I am planning on restoring my Eric Hendren frame (lugged frame, aero non-lugged fork). I am dating it from the builder and the tubing, Reynolds 708 Classic. Any other insight into dating it would be appreciated.
I want to build it up with period-ish parts and am trying to establish what would make a nice parts list. I’m quite keen to keep it a Japanese and Australian build, and to use parts to complement the frame (ie. no extreme out of place parts). It will be built for occasional road use (with clamp on brake) and as my first decent bike/wall art etc.
Share your knowledge on 80’s 90’s track bikes. Speaking to the person I bought it off who raced track back in the day I got lot’s of info but that was over a year ago and I’m trying to establish a complete long term plan so I can get this project under way.
What sort of wheels were popular? Box section? Deep V aero style? Where high flange hubs popular? What about cranks? Sugino 75? Might Comps?
This is the kinda thing I’m after. Basically what was considered “cool” and what was used back in the day?
Some parts I have which I was planing on using:
[ul]
[li]Nitto B123 NJS steel bars
[/li][li]Nitto Jaguar Al. NJS stem
[/li][li]MKS RX-1 NJS track pedals (Will get MKS cages and straps to suit)
[/li][li]Sugino SP-H fluted seat post, hard to find decent affordable 26.8 posts (Want to try match the main components)
[/li][/ul]
Low box tubular rims, probably hard ano. All the Nitto as you say. 7600 would be my pick for the cranks/hubs/headset unless you want to run a Tange Levin or Hatta for the headset (and BB in the case of Hatta), maybe something more obscure for the hubset. Suntour Superbe would also be pretty rad as a groupset.
There are plenty of 26.8mm Suntour Superbe and Superbe Pro seat posts getting around on eBay. Also the Superbe equivalent Sugino post too (they came out of the same factory anyways).
708 was only the 3 main tubes and was a Manganese Molybdenum and were not butted, but had 8 flats running along the length of the tube. The fork and rear triangle would have been 753… Tubeset was only produced for a couple of years in the 80’s. I have seen quite a few Hendrens and Llewellyns in 708. was usually used for heavy riders or touring frames I believe
Yeah I had researched the tube set a bit. I forgot it was deep into the 80’s which dates my frame a bit older than I thought. 708 was also used for track bikes as it was stronger/stiffer for sprinting.
I had a quick look at DA headset. Great snakes! $100 for a used headset! I can get a brand new Tange Levin enjayess for $40.
As for rims, it’s definitely clinchers only. So when did aero/deep V style rims gain popularity? I was eyeing off polished Velocity Deep Vs as a cheap Australian substitute for the re-issued Araya Super Aero SA730 which I would ultimately love. For low box would open pros be suitable?