Designated for Assignment

Its MLB spring training when hope springs eternal so pardon the baseball analogy.   I had given this some thought before the incident with the Cresta GT.  I have two Sport Tourers I want to try out; the Novara Randonee and the Trek 420.  I love the look and ride of a vintage steel frames but there are things that I change on most vintage bikes and I thought having a group at the ready for those changes would be a good idea.

I find that most vintage handlebars are too narrow at 38 to 40 CM so I like to upgrade to a 44 or wider bar, and the stock stem usually doesn't let me get the bars high enough to be comfortable in my dotage.   Enter a set of wide  VO bars and a Nitto Technomic stem with just a bit more reach at 100 mm than the 70 mm stem on the Cresta which should compensate for the shorter top tube of the Novara.

I also find that either the stock saddle is toast (Novara) or is a cheap replacement (Trek) so I scored a VO leather touring saddle on special.

I can usually count on the stock tires on vintage bikes being dry rotted so I got a pair of the gold standard Panaracer Pasela's in 27 x 1 1/4.

I like the look of non aero brake levers and the ones on the Novara are drilled which I really like but the reality is that the chunky Tektros are just more comfortable, have built in quick releases and probably provide better stopping.  I also picked up a pair of nutted dual pivot calipers which I have been wanting to try.  And I had an extra pair of my favorite MKS sneaker pedals.

The plan is that I would tear down each of the bikes and put these core parts on the rebuild when I test rode it, keeping the stock parts in reserve.  If I wasn't in love with the bike with an honest test bed then I could put it back to stock and sell it on.  At the point I had this idea I didn't think either bike would be a keeper since I had the Cresta but having a core test bed group would also be good for any future Vintage bike purchases.  All totaled up I spent under $250 for a new cockpit, brakes and levers, pedals and new rubber.

Of course the bent fork rendering the Cresta unrideable for the foreseeable future changes things a bit in that A) I have an empty slot for a triple chain ring touring bike in the quiver and B) I have a whole lot of spare parts I could employ.

The Cresta's wheel-set appears to be ok but I will need to run them through the truing stand and test all the spokes by hand to make sure nothing is out of whack, but its possible I have a full 27" wheel-set with rebuilt hubs, premium rubber and a new FW with 32 tooth low cog just ready to mount to a touring frame.  The same could be said for; crank-set, Saddle, pedals, bottle cages, brake levers etc.  Heck the Novara even has frame braze ons on the fork if I wanted to be courageous an mount a front rack.  I have a few ideas about multiple back ups for securing the rack to the fork bridge so I don't get a repeat of Endo city.  Both the Trek and Novara have rear racks though so I don't need to worry about that right now.

Still not sure if I will be able to ride in the Tour De Lopez next month, but I am feeling better than I did on Wednesday evening post crash, when Piglet and Eyeore were my spirit animals, so we'll see. Regardless I need a triple for my topography and fitness, so one of the bikes is going to get built up, but which one and with what gear remains to be seen,  Its kind of amusing the screen on my phone is shattered from the crash but the camera still works fine as the pictures on this post can attest.

Remain Optimistic about riding, Smile. Repeat