Repco Appreciation Society

cranky-1
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby cranky-1 » Sat Aug 22, 2015 1:44 pm

Yep i would love to post it too. Still trying to figure how i do that from my phone?

ianb58
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby ianb58 » Sat Aug 22, 2015 2:00 pm

schuberj wrote:Vertical dropouts and braze-on front derailleur is definitely suggesting a few years newer, mid-nineties or later. Could be a custom build. Maybe make a new thread and someone might be able to recognize the style, whether it be custom or another brand :)
Bike identified - it was built by a local frame builder (Aldo Contarino) in the late 90's from 853 tubing. Unfortunately it doesn't have the original forks, but still rides very nicely. So not quite what I thought I was buying, but something very nice anyway.
Now I have to find myself another classic bike to ride to work.
Thanks to everyone for the help.

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singlespeedscott
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby singlespeedscott » Sat Aug 22, 2015 2:53 pm

853. Very nice.
Image

maccayak
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby maccayak » Wed Aug 26, 2015 6:58 pm

cray- wrote:What's with all these red/yellow Tri-A's being dragged out of damp, cobweb infested sheds of late?

Another big example in need of TLC in Melbourne. $50 starting bid: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281774721707" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Let's hope we see it added to the collection here soon.
:D

cray-
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby cray- » Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:42 pm

maccayak wrote:
cray- wrote:What's with all these red/yellow Tri-A's being dragged out of damp, cobweb infested sheds of late?

Another big example in need of TLC in Melbourne. $50 starting bid: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281774721707" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Let's hope we see it added to the collection here soon.
:D
Less than a hunge, nice pickup!

maccayak
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby maccayak » Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:08 am

It should clean up well, looks like it has spent most of its life being moved from one storage place to the next. It is at least very original needing the usual cables and tyres and a good clean and detail. I am hoping the seat post comes out easily and not like the one on here a few weeks ago. I will keep you..posted:)

Cheers Geoff

maccayak
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby maccayak » Sat Aug 29, 2015 5:12 pm

Yep, seat post stuck. Actually the top of the "strong" seat post came out quite easily however the nasty tube is still in there. What makes it a challenge is there is 5mm of seat post visible above the frame. I have soaked it with wd40 and I am in no hurry to ride so open to suggestions. I can actually fit an old head stem inside the post if I need to twist it. Other than that the bike is great.

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schuberj
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The "European" Project

Postby schuberj » Sat Aug 29, 2015 6:37 pm

I think I need a break from building bikes.

I have been working on a Victory Tri-A and for some reason I have been getting no joy out of it. Nothing has gone particularly wrong with it, in fact it came apart quite nicely, the first Repco I have that actually was Recommended Every Piece Comes Off. Perhaps my heart just wasn't in it, the parts I bought on a whim, the bike itself I only used because I thought it might look good with those particular parts and I have decided to make my other Victory original, or original as I would have had it back in the day.

Maybe I was let down a bit by the bike itself. I really feel the Victorys took at least 3 steps down from '88 to '89, A Giant frame with their (at the time) usual quality control issues, crooked decals, paint that never seems quite as well finished, in this case a missing brake cable braze on (can't imagine how poorly that must have been brazed to come off with almost no mark left behind), and although they got better, anyone that has ridden both knows that the Taiwanese frames never quite rode like the Japanese ones. Top that off with ugly, ill-performing "Suntour" equipment and generally cheaper parts and it certainly feels Repco wasn't going in the right direction. Still I loved the colour and watching the Tour de France was definitely giving me a taste for a French looking bike.

By the time I got the bike however, the Tour was well and truly over and the problems started to begin. The rims I wanted were no longer available, or in fact had been "upgraded" to a newer style that simply doesn't look as good. I searched for the older style and managed to find 1, or pairs with the wrong number of spokes or the wrong colour (thanks anyway Greg). I had a picture in my head of what this bike needed to look like and I couldn't deviate from that, it was all about the look. I was finding it difficult to find parts I needed too, in these days of boring black parts on every bike "shiny" seems to signify "cheap" and I had to buy cheaper pedals (partly because the higher up models no longer have pedal spanner notches, Say What?) and tyres that I had promised myself I would not buy again. The bottom bracket proved past gone and I wasted money buying a special length bottom bracket before finding the actual one I needed a day later. This was perhaps the beginning of real frustration as it took me 3 gos to get the bottom bracket working correctly, each time being tainted with muck from inside the frame whilst being installed. There is only so much you can clean out in the lounge room :(

As is generally the case, most of the Shimano parts bolted on without too many issues. The tyres proved their lack of worth with at least three attempts to get the front one on without puncturing the tube or getting it stuck under the tyre. Unfortunately one of the hoods is sticky and cracked whilst retaping the bars, something that generally doesn't affect Shimano hoods much after around '87. Maybe something to do with the colour. But far and away the most annoying part of the build was fitting the bar tape itself, Selle Italia Smootape Classica leather. I had actually bought this for another project but ended up getting proper leather tape made for that one. This tape's claim to fame is supposed to be a smooth finish with no bumps that are common with cork tape. Its only visible difference is a considerably wider footprint and being a complete PITA to do anything with. I am pretty sure the pending (padding according to the box) patent is not going to be awarded. This tape has no bar ends, no instructions, no information online and no possible way of ever achieving the smoothness that is promised. The fitting was also far from smooth with the first side taking me three attempts and at least 15 minutes just to get the (not supplied) bar end in, damaging the tape itself in the process. By this stage I was ready throw the whole thing in the bin and had to wait for the next day before tackling the second side, damaging the tape and plug and ending up with a similarly unsatisfactory result. It has been a bad enough experience that I will never buy another Selle Italia product again, back to fizik all the way.

By the time I was finished I had had it with this bike. Small annoyances like dropping the allen key bidon cage bolts from the bag and every part going to separate corners of the room became cause for language that is far from welcome on this forum. And does the bike look like it did in my head? To tell you the truth I am not sure. This project just seems to have done my head in and I am not sure I can look at it without some time in between. Even a super smooth ride has not helped, especially as it turns out the derailleur hanger is bent and the rear derailleur is rubbing on the spokes. I guess I should be thankful it didn't get caught on the first one and tear the wheel, derailleur and frame to bits.

I didn't even clean any of the parts for some photos.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

What do you guys think?

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QuangVuong
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby QuangVuong » Sat Aug 29, 2015 7:12 pm

I like the Sante. And I see you have a rear skewer(the only part other than original rings, that I'm missing from my group) as well as you changed the freehub body to a HG one.

Light Gumwalls(yellow more than the brown) would be nice I think. And I am surprised you have issues with Rubinos. I don't have the modern Mavic rims, but Rubinos mount quite easily on the Open 4CD and other rims.

I like the overall build. Colour selection works well. But that frame feels like a let down. A rare selection of parts hanging off a slightly above average frame.
VillaVelo, by the Vuong brothers

Blog: https://villaveloframes.wordpress.com/
FB & IG: @villaveloframes

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schuberj
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby schuberj » Sat Aug 29, 2015 7:45 pm

The freehub body that was on the hub was one of the crossover ones that had HG and UG threads. Thought it might have been original for the late model hubs, but it is just as likely that it has been changed.

I have had issues with the Rubinos on Open Pros, old Araya SS45 and Wolber rims off an Olympic 12. Didn't realise how bad it was until I went back to the Diamantes, the 10 seconds it takes to fit them is worth the extra price alone, factoring in the grip and general confidence they give you when on the bike makes them the bargain of the two IMO.

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koen
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby koen » Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:49 am

That Sante gear is in wonderful condition. It all looks very nice.

maccayak
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby maccayak » Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:05 pm

maccayak wrote:Yep, seat post stuck. Actually the top of the "strong" seat post came out quite easily however the nasty tube is still in there. What makes it a challenge is there is 5mm of seat post visible above the frame. I have soaked it with wd40 and I am in no hurry to ride so open to suggestions. I can actually fit an old head stem inside the post if I need to twist it. Other than that the bike is great.
Got it out. One hours hacksawing by hand slowly up and down. 2 vertical cuts and out she came. Anyone have a 27 strong seat post?

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schuberj
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby schuberj » Sun Aug 30, 2015 1:25 pm

Not a spare one unfortunately. I have never seen the clamp itself come out of a post, you guys must really be pushing them hard!

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Releng
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby Releng » Sun Aug 30, 2015 4:17 pm

Last night I fitted some RSX shifters and brakes to my Olympic 14.
Not quite period accurate but close, still 7 speed. The upgrade has transformed the bike.
Thanks LG if you see this post the shifters work a treat, good precise changes, and the brakes are a step up from the old exage 400.

Image
Image

maccayak
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby maccayak » Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:53 pm

schuberj wrote:Not a spare one unfortunately. I have never seen the clamp itself come out of a post, you guys must really be pushing them hard!
I think it was the previous owner. There were grip mark on the post prior. The clamp part came off really easy. That part is still in good condition so not sure if I can get it fitted onto another post. The hacksaw method is a good way to get them out, time consuming but no damage, so that is the main thing. A tip I got off google was to have the blade around so the cutting is done on the up stroke.

cray-
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Re: The "European" Project

Postby cray- » Mon Aug 31, 2015 5:33 pm

schuberj wrote:What do you guys think?
Not a fan of the white on those cranks, though I can handle it on the shifters and other bits. But it's totally subjective.

Overall I think it's come up well and I don't think you should be so down trodden. Maybe take a break from resto for awhile and come back to it with fresh eyes and enthusiasm? I know I've got a few project bikes that I wouldn't force myself to work on, rather wait for a spark of inspiration and enjoy the process.

ianb58
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby ianb58 » Sun Sep 06, 2015 12:17 am

ianb58 wrote:
schuberj wrote:Vertical dropouts and braze-on front derailleur is definitely suggesting a few years newer, mid-nineties or later. Could be a custom build. Maybe make a new thread and someone might be able to recognize the style, whether it be custom or another brand :)
Bike identified - it was built by a local frame builder (Aldo Contarino) in the late 90's from 853 tubing. Unfortunately it doesn't have the original forks, but still rides very nicely. So not quite what I thought I was buying, but something very nice anyway.
Now I have to find myself another classic bike to ride to work.
Thanks to everyone for the help.

So here is my latest acquisition
This one is definitely a Repco
A 91 Superlite - although how they can call it that beats me - it maxes out my fishing scales, so must be 12Kg
Looks ok from the drive side
Image
Must have been left in the sun a bit too much though
Image
But everything works and it rides very nicely.
Now I need to keep looking for a real Vertex

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munga
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby munga » Sun Sep 06, 2015 3:50 pm

shuberj, maybe you could do something like build a singlespeed/fixed wheel bicycle out of it and put the parts away for another build.

i get that way sometimes. i've been building up a lovely colnago recently, and while nothing has really gone wrong, i just don't feel like it's going anywhere
it'll probably get finished, ridden once, and put up for sale.

my current thinking is to clear out all the bicycles that don't give me "that feeling" when i go out and look at it.
that's going to leave me with two bicycles, and i'm okay with that.

Lots of steel bikes
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby Lots of steel bikes » Sun Sep 06, 2015 5:19 pm

munga wrote:shuberj,

my current thinking is to clear out all the bicycles that don't give me "that feeling" when i go out and look at it.
that's going to leave me with two bicycles, and i'm okay with that.
So that's why I've got so many. There is only one or two that don't give me 'that feeling'.

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munga
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby munga » Sun Sep 06, 2015 5:55 pm

either my "that feeling" is more finely tuned, or your "that feeling" is stronger.
either way, whatever works for you :)

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yugyug
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Re: The "European" Project

Postby yugyug » Sun Sep 06, 2015 9:28 pm

schuberj wrote:...the Taiwanese frames never quite rode like the Japanese ones.
QuangVuong wrote: A rare selection of parts hanging off a slightly above average frame.
Yeah, the Sante groupset deserves a Japanese made frame.. maybe something triple butted.

Image

That derailler gets a good write up.

cray-
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Re: The "European" Project

Postby cray- » Mon Sep 07, 2015 1:39 pm

yugyug wrote:
schuberj wrote:...the Taiwanese frames never quite rode like the Japanese ones.
QuangVuong wrote: A rare selection of parts hanging off a slightly above average frame.
Yeah, the Sante groupset deserves a Japanese made frame.. maybe something triple butted.
In case you missed it, found a couple nice TT's using the Sante groupset when I was looking for some info on it:
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=75237&start=50#p1285264" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

frank2112
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Re: The "European" Project

Postby frank2112 » Mon Sep 07, 2015 10:23 pm

schuberj wrote:I think I need a break from building bikes.

I have been working on a Victory Tri-A and for some reason I have been getting no joy out of it. Nothing has gone particularly wrong with it, in fact it came apart quite nicely, the first Repco I have that actually was Recommended Every Piece Comes Off. Perhaps my heart just wasn't in it, the parts I bought on a whim, the bike itself I only used because I thought it might look good with those particular parts and I have decided to make my other Victory original, or original as I would have had it back in the day.

Maybe I was let down a bit by the bike itself. I really feel the Victorys took at least 3 steps down from '88 to '89, A Giant frame with their (at the time) usual quality control issues, crooked decals, paint that never seems quite as well finished, in this case a missing brake cable braze on (can't imagine how poorly that must have been brazed to come off with almost no mark left behind), and although they got better, anyone that has ridden both knows that the Taiwanese frames never quite rode like the Japanese ones. Top that off with ugly, ill-performing "Suntour" equipment and generally cheaper parts and it certainly feels Repco wasn't going in the right direction. Still I loved the colour and watching the Tour de France was definitely giving me a taste for a French looking bike.

By the time I got the bike however, the Tour was well and truly over and the problems started to begin. The rims I wanted were no longer available, or in fact had been "upgraded" to a newer style that simply doesn't look as good. I searched for the older style and managed to find 1, or pairs with the wrong number of spokes or the wrong colour (thanks anyway Greg). I had a picture in my head of what this bike needed to look like and I couldn't deviate from that, it was all about the look. I was finding it difficult to find parts I needed too, in these days of boring black parts on every bike "shiny" seems to signify "cheap" and I had to buy cheaper pedals (partly because the higher up models no longer have pedal spanner notches, Say What?) and tyres that I had promised myself I would not buy again. The bottom bracket proved past gone and I wasted money buying a special length bottom bracket before finding the actual one I needed a day later. This was perhaps the beginning of real frustration as it took me 3 gos to get the bottom bracket working correctly, each time being tainted with muck from inside the frame whilst being installed. There is only so much you can clean out in the lounge room :(

As is generally the case, most of the Shimano parts bolted on without too many issues. The tyres proved their lack of worth with at least three attempts to get the front one on without puncturing the tube or getting it stuck under the tyre. Unfortunately one of the hoods is sticky and cracked whilst retaping the bars, something that generally doesn't affect Shimano hoods much after around '87. Maybe something to do with the colour. But far and away the most annoying part of the build was fitting the bar tape itself, Selle Italia Smootape Classica leather. I had actually bought this for another project but ended up getting proper leather tape made for that one. This tape's claim to fame is supposed to be a smooth finish with no bumps that are common with cork tape. Its only visible difference is a considerably wider footprint and being a complete PITA to do anything with. I am pretty sure the pending (padding according to the box) patent is not going to be awarded. This tape has no bar ends, no instructions, no information online and no possible way of ever achieving the smoothness that is promised. The fitting was also far from smooth with the first side taking me three attempts and at least 15 minutes just to get the (not supplied) bar end in, damaging the tape itself in the process. By this stage I was ready throw the whole thing in the bin and had to wait for the next day before tackling the second side, damaging the tape and plug and ending up with a similarly unsatisfactory result. It has been a bad enough experience that I will never buy another Selle Italia product again, back to fizik all the way.

By the time I was finished I had had it with this bike. Small annoyances like dropping the allen key bidon cage bolts from the bag and every part going to separate corners of the room became cause for language that is far from welcome on this forum. And does the bike look like it did in my head? To tell you the truth I am not sure. This project just seems to have done my head in and I am not sure I can look at it without some time in between. Even a super smooth ride has not helped, especially as it turns out the derailleur hanger is bent and the rear derailleur is rubbing on the spokes. I guess I should be thankful it didn't get caught on the first one and tear the wheel, derailleur and frame to bits.

I didn't even clean any of the parts for some photos.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

What do you guys think?

Nice to see another in the Red, whit and Blue scheme. This is mine

Image

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barefoot
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby barefoot » Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:12 pm

schuberj wrote:Not a spare one unfortunately. I have never seen the clamp itself come out of a post, you guys must really be pushing them hard!
IIRC, mine didn't come out of the post, but it turned in the post. So I had to clamp the round of the post in my vise to turn the frame around it (after ample lube penetration time). So I have a somewhat flattened and scored post with a head that isn't entirely secure in it. No longer fit for purpose.

I picked up a 27.0 post off one of the FaceAche bike parts buy/swap/sell groups for $20 or so. It's not an authentic original Strong branded one, but it's aesthetically similar. Even so, it doesn't worry me greatly because none of my old steelies are ever going to look authentic if I set them up with tall-short stems, to fit me with my stumpy little T-Rex arms. It's all a question of whether you want to make them into museum displays or rideable bikes.

ianb58
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Re: Repco Appreciation Society

Postby ianb58 » Sat Oct 03, 2015 1:07 am

gbasile77 wrote:Did the commute to work today on my victory Tri-A....
It's going to be hard to ride my hybrid again, and my hybrid is pretty sweet.
Loving the Repco, it's smooth, fast and not super aggressive. Nice commuter!!
Paint touch-ups are not as good as the pics. I just used those pen/brush things from super cheap. Colour match is so so but it is an improvement.
Let's see what I commute on in the morning.
What were the colours you used and what did you do to prepare the surface?
I just picked up one in need of a bit of care and attention,

Image

Gears look to be original, but not much else. - Exage 300 chainset, 250 brakes
Wheels are Joytech Hubs with Belgian Weinmann rims.
The saddle will have to go - so I am now on the lookout for a yellow one
At least the seatpost and stem are not stuck
I plan to just put everything back together and enjoy the ride
Maybe return it to original over time, but the only reference I have is the catalogue on Blogging a Dead Horse, so will be seeking advice
First one is the front derailleur.
Mine is stamped Shimano FD Z202 - is that the original that goes with the light action rear derailleur?

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