Chris,
Like Peter says, it might be good to leave the loops and use the bar end shifters. My opinion is the Suntour ratcheting type are best for that situation. One could maybe grind off the loops, touch up the small area, and hide it all under some clamp-on DT shifters if everything is in the right place.
The eyelets are mild steel and aren't a huge deal to remove but as Peter mentioned, some touch up will be needed. Pretend they aren't there might be an easier solution.
Either way, it's a good bike to have in as original condition as possible. Maybe try the barend route first; if you really hate it then maybe proceed to the minor surgery.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
CR Listers:
I recently acquired an '82 (or so I'm told) Medici Pro Strada frameset in 53cm sizing. The frame is beautiful, but there are two curious braze-ons that I have an issue with.
First, the downtube has no shifter bosses. Instead, it has looped cable-end guides such as you see in contemporary framesets with STI-style shifters. Obviously, this bike was set-up originally with bar-end shift levers. I would like to utilize conventional Campy NR downtube shift levers.
Second, the frame appears to have pannier rack touring eyelets added to the rear Campy drop-outs (despite definitely being a racing geometry). The eyelets are super thick and don't look as though they are part of the original Campy pieces.
My question is this; Is is possible to remove these braze-on's without inflicting damage to the original finish? ( I assume that there must be some method of removing a braze-on and prepping the exposed metal in a small area that has been isolated). The paint, graphics appear to be original and are in superb condition. Has anyone had recent experience removing braze-on's?
Chris Arkell
Bloomfield Hills, MI