Fast 80s bikes

[liveseaandsky]

I'm looking to buy a road bike from around the 1980s to get me started cycling on a proper road bike. I'm really looking for the fastest bikes from that period but am really struggling to compare second hand bike listings. Any information about what to look for and what bikes were fast would be very useful.

 

[alfeng]

HMmmm. Well, the COLNAGO MEXICO was certainly one of the faster bikes around at the time ...

BUT, it was probably due to the riders who rode them ...

What distinguished the faster road bikes from the 80s were sew-up tires on wheels whose rims were generally laced on Campagnolo Nuovo Record hubs ... Campagnolo components were typical even though the Japanese SunTour & Shimano components were functionally better ...

• BASICALLY, the components often distinguished the caliber of the bike frame since few people retrofitted better components on lesser frame ...
• the exception was my gas pipe framed Gitane which I completely retrofitted with Sugino cranks + Shimano DA derailleurs + tubular rims on Campagnolo hubs at one point in time ... even with the superior components, the bike weighed a relatively porky ~24 lbs.

A super-duper bike from the 80s will have a rolling weight of under 10 kg. (presuming a 13-19 Freewheel) ... some closer to 21 lbs.

Look for a COLUMBUS or a Reynolds 531 label on the frame.