I agree completely, Ken. Tires, tubes, HB tape, chains, and to a great extent FW's, chainrings, saddles and stems are wear or fit items and I think it is legitimate to change them as they wear out or to fit the bike better to the rider. For stems, chainrings and FW's it's nice to match the original model if these can be found in the size that works at a price that is not too unreasonable. For the others, I try to use something that is cosmetically compatible with the bike, for instance modern Panaracer Pasela tires with classic-looking tan sidewalls, or a modern Brooks saddle even if the date stamp doesn't match the bike's age. Sometimes an original component is so crappy it just has to go. For instance the rock hard unpadded cheap Feccia D'Oro plastic saddle on my early 70's Flandria team replica got unrepentantly replaced with a recent Brooks Pro. And the noodle-like plastic Simplex Prestige shift levers on my early 70's Gitane TdF got replaced with period correct but nonoriginal proper alloy Simplex Criterium shifters.
As you say, for Concours, originality has a higher precedence, and one may even tolerate crappy but original components, since one may not actually ride the bike very often, if at all.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
freesound@comcast.net wrote: Emanuel, are you interested in a "does it work and how well?" perspective, or a "should I sully my collection of beautiful classics and will the CR guys forgive me?" discussion? On the former track, I have used an old Sedis and newer off-topic units on a 6x2 friction setup, and all have worked fine. I still have a Regina BX on a Masi with a Regina CX and a NR chainset, and it works a little less well. My non-politically-correct opinion is that wear item replacement parts are permitted to be chosen based on availability, rather than based on the original OEM bill of materials. I am not doing Concours d'Elegance, but keeping nice old bikes to ride.
Ken Freeman
Ann Arbor, MI
> For those of you (like me) who enjoy riding your 1960s-70s classics frequently,
\r?\n> what are your opinions about using period-correct vintage chains (Regina Everest
\r?\n> etc.) vs. more modern chains like bushingless SRAM? And why? If you use the
\r?\n> newer chains, what do you recommend for old-style 5 or 6 speed freewheels.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Emanuel Lowi
\r?\n> Montreal, Quebec
\r?\n>
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