1979 Urago 531

[Rich34]

Thanks Darren, I'm still tempted by a 979 but to be honest I think I'll keep this bike as it is. Though the Concor has been replaced by a Regal copy which suits me better:

The Gios in the background is the reason why I haven't put more miles in on the Urago - spent a long time off the bike and the compact 10- speed kit on the Gios is a lot more forgiving than the 42/52 on the Urago. A spin on the Urago certainly gets the blood flowing though so I try and alternate a bit.

 

[Doubledee]

Nothing wrong with the Gios either. " Sheffield" on the forum loves his, I'm in the Peak District and took my Rossini SL out couple of weeks ago, the guy leading the club ride deliberately took us up all the steep climbs, I'm fit but got firmly revisited with what 42x21 is like leaning over with my nose on the front wheel! To think its all we used in the 80's! The bike does look better with regal though.

 

[Rich34]

I live 1h30 south of Mont Aigoual in the Cevennes - an ambition of mine is to do the route described in The Rider (by Tim Krabbe - see signature line) setting out from Meyruis. It would only be right to use the sort of gearing he suffered with and so the Urago will be getting the nod for that trip.

 

[NeilM]

I live 1h30 south of Mont Aigoual in the Cevennes - an ambition of mine is to do the route described in The Rider (by Tim Krabbe - see signature line) setting out from Meyruis. It would only be right to use the sort of gearing he suffered with and so the Urago will be getting the nod for that trip.

I am just re-reading The Rider, as I think it probably needs to be read several times to get the best from it.

I had no idea the route he describes actually exists. That would be quite something to ride it, and I may have to put that in my bucket list.

Love both the bikes, I would be extremely torn between the two.

 

[Rich34]

I agree about the book - have only read it once but plan to go back through it again soon. You might find this of interest:

http://www.rapha.cc/the-tour-du-mont-aigoual

I need to sit down with the book and a suitable scale Michelin map and work out exactly which way they went. Shouldn't be difficult, not exactly spoilt for roads up there...

 

[Doubledee]

I agree about the book - have only read it once but plan to go back through it again soon. You might find this of interest:

http://www.rapha.cc/the-tour-du-mont-aigoual

I need to sit down with the book and a suitable scale Michelin map and work out exactly which way they went. Shouldn't be difficult, not exactly spoilt for roads up there...

Thanks for this chaps, I'll be having a read once I've watched Eurosport highlights of Milan San Remo, I've avoided the result all day by staying off Twitter! Glass of wine in hand ready for the action at 9pm GMT! Maybe I'll start a thread on classic routes, I've done a few in my time both in Britain and the French Alps.. some in very non ideal conditions.

 

[NeilM]

Thanks for the link, fascinating stuff.