Romic frames

[email hidden] (Duncan Cooper) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

My riding buddy has a 80's vintage Romic touring frame he
really likes. It's not really light or stiff, but it fits
him perfectly. I'm not sure how "high-end" the frame is,
but it's equipped with all Record components, which sez to
me it a may be a fairly high quality frame. He wants to
update it with a carbon fork, Ergopower shifters and a 9
sp cluster.

Is the frame worth upgrading ? (he's not a racer, but does
ride centuries)

Quoted message said:

The first thing I would look at is whether the frame fits.
If it "fits him perfectly" as you state, upgrading parts is
not a problem. Alot of people *upgrade* to Campy Ergo
shifters because of the convenience. If he does do this, get
a Campy rear der and he could use either a Campy hub rear
wheel/cassette or a Shimano hub rear wheel/cassette.

As to *upgrading* to a carbon fork, what does he expect it
to do for him. Unless he gets a carbon fork with a carbon
steerer tube, he's won't really save much weigh. Upgrading
to a carbon steerer tube will also require an aheadset type
headset and stem. More money. If he does go this route, make
sure he knows how high he wants his handlebars before
cutting the carbon steerer tube.

Quoted message said:

Would the rear dropouts need to be spread to accept a
modern cassette ?

Depends on when the frame was made. If the frame, which I
presume is steel, has a dropout distances of less than
130mm, he will need to spread the frame.

Duncan Cooper said:

My riding buddy has a 80's vintage Romic touring frame he
really likes. It's not really light or stiff, but it fits
him perfectly. I'm not sure how "high-end" the frame is,
but it's equipped with all Record components, which sez to
me it a may be a fairly high quality frame. He wants to
update it with a carbon fork, Ergopower shifters and a 9
sp cluster.

Is the frame worth upgrading ? (he's not a racer, but does
ride centuries)

Romics are decent frames. Handbuilt, IIRC, but most to off-the-
shelf specs rather than custom designed. Romic had a small
production facility in Texas, I believe.

Quoted message said:

Would the rear dropouts need to be spread to accept a
modern cassette ?

For a nine-speed? Most likely, yes.

--

-John ([email hidden])

In article <[email hidden]>,

Duncan Cooper said:

My riding buddy has a 80's vintage Romic touring frame he
really likes. It's not really light or stiff, but it fits
him perfectly. I'm not sure how "high-end" the frame is,
but it's equipped with all Record components, which sez to
me it a may be a fairly high quality frame. He wants to
update it with a carbon fork, Ergopower shifters and a 9
sp cluster.

Is the frame worth upgrading ? (he's not a racer, but does
ride centuries)

If he wants ergo shifters and lots of cogs I think that's
OK, he doesn't have an obligation to make it a museum piece.
I really like riding bikes with ergo shifters, it's a matter
of personal choice.

I'd leave the fork alone, you don't get any added
functionality from replacing it, and it would drive up
the cost of the work a lot. It will be expensive enough
with just drivetrain parts and wheel(s), and the fork
will make it ugly.

Quoted message said:

Would the rear dropouts need to be spread to accept a
modern cassette ?

Yes, they are probably 126mm if it's a 6-speed bike now. You
can just cram the wheel in there and ride it, but I prefer
to fix it properly so the wheel is easy to change.

--Paul