I completed this frame last summer when I was between jobs. Like the first frame I built, I used vintage lugs and traditionally-sized steel tubing. The size and geometry of this frame was based on the famous Bridgestone RB-1, of which I owned a 1990 edition, and which had the best handling characteristics of any steel road bike I have ever ridden.
Read on to see more of the build process and results!
I’ve had this bike for a couple of months now, but I only recently got around to taking some pictures. It’s an original Grant Petersen-designed Bridgestone RB-1 from 1990, and when I found it on eBay, it came with all the stock parts: Suntour GPX drivetrain, Hatta Vesta headset, Dia-Compe BRS 400 brakes and levers, and Sansin hubs with Wolber rims.
A month ago I switched the groupset to a NOS Shimano Santé group I pieced together. Santé is a rare and misunderstood groupset – in 1987 Shimano created it with the idea of appealing to consumers who wanted pro-quality parts with a slicker design. Perhaps due to the cheesy name and white powdercoated parts, many people assume Santé is low-end stuff – not so! Mechanically, it sits between Ultegra and Dura-Ace., and the Disraeli Gears site enthusiastically calls it “most innovative and influential derailleurs in recent history.”
Santé performs beautifully – after switching the groupset this bike went from “very good” to a truly remarkable and amazing ride. It’s now my favorite bike, the kind you look forward to riding, regardless of the weather. The shifters are set to friction and it shifts and coasts smoothly and nearly silently.
I held onto the original parts for the RB-1 in case I ever decide to sell it, but it will take a pretty special bike to replace this one. More pictures after the jump…