Parle vous france?

[stevebaby]

Finished,almost.
Frame powdercoated.
Shimano 600 F & R derailleurs.
New chain.
Original Kusuki stem, polished
Kusuki bars from LBS
Original Golden Arrow series cranks and 42/52 chainrings.
Brooks saddle (ukbikestore.com $100 10 days delivery.)
New Shimano R500 wheels and 8 speed block.
New vittoria tyres (zeppiro? I forget the spelling)
Weinmann sidepulls w/QR NOS from ebay
MKS pedals from singletracking (Ta!)
Waiting for metal toeclips and straps to finish it.
Test ridden...and it goes very nicely. Just like a new bike, which it virtually is I suppose.

[stevebaby]

Another pic

[531db]

Hi all,
Having a look through one o my old mags I found a advert for Rapallo
in national cycling april, may 1981


Cheers
Steve

So Rapallo is actually an Australian frame builder then. I'll add it to my list.

[531db]

[img]Finished,almost.
Frame powdercoated.
Shimano 600 F & R derailleurs.
New chain.
Original Kusuki stem, polished
Kusuki bars from LBS
Original Golden Arrow series cranks and 42/52 chainrings.
Brooks saddle (ukbikestore.com $100 10 days delivery.)
New Shimano R500 wheels and 8 speed block.
New vittoria tyres (zeppiro? I forget the spelling)
Weinmann sidepulls w/QR NOS from ebay
MKS pedals from singletracking (Ta!)
Waiting for metal toeclips and straps to finish it.
Test ridden...and it goes very nicely. Just like a new bike, which it virtually is I suppose.

It's come up well, the steel toeclips and straps will improve the look no end.

The modern Shimano 500 wheels look somewhat out of place, a nice set of 32 or 36 hole hubs and flatter section rims with 3x spoking would really make the bike look nicer in a classic sense, but hey - it's your bike.

531db

[il padrone]

It's come up well, the steel toeclips and straps will improve the look no end.

The modern Shimano 500 wheels look somewhat out of place, a nice set of 32 or 36 hole hubs and flatter section rims with 3x spoking would really make the bike look nicer in a classic sense, but hey - it's your bike.

Mmm looks very sweet. Good chainrings, but never heard of the Golden Arrow name?

Agree that the wheels are a bit out of place... and the hubs. No-one in the 80s had black hubs. Always polished or pearl anodised.

[stevendavid75]

I have some black dura ace hubs from the crane vintage which might make it just pre 80's

[Minority]

Nice result!

You've got to pleased with that!

Now we need some close-ups.

And for the Shimano 105 "Golden Arrow" group check this out

http://www.velobase.com/ViewSingleCompo ... 5&AbsPos=5

[stevebaby]

Unfortunately I had the rear dropouts cold set to take a 130mm hub so I'm stuck with fairly modern hubs. The 500s were always intended as a stopgap until I can decide whether to go 10 speed (and have the cash to upgrade the chainrings,chain and cassette.)
The bike was never intended to be a historically accurate restoration. Rather it's a reconstruction and I was mostly interested in getting an old bike back into service.( I do like the arabesque derailleurs though, and after 25 years they still work perfectly well even with an 8 speed block. I don't see why they wouldn't handle a 10 speed either. Maybe that will be the next project)
The toeclips arrived yesterday and they do look good but will look better with some new straps. More pics then.
The powdercoat looks OK but up close you can see the rippling effect that powdercoating has. Too late...I'm stuck with it now, but if (when) I fix up another old bike I'll probably shell out for a professional paint job and save powdercoating for MTBs.

[531db]

Unfortunately I had the rear dropouts cold set to take a 130mm hub so I'm stuck with fairly modern hubs. The 500s were always intended as a stopgap until I can decide whether to go 10 speed (and have the cash to upgrade the chainrings,chain and cassette.)
The bike was never intended to be a historically accurate restoration. Rather it's a reconstruction and I was mostly interested in getting an old bike back into service.( I do like the arabesque derailleurs though, and after 25 years they still work perfectly well even with an 8 speed block. I don't see why they wouldn't handle a 10 speed either. Maybe that will be the next project)
The toeclips arrived yesterday and they do look good but will look better with some new straps. More pics then.
The powdercoat looks OK but up close you can see the rippling effect that powdercoating has. Too late...I'm stuck with it now, but if (when) I fix up another old bike I'll probably shell out for a professional paint job and save powdercoating for MTBs.

Unfortunately your Shimano 600 rear derailluer will not work with 9 or 10 speed cassettes/chains as the jockey wheels will be too thick for the 9/10 speed chains (and the derailleur cage plates too wide to correctly install 9/10 speed jockey wheels into the 600 RD). Things work OK now as 8 speed chains have the same internal width as the old 6 speed chains (although the outside width of 8 speed chains is narrower than 6 speed chains).

Best option for 'better' wheels will be locating a set of 32 or 36 hole 8 spd 130mm wide Ultegra hubs from the early 1990's and building them into appropriate rims, or a used complete wheelset of this kind in good condition. If you can't find them(hard to find good ones these days - I'm always looking for them as well), then 7 spd 126mm Shimano cassette or any other quality brand with a freewheel hubs with the axle spaced out 2mm each side (2mm of washers behind each locknut - recommended by Sheldon Brown and done by myself before) will do fine if you are willing to accept a 14 gear rather than 16 gear bike.

531db

[stevebaby]

Unfortunately I had the rear dropouts cold set to take a 130mm hub so I'm stuck with fairly modern hubs. The 500s were always intended as a stopgap until I can decide whether to go 10 speed (and have the cash to upgrade the chainrings,chain and cassette.)
The bike was never intended to be a historically accurate restoration. Rather it's a reconstruction and I was mostly interested in getting an old bike back into service.( I do like the arabesque derailleurs though, and after 25 years they still work perfectly well even with an 8 speed block. I don't see why they wouldn't handle a 10 speed either. Maybe that will be the next project)
The toeclips arrived yesterday and they do look good but will look better with some new straps. More pics then.
The powdercoat looks OK but up close you can see the rippling effect that powdercoating has. Too late...I'm stuck with it now, but if (when) I fix up another old bike I'll probably shell out for a professional paint job and save powdercoating for MTBs.

Unfortunately your Shimano 600 rear derailluer will not work with 9 or 10 speed cassettes/chains as the jockey wheels will be too thick for the 9/10 speed chains (and the derailleur cage plates too wide to correctly install 9/10 speed jockey wheels into the 600 RD). Things work OK now as 8 speed chains have the same internal width as the old 6 speed chains (although the outside width of 8 speed chains is narrower than 6 speed chains).

Best option for 'better' wheels will be locating a set of 32 or 36 hole 8 spd 130mm wide Ultegra hubs from the early 1990's and building them into appropriate rims, or a used complete wheelset of this kind in good condition. If you can't find them(hard to find good ones these days - I'm always looking for them as well), then 7 spd 126mm Shimano cassette or any other quality brand with a freewheel hubs with the axle spaced out 2mm each side (2mm of washers behind each locknut - recommended by Sheldon Brown and done by myself before) will do fine if you are willing to accept a 14 gear rather than 16 gear bike.

531db

Thanks...that's saved me a lot of research.

[bowie]

Beautiful looking bike there

[stevebaby]

I'll have to post another pic...found a water bottle with almost the same colour as the frame.
I know, I know....

[Minority]

Another Australian Rapallo on the market!

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... otohosting

[aleg75]

Grrr, Apologies, I posted my message before I read a few posts above and you have already commented on the powder coat........any chance of some close up pics?????

p.s. nice looking bike! agree with one of the posts above though, needs classic style wheels! but thats just me.

p.s.s I have deleted my question r.e. powder coating.

Ash