This article is by Sheldon Brown taken from his website. Although it is entitled "upgrading" it has much to do with why old bikes are great. Here is the original link:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/upgrade.html
Upgrading Older Road Bicycles
by Sheldon "Oldies But Goodies" Brown
The cellars and garages of America hold hundreds of thousands of fine road-style bikes from the 1970s and '80s. Many of these bikes are of very high quality, but are going unused either because of older technology in the gearing, or because their racing-style riding position no longer suits the needs of their aging owners. Many of these bikes are too good to throw away, but nobody wants to ride them as they are currently equipped. This article explores options and alternatives to get these great old bikes back on the road.
What's Special About Older Bikes?
In addition to the aesthetics of beautiful older bikes, there are major differences in construction, some relating to lawsuit-phobia on the part of manufacturers, others relating to faddish designs that have trickled down from the racing world.
Lawyer Issues
Forks
Older European bikes had forks that were designed to be purposely flexible, to act as a sort of "suspension" on bumpy surfaces. This was partly accomplished by different geometry (less upright head-tube angles, more fork rake) and partly by selection of the thickness of the fork blades. Lawsuit-shy contemporary manufacturers tend toward a "belt and suspenders" approach with a part like a fork which is likely to cause injury if it breaks. While everybody wants a reliable fork, many newer bikes have over-reacted to this concern, resulting in bikes with a harsh, jolting ride. Better older English and French road bikes often provide considerably more ride comfort at the front end, without making the forks unduely weak.
Bottom Bracket Height
Traditional bikes for road use normally had bottom brackets about 10 5/8" from the road. Everybody knew that they shouldn't pedal while leaning sharply into a high-speed corner.When mountain bikes became the default style of bike for most buyers, people got used to 11 1/2, 12 1/2 or even higher bottom brackets. This is a good thing for serious off-road riding, giving better clearance for logs, rocks, ruts and other obstacles.
Once the marketplace had become accustomed to high bottom brackets, manufacturers became afraid to sell bikes with low ones any more. The nightmare was that some clueless rider with a good lawyer would pedal through a high-speed corner, catch a pedal, spin out and crash. In court, the shyster could point to all the other bikes on the market with high bottom brackets, and accuse the manufacturer of making an abnormal, unsafe bike.
A high bottom bracket has no real virtue for most on-road use, and actually represents a fairly serious drawback for the typical rider. A higher bottom bracket should require a higher saddle. The higher saddle precludes putting a toe down when stopping for a red light, stop sign, etc. This is a cumulatively major inconvenience for cyclists who ride in built-up areas. It generally makes starting and stopping noticeably more awkward. (See: Starting and Stopping.)
Many cyclists, unaware of this change in geometry, adjust their saddle height as they always did, with respect to their reach to the ground. This results in their saddles being too low for efficient pedaling, which is harmful to the knees and encourages excessive standing pedaling.
Toe Clip Overlap
If you set the cranks horizontal, and turn the handlebars very sharply, sometimes the back of the front tire or fender will bump into your toe, or your toe-clip if you use them. This is not a serious problem in practice, because you never turn the wheel that sharply except at very low speeds, typically slower than a walk. While it is possible to cause a 1 mile-per-hour fall this way, a little bit of practice develops habits that prevent this from being a real-world problem...but don't tell that to a lawyer! Fear of toe-overlap lawsuits has caused many manufacturers to lengthen their frames or change the frame angles to minimize overlap. These changes generally work against a comfortable ride, and can cause really freakish handling on smaller frames.
Racer Wannabe Issues
We don't drive to the mall in open-wheel, Formula One-style single-seat roadsters, but if you want a light, fast, sporty bike you're likely to be sold a racing machine, even though it may not fit your riding style, your terrain or your body. Older road bikes, even serious racing machines, were more versatile and more comfortable. Many newer road bikes are much more specialized and limited in utility. This doesn't make them a bit faster, but gives more of a "racer" image. This image comes at a considerable cost in versatility, practicality and comfort.**********************************
Steep Angles, Short Wheelbase
Traditional European road racing was mainly on long courses, typically from one city to another. The long events (and rougher road surfaces of the day) created a need for bikes that were comfortable for long hours in the saddle, even on cobblestones. Most racing in the U.S., however, is in the form of shorter "criteriums." A criterium is a race that consists of lots and lots of laps around a short course, typically just a couple of city blocks, or a loop around an urban park.
Since there are no big hills in a criterium, the racers tend to stay in a tight pack. Since they're going 'round and 'round a short course, there are lots of corners. The bikes need a higher bottom bracket to permit pedaling through the corners.
The tight packs of a criterium put a particular premium on maneuverability. This has led to bicycles with more nearly vertical head and seat tube angles, and shorter wheelbases.
It is important to realize that this "criterium geometry" doesn't make a bike any faster, just more maneuverable. Another way to say "more maneuverable" is "twitchy." This sort of bike is somewhat unstable, and requires more attention to steering. If you're tired at the end of a long ride, this can lead to problems.
The other undesirable side effect of "criterium geometry" is a harsh ride. The more upright angles reduce the "suspension" effect of the fork, and the shorter chain stays put the rear wheel closer under the saddle, which increases the jolting to your rear end.
Long Top Tubes
Newer bikes, particularly the larger sizes, tend to have considerably longer top tubes than older ones. This is good for racers, bad for most everybody else. A racer likes a very stretched out upper body position, with the back nearly horizontal. This is, in fact faster. If your legs are strong enough to keep pedaling hard all the time, the reaction to the pedaling force will allow you to maintain this position without undue strain to your upper body...but: If you're heavier than a typical racer, and don't pedal as hard all the time, an aggresive upper body position will lead to resting too much weight on your hands. This can lead to serious problems with your wrists, shoulders, neck.Tight Tire Clearance
Most newer road bikes have frames and forks that just barely clear the skinny original-equipment tires. This is to make them seem more "racy." It doesn't make the bikes a bit faster, but it greatly limits their versatility. These bikes, unlike older bikes, commonly won't permit the installation of medium-width tires for improved comfort and durability. They also don't permit the installation of fenders, making the bikes only suitable for fair-weather cyclists.Lack of Eyelets
In a further attempt to make bikes look racy, the eyelets on the fork ends have been omitted from most sporty road bikes. This precludes the installation of standard fenders and luggage racks, again without making the bikes any faster.
Upgrade Paths
Beater | Fixed Gear | Internal Gears | Primary Bike | RestorationRestoration
Some bikes shouldn't be upgraded. If you have an exotic, hand-made custom bike from a highly-regarded builder, or perhaps a racing bike with a distinguished history, it may be better to restore it as a virtual museum piece. If you have a high-end factory-built bike that is in as-new condition, with all original parts, no rust, no major paint/decal damage, this may also be worth preserving as a collector's item.
Another approach with such a bike is to do upgrades that can be reversed later, saving the original parts for possible future restoration. Since the wheels are the most easily damaged parts, and vintage bikes often came with tubular tires, it is often a good idea to equip an original classic with a pair of "rider" wheels in addition to the stock "show" wheels.
This sort of bike should be reserved for "fair weather" riding only.
Restoration is a whole subject unto itself, and is outside of the purview of this article.
Beater
If you have an older bike with little resale value, you might want to use it as a "beater" for utility riding. Such a bike can be used for commuting, or errands where there is a higher risk of theft to a more fashionable/expensive bike. If you put fenders on your "beater" and use it for days when rain or snow is expected, your good bike will last longer, and you'll be dryer. The uglier a "beater" is, the better, but it should still be in excellent working order. You should certainly consider upgrading the brakes, possibly the wheels and drive-train parts as well.
Older 10-12 speed "beaters" are often prime candidates for conversion to fixed gear.
Primary Bike
Hybrid Handlebars What sort of riding do you want to do? FORM? Road/Paved Bikepath/Smooth Dirt Distances Speeds Family Hilly First bike or second? Intensity Security issues Commuting Shopping Exercise Rollers/trainer SightseeingGearing
There have been great improvements in gear shifting mechanisms over the last couple of decades. If you live and ride in flat terrain, and rarely shift, this may well not matter to you. On the other hand, if you're in a part of the world where there are hills, and perhaps have gained some weight with the years, it's quite possible that the geaing that was satisfactory to you when you were younger no longer cuts it.It is not at all unusual to want to add lower gearing and more precise shifting to an older bike, a bike that in other ways may be quite satisfactory.
For details on gearing upgrade options, see the companion Upgrade Gears Article .
Fixed Gear
If you're an active, vigorous cyclist, it's not unlikely that you could be seduced by the mysterious world of the fixed gear cult. A "fixed gear" bike is the simplest, purest form of cycling. Fixed gear bikes have no gears to shift, only one speed. In addition, they have a fixed drivetrain, with no freewheeling mechanism. This makes coasting impossible. On a fixed-gear bike, whenever the bike moves the pedals will move too, willy-nilly.This sounds like a bad idea to most people, but there's something about it that makes it a lot of fun! It's impossible to explain, though fixed-gear fanatics always try to. To understand it, you actually need to ride a fixed-gear bike on a regular basis for a couple of weeks. The first few times you try it, it will feel very strange, and the bike will need to remind you not to try to coast. It is only once you get used to it and relax to the experience than you can know the joy of fixed-gear riding.
This site has a large number of Articles on Fixed Gear Bikes, some philosophical, some practical.
Internal Gear
Another interesting option is to install an internal-gear hub, like that of an old English Three Speed *********************Brakes
Forks/Cantilevers
Rear Spacing
Frame Spacing
One of the major issues that need to be dealt with in upgrading gearing on older bikes is the spacing of the rear of the frame where the rear wheel fits in. Newer rear hubs designed for more sprockets are wider, and require a wider space between the rear fork ends.
Steel frames can generally be respaced to fit a wider hub with no problem, just by bending the stays outward. This should include checking and correcting the alignment, so that the rear triangle doesn't become asymmetrical. Also, the fork ends should be aligned at the same time to ensure that they are parallel. This operation is commonly referred to by the euphemism "cold setting" because it sounds more professional than "bending." Frames made of aluminum, titanium or carbon fiber should not be re-spaced this way, because these materials are not as malleable as steel, and there's a risk of cracking.
- 110 mm Spacing is mainly found on 1- or 3-speed bikes. It is the old standard for track bikes and most 3-speeds.
- 120 mm Spacing is the norm for 10 speeds, and virtually all 1970s bikes came with this spacing. A very few early 12 speeds used narrow "Ultra" spaced freeewheels to fit 6 sprockets where 5 would normally have gone.
- 126 mm Spacing is used for most bikes with 6- or 7-speed clusters. The spacing is pretty much the same for 6- and 7-speed, because the sprockets on 7-speed clusters are closer together than those on 6-speed clusters, allowing them to fit in pretty much the same space.
- 130 mm Spacing is used on current road bikes with 8- / 9-speed clusters.
- 135 mm Spacing is the norm for current mountain bikes and hybrids.
- 140, 145, 160 mm Spacings are used on tandems. 140 is pretty much extinct--current tandems either use 145 or 160.
Hub Spacing
A 120 mm hub can usually be spaced out to 126 to work with a 6- or 7-speed freewheel. This is done by adding spacer washers between the right cone and locknut. You may also need to replace the axle with a longer one, but more often this is not necessary if you move the axle over a bit so that there's still a bit of axle protruding past the locknuts on both sides. Since you have to add most of the spacers to the right side, this moves the rim off center. This needs to be corrected by re-dishing the wheel. The re-dishing is accomplished by tightening the right-side spokes and sometimes loosening the left-side spokes. The resulting unbalanced tensions will weaken the rear wheel, so this is a marginal solution for heavier riders or for touring applications.
In addition, the longer length of unsupported axle on the right side, which is necessary for clearance with the wider freewheel can lead to broken/bent axles.
All in all, for major gearing upgrades, it is usually better to replace the rear wheel with one that has a modern cassette-type Freehub ®. If you want to go to an 8- or 9-speed cluster, a cassette hub is the only practical option.
If your bike already has a 6- or 7-speed cassette Freehub ® it is not unreasonable to replace the Freehub body and upgrade the hub into an 8-/9-speed. See my article on Shimano cassettes and hubs.
Front Spacing/Axle Size
Higher quality bikes have used 100 mm spacing for the front fork for a long time, and there's no reason to change this, but lower-end bikes of the '70s and earlier sometimes used 96 mm spacing. You can generally fit a 100 mm hub into a 96 mm fork, with a bit of force. Older bikes that didn't come with quick-release wheels may have axle slots that are too narrow to fit a quick release axle. If so, it isn't too hard to file the slots out to fit.
Wheels
Cranks Saddles French/Italian/Raleigh Painting 27 vs 700c Models Make/year/type| Beater | Fixed Gear | Primary | Restore |
|---|
Types
Low End Bike Boom European 10-speeds
This sort of bike from the early '70s would be identified by having cottered cranks, steel wheel rims, and a "gaspipe" frame. Common examples include the Raleigh Record, Grand Prix; Peugeot UO-8 and it's many imitators; Mercier 100, Jeunet. Bottom-of-the-line models would have wheels held on by nuts (sometimes wing nuts) instead of quick releases. They frequently came with Hurét Alvit derailers.
Better low-end models would have quick release wheels and Simplex derailers (or better Hurét models, or possibly low end Campagnolo models, such as the Valentino.)
Generally, this sort of bike is not worth major upgrades unless it has great sentimental value. They may be a good choice as a theft-resistant bike to park at a rapid transit station or the like. They can also make an adequate "starter" fixed gear.
Mid-level Bike Boom 10-speeds
This breed is exemplified by the Raleigh Super Course, Mercier 200, and other similar bikes. These bikes would typically come with aluminum rims, and frames partially made of premium tubing, such as Reynolds 531, Columbus, or Vitus. Bikes in this category would typically only have the three main tubes of premium tubing, and even those would be straight-gauge, not butted. Early '70s bikes in this group might still have Nervar or Stronglight cottered cranks; later versions would have swaged aluminum cotterless cranks such as the Sugino Maxy, SR, or possibly Japanese cranks marked with the bike builder's brand. Bikes in this category can make excellent general-purpose bikes, and their general ride comfort may make them worth moderate investment, especially if you have some attachment to the particular bike. These bikes can make nice hybrids, or good fixed-gear machines.
Upper-End Bike Boom 10-speeds
These bikes would generally have all 531 frames, (tubes, forks and stays) or, less commonly, Columbus tubing. They would have cotterless cranks with the spider part of the right arm, from Campagnolo, Stronglight, Sugino or TA. Most bikes in this category would originally have come with tubular tires, but many of these were converted over to clinchers early in their careers. The most widely sold model in this category was the Peugeot PX-10, and similar models from Mercier (300) Gitane (Tour de France) and other French builders. The Atala 101, Raleigh Competition, Grand Sport, International and Professional are other examples of factory-built bikes in this category.
This sort of bike is often worth considerable upgrading; the frame quality is often comparable to that of a new bike that might sell for over $1000. On the other hand these bikes are sometimes also worth keeping "period" or doing light restoration work on, if you get off on the "retro" aspect.
Top-of-the-line Models
The bikes listed above were built in large factories, in large quantities. The very most desirable bikes, however were made in small craft-type workshops. These bikes can also be upgraded, but some of them are worth restoring, and some should really be preserved.[restoration--display wheels vs ride wheels.]
Tubing Decals
531 tubes 531 Butted Tubes, Forks and Stays 531 Fourreaux Columbus Vitus, Falck, Oria Renforce, Rinforzatto Allege 1030 Hi Tension CrMo Butted Magnalight VaLiteThe Bike Boom
In the early 1970s, a number of trends came together:- The OPEC oil embargo caused a sudden shortage and a huge jump in gasoline prices, leading to long lines of desparate motorists at the few gas stations that had product.
- Baby Boomers were in their late 'teens or twenties, young and vigorous, with money in their pockets.
- Environmental and health awareness were hot, trendy topics.
- The 10-speed lightweight adult bicycle began to have wide distribution and acceptance.
