We recently had this little gem in at our Berea shop for some work. It is a Royce Union Savoy. I haven't been able to find out much about the company, except that the Royce Union was a 'dept. store bike.' However this did catch my eye, because this is a full Ti frame, with a Ti handlebar and I believe a Ti fork. These were the first impressions.I asked how old the bike was, and the customer told me around 20 years old.
Then upon further inspection, the entire bike is out fitted with XTR. (the drool started) This is full XTR. Except the XT front derailleur. No fault there.
But I'm talking hubs, brakes, rear derailleur, crankset, shifter/brake lever set. All this stuff is at least 20 years old.Took my time with this, and cleaned it up really nice with Pledge (hope they like orange sent). Took it on a short little test ride, and it shifts like new. XTR has always been like this. Always nice and smooth no matter how old. The only down fall that I found was the length of the stem. On a bike that is built for a short guy like me with a 130mm stem, it just felt jacked up. Bring down the stem length and kill the angle, and it would be a nice ride.
It could use some more work, but I only do what the customer wants and pays for.
That being said, it is kind of funny, in retrospect, riding something that old. Even taking the Kona Kilauea from '96 in the shop for a quick little ride around town to get some air is an experience. Just the overall different geometry and gearing ideas that where, even now takes some getting used to.
In any case, I hope to see this one again.
Enjoy the ride, whatever it may be, wherever you are going...
