Gruber's Ex-Team TVM Gazelle 853-Servais Knaven

I've heard the Thompson posts can be prone to slipping too, although I've never used one myself.

When I had a slipping alloy post in a steel frame I used carbon assembly paste, that seems to improve the situation.

ubergruber, if you will not sell me this frame I am pulling a trigger on chinese carbon.

don't do it. Crabon is souless and easily destroyed. My wilier looked like squid-ink farfalle after I crashed it... my (now-ex) 'nago didn't even look bothered-it was all liek 'italian steel don't give a shit' and I was like 'lol'.

I saw an Olagnero SSCX go for £67 on ebay last week. Wasn't in the same league as Ola' but still, be patient...

soon....

still not selling you nuffink tho.

Techincally you did a double negative so you're selling the frame to him.

nah-one was a negio-positive and the other was just a re-iteration of a pre-delivered abstention. Will neg anyone that says otherwise.

[/IMG]

Finally arrived!

Too bad I still need to collect my re-built front wheel or I'd fit it and go for a spin : /

Doesn't look like it does on the picture on the box...

neither it does but it's the one I ordered!

Nice saddle. Thought they only did the 'no slip system' on the Rolls which isn't exactly good looking.

Yes, i hada perforated Girardi before and it was very comfy but very slippy so this is actually a good 'innovation' (if you call adding some fluo stitching calling itself a system a 'system'). 90's style at its eh, finest.

Now toying with getting some Rotor cranks with Q rings on this bad boy...

More tinkering-new saddle on (comfy!) but not sure how it sits with the set-back seatpost, the way the rails are make it look a bit odd?

Also fitted an ahead converted to install pimping crabon bars and deda zero stem-the ergoness will hopefully translate into more comfort as I get numb hands really easy (poor circulation, not bad fit) and for the moment it's like having some ladymounds stuck onto my bars, which can only be a good thing.

Also picked up fully rebuilt front wheel today and it's spinning in a very round, circular, Roycey manner in the way I always hoped it would.

Back onto the winter 25's in the face of the shocking rain over the last few weeks and the shit road surfaces though : /

oh, and before anyone says-I put a spacer on the stem after taking the pics...

And, if anyone fancies the Super Italia bars/stem combo they will shortly be appearing in my for sells thread...

Right. had a good few long rides on this now, so forming a good impression of it...

Feels comfy to ride and I like the classic geometry, riding lightweight steel that feels sporty but soaks up road chatter. The new bars are actually ace and give a lot more comfort for hand positions...

Can't help but be a bit wary on descents though-mostly because i'm a bit unsure of the 'vintage' carbon forks and every time I hit a bump at speed I mildly crap it incase they explode, though I've hit potholes hard enough to put my front wheel out of true and it's help up fine. So, I'm pretty sure this is totally irrational, but how to solve beyond either replacing forks... part and parcel of riding an ex-team bike that's obviously taken a hammering during its working life I suppose.

So, considering re-building it as a full vintage with appropriate Dura Ace group and just riding it as a leisure/beater bike where it's not going to get as hammered, and putting this group on the schweet Olagnero and using that as my training/long distance bike. Last incarnation of Ola was envisaged with C-Rec Deltas/Seatpost and modern Campag grouppo, though this might be a bit towie for all concerned.

Or I should just shut my puss and keep riding the fucker until it either disintegrates or I feel more comfortable and keep Ola as the bauble bike.

get some columbus minimals in 1" and keep this as the main bike would be my choice, if you can afford to that is.

hmm, would be nice!

will changing the fork geo to curved ones with a larger rake put the handling out quite a bit though?

Measure the rake yourself, but my guess is they're around 43mm.

Do not be confused with the curvature of fork. Straight blade forks on road bikes have plenty of rake.

ah, ok. me being a dippy twat then : /

No not really .. your just unsure of the definition rake ;)

Bike forks have an offset, or rake that places the wheel axis centre forward of the steering axis. This can be achieved by curving the blades forward as in the minimal fork, or as is the case with your current forks angling straight blades forward at the crown.

Can't help but be a bit wary on descents though-mostly because i'm a bit unsure of the 'vintage' carbon forks and every time I hit a bump at speed I mildly crap it incase they explode.

That's alone make it worthwhile to upgrade the fork to a Columbus, even thought it didn't look as cool as the original's colour matching fork.

Plus, it mean you can have ahead.

If you're not sure about the whole rake/trial etc. this pages' quite helpful in understanding the difference;

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2011/02/the-geometry-of-bike-handling/

I sourced some NOS 1" crabon forks... Wrong colour and not exactly in keeping with the Time Featherlights that are on but fuckit they were cheap and they will do the job for now.

This is what I thought till i went through the banal process of sanding down the lacquer and paint and removing logos on a dark hungover day and wished i'd just spunked on some Columbus minimals.

But hey ho. Sanded now and I've painted the crown matching green and will re-laquer them in a week or so when that's cured. If I don't like 'em I can probably punt them on, but in the meantime I have bought a nice silver cane creek headset with stainless cartridge bearings-not a 110 series but close enough and was a bargainous £25 on CRC.

Fucker is it's got a black top cap which I didn't realise before ordering but nice looking headset nonetheless and bearings feel delish.

Surely the top cap match your stem colour? it wouldn't look out of place when you installed it, just in that photo.

that's true actually. yay!

Looking forward to having a decent headset on and getting rid of the ahead converter anyway-will make a big difference to the way it handles and the new forks should hopefully give me a bit more confidence when reticently teetering downhill waiting for carbon apocalypse.

If you're still worried about the paint it would cut pretty well, which would brighten it up considerably. Gazelle always seem to have decently thick paint from the factory.