1988 Black Lightning Resto

[Peat]

Found this on fb marketplace for a few hundred and the seller even delivered it to me!

It had most of its original components but was in pretty bad shape, pretty sure it still had the original tyres and chain which was stretched nearly an extra inch.

Here's what I did:

- Somehow bought a Suntour Edge Accushift 4050 RD in black and gold to replace the 105 RD that was on the bike when I bought it.

- Bought and installed NOS Suntour Accushift cable housing for the RD

- Replaced both rims (one had a nipple that pulled through) with a set of good condition second hand Wolber GTX rims (what would have been on it)

- Repaired the Vetta saddle

- completely dismantled and rebuilt the 7sp freewheel, bottom bracket, hubs and headset

- New generic black pedals. KMC chain. Fizik bar tape

- Replaced top tube cable guides with the repros from VC as there was one missing (sold the other two)


It has SR Ovaltech rings on it at the moment (not sure if they were factory?) but I've just located a pair of 52/42 black NOS Suntour Superbe that I'll put on it. Might get a NOS 7sp Accushift freewheel in the future too for a complete drivetrain overhaul.

The bike feels great and rides like a charm. Always wanted one of the cantilevered BL's with all OG components!

Serial number is Sep 88, 58cm.

Last photo is a before shot

 

[black lightning 1987]

Nice work, the bike looks great. I'm pretty sure it's a 1989 SR500, which came with Edge. The 1988 BL was the Sprint equipped SR700. The oval chainrings are original.

 

[Brian]

Nice. And I love to see people use the A113 guides. It is an 1989. The rear dropouts...

 

[Peat]

Thanks guys!

Cool, I couldn't see it in any of the catalogs so good to know the edge and oval tech rings are original!

The code on the frame is 58101188167 so I guess it was made in 88 for the 89 release.
I actually kind of prefer the cantilever dropouts to be honest. Makes the bike look a little 'tighter' or something.

The chain rings are pretty worn, I would love to find a pair of black ovaltechs somewhere, I can see suitable roundtech's on eBay though.

 

[black lightning 1987]

The 1989 catalog that we have only has pictures of a couple of models. You have to look at the specification pages at the end of the catalog to help ID 1989 bikes.

Were the rings that you have made by SR? SunTour made some black rings - I have Superbe Pro on my Black Lightning. Guessing that the Edge rings may have been SR though. TA made black rings with 130 mm bolt circle so that's another option for round rings. Probably several other options.

 

[Peat]

The rings on it now are SR. The black Suntour Superbe that I mentioned in my first post turned out to be the wrong BCD so I didn’t end up getting them.

I can see black SR roundtech’s on eBay with the right BCD but it would cost me $150 or to get them to Aus so I am just going to stick with these old worn rings for as long as I can!

The bike actually rides so well the only thing is that it skips when cranking hard on the large chainring and the smallest sprocket.
Also the Edge RD has no b screw so I can’t try and curl it around any more.
Surprisingly the teeth on the freewheel look nearly perfect but the chainrings are worn badly.

 

[black lightning 1987]

What's the bolt circle of the crank? I just assumed that it was 130 mm. Older Superbe would have been 144 I guess.

I've had a new chain skip on Campagnolo 8 speed cogs that looked fine too. If it only skips on the small cog, you should be able to find a replacement. Just be sure to ID the model of the freewheel. Too bad it's not a cassette as I have lots of NOS cassette cogs. I have a few freewheel cogs but I don't recall any first position cogs.

 

[Peat]

It's 130mm!

I think I'll just live with it for the next little while. Maybe next Christmas I'll try and completely replace the drivetrain with NOS stuff. There's a part of me that wants to 'update' it with some kind of Shimano setup but I don't want to kill the originality of it!

 

[black lightning 1987]

Finding NOS for a decent price will be hit and miss. I'd be constantly on the lookout for a reasonably priced crank and freewheel. When those kind of deals turn up they won't be around long, and it might be years before the next one pops up. Happy to help with ebay sellers who won't ship to Australia, but it will add to the cost.

 

[Peat]

Thanks! I'll definitely keep an eye out.

I think I'll just ride it as it is until it can't be brought back to life. I only ride about 20km a week so that may be sometime seeing that it seems to be working well at the moment!

I can see a few NOS oval tech rings but none that are black in the correct BCD and I'm also guessing the black and gold decal on these was a one off for the BL!

 

[black lightning 1987]

I might go the opposite direction and replace the rings now with black FSAs or whatever you can find for a good price. I may have a new outer ring in the spares box, but perhaps not the inner.

 

[Peat]

After thinking about it for a while I've decided to keep the BL mostly housed and pick up another bike for everyday use.
For the time being I don't have an indoor storage area for bikes so I'll put the BL in the attic and keep it covered. I'd be very upset if anything ever happened to it being outside (in a cover) or from commuting. Also I'll try and get it back to full original spec with a Suntour chain and some MKS pedals!
When I get a bigger house it'll have a home and be a special occasion rider I think,

In the meantime I've picked up a 60cm CAAD 4 R1000 (2001 maybe?) in the most offensive yet beautiful finish (Black - Red - Yellow fade). It's still got it's mostly Shimano 6500 groupset in good condition and I'm just about to finish off the touchups on it. Will post a photo of it here when it's done!

 

[black lightning 1987]

I don't ride my BL very often either, I'd hate to damage it. I always liked the fades, have never seen the black/red/yellow except in the catalog. 2001 is the correct year. I didn't remember that the late CAAD4 frames have 1 1/8" head tubes. That's a nice plus as it is getting harder to find good 1" forks, especially for large frames. I believe Columbus may still make the 1" Minimal but I don't know of any others.

 

[Peat]

The CAAD 4 seems to be going well. I had gotten used to the slightly clunky downtube shifting and vintage drivetrain on the BL so the 9sp Ultegra on the CAAD 4 is like a dream!

So much so that I'm now considering trying to get a modern Shimano system on the BL. I'd keep all the original parts so I could put it back if needed. I've never tried it but was wondering if you have any experience / opinions on getting a 130mm hub into a frame like this?

 

[black lightning 1987]

I ran a 130 mm hub on a 1987 SR600 for a number of years. It's not too hard to spring the rear triangle enough to make it fit but it's not recommended to do so as the dropouts are forced to bend when the skewer is tightened down. This could eventually result in cracking. If you're not committed to 9 speed and just want STI, you could use a Tourney 7 speed shifter with either a cassette or freewheel 126 mm hub. Another option would be using 8 speed STI with the large cog and spacer removed from an 8 speed cassette, fitted to a 126 mm cassette hub. Not sure how many Hyperglide 126 mm hub models there were, but the 105 FH-1055 is one. If 11-26 cogs work for you, removing the 28 cog from an 11-28 cassette would work. Most Shimano cassettes require you to grind the rivet heads off in order to take them apart but that is easily done. Sram cassettes are the same spacing and are held together with small hex head screw. You could also use a Uniglide hub to get other gearing combinations. I have lots of NOS Uniglide cogs and cassettes, including the fairly rare thread-on small cogs and 8 speed spacers. Just remember if using Dura Ace parts from the 8 speed era you must have the STI and rear derailleur both DA. You can mix 105, Ultegra, and many other 8/9 derailleur models but DA 8 had different cable pull from everything else.

 

[Peat]

Ah amazing, thanks for all that info, much appreciated!

You've just made me realise that my wife's old bike which is in the attic and has only ridden about 20km since new actually has a 7 speed tourney system.

I think I'll look into putting that freewheel on my Sansin/Wolber wheelset, switch over the RD, maybe get some new chainrings and a set of Tourney levers.

Probably the least intrusive and most cost effective way of getting lever shifters on this.

Will report back with progress, thanks so much again!

 

[black lightning 1987]

Tourney is probably the simplest solution. You might give your wife's bike a try if you can fit on it. Some folks don't like the thumb button on the lower end STI as compared to the paddle on the upper groups. Doesn't bother me though. Your SunTour freewheel may index fine with the Shimano setup but I'm guessing you will need a Shimano derailleur. I have seen people running mixed SunTour/Shimano shifter and derailleur but never tried it myself. Seems unlikely shifting would be as good as all Shimano.

 

[Peat]

UPDATE!

Ok so after much back and forth and buying and selling of bits I decided to keep it as original as possible but try and make it as new as possible.

So I hunted down a NOS Suntour 7sp AP freewheel (which has a 28 which is helping on the hills! (original was 26))
Removed the Ovaltech rings (keeping for posterity) and installed a NOS SR Roundtech 53 ring and an off the shelf Sunrace 39.
I've also put in some NOS Suntour jockey wheels and am trying a 9 speed Shimano HG chain.
So now it has basically a brand new drivetrain and it is working very well. Shifting is fast and reliable, no chain skip and I've been able to get the FD working much better than it was with the oval rings.
Gearing spread and ratios are much nicer imo too coming from an 11-26 and 52/42 to an 11-28 and 53/39.

That along with a slightly longer seat post and some sleeker BBB bar tape and I'm happy!

I still have the command shifters and may give them a go at some point but I think I'm liking the minimal clean look of the DT shifters for now.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Bike looks good, your changes make sense to me.

 

[IdahoBrett]

Verrrry Nice Black Lightning!

Cheers Mate