1983 PUCH ULTIMA or IN PRAISE OF THE MIXED GRUPPO

Well after nearly three years of on and off

negations I finally came to an agreement with the

owner of this very nice "83 Puch Ultima, and so

much to my pleasure I am now the proud owner of

one of Austria's finest.

The Puch as it arrived, in great original condition, 

just in need of a new wheel set, a tidy, and a good service, 
which I got straight into.

After a day of cleaning and servicing the Puch ready for
it's debut ride.
All I have changed is the stem (120mm), brake hoods
unfortunately the original Modolo anatomical hood were
perished.Some new toes straps, and a set of 28 hole 
Zeus/Mavic tub wheels.

On a short 50km test ride, wonderful.....

Everything on this bike seemed to just work so well together, 
which got me to thinking about the traditional mixed group set.
which have really become quite a rare sight.
Even restorers of classic road bikes (myself included!)
tend to build up their latest obsession with a single classic
gruppo in mind.
However in New Zealand at least, many road men would,
after buying their selected frameset, carefully select components
from various manufactures. Obviously taking into account
performance, price and their wallet. 

One of the reasons I was so interested in this bike, was it's
great mix of components.Cinelli stem and bars, Campagnolo
headset..classic combo.
I changed the original Cinelli for this longer one.

Modolo Equipe' brake set.

Campagnolo Pat. 83 Super Record
rear derailleur.
Suntour Winner freewheel.
Notice the chrome drop outs...nice.

 Campagnolo chainset/pedal set.
Omega bottom bracket.

Shimano Dura Ace front derailleur, black anodized to 
match the super record rear derailleur.

Simplex friction shifter, some say the best shifting
friction shifter made, I wouldn't argue.
Very pretty chrome fork crown and sharp white lug lining.

Neat cluster, Campagnolo SR seat pin.

Bernard Hinault/Turbo saddle, comfy. 

So all in all an extremely well thought out overall package,
that really does ride as good as it looks, and you defiantly 
can't say that about every bike.
Whomever originally put this together must have really known 
their stuff...a keeper for sure.

BTW if Puch and/or Austro Daimler are your thing there is
a really good history of the company and their bikes
here.