Eddy Albert and I each have an early 70's team replica Flandria, but these are original Dura-Ace, not EX. I'm not sure if Flandria stayed with Shimano sponsorship long enough to have used EX. Other bikes in the European peleton which probably used Dura Ace were Miyata and/or Koga/Miyata and whatever frame the Panasonic team rode. (Were their frames branded Panasonic?). Not sure which, if any, would have used EX. Of course the is always 3Rensho, if you don't have to have a frame which appeared in the peleton. My 3Rensho frame carries a Dura-Ace EX decal.
One of the well known photo books, "The Custom Bicycle" or maybe "The Hi-Tech Bicycle" also has a photo of a beautiful 70's (or early 80's) Ron Cooper with a D-A gruppo. I personally have a couple of Mercians and a Holdsworth I'm considering building up with Dura-Ace. Since most British component makers were belly up or on the way by the late 70's and since the US never really made a lot of top quailty road components (Weyless and Phil Wood being among the rare exceptions), I figure pretty much any nationality of components is appropriate on a British or American frameset mid-70's or newer. The exceptions, of course, are well known models sold as complete bikes, like Schwinn Paramount or Raleigh Pro.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
Simon PJ <simonpj@mac.com> wrote: I have a nearly-new late seventies Dura Ace EX groupset that is waiting in boxes for an appropriate frame.
What would you suggest as an appropriate frame for that era of Dura Ace? I believe the Flandria team were amongst the first to be successful with Shimano in European racing in the late seventies - but a quick eBay search suggests that finding the right Flandria frame might be a challenge.
Any other ideas?
Thanks,
Wyndham Pulman Jones
Girton, Cambs. UK