LondonClassic
Retro Guru
Sante. the Miami Vice of groupsets. Would look the nuts with that fade paint scheme.
chickendrumsticks
Senior Retro Guru
Love it! A Swiss Allegro I refurbished dripped with it. Stylish and well made. Strictly for poseurs though?
bikeworkshop
Old School Grand Master
Rare in Britain though.
The 80s might have been a decade in which
Looks Mattered,
But I don't think we were ready for
the Challenge of Engendering Beauty
Beyond backcombing our hair and adjusting that single earring, that is.
The 80s might have been a decade in which
Looks Mattered,
But I don't think we were ready for
the Challenge of Engendering Beauty
Beyond backcombing our hair and adjusting that single earring, that is.
LondonClassic
Retro Guru
I thought the same as you. My shop mechanic friend reckoned all the sante bits he'd seen in the shop had hard lives, harder lives than other shimano lines of the same era.
Maybe its short run meant people were less familiar with where it sat in the hierarchy? Maybe they though it cheaper than 600/DA and didn't baby it.
bikeworkshop
Old School Grand Master
I think the white painted finish is easily scraped or stained.
Sante does almost always look rough, can't just be the mid-market location of the bikes it was fitted to.
Sante does almost always look rough, can't just be the mid-market location of the bikes it was fitted to.
chickendrumsticks
Senior Retro Guru
Was it painted, or anodized perhaps. Seemed quite tough IIRC.
bikeworkshop
Old School Grand Master
Enamel paint i believe.
Quite hard, but the scratches pick up oily dirt.
Modern black finishes wear through to the alloy quite quickly, but we are more used to that.
I've still got a Sante hub on my touring bike. The body has a lovely jewelled finish. Looks like a very light silver anodising. Somewhere between that thick silver finish on say a Mavic rim and a highly polished part. I'd call it satin.
Interestingly, it takes both uniglide and hyperglide and has the internal thread for a cassette lockring and an external thread for a small sprocket
Interestingly, it takes both uniglide and hyperglide and has the internal thread for a cassette lockring and an external thread for a small sprocket
Guinessisgoodforyou
rBotM Winner
My mate had a Raleigh road ace moderne 653 with Sante, it was beautiful. Some **** stole it 
