Although I had been lured by old bicycles for a number of years, this is the very one that had started my voyage into the seductive world of vintage road and mountain bikes.
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Why exactly this one then? Because I had just built my latest carbon fibre road racing bike with Dura Ace groupset while this Columbus-tubed oldie was equipped with full period Dura Ace groupset as well. And I must add I was very pleasantly surprised by its function.
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Shimano Dura Ace 7400 details.
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Old vs new - it felt pretty cool to own such a pair of bikes, although I later found out that I had seriously overpaid the old one. Oh well... :-)
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Very soon after my initial purchase, I stumbled across something I really wanted - a "LoPro" frame. As a bonus, it had turned out to be a very rare 1987 Fuji Team.
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The reason I wanted one is to build a track-esque single-speed bike, so I threw some parts together to make one.
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I was seemingly "on a roll", as I also picked up this nice little Bianchi Vento 602. Nothing special, Columbus GARA tubing and Shimano Exage groupset but it was practically new and 100% original... and kind of nice :-).
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Bianchi Vento 602 details.
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As the time progressed, it had become apparent that my collection would simply have to be a dynamic one, as I couldn't keep up with having so many bikes. Luckily, a friend was after a road bike for his Randonneur rides.
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Having custom-built all my racing bicycles, I thought "why not, I can do it for someone else as well." We had then figured out his desired specs and I picked up a full Shimano RX100 groupset, modern ergo handlebars and Campagnolo Omega rims with Shimano 600 Tricolore hubs.
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There you go - an updated retro bike with custom livery, dubbed PBP 1200 associating it with Paris-Brest-Paris 1200 km Randonneur event that it was built for.
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PBP 1200 bike details.
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PBP 1200 bike details.
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The next bike that had come along was to become the crown jewel of my collection - 1985-ish De Rosa Professional SLX unfinished project. I instantly fell in love with it!
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Some NOS parts thrown at it...
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...and some more :-).
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