I’m thinking about getting some nice leather bar tape and a brooks saddle to give it that sleek vintage look. Any thoughts on how else I should upgrade it? Thanks!
Also I figure I should adjust the seat angle as it feels like it’s leaning too far back.
by ljera8
12 Comments
You landed a good deal—my only recommendation would be to go to bar-end or brake lever shifters. One cool thing about Bridgestones is that you probably have enough wheel clearance to go to wider tires for more of a gravel bike feel. I’d love to find one of those in a bigger size.
New saddle (never Brooks for me) and Eggbeaters. Done.
Looks like a Dura-Ace crankset which is nice. Aside from the improvements you suggest I’d tilt the bars back down & enjoy the bike.
We rode & raced downtube shifters for years & lived to tell the tale, they’ll work fine.
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Edit: Here’s the bike as originally built – https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1985/pages/07-bridgestone-700.html
seat angle is weird. at some point the handlebars were rotated to fit someone too small for the bike. they should be rotated so the drops are parallel to the top tube. brooks are overrated on here in my opinion and get recommended to everyone for everything even though bike seats are *extremely* subjective and brooks in particular need to be broken in.
you posted elsewhere about whether this could be a “gravel setup.” there is almost nothing that inherently makes a bike a “gravel bike” even though the bike industry will tell you otherwise — it’s mostly marketing.
what does/does not make a bike a “gravel bike” is whether it can fit the right tires for the surface you’re riding. some “gravel” is so smooth and fine that you’d be more than comfortable riding road tires on it. some “gravel” is so coarse that you should have tubeless tires and wheels for it. so it depends on what you want to ride it on, but this could totally be a “gravel bike.”
I would keep it silver and 80ies, no brifters. I would change the saddle to an 80ies saddle such as a Turbo.
I would guess the bike as it sits right now is worth somewhere around 150-200 dollars. I am guesing though.
If the braking is poor, clean the rims with glass cleaner and look into getting Salmon Pads. These salmon colored pads work well with the anodized rims.
Looks nice and nice price.
If you’re just getting into cycling just ride. Don’t change any parts until you learn what you like. Try the seat parallel to the ground. I’d move the brake levers down the bars but you’ll need to retape so leave that for a bit.
Your lock won’t deter a thief. Those cable locks are just a bundle of thin cable and are quick to cut.
Please just keep it how it is, at least for now. It looks like a great example of a nice bike from that era. Nothing wrong with a new seat and some bar tape but I wouldn’t “upgrade” anything else
For real Pineapple Bob Mojo, put a bar end shifter on the right. It was the rage before the introduction of Edward Shifterhands.
Beautiful bike! I agree you should just ride it as is for awhile before making significant changes. But I’ll list the changes I would consider. I do all my own mechanic work, so I am not accounting for paying shop labor. But none of this is not difficult, and I always encourage new cyclists to develop basic maintenance skills. Remember all suggestions are personal preference. You do you.
If you don’t go to brifters (I don’t recommend this) Tektro makes a few brake levers that have a better shape for riding on the hoods than some of the older aero levers. TRP RRL, or RL 340. The hood design is very much like modern brifters, very comfortable.
Concerning comments on upgrading to brifters: this is a 6-speed Shimano SIS system. Modern brifters are not compatible. Older brifters compatible with 7 or 8 speed would work. 6 – 8 speed freewheels/cassettes all have the same cog spacing (verify on [sheldonbrown.com](https://sheldonbrown.com)) so you would need a (now vintage) brifter that is compatible. Pretty sure those old brifters have the shift housing coming out of the side, a bit clunky looking. A problem with (most) brifters for the front derailler is you lose the ability to trim the cage position.
Bar end shifters are a big ergonomic improvement over downtube. Shimano Dura Ace bar ends are great, the right can run friction or indexed (9 spd), and the left is friction only. Other excellent friction-only bar end shifters are also available (Rivendelll, Soma). I have used the Dura Ace bar ends for the past 5 years and love them in friction.
Saddles are completely personal preference. I’ve been riding a leather saddle for a long time (OMG, 45 years!) and am pretty sure what breaks in is your butt, not the saddle. I take a 30 year old Ideale, switch out with a brand new Brooks and feel no difference. People either love them or hate them (because so many people love them, I think), but you do you. I think leather saddles are more comfortable.
New brake pads: Yokozuna makes a replacement that looks great with vintage side-pull brakes. [https://www.yokozunausa.com/shop/yokozuna-road-brake-shoes-1-wheel-2497?category=715&search=yoko#attr=4201,4517,3819](https://www.yokozunausa.com/shop/yokozuna-road-brake-shoes-1-wheel-2497?category=715&search=yoko#attr=4201,4517,3819)
Run the widest tire you can. Wider is better on gravel than narrow, but all depends on the nature of the gravel. I’ve ridden many hundreds of miles of ‘easy’ gravel on vintage 25mm sew-up tires. 28mm tires are fine for lots of gravel.
Seat angle is easy, and one of the things you should always personalize.
It’s a nice midlevel racing cruiser … Great for cruising, though not so great for heavy loaded errands or touring.
I just fixed up my 1985 Bridgestone 700, and it’s incredible. Have fun fixing it up! I think this bike is a huge sleeper. Basically an RB-1 without the distinct paint jobs (though in my books, red with chrome fork is the superior bicycle paint job).
I agree with u/PJ48N that the TRP RRL levers are the best non-brifter levers you can buy, but at a price.
I approve of leather tape: I actually put Velo Orange rubbery bar tape, which I think has most of the look of leather, the feel of the thickest cork, but more practical than both…but I wouldn’t recommend it to you because I already put it on mine 😉
I’ve posted my bike around here a couple times, but I’ve updated it a bit since then (about a month ago) so I’ll have to post again soon.