winking on the phone etc.

:)

I was winking while on the computer, which makes a change from... (you know the rest)

The gearing on that looks very high for a cross bike. Is that a 50 tooth chainring?

Downhill cross?

The gearing on that looks very high for a cross bike. Is that a 50 tooth chainring?

Looks like a 110bcd with a 48t possibly. I used to used a 48/39 with 13-25 setup for CX. If there are some hard flat sections on the course then it's perfect. You want a slightly bigger gear for rough ground - like you might do on cobbles.

Nice. Way nicer than most Colnago paint jobs and one hell of a lot less logos.

I count 7 on this side, assuming the other side is the same that makes a total of 14 LOOK logos. Just how many logos do Colnago put on their bikes??

Btw the Alpinestars is extremely nice.

Looks like a 110bcd with a 48t possibly. I used to used a 48/39 with 13-25 setup for CX. If there are some hard flat sections on the course then it's perfect. You want a slightly bigger gear for rough ground - like you might do on cobbles.

I've always found a 48 tooth chainring too much. 46 works much better for me, and I'm experimenting with a 44 tooth one at the moment.