@Geoff 84621 wrote:
to find suitable components to maintain the bike
this can be as deep and dark a black hole as you want it to be. Some general guidance for 70’s vintage road racing bikes: Italian bikes usually have Italian parts and in most cases are very much worth keeping to either sell the parts or refurbish them (refurbishing is where you can spend vast amounts of time and money, much like restoring vintage or antique cars). French and Belgian bikes usually have French/Belgian parts and very seldom are they worth keeping. If you find a French/Belgian bike with Italian parts, it’s usually worth keeping. English bikes are not very common stateside (aside from Raliegh), so in general they may not be the nicest, but they may represent good value. German/Austrian bikes are generally even more elusive, but usually of poor quality (damn near unridable the few that i’ve seen personally). There was one Austrian manufacturer that did actually make some nice bikes, but very few were imported to the US. If you see a German or Austrian bike with italian components, definitely grab it! American vintage road racing bikes with quality tubesets are generally keepers, though the French vs. Italian thing applies to the components, too. You’ll definitely see a handful of Japanese vintage rr bikes around, but most are only middling quality.
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