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