Well, as expected I’m learning so much with this project! This weekend’s life lesson was to widen one’s gaze. Certainly vintage Campagnolo is stunning, and would be correct for dad’s bike, but I discovered a treasure trove of bike jewelry that mere mortals might actually afford: Shimano 600 Arabesque.

Man, is this stuff beautiful! It is the vintage analog to modern Ultegra, and was made from 1978 to 1984. I love the engraving, and the black enamel accents are the perfect counterpoint to the rich black paint on dad’s bike.

I have included extra-large photos if you want to click to make them huge.

The front derailleur is relatively restrained, when you see the rest of the component group.

Absolutely stunning downtube shifters – but Dad doesn’t want downtube shifters! More on that later…

The cranks are in perfect condition, they hardly look used.

I went with a short cage derailleur because we’ll just have a double crankset in front. I hope it will have enough pull.

Note the engraving and fluting on the front face as well as the derailleur cage.

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