This is the third set of wheels. I went from sewups to clinchers in the 1980s. The new wooden rims give the bike a retro look. I may go back to sewups. Most people think the wooden rims are original! The Speedplay pedals are an upgrade. I still have the original Christophe Special toe clips with the original red leather straps. The original Unicanitor seat by Brevettata is also in storage.

Orange handlebar tape (over a couple of gel packs) on the Cinelli headset and stem separate this bike from all of the carbon lookalikes. It still has the original Suntour Blaze rear derailleur, Campy front one, and the Stronglight crank. I had to wrap the frame tubes with handlebar tape to get the water bottle clamps to hold properly. Apparently, this Mercian frame has a relatively small diameter compared to modern frames.

There is a bit of rust inside the seat tube and a few other places. I'll keep the mustard color when the frame gets restored and repainted soon.

Cheers,

Jim Allen