1st road bike in 30 years.

[videojetman]

hello my names jeff and i havent really spent any time in the road section.
i just got this bike off my wifes dad, sadly her dad is now 85 years old and is no longer able to ride.
it is an ammoco monte carlo.
dont know much about it, the frame looks like its from the 70's and it has some low end shimano gears.
it needs a total strip down & a good clean.
i would really like to make something of this bike to honour my wifes dad, he has ridden for over 70 years and i hated taking the bike off him, but he will never ride again.
so i need some advice.
how can i or should i try to modernise this bike.
i'd really like to get at least a nine speed block on it.
and i'd like to get the brake / gear combo levers.
whatever i do, i want to ride it and make it functional for me.
all advice welcome.
i'm pretty sure there are 10 rolls of insulation tape on the handle bars. :shock:

 

[legrandefromage]

Well, its late '80s or very early 1990's.

You will need to strip it right back to the bare frame.

From the looks of it, it doesnt have a mech hanger of its own so to upgrade the gears you could go for one of these:

As for the upgrades, the rear wheel spacing is most likely 126mm, 'modern' or usable road is usually 130mm. There are some nice deals to be had on road wheels so with a little bit of spreading of the stays, you may get a 9spd in there but just watch for the last cog - it might catch the frame. If so, it might have to be 7spd via the screw-on route or a 2nd hand set of 7spd cassette road wheels.

The brakes look like the bolt on type rather than the recessed Allan key typ. Tektro do a good dual-pivot design that will bolt straight on.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tektro-369-du ... 2a2da275b5

You will need to check the 'drop' of the brakes though, this is the bit where the brake pad meets the wheel. Some frames require long drop, otheres are short drop. There is some adjustment available so it doesnt have to be exact.

Gearing and shifting, I leave to you. 7spd STi exist but can be pricey, 8 & 9 are more common. I'd stick with Shimano as it works and theres loads of stuff new and 2nd hand for road bikes.

Good luck and I hope this rambling helped....

 

[PurpleFrog]

Unless you want to race I'd consider bar end shifters instead - these give you a friction mode and will adapt to any gearing system. Much better than the stem shifters, but still in keeping with the period. Finish with whitewall tyres and ye olde shellaced bartape - or leather sew-ons - and you'll have super coolness. Eg with sew-ons (but no bar end shifters)

 

[PurpleFrog]

Bar ends and halfway through a sellac job:

 

[KidDynamite]

The leather sew-ons are very cool and neat IMO. Are you going to re-spray the frame or keep the original paint?

As legrandefromage said the frame looks like a late 80s frame.

Keep us updated with more pictures of the strip down and more information.

 

[videojetman]

this bike will be getting resprayed, probably pearl white.
need to try and locate some repro graphics.
i have taken the tape off the handle bars, removed the brakes. the drive side crank was difficult to remove as the thread for the crank extractor was cross threaded.
this will be a slow restoration as i'm really low on funds at the moment.

 

[videojetman]

finally stripped the bike down.
i'm trying to decide the paint for this bike.
i like the thought of pearl white & the lugged areas a different colour, maybe blue or red.
any ideas on colour would be great.
still got plenty of time for ideas.
maybe going with shimano 105 groupset.
and some new wheels.
i like the laced leather bar cover, would match the brooks saddle i plan to use.

 

[nathanm26]

Here's mine just after a respray in pearl white with the lugs sprayed "applejack".

I think your frame would look nice in the pearl white with the lugs in a deep red or royal blue. That's my 2 cents.

 

[videojetman]

Here's mine just after a respray in pearl white with the lugs sprayed "applejack".

I think your frame would look nice in the pearl white with the lugs in a deep red or royal blue. That's my 2 cents.

very nice job, what was it like before ?

 

[nathanm26]

This...

I picked it up for £26 as a complete bike minus the wheels (as pictured) on EBay (that's the sellers messy back yard BTW). My 1st retro bike. I have now been bitten by the bug!

I think one of the standout features of vintage frames is the lugwork. While the lugs arent particularly intricate on the Dynatech I still wanted to make them standout, hence the choice of applejack over pearl white.

N