Superia track ready

The Superia track bike is ready to ride now. Here's a full spec.

Frame and fork: Superia track, Ishiwata 022, 59 cm centre - top

Headset: Shimano Dura Ace track, UA-100 or HP-7500

Cranks: Shimano Dura Ace 10, FC-7000, 165 mm, 52 T / 49 T

Bottom Bracket set: Shimano Dura Ace track, BB-7500, BC thread, 107 mm axle length

Hubs: Shimano Dura Ace 10, HB-7020, 36 H

Rims: Alesa 913, clincher, silver, 36 H

Spokes: DT Swiss Competition, 2.0 - 1.8 mm, silver

Tyres: Veloflex Master 23 clincher foldable

Sprocket: Shimano Dura Ace 10, SS-7000, BC33 x 24 TPI threading for special Dura Ace 10 hub only, 16 T

Chain: Shimano Dura Ace 10, CN-7000

Pedals: MKS Sylvan Track, silver

Toe clips: MKS steel, chrome plated, size L

Toe straps: Alfredo Binda Prestige

Saddle: Arius Special Saddle Quilted

Seat Post: SR Sakae Ringyo New Royal Extra Super Light, NRY-ESL, 27.0 mm

Stem: SR Sakae Ringyo New Royal Super Light, NRY-130SL, 13 cm

Handlebars: SR Sakae Ringyo Road Custom, 42 cm centre - centre

Bar tape: Ambrosio Ribbon white

Seat post SR Sakae Ringyo New Royal Extra Super Light

This SR seat post is not 100% the ideal match with the Super Light stem, but I will rate it as 9 out of 10.
This ESL post must be exactly the same type as I had on my old Batavus.
Back then, it was already a very, very nice seat post, although no Campagnolo and not Italian.
In the past experienced some bending problems with the lightweight (fragile) machined head and maybe even breakage at the end. This post is nearly new and unused and during the installation on my Superia track bike everything was still looking okay.
The assembly of the saddle is a bit a pain in the neck. The Campagnolo-like 2 bolt construction may be a safe one, but reaching and turning the bolts is fiddly, especially with a regular wrench. After so many years it's really to look out for a special Campagnolo wrench for this kind of job.
My Superia frame is made with Ishiwata 022 tubing and I measured an internal seat tube diameter of 27.2 mm, but a seat post of that size goes in quite difficult. So, during my hunt for a proper SR seat post, I didn't limit myself to a 27.2 mm size, but I felt free to go for a 27.0 mm size as well. Now I have that size and the seat post goes into the frame (too?) easily, but it still may be better than forcing a 27.2 mm post into the frame and damaging the post. It will work.

Alfredo Binda Prestige toe straps

When it comes to toe straps for platform pedals and toe clips, there's just one brand: Alfredo Binda.
This "Prestige" is a 2 ply leather version with a layer of nylon in between to reduce stretch and to increase the durability.
I don't know if it performs really better than the standard Binda's. I remember from a few decades ago, that one laminated in particular wasn't any better. I cannot remember if it was the same construction as this Prestige type though. Time will tell.
Additionally, the width of the leather near the buckle is also wider for more comfort.

I will put these straps on my Superia track bike, which as generally built up with Japanese parts, but since I don't trust other straps than Binda's, I will use these. Besides that, I will use some other European parts. Also, Superia and other 1970s and 1980s bike manufacturers mixed and matched all kinds of components, so why shouldn't I? Tyres from Veloflex, bar tape from Ambrosio / Bike Ribbon, saddle from Arius, rims from Alesa... But the full group set, the "triplette" (as the French call the combination of bars, stem and seat post), as well as the pedals and toe clips are from Japan.

Stem SR Sakae Ringyo New Royal Super Light

My first road bike was a second hand Batavus Professional: a former amateur team bike from 1978.
The frame was built with Reynolds 531 tubing and it was assembled with Shimano Dura Ace componentry. The bars, stem and seat post were from another Japanese company: Sakae Ringyo (SR). Not the generic low end OEM components, but good, high end stuff.
The stem was milled in the centre of the clamp to make it lightweight and the same was done to the head of the seat post. This was something that top Italian manufacturers (Cinelli, 3ttt, Campagnolo) didn't do in those days. But still, my bike components were Japanese and regarded as "less quality". In a certain way, it was correct, because the milled head of the seat post tended to bend a little, when the 2 saddle clamping bolts were tightened. I can't remember if something ever broke or not. Maybe I just switched over to Italian stuff because of the good image and because it was broadly available in the market.

When I bought my Superia track frame with the nearly complete Dura Ace 10 group set, I had the idea to build the bike with as much as possible Japanese parts. Of course not with the middle-of-the-road "Custom" series or a Laprade seat post, but if possible with more classy stuff, like I had on my old Batavus.
At that time, I didn't realize how rare these parts are nowadays and how difficult it would be to obtain it in the right specification.

The first part I obtained for the Superia is the handlebar stem.
I always need very long stems (13 or 14 cm) and it was very hard to find an SR of this length.
First I found a beautifully Superia-pantographed 3ttt stem in the States, but I played the poker game too much and I lost it. So, I nearly dropped the idea of going fully Japanese, but because of this loss, I was back on track again.
At nearly the same time I found a nice SR stem in England and this time I won.
It's not the same as the New Royal Extra Super Light (NRY-ESL) of the Batavus, but it's a New Royal Super Light (NRY-130SL). No milling in the clamp, but fluted at the sides and at the top. Still a very nice stem. And, of course, the right dimensions: 130 mm, 22.2 mm, 25.4 mm.

Gazelle Jeugd Race II

The Gazelle Jeugd Race 24" as it should look like.
Looks much better with a decent saddle, pedals, brake levers and bar tape.

49T and 52T chain rings Dura Ace 10 mm pitch

Due to my own dumbness and some bad luck, I lost my 10 mm pitch chain ring.
But thanks to the great support of Neil, my British friend in Tokyo, I got this 49T replacement. For a very attractive price, like new and with a bunch of lovely stamps.
Now, the group set is complete again.


EDIT (2013/Sept/04): Lucky me! The postman brought back the missing 52 teeth chain ring, so now I have two, one with 49 and one with 52 teeth.

Gazelle Jeugd Race

I've just picked up a gorgeous 1980 Gazelle Jeugd Race bike. This 46 cm framed road bike with 24" tubular wheels is in a nice condition and will make a beautiful retro racer for one of my kids. The problems are: they don't ride that much and there are already several nice (retro and newer, road and MTB) kid bikes in my garage. On top of that: my son, who rides with my every now and then, is slowly getting too large for a road bike with 24" wheel size. But if I get the opportunity to buy such a lovely bike, I cannot resist. I will clean and restore it and see if the kids will ride it. Otherwise, someone else can do his junior a big favour.

Frame and fork: Full Reynolds 531c.
Hubs: Pelissier 36H.
Rims: Nisi tubular 36H.
Tubulars: Vittoria Junior 24"
Bars: 3ttt Tour de France, 38 cm o - o
Stem: SR (?) 6.5 cm.
Seat post: aluminium 27.2 mm.
Cranks: Ofmega 150 mm. w. steel ring 48T.
Pedals: Lyotard
BB-set: Sugino cups, Shimano axle 116 mm.

Wheels Dura Ace 10 track hubs to Alesa 913 clincher rims

Cut the rusty spokes of the old tubular wheels to separate the hubs from the Nisi rims. Disassembled and cleaned the hubs. Now I've got to polish all parts and put it together again with some new grease. Ball races and balls look excellent.

I've found a pair of clincher rims: Alesa 913 from Belgium, so that goes well together with the Superia frame kit.
The rims are NOS (new old stock) shiny silver colour aluminium, 36 holes. The only thing that worries me a little bit is, that these rims are a bit too new for the bike. I think the rims are from the late 1980, but that makes that everything is still within a time bracket of 10 years, which is acceptable. Alesa 913 rims are a little bit higher/deeper than flat, box section rims. I think I've used these rims in the late 1980s when our road team was sponsored by Vredestein and Alesa. The aero-ish rims without eyelets were absolutely terrible, but the more box section like rims with double eyelets were much better. We used them in road races and it was the hard anodised black/grey version. This silver version matches a lot better with the Superia frame with Dura Ace 10 series components.
It's very hard to find a pair of 36 hole clincher rims with unworn side walls from the late 1970. Most rims have been used on road biked, so brake signs are visible. Nearly all track wheels from that era have tubular rims, but for practical reasons I want clincher rims.

Spoke length calculators tell me that I need spokes of 288 mm. I've tried 290 mm, but that's far too long.
I'm going to order 286 mm and I'm pretty sure that thas is correct. (Edit: 286 mm wasn't available. I've ordered 285 mm and 287 mm. 285 mm was a bit too short and 287 was correct.
No idea if I will tie and solder the spokes. I'm already done that a couple of times. There's no real benefit, when you decide to do it, it mainly because of emotional and unlogical reasons. I will see.

Dura Ace 10 mm pitch track chain

Finally, I succeeded to get a Shimano Dura Ace 10 mm pitch chain. Or two chains, actually.
One chain is slightly used and I bought it for a fair price via Marktplaats.nl. Unfortunately, this chain is a bit too short for the gear combination I'm planning (and the parts I have), but I got a few spare links from a nice chap in U.K.
The second chain is brand new and in the original box. I obtained it straight from Shimano's bike museum in Sakai, Japan.
The chain is the heart of the unique Dura Ace 10 mm pitch track series. Regular bike chains have a 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) pitch: the distance from pin to pin. The 10 mm pitch chain has a 10 mm pitch, of course.
The pictures below show the difference between a 10 mm pitch chain (top) and a regular 1/2" pitch chain (bottom).
Due to this special 10 mm pitch chain, all parts involved, as well as the tools, are different.
The distance from tooth to tooth of the chain rings and sprockets is also reduced from 12.7 to 10 mm and als the overall diameters have decreased. This requires crank arms with a smaller BCD (bolt circle diameter) and a rear hub with a smaller thread size.

Show of classic track bikes during european championships

On Sunday 20. October 2013 an exhibition of classic track racing bikes will take place in the Omnisport Centre in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. This show will be a side event of the European Championships Track Cycling (18 - 20. October).
Owners, riders and other fans of track bikes produced before 1990 (roughly) are invited to join this event and to show their bikes to the audience. The bikes will be exhibited, knowledge and experience will be shared and, of course, there will be plenty time to enjoy the championships races.

During the break(s), experienced riders will be given the opportunity to ride some laps on the velodrome and to participate in a few races.

In the Omnisport Centre there are several restaurants, bars and counters to obtain all the food and drinks you'll need for the day.

Registration and information via
Facebook event page
e-mail: hofstedeharrie@gmail.com
Twitter: @hahofstede

More about this event on my special blog
or on Facebook