Next direction for Holdsworth Mistral

[Mules]

Hi folks
Am attempting my first refurb - well, it's more to learn a bit more about mechanics than refurbing, but while I'm at it, I might add a few bits and maybe spruce up the bike a little bit.

Bike's a Holdsworth Mistral. I've dated it to 1980 and I got it for £ 25 a couple of weeks back (wife thinks I paid £ 26 too much for it...). It has been used as a touring bike, which is what I'd like to use it for.



I don't know how many components are original, if any. The groupset is a mix -
Deore MT-60 cranks / BioPace triple
SunRace FD
Shimano Capreo RD
Hubs are early Deore from what i can find
Gran Compe centre pull calipers
Bars and stem are fairly recent, generic sit up and beg hybrid bars.
Rims... was told they were 27", yet to take a proper look, but 700c tyres on them



So what to do with it as a first project...
I suppose I don't know what it would typcially have been kitted with. It would be nice to fit something in keeping with the time - it already some early Deore, so maybe continue along those lines?
Do I want to go with full Campag? I don't think it would have had high-end fittings and TBH given the original reasons for buying the bike - learning a bit and having a bash - I'm not sure I'd go for something at the higher end of the scale.

Would be interesting to hear about options for the bars and stem. If I was going to do one thing with it, would it be going back to drops? Or are there other options?

I'd appreciate if any of you had any ideas or opinions on what direction I should take.
In the meantime, I'll keep busy applying some elbow grease...

Thanks very much
MM

 

[Nob]

Campag Grand Sport would be in keeping with the time I'd have thought.

 

[sswinton]

A friend of mine had one this colour from new and it came with a Campag Rally rear mech. You could check the Mistral out on here:

http://www.nkilgariff.com/

 

[Mules]

Re:

Thanks folks
The Killgarrif pages are superb. 1982 catalogue spec has Suntour Cyclone, I happen to have some with manuf date stamps for 1981. It's a start..!

Will see if I can do some digging on stem, bars and brake levers, so if anybody has any suggestions do let me know.

Thanks again for the help and quick replies

MM

 

[Old Ned]

I reckon that will come up a treat with some work. If the tyres are 700c then the wheels will be. 27" are bigger diameter.

 

[Mules]

I reckon that will come up a treat with some work. If the tyres are 700c then the wheels will be. 27" are bigger diameter.

They are a bit reluctant! Will keep trying - have the frame stripped down now, BB finally out (it had plastic fittings that were starting to get rounded). Getting there slowly...!

Thanks for the support folks
MM

 

[vcballbat]

Re:

Hi, I picked mine up at auction for £90 so you can tell her indoors you got a bargain. Think mine is slightly later as it has braze on bosses for a pannier rack and a lamp boss. Did have the original 27inch wheels with Campag Grand Sport hubs and Mavic Module E rims and Weinmann centre pull brakes.
I have taken it back to touring spec and it has proved to be a very comfortable ride, even with 25mm tyres on gravel and bumpy tow paths.
Here's a few pics and look forward to seeing your build..Tim.

In as found condition.

After a few upgrades.


On a retro pub ride.


Full touring mode.

 

[Mules]

Re:

Cheers Tim, that looks ace! Lovely seeing it in fully touring mode.
The night I picked it up, I emailed the guy I bought it from to say thanks and told him that I wanted a bike to do up, learn a bit about mechanics on and then maybe (maybe) do the north coast 500 on next summer.

He replied back saying it would probably relish the opportunity to get back to its touring past, having been through Spain, France and all over the Highlands in its day.

No pressure then... now I really have to do a good job AND probably cycle 500 miles to boot...! :facepalm:

Lot of opinions from folk at work to paint it Holdsworth Orange... I'm not too inclined...
I think I'll keep it the original colour or something of the time for a tourer - I think they had a pearl sable or pearl spruce. Will see. There's a coachworks next door to me and the guy there has been really helpful and will help with the decals and lacquer depending on what direction we go.

Will post some pics as soon as there is something decent to report.


Anybody got any opinions on what way to go with the BB ?
There was a sealed unit in there (horrible thing with plastic housing that shredded under pressure from the tool).
Modern sealed BB or revert back to an unsealed unit? I don't know what the done thing is.

Thanks for the support!

MM

PS Noticed that Planet X have a lot of their Holdsworth stuff marked down this weekend. Including the team jersey down to £ 13 (just in case anybody is interested). Team caps / beanies etc. too.
Unfortunately, no amount of orange and blue stripes will make me go faster, but it might appeal to somebody on this board.

 

[kingbling]

Depending on which direction you take with components for the rebuild I would go with a sealed BB just for longevity and ease of maintenance. As for the bars and stem Cinelli wouldn't be far off the mark. Nice project looking forward to your updates.

 

[Mules]

Hi folks
Have been offline for a while, but have got a bit of an update for you.
Have made some progress. Also have hit a couple of stumbling blocks, but I'm not going to get too hung up on them just yet.

On the plus side, bike has a new coat & decals and it has come out really nicely.
Have also sourced a couple of more original bits - it originally had parts from late 80's and mid 90's.
So a Suntour rear deraileur, gear levers, SR cranks, leotard pedals, cinelli stem and bars.

Have had problems with the Mavic 630 rims. I can not for the life of me get tyres to sit in them. It's as if the tyres are too big. Have tried semi-inflating, ties etc., but no joy. So for now, am parking the hubs and rims that came with it and I'm putting on a set of modern 700 rims from my road bike. Not ideal, but it will allow me to move on. Also, the Cinelli headset and bars came with Dia-compe aero brake levers. Purist in me wants to use non-aero, but given this was originally supposed to be an exercise in learning about bike mechanics, then I think I'll stick with them and maybe at some point in the future I'll chance upon some levers that I can swap over (originally had MTB bars and a long stem fitted). Same thing for the rims/tyres.

So... it's coming along, just need to piece it back together again.

Will keep you posted
Gerry