Grandini

[ignatzcatz]

Got a nice Grandini frame which I shall be spraying in a light blue metallic but first I 'dry built' the bike in order to find and sort any problems with attaching components after the paintwork is complete. It's mainly early Campag including chainset, it's 53/42, pedals, seatpin, slightly modern brakes, way too modern Chorus headset, Campag front and rear mechs and levers. The wheels are Campag L/F 28's on Fiamme rims with Clement tubs. Unica saddle and Cinelli 65 bars and stem. I've only had a spin round the block but it flies. Grandini was the posh side of Youngs cycles which originally were in Lee High Road. I'll stick up a couple of pics when it's all decalled and painted.

 

[Jamiedyer]

Looks a nice build and will look really smart once painted, though there is a side of me that says, just decal it and clear coat it as is.

Jamie

 

[Midlife]

Can you afford to chrome some parts of the frame?

 

[ignatzcatz]

I love chrome stuff on bikes and I did contemplate giving this the shiny dip treatment but it wasn't the right frame. I'm looking out for something with more fancy lugs, late'50s early 60s and then I'll go to town on it, head lugs, full forks, stays the full on bling deal but for the moment here is the Grandini now all finished, painted, built up and riding very nicely indeed.
I sprayed it in 2 pack base and clear meaning I would have to lacquer it after the colour coat but that's OK because it seals in the decals and you can throw on lots of base colour without it building up too much. The colour was rather subdued, it's an early '80s Porsche 911 light metallic mid blue with mid '90s Ford gunmetal panels. I fitted an earlier style headset and got hold of some 1st gen Campag gran sport sidepulls which were more correct to the era. The bars which are Cinelli 65's, a favourite of mine were N.O.S. - new old stock, new and never used. The bike is on some old time trial wheels of mine 28 spoke Campag large flange with rare Schwalbe blue treaded tubs so it rolls along very sweetly.

 

[torqueless]

Re:

Nice to see something refinished with a bit of subtlety. Looks great.
Is that a seventies frame that has been 'eightyfied' at some point by routing the cables under the bracket and counterboring for AK brakes?

 

[ignatzcatz]

Well spotted my friend, yes it had been 'modernised' some time in the past. A gentleman, far more knowledgeable than I reckoned that it was fabricated early to mid '60s. Along with the under bracket cable guides and gear lever bosses were the brazed on bottle cage eyes. This was when the bottle cages were still being hung off the handlebars and the other aging feature is the long Campag ends. After stripping off all the old paint there was evidence by bits of braze of a tit on the back of the down tube where a gear lever clamp could rest, more braze on the top of the rear gear stay and a big blob on the left of the bottom bracket. It had been professionally done but it was a sloppy job. I suppose I should have de-modernised it but at least it still has outside cables and clips and straps. Happy trails.

 

[torqueless]

Re:

Well.. You could argue that it is better to have a few bits of spelter left around than to have had someone diligently grind it away, taking half the thickness of the Reynolds tubing with it!
And those over the bracket cable guides are a pig both to paint and to keep clean..
And it seems to be getting harder to find decent old side pulls with pre-allen key length pivot bolts too..

 

[hamster]

Love the colour scheme, very understated and elegant.