Lugged steel road bike suggestions?

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You can go wrong in a few obvious area. First make sure the frame fits you. If possible ride some old bikes to see what size you like. Second get good tubing like Reynolds or Columbus or Tange. I like Reynolds 531 and my second favorite is Reynolds 501. Then Tange. Columbus is probably better than Tange, at least the name is more prestigious. Third avoid French bikes as nothing fits. Different crank tool removal size, different lock ring on the bottom bracket, different size and threads on the bottom bracket, different size fork tube and headset, weird size (for the most part) seat post and probably different 9/16 threads on the pedals. The French didn't change to conform to the majority of bike builders and made bikes very rapidly from 1970 to the late 70s. These bikes tended to use whatever parts were on hand, had poor paint and occasionally had misaligned frames. My first French bike was a 1960 model and I could not find replacement parts. Because of their non standard design and rapid sloppy construction to fill the 70s bike boom no one wanted a second one. The French made some very good components and bikes, if you could deal with the weirdness. I think Motobecane and Peugeot not only put themselves out of business but dragged the whole French Bike industry down with them. I have a 1977 Peugeot and I keep it nice but it is approaching wearing out. Also avoid Raleigh bikes that have non standard parts. Many classic Raleigh bikes were also constructed to Raleigh's own standards. Some 60s Raleigh's are OK, it just depends. I have a nice 60's Raleigh that has a standard bottom bracket, but many don't. Also look for braze on cable anchors, shifters and good drops outs. Lots to choose from. Look for dents in the frame and on the forks. If you can ride it make sure it rides straight. True wheels are nice but make sure they good alloy quality and make sure the hubs are good quality. Alloy wheels stop better than steel. Also make sure the goose neck is not frozen in the fork tube and the seat post is not frozen in the seat tube. Make sure that the 3 piece cotterless crank can be removed. Many times the crank removal tool can't be used as the threads are stripped in the alloy under the dust caps. You usually can't tell this by looking. Make sure the pedals have not been cross threaded into the crank arms. This stripping of pedal and crank puller threads is quite common. My favorite bike of all time was an old Cologno that fit me perfectly. It was a work of art. It got stolen. Good luck.
 
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I had my Bridgestone restored recently

53219a9ab8b380fcd120f9f415e1fe6f.jpg


Coulda bought a 16 lb cf race bike with how much the resto cost.


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I had my Bridgestone restored recently

53219a9ab8b380fcd120f9f415e1fe6f.jpg


Coulda bought a 16 lb cf race bike with how much the resto cost.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Take hart, your money was well spent. I rode a 15 pound CF road bike. Carbon frame, wheels, crank, stem, post, bars, seat and probably some other stuff as well. It was a 2014 full on Cannondale race bike, the same as one of the ones used in the Tour de France. It was light, but also wobbly, didn't have the feel of the best steel alloy. It was very pricy, but he doesn't have a car, only rides bicycles. The person who had it sold it and got a steel framed road bike, he didn't like the flex. Pro racers use a different frame for each type of stage terrain, cobbles, gravel, rough pavement, etc plus they get new frames every few months as the frames loose their pop and become stressed out. A fall will crack and damage a light CF frame. CF is known for stiffness but at this light weight it just wasn't. Very surprising to me as I thought it would be more rigid.
 
^^^I have a Kestrel Evoke that's cf everything and a Ritchey Road Logic that while it has a steel frame, everything else is cf. Fortunately, my experience with both has been pure delight.


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Italian is nice but be aware they have(had) a different threading for the BB.

Find a bike that fits with good quality components and a name brand steel. Lots of good Japanese frames out there from the 80's for a good price.
 
All due respect to previous posters, there are many grades of Tange-branded steel; the same is true of Colombus, Dedacciai, True Temper, etc. Just like Reynolds has been available in 501, 531, 631, 725, 853, etc..... I've found that, as a bigger guy, i typically don't like the top-shelf stuff with the extremely thin walls, but they are undoubtably better for the right riders. They feel whippy, to me.... But, i just wanna say that some of the most impressively light frames from the 80s that's i've ever encountered were made from Ishiwata Quad-Butted. Online research suggests that Ishiwata made heavier and lighter versions of their quad-butted steel, for different applications, so maybe they're not all that lightweight.

By no means light, though, is the triple-butted and splined tubing that Miyata made themselves for their own bikes and for other marques that they produced bikes for (Univega, some Koga bikes, etc...) I mean, yeah, it's a lightish tubeset as compared to bargain-basement stuff, but the butting wasprobably more about strength than it was about weight savings. Every Miyata I've ridden with the triple-butted splined steel felt great; responsive, stiff, light, and just good quality. Any Miyata road frame with downtube shifters will be a very nice bike; really good finish, well-constructed, just awesome. They sold some track frames, too.... kind of a grail bike for me (but I'll probably just sell-out and buy a modern Panasonic track frame....)
 
OH, and just a l'il PS- Any of the mid- to upper-level Panasonics were simply awesome frames too, for the money. Same is true of most of the bigger Japanese manufacturers from the 80s, although the Bridgestone, 3Rensho, and Miyata bikes tend to claim higher prices than some of the others. Top-shelf Fuji and Nishiki bikes were very nice, but they sold a lot more low-end bikes, and learning all the models and sifting thru craigslist for a good one is tough. Panasonics, though, you can find nice ones pretty easy, usually for a bit less cash than some of the most renowned Japanese makers. Bonus: they'll have all modern standards, in terms of threading, etc....

But, my dream road bike would still be either a vintage Paramount, a Waterford, or a Mercian.
 
What I know about road bikes has already been stated, but I'll reiterate. As far as production skinny road bikes go in general, it's hard to beat Japanese bikes in terms of quality and serviceability.
 
All due respect to previous posters, there are many grades of Tange-branded steel; the same is true of Colombus, Dedacciai, True Temper, etc. Just like Reynolds has been available in 501, 531, 631, 725, 853, etc..... I've found that, as a bigger guy, i typically don't like the top-shelf stuff with the extremely thin walls, but they are undoubtably better for the right riders. They feel whippy, to me.... But, i just wanna say that some of the most impressively light frames from the 80s that's i've ever encountered were made from Ishiwata Quad-Butted. Online research suggests that Ishiwata made heavier and lighter versions of their quad-butted steel, for different applications, so maybe they're not all that lightweight.

By no means light, though, is the triple-butted and splined tubing that Miyata made themselves for their own bikes and for other marques that they produced bikes for (Univega, some Koga bikes, etc...) I mean, yeah, it's a lightish tubeset as compared to bargain-basement stuff, but the butting wasprobably more about strength than it was about weight savings. Every Miyata I've ridden with the triple-butted splined steel felt great; responsive, stiff, light, and just good quality. Any Miyata road frame with downtube shifters will be a very nice bike; really good finish, well-constructed, just awesome. They sold some track frames, too.... kind of a grail bike for me (but I'll probably just sell-out and buy a modern Panasonic track frame....)

Some of the top grade stuff is straight gauge. Some Reynolds 531 might come straight gauge as some frame stickers don't say its butted. I still like the way all my bikes with Reynolds tubing have ridden. I have a lot of bikes with high tensile tubing and none of it is no where as nice as any of the Tange, Columbus or Reynolds bikes I have or have had. I only weigh 155 and I can really tell when I am on good tubing. Light for me is good. All my bikes are old so I have no experience with the new Reynolds alloys, but I would like to try it. I had a Miyata road bike and it was nice but not as nice as as my 1980s Trek with 501 straight gauge Reynolds tubing. I don't have either bike now. I have 1980s Peugeot with Tange straight gauge tubing and you can tell it's good. I tend to use this old Peugeot when i would be better off with my modern road bike I ride it just for the feel of the ride. The frame was probably made in Japan. Too bad you can no longer get a new garden variety bike with quality steel tubing.
 

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