Mathew & all:
This was my version of the epitome of touring, the frame built for me in
1978: http://image48.webshots.com/
The components were originally Campy NR derailleurs w/ TA cranks and closer range gearing, now Huret Duopar rear w/ mountech front. Gears are half step and granny, definitely the touring setup. The mountech is actually around 1982-4, but any long cage parallel plate front changer works well for half step. The longest front cages are only necessary on the really wide gearing. I believe the Duopar had just come out at that time and was creating a legendary buzz almost immediately. Mine's 53 x 48 x 28, a bit wider set than usual half step and grannys. Jan Heine seems to feel that a 48 x 14 high is high enough of a gear (my impression), but I feel safer being able to push gears on big downhills ("52's don't cut it!" ... to paraphrase 70's racing legend John Howard), so mine's a 53 x 13. Standard touring back then may have been 48 x 52 half step, 46 x 50 or even 44 x 48 with a 14-26 freewheel, though a five tooth jump works better with a 14-32 half step freewheel: 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, or 20, 24, 28. The wider half step has jumps of 3, 4, 5, 6 or 14, 17, 21, 26, 32. The more epic touring bikes of the time had two bottles, three (to me) were expedition bikes, and (thinking from an older perspective from when men were men) one bottle did it for me. Of course my bike was built with 120 mm spacing because I thought six speeds were a fad, and the bike was re-spaced in 1989 for 126.
I originally had TA cranks as they were available pretty cheaply and I was on a budget. But a hot set up back then was to drill Campy cranks for a 74 mm bolt circle, and use an Avocet granny chainring that had the holes to match the Campy bolts, and I did manage to find in 1989. The Campy set doesn't really work that well w/ a 28 toothed gear in front because the chain will sometimes get trapped between the ring and spider. A 30 or 32 would probably be fine. Bob Freeman of Elliot Bay bikes can do that conversion I think. TA chainrings worked better and were available in any size. I like the Stronglight 49D cranks as they're beefier than the TA's though they feel pretty much the same. I'd met someone once with a custom Serotta tourer from the 70's who had the 49D's and I really liked his set up.
Suntour barcons are the easiest to set up and work fairly well. I prefer the Campy's as they're much smoother and have better "feel". The Suntour shifters probably work better with a Suntour or Shimano wide range which all have a very solid feel, or even the Campy rally, which even though I've got one, I'm not too impressed with. As much as Campy was the best racing stuff at the time, they really didn't have a great feel for touring components. The Duopar and other Huret long cage derailleurs are much more delicate shifters and really are nice, but require a bit more delicate touch. The Duopar in particular shifts wide range freewheels like a racing derailleur does close cog sets. It just quietly snicks into gear.
My frame was sized to use either 27" wheels or 700c w/ the Campy standard reach brakes, which I think still works great when used w/ nice cables, nylon lined housing and Mathauser pads, all available at the time. The old braided cable flexed just enough that they wouldn't grab like Campy cables when running over a stone while braking. I've never been a big Campy cable fan. I still prefer the feel of Campy sidepulls, but a long wet mountain downhill with a load will leave your hands aching. 700c wheels were starting to take over, but my impression at the time was that touring tires were more available in 27" in 1978. I'd go for hooked bead rims in 700c myself now.
I generally run fenderless, but had fender mount (chainstay brace), and low rider brazeons added when I had the rear triangle spread and repainted in 1989, and have used fenders when touring in the Netherlands, known for pretty regular rain when we were there in May. Mine was built to use standard Blackburn racks, but there are many newer nice rondonneur racks available from Velo Orange, etc. I'd recommend buying any racks or fenders before the build so that you can line up all braze-ons with the items in hand. I'd go for exposed cable and housing rather than running anything through the frame for ease of maintenance. As much as they don't appeal to me, split cable stops really simplify cable maintenance. Keep fender mounts separate from brake bolts as 70's bikes had nutted brakes. You'll have more options for old or modern.
Standard nice tubing for tourers was Reynolds 531, though mine's a Columbus tubed bike. It was built to be a stiff fast tourer and able to carry fairly heavy touring loads. At the time it did seem to be as fast a bike as most others on club rides, but it wasn't long after, that standard bikes started to morph to sport racing frames and speeds seemed to pick up with tighter geometry bikes. Mine's a 73 degree front which matches a racing style bike, but it does handle well. RS once told me that he went for 50-55 mm of trail for nice handling. Jan Heine's got articles in Bicycle Quarterly that goes fairly extensively into front ends for carrying loads, but the more I read about it the less I feel I know. I'd say copy a bike's front end that handles the way you like. Seat tube should be whatever places you in the right position. If you use a Brooks saddle, you may wish to slacken the seat tube angle to keep from having to use the cantleplate heavily on long rides. They work better with their century old design on slacker seat tubes. (Maybe just my opinion)
I still think the 70's tourer is a good way to go. It's practically not sold in today's market but it answers so many questions for the proper bike for many types of riding and varied road surfaces. Mine is still my principal ride after almost 30 years. Maybe I'm preaching to the choir. Good luck with the build, and have a happy 30th!
Happy trails,
Dan Artley in Parkton, Maryland USA
Archive-URL: http://search.bikelist.org/
Last evening, I received notification that I have been accepted into a slot at The United Bicycle Institute's chromoly brazing class, for which I have been on the waiting list for a number of months. In just three short week s, I'll be on my way to Ashland, Oregon to try my hand at framebuilding.
My original plan was to attend a class session at UBI this July, but I felt that given my recent 30th birthday and the coming of a new season, this w as a fortuitous turn of events and I ought to strike while the iron is hot (or the torch warm). Because of my birthday, I have been thinking about the year 1978 a lot late ly. This helped me to sharpen my focus and create a bit of a direction for my first framebuilding project: I call it the "Matthew Bowne Thirtieth Anniversary Commemorative Bicycle". Just for fun, I want to build THE quintessential 1978 bike. My first instinct was a Super Record-equipped road racing bike... but I alr eady have a couple in the steed. A track bike crossed my mind too, but I want to milk UBI for all it's worth . I want bells and whistles. I want braze-ons. I want challenges. The way I see it, the more stuff I get to do to a frame, the more questions I'll get to ask and the more I'll learn. Gimme cable guides. Gimme bottle braze-ons. Gimme fender eyelets. Gimme THE 1978 rando/touring machine. The problem is, I don't remember 1978. And that's where you guys come in. I'd love to get feedback from the list as to what defined the rando/touring
bikes of that era. While I realize that perhaps some of these questions belong on the framebui lder's list, I'd love to hear input from The List about specific details of framebuilding (tube selection, geometry, etc.) that you recall from the pe riod. But I figure that you don't need to be a builder to share with me some of t he frame details would you expect to find on a bike typical of that time. F or instance, what would be appropriate cable routing? What would be brazed- on and what would be clamped on? What components would be "correct"? A Nuov o Record triple and rally long cage derailleur? Suntour Bar-Cons? Center-pu lls or side-pulls? Can I get away with a 700c wheelset? Or was 27" the stan dard? Given that I have just three weeks to "get my ducks in a row", my tubeset a nd lugs will likely be dictated by what's available at UBI...But I'd like t o do my best to get it "right" and get my hands on at least some of the rig ht stuff. Would Campy 1010/A dropouts with eyelets be appropriate? If so, do you have a set you can (quickly) sell me? I'm looking forward to getting your feedback.
Matthew Bowne
Chomping at the bit in
Brooklyn, New York