The Old Faithful...

[jasper]

Here's my old faithful, pink to make the girls wink

:

Made from various bits and bobs, circa '92:

Concorde Astore Frame: Columus tubing.

Shimano Ultegra groupset throughout; hubs, seatpost, stem, headset, rear/front mech, chainset/cranks, BB, cassette, brake lever/calipers, pedals.

Chainrings: 52/42

Cassette: 13/14/15/16/17/19/21 (Uniglide), when I'm feeling particulary fit remove the 21 and add 18, making 13/14/15/16/17/18/19.

Mavic Mach 2CD 32 spoke V-profile wheels with Continental Giro training tubs. (Probably classed as heavy by today's standards but a fantastic wheel all the same. Only the rear has needed (slight) truing once since '92 and I do a lot of miles.)

Shimano SPD pedals.

Profile Airwave aero bars, c/w swift shift.

Bikestream drinks system (can drink without removing hands from the bars, comes into it's own in TT's, bottles for extra fluid on long rides).

Iscaselle Giro D'Italia titanium/leather saddle, very comfy.

Avocet 40 computer.

As you can see, an oldy but a goldy...and not a pannier nor mudguard in sight

It's quite well travelled too. We've been to Cyprus, Germany, Falklands, Switzerland, Canada & Ireland

 

[Globalti]

Nice looking bike.

How does the frame feel? Mine is also Columbus.

SPDs? Have you considered changing to road pedals?

 

[jasper]

Thanks. I find the frame nice and responsive, very good. It's light but heavy by today's standards when compared to ally or carbon. It just means that you have to train that little bit harder

As far as I can remember, the pedals I've got were Ultegra road pedals back in the day, bought in when they first appeared on the market in the 90's. They are one-sided, not two-sided like MTB pedals. Just had a look, there's no model number on, I'll take a piccy later. I've noticed that the road pedals nowadays have lengthened, reminiscent of the early Look pedals I had. Do they use a "Look type" cleat? Do you find that they are more comfortable?

I suppose I should really upgrade to a more modern bike/equipment, but why fix something that's not broke....? And I'm a tight Northener

 

[Globalti]

If you read my thread on the Photo Gallery you'll see that I am right in the middle of the process of resurrecting a great Columbus SLX frame and equipping it with modern kit. I am picking up some nice new wheels on Saturday, 130mm OLD with a freehub so I'm very excited about that. It rides really nicely and buying it has coincided with all this wet weather so I have gone right off MTBing. I wish I'd done this 20 years ago, just as somebody else wrote on here.

 

[jasper]

Yep, just looked at your thread, nice bike.

My brother's got an old Harry Hall SLX tubed bike. It's white with a pearlescent effect. Looks the bees knees, I've been trying to get it off him for years but he won't sell it, even though he hardly ever uses it.

In fact, that's where I bought my frame from (and a few of the components) back in the 90's. It was an excellant shop but I've not been for years as I've moved Dahn Sarf. I think they moved down the road as they were caught up in the IRA bombing.

 

[Globalti]

They have moved three or four times in recent years. A great shop but too far away for me unless I bunk off work.

The IRA bomb was the best thing that ever happened to Manchester - in half a second the IRA achieved what would have taken decades and cost millions, and nobody was even injured.

 

[jasper]

I didn't bother taking a pic, found one on the net instead. Apparently, they are Shimano Ultegra SPD-R: