I've been shopping

And this is what I have come back with,
Pair of look pedals £5 they are the basic model and don't have any spring tension adjustment but as a means of getting me riding again they will be absolutely fine once cleaned.
Campag Triomphe rear mech £9 from the photo you can hopefully see that I have cleaned and polished it and re greased the jockey wheels. The only thing missing is the cable adjuster.
Next is the seat post, £15 matey who I bought the frame from offered me this one at a knocked down rate because he scratched the top of the vitus frame, doh!!! Cleaned and polished, the saddle was a bit of extravagance because it cost £29, but it weighs 180g is made from carbon fiber and Titanium and I love it!

Finally we have some ergo cinelli bars, £5. I wanted bars with a clamp diameter of 26mm to fit the old quill stem and recesses for the brake cables. Aero brake levers were starting to make an appearance in the late 1980's so I have the option. a little bit of elbow grease will see them cleaned and ready for some new tape. ergo bars seem obvious now, but for some reason manufacturers persisted on making bars with curves which never fitted your hand. Can't wait to try these out.

Let us begin

To begin a project you usually need some money, well it normally comes when you need it. Some kind sole gave me a lawn mower which was better than mine, so I sold mine for £85. Next we needed to rummage through the loft to find more items for sale, quite a few mountain bike components, a few household bits and the odd motorcycle part. This generated another £74 which made a total of £159.

Lets go shopping!

Being a retro build, I joined a forum called Retrobike, posted an wanted add for a frame and this is what came up, a late 1980's vitus Duralinox 979 riden by all the great riders like Sean Kelly and the brothers Paddon. It is very light aided by a couple of scratches on the top tube. For something nearly 25 years old it is in great condition.

He's at it again!

With middle age upon us and a dose of glandular fever to cheer you up, thoughts turn to interesting things. No not women but bikes! Occasionally women on bikes!

So what is it going to be? a retro rebuild this time something of the era when I began racing, the late 1980's/ 90's was a bit of an experimental time for bike racing with clipless pedals aero bars and low profile bikes and I would like to incorporate a little of that in the build.

We need criteria, so it will be

1)Light weight

2) Have a sprinkling of campagnolo components because we couldn't afford them at the time!

3) Make we go weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ziperdeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee dooooooooooooooo daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrr when I ride it.

Inspiration would have to come from the likes of Malcom Eliot, Greg Lemond and Sean Kelly who all pioneered novel components on their machines

Let the creating commence