1993 Condor Professional 653

[JoeH]

Nice build so far.
Personally I would give the monoplaners a miss and go for dual pivots, especially on the front as they have much more stopping power, especially if your aiming high for a competent build...it depends if you lean to 'must be as close to original' or 'I want it sensitively modernised' the later would suggest dual pivots...

Keep us updated with the paint job.
Good job on the BB removal

 

[JoeH]

Do you have campag rear hub - cup n cone?
Watch out, the cones are unobtanium, and unfortunately due to the very inboard nature of the rear drive side, is prone to galling/pitting etc.
No-one to my knowledge makes an 8 speed modern freehub (campy)

 

[sjcprojects]

Nice build so far.
Personally I would give the monoplaners a miss and go for dual pivots, especially on the front as they have much more stopping power, especially if your aiming high for a competent build...it depends if you lean to 'must be as close to original' or 'I want it sensitively modernised' the later would suggest dual pivots...

Keep us updated with the paint job.
Good job on the BB removal

Yes, I’m very aware of the marked improvement you can get with dual pivot brakes. On my last build I swapped some pretty nice early 90s single pivot ones for some fairly basic modern Tektro dual ones, and the difference is very noticeable. In this case, though, I’m more concerned with keeping it fairly period correct.

I have some single pivot 105 brakes (mid 80s, I think) on one of my other bikes and I find them perfectly fine on all but the steepest of descents, so I don’t think it’s that much of a sacrifice being authentically retro in this case.

From my experience, some single pivot ones are much better than others - the 105 ones are fine, but I’ve had cheap Weinmann ones which were just dreadful. They were so bad I had to change them before I sold the bike on because I was worried the buyer would end up careening into a ditch otherwise…

 

[sjcprojects]

Do you have campag rear hub - cup n cone?
Watch out, the cones are unobtanium, and unfortunately due to the very inboard nature of the rear drive side, is prone to galling/pitting etc.
No-one to my knowledge makes an 8 speed modern freehub (campy)

Luckily the hubs seem very good on the wheels I, so they should have plenty of life left in them.

Also, I realise that by at least 1995 Chorus brakes were dual pivot, so I could still go down that route and be period-correct (ish). But, the main thing is that I think the monoplaner ones look nicer. I find those dual pivots fairly ugly in comparison.

 

[JoeH]

Luckily the hubs seem very good on the wheels I, so they should have plenty of life left in them.

Also, I realise that by at least 1995 Chorus brakes were dual pivot, so I could still go down that route and be period-correct (ish). But, the main thing is that I think the monoplaner ones look nicer. I find those dual pivots fairly ugly in comparison.

Monoplaner at the rear, dual pivot at the front?

If the hubs are good, take advantage of the grease nipple port (which only came on chorus and record hubs) and fill her up. Easiest 'hub service' one can do, assuming you have a grease gun.

 

[sjcprojects]

With the frame fully stripped down, I've had a chance to weigh it. I was curious how 653 would compare with the last same size (56cm) 531 frame I weighed. It comes in at 1.78kg, compared to 1.82kg for the 531 one, so actually only a 40g difference. The forks are 676g, which seems pretty nice and light to me – though I believe 653 forks are actually made from 531 anyway, as 653 is a mixed tubeset.

 

[crysty97]

Hi ! Can somebody help me with this Condor bike info or if is an original model? I did not find any catalogue...Thx a lot

 

[Rod_Saetan]

I'd say from the Condor branded dropouts its definitely legit, it looks a little more basic than others though (lack of pantographing, simple lugs) so it could well be one of those buit under contract by Nigel Dean for Condor. The frame number would confirm this if you can find one, it will either be 4 digits and therefore probably DY/Condor built or not, and therefore ND built.

 

[sjcprojects]

Hi ! Can somebody help me with this Condor bike info or if is an original model? I did not find any catalogue...Thx a lot

@Rod_Saetan is spot on. Date-wise, with that Veloce groupset it should be from around 2000.

 

[crysty97]

I'd say from the Condor branded dropouts its definitely legit, it looks a little more basic than others though (lack of pantographing, simple lugs) so it could well be one of those buit under contract by Nigel Dean for Condor. The frame number would confirm this if you can find one, it will either be 4 digits and therefore probably DY/Condor built or not, and therefore ND built.

Thanks for your answer. I ll check the serial. But it is really Reynolds 531C? Decal 531 looks new and the fork ...no decal