1981 Univega Viva Sport
Part Diary, Part Technical Manual, Part Tips & Tricks

My Alpine Sport is one of my favorite bikes, it fits really well, was very inexpensive to build, and looks very unique. So I've been thinking about building a sister bike, a fully geared mixte, using high end modern components. So I find this Univega mixte in my size, which is already rare. The bike is a time warp bike, completely original and probably not used very much over the years. But what makes it a real find is that it has a rear derailer hanger and braze-on for a water bottle cage. These are the two features that most mixte frames do not have, so I think its a really good score. The frame is also made of Cr-Mo steel instead of Hi-Tensile steel, so that is a jump in quality as well. My only criticism of the design is that the pair of top tubes are not perfectly straight in the traditional style. The tubes go from the head tube to the sides of the seat tube, then they gently flare out to the required width at the rear dropouts. This is still a true mixte frame, but its a cost cutting design, as it eliminates a very specific lug at this intersection. So on December 2, 2012, I purchased my second mixte bike, let the build begin!

12/9/2012 - I decided to take the bike out for a ride before I decide to do anything with it. So I put on some clipless pedals and an old saddle that fit me better, pumped up the tires to 90 psi and off I went. The original tires are pretty cracked, so I thought I would take it easy. But once I got on the road, I started going faster and faster, passing up a bunch of people along the way. The wheels were very heavy, the seatpost too short, and the stem was way too short, but it was close enough. When all was said I done, I had done my 3rd fastest PR on La Canada Road, on an old bike that probably weighs almost 10 pounds more than my other bikes.

12/28/2012 - I built it up over the past week. Everything came together very smoothly except when I realized the SRAM Apex front brake was too short for the 700c wheels, so I had to rush to order a longer reach caliper. Today I made the finishing touches on the bike, so now it should be good to go, as soon as it stops raining.

5/22/2013 - I picked up a used Cane Creek Strados wheelset today. Its kinda cool, since the Strados model is the road version while the Volos is the track version of the same wheelset on the Alpine Sport. Sister mixte bikes with sister wheelsets. Besides looking really nice, I also dropped 3 oz from the front wheel and 4 oz from the rear wheel compared to the A-Class wheels I had originally installed.

2/28/2015 - A few things happened. I've been looking for a cyclocross bike for a while with no success, I felt the reach of this bike was just a tad long, and that having a threadless stem adapter didn't look right to me. So first I put on some some cyclocross tires I had and they fit just fine, plenty of frame clearance. Then I ordered a new quill stem (10mm shorter) and new handlebars with a compact bend. It was kind of a pain because I had to trim down all the shifter and brake cables then readjust everything. But now that it is done, the bike fits better, looks right, and weighs exactly the same.

9/19/2015 - I swapped all the Apex gruppo onto the Helix Equipe and the Dura Ace on this bike. Somehow the bike just doesns't look as cool with the silver gruppo, perhaps it looks like the original parts from far away. I strugged with the front derailer for the longest time, since I couldn't get it to upshift. Turned out I just needed to run the cable guide below the bottom bracket to get a better routing.

4/30/2016 - I decided I liked the CX look on this bike, so I ordered the largest cassette the DA derailleur can handle (28T), added one link to the chain, and installed some Ritchey CX tires on it. The bike looks more to my liking and will be more versatile as well.

11/6/2016 - I've been leaving this bike in the office, so I took off the QR skewers and installed some Axlerodz bolt-on skewers. I also took off the expensive SLR saddle and put on a less flashy old Regal saddle. Finally, I put on some platform pedals that are sneaker-friendly.

2/19/2016 - With the size and color, it was a perfect bike for my cousin's girlfriend, so I gave it to her as a gift.

11/25/2020 - My cousin had since broke up with said girlfriend, so the Viva Sport was just sitting in his garage in SoCal, so I asked him to bring it back up during Thanksgiving. My goal was to put the bike back to the cyclocross configuration from February of 2015. So I took the SRAM crankset off the RB-0 as a start then starting gathering Apex 10 speed components for the build.

3/13/2021 - Got all everything put together over the past couple evenings and took it out for its re-maiden voyage. Everything rode and shifted beautifully, just had to tighten the headset a bit at the end of the ride. Funny that I'm still riding this bike after nine years. This is such a cool bike, it's always been a heavy bike, but for some reason its always been a very fast bike too.

3/18/2021 - Ordered a SLR saddle and chopped the seatpost, so now the bike is below 25 lbs.

9/14/2024 - Been riding this bike a couple times and I've been getting some slight discomfort behind my knee, so I just dropped the seatpost by 5mm, see if that helps. I guess all my bike fitment data is from quite a while ago and I may be shrinking a bit as I get older...

Here are the specs:

Frame: Univega Viva Sport, 56cm virtual height, Chrome Molybdenum steel tubing, horizontal dropouts. Serial Number: J810417. Gold dust.
Fork: Univega Viva Sport, flat crown. Japanese Industrial Standard (J.I.S.) crown race diameter, 27.0mm. Gold dust.
Wheelset: Cane Creek Strados, 24h front and 28h rear, 130mm rear spacing.
Tires: Ritchey Speedmax Pro, 700 x 32c, folding bead.
Cassette: SRAM PG-1070, 10spd, 11-32T.
Cranks: SRAM Apex, 50x34, 170mm, 110 BCD, black.
Bottom Bracket: SRAM GXP Team BB. ISO threaded.
Front Derailer: SRAM Apex, braze-on, black. Installed with a clamp-on adapter.
Rear Derailer: SRAM Apex WiFLi, 10sp, black.
Lever/Shifters: SRAM Apex 10sp, DoubleTap, black.
Headset: 1" threaded, chrome.
Chain: KMC X10SL, nickel.
Stem: Zenith quill stem, 100mm, 26.0mm, black.
Handlebar: Deda Elementi Piega, 26.0mm, 42cm wide, double-butted 6061-T6 aluminum, black.
Front Brake: Shimano BR-R450, silver. Needed the 57mm reach to work with the smaller 700c rims.
Rear Brake: Shimano Tourney from the Alpine Sport with modern Tektro RBP P453 brake pads.
Pedals: Shimano XT PD-M8000, SPD, black.
Seatpost: Sunlite Micro Adjust, 26.8mm x 350mm, black. I cut off 4.5" just to shave a few grams.
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR X-Cross, 176g with TI 316 rails, black.

The bike currently weighs 24 lbs 10 oz. The frame weighs 6 lbs 10 oz, the fork weighs 1 lb 12 oz. The original bike weighed 28 lbs 9 oz.

The following are OE parts that I am currently not using:

Hubs: Sunshine 5345, alloy low flange 36h, J.I.S.
Front Rim: Araya 27x1-1/4, alloy 36h.
Rear Rim: Weinmann 27x1-1/4, alloy 36h.
Tires: Univega Gran Touring 100psi, 27x1-1/8.
Freewheel: Suntour Perfect 6sp 14-32. Maeda Industries Ltd. J.I.S. Date code XH = 1981 August.
Cranks: SR Custom, 52x42, 170mm, JIS Stamp. Date code 81D = April 1981. These cranks have a built-in chainguard ring. The small chainring is a 118mm BCD, which is an obsolete size used by Ofmega and SR. The large chainring appears to be a 186mm BCD, a size I've never seen before.
Bottom Bracket: Square taper, 123mm spindle.
Front Derailer: Suntour AR FD-2500, clamp-on. Date code XK = 1981 November.
Rear Derailer: Suntour ARX GT RD-4500. Date code XG = 1981 July.
Chain: DID.
Stem: SR, 50mm, JIS Stamp.
Handlebar: Sakae Custom, SR Road Champion 25.4 diameter, 39cm wide.
Brake Levers: Dia-Compe, silver.
Brake: Dia-Compe Deluxe, silver.
Pedal: MKS AR-1, silver.
Seatpost: SR saddle clamp, aluminum, 26.8mm, 180mm long. Date code K-81 = November 1981.
Saddle: Italia, brown leather with Univega logo.