Part 1 of the transformation of this old 1980’s steel Alpina frame built from Reynolds 500 tubing to a gravel road slayer.
Follow my IG account here to see what else I get up to in my garage regarding vintage parts restorations
https://instagram.com/buffsvintagebikes?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
11 Comments
Leave the patina. Looks great.
This is going to be a very interesting one to follow. Patina gets my vote. Simple cleanup and touch-up where need be. 👌👍
Respray it! Matching frame and forks will look 👌 especially as you have all the equipment already.
ouch! one thing I was lucky with throughout years of riding was crashes. I never crashed in a race, and only a few times training. got concussion and lots of scars, but never broke a collar-bone!!
can't wait to see what you come up with with this build 🙂
could do a lovely paint job fading into a patinated look? a bit different I guess?
Hey Buff sorry to hear about your injuries while out on the bike and wish you a quick
recovery.
Regarding the frame you showed on this video ,I. will not even give an opinion .
I look forward to seeing the technique and the look you want to achieve.
Looking forward to your next video.
All the best!
Hope you recover soon Buff sorry to hear about your spill. Bunch riding is a lost art these days, I ride with a bunch of 'new age' riders who don't have a clue about bunch riding only watts and Strava segments. Great video BTW.
Leave it as is and I wouldn't worry about the weight, inertia is your friend once you get rolling. Thanks for the video.
Hey Brett…sounds like a great project! I am with you…nothing wrong with a vintage steel gravel. I would like to see a mono colour paint job for the frame and fork. Sorry to hear about the mishap…been there and now having flashbacks!!! I was riding our local Mount Norquay hill climb and on the descent going about 60 kho when a rookie who was riding my slipstream clipped my back wheel with the result being us both crashing. My whole right side was road rash…no clothing left and 2 broken teeth (and 2 root canals and porcelain caps😠). I got up and proceeded to berate the kid with unkind words and threw his bike over the side of the road down a hillside…not my finest hour but my poor customer Colnago that I had worked years for suffered a lot of damage…still remember that vividly even 30+ hrs later. I hope you get all healed up and back to normal…including your great videos.
Fun and good approach for a gravel bike!
I did something very similar with a late '70s 531 frame I bought for small money. Widened the rear to fit 130mm hubs, groupset is an Ultegra 3×9 (6503) and I added a Ritchey gravel bar in blank aluminium to stick to the classic looks. Rims are Rigida DP18, indestructible and yet looking great. As you said, these older frames allow bigger tyres, 35mm easily fit (at least on my build) and have a slacker geometry and longer wheelbase, perfect for gravel.
The paint job: Stick to the original paint, maybe add some pin stripes around the lugs. Will come out really cool!
ugh, feel better!
Looking forward to see this. Get well soon. 👌