Old school 10 speed

[Sam Perez]

My old school 10 speed bike ( allthough definitely too big for me) rides better than some modern bikes. I don't know of it's the frame geometry or components.  With a 42 up front and maybe 28 in the back i claimed hills with less perceivable effort... Could it be the frame? Or the 10 speed? It weighs as much as a fully fendered custom rando bike with bells and whistles. 

Any one weigh in on why my old 10 speed seems to glide? 

[J L]

Sam,

I bet the larger (correct) frame size puts you in a better position for how you ride. I’m with you, a bike doesn’t need modern bells and whistles to ride well. 

Jason 

SF,CA

On Nov 11, 2020, at 11:51 AM, Sam Perez <sam.per...@gmail.com> wrote:



My old school 10 speed bike ( allthough definitely too big for me) rides better than some modern bikes. I don't know of it's the frame geometry or components.  With a 42 up front and maybe 28 in the back i claimed hills with less perceivable effort... Could it be the frame? Or the 10 speed? It weighs as much as a fully fendered custom rando bike with bells and whistles. 

Any one weigh in on why my old 10 speed seems to glide? 

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[Mark Roland]

Hey Sam. Is your "old school 10-speed bike"  a Schwinn Continental? Or a Raleigh International? Or a Fuji Finest? What are the "some modern bikes" you refer to? How are you defining definitely too big? A fistful of seatpost? Saddle slammed against frame and still can barely reach pedals fully extended? Less perceivable effort compared to what?

The answer to your question will always be subjective, never definitive. In this case, even taking a crack at answering it is impossible, since your post does not include any relevant information. But sure, some old 10 speeds glide real nice. Enjoy!

[Sam Perez]

Less than a fist on a mirella road frame , with old campy 5 speed and sun hub up front . It's about half a fist and the top tube was so long I had to put north road bars to compensate even with the upright position and 33c tires it handled nicely , on climbs it doesn't flop around like my mountain bike or dedicated rando bike.

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[Joe Bernard]

Ah, me-thinks you have answered your own question. If your bike is flopping around on an incline you're going to lose time and energy fighting it. This is one of the nifty things Grant designs into Rivs (learned on the dreaded Mt. Diablo climbs), they track straight and go up.

[Sam Perez]

What angle range gives flop and what range doesn't. So I can find a frame geometry with that in mind. How to people check geometry on a bike before the internet?

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[Mark Roland]

I had a Mirella once, it was kind of goldish tan, and had a silver and red foil decal head badge of a girl's head that looked a bit like Jackie O (I think it was Mirella, the bike company's owner's daughter's name. Wow, three possessive apostrophes. Italian, 531 straight gauge, chromed lugs. I thought I had taken a photo of that kookie, Riv-worthy head badge, but if I did, I can't find it.

During certain fashion  eras, that bike would probably be considered an okay fit for you. If you really like the bike, you might consider the 60mm open face stem Riv offers, once it is back in stock. You could then run short reach shallow drops if that was something you wanted to do. (I'm getting one actual reach 49 or something with the rise, to mess with drops on my Susie.) If that's not short enough, Analog has a zero.

My Mirella came with a beautiful 3-arm steel Campy Gran Sport crank, which I still have. Here it is, with a different, single, small-as-I-could-find-in-this-weird-bcd, chain ring, on my Bianchi 650B city bike build:

[Mark Roland]

Couple of Mirellas on ebay, not my gold tan one though. I suspect from the head badge material and design, my bike dated from the 1970s. Here is a Mirella head badge from an earlier time.  She does not look like Jackie O in this one.

[Mark Roland]

Here's the head tube decal I had, though. I guess maybe more Goldie Hawn circa Laugh-In rather than Jackie O. London Mod?

[Sam Perez]

Yes that was the decal the paint was coming off so I powder coated the frame. It had old campy parts. I replaced the campy shifters with silver shifters. 

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