Back to the drawing board

[bulldog1935]

I still own my 1971 Raleigh International.
Love the way they ride.
I bought it when it was new.
I installed, when purchased, a Cinelli fork, stem and handlebars.
Also high flange Campy hubs, brakes. I cut the center pull arc off the seat stays.
Put on a top of the line Campy seat post, Campy handlebar shift levers, Campy Strada crankset, Regina road gear cluster rear, Fiammi Red label and Yellow label rims. I used to ride on Campeonato Del Mundo singletube tires. Best tires, so durable.
I want to find someone to repaint the frame and I need the Brooks saddle.

Giovanni, I think there was also a tendency in the 70s for all of us to want our bikes to be Italian.
Here's how my Grand Prix came out of the 70s, and stayed this way through the 90s (that's the 90s saddle)

Sugino Mighty Comp (Strada clone) crankset, Narrow freewheel on Zeus/Rigida wheelset, Shimano 600 derailleurs, Splashed with Zeus decorations - enough to make it behave as a different bike from the way it left Cumberland Transit in Nashville (only change when new was a suede Unicanitor saddle).
And we all did it, which is why catalog condition on these bikes is so irrelevant. When we were kids, we put tassels on the grips, a playing card on the spokes, but commuting into campus in college, we wanted to make it efficient and fast.
What's sadder than a mint vintage bike? Owned but never ridden, lube and tires rotting in place.

The longer you live with a bike, the more you want it to be comfortable, reliable and practical - Here's how the Grand Prix from college went into the new millennium, many of the parts from the first rebuild, same wheels, same crank (with half step rings and wider freewheel, making it easier to pace with friends on newer bikes), new cockpit.

When I got the Phil/Synergy wheelset, went to the cyclotouriste triple, and when the frame got bent in a wreck, found the International frame and simply moved everything from the 3rd rebuild over, changing a few odds and ends.

 

[bulldog1935]

racking up miles again...

honestly, this repair finished a lot sooner than I expected

 

[juvela]

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Ron,

Enjoying very much these detailed posts.

Thanks for taking the time to do them.

On your Zeus brake levers I wanted to ask what replacement hoods you have found to be a good fit. Sounds like you are pleased with the Campag replica ones. Zeus also offered their hoods in an opaque black rubber BITD. I wonder if they hold up any better than the gum version...

Have quite a few Zeus fittings in me stores.

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[bulldog1935]

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Ron,

Enjoying very much these detailed posts. On your Zeus brake levers I wanted to ask what replacement hoods you have found to be a good fit. Sounds like you are pleased with the Campag replica ones. Zeus also offered their hoods in an opaque black rubber BITD. I wonder if they hold up any better than the gum version...

Have quite a few Zeus fittings in me stores.

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Thanks Roger,
If you've ever messed much with Zeus components, they're reverse-engineered Campy, and the parts are interchangeable.
When my Zeus hubs from 1978 needed cones 10 years ago, used NOS Record cones.

Modolo, Zeus, Campy - any non-aero levers will swap hoods, which makes it easy for the modern aftermarket
But I will add the Campy and of course Zeus originals take to the inline cable adjustment screws better than Modolo - I do have a pair of Modolo 920 stashed, and like the Campy repros better for just this reason