Bottom Bracket Blues...or Blacks?

   I ran into a couple complications while putting some of the components from my previous Colnago bicycle on to the vintage frame. I was very careful measuring everything, and thought I had the right plan together, but some unforeseen differences between the two bikes popped up. The cartridge-style Campagnolo bottom bracket was the correct size, but when I attempted to slide the crankset onto the square tapered spindle (pedal axle), I noticed the smaller chainring didn’t have enough clearance from the chainstay (the frame tube running from the bottom bracket to the back wheel) . I thought at first that the more modern Dream Lux frame must have had curved stays or perhaps an asymmetrical drive side tube that allowed room, but then I found that the non drive side crank also made contact with the C-97’s chainstay, so the curved tube theory must have been the case.

   A quick trip to Bikesport for some advice had me searching online for a bottom bracket with a longer spindle to provide the clearance I needed. I was cautioned that some Campagnolo products are hard to find, and that has certainly been the case! Keep in mind that Campagnolo parts of any kind are better than most brands on the market, but “Campy” comes in several levels of quality and price. Ranging from low to high, they are named Veloce, Centaur, Chorus and Record. A new Veloce bottom bracket could be found for about $60, but a Record bracket would cost me over $200! The part I had was Chorus with a 102mm spindle, and I was on the lookout for one with a 115 mm length, which unfortunately is not made in the Chorus line (ha, ha), unless you settle for the older, loose ball bearing style of bottom bracket.

   Most of the components on my bike are Centaur, which have a lustrous gunmetal color (see photo right) that I think creates an interesting “in between” shade with the chrome, blue and black tones of my Colnago. I really wanted to find a chrome bottom bracket, but the Centaur model only comes in black. I weighed my options – matching components, quality, and price – and decided I could deal with the black, since the chainrings and cranks obscure the bracket for the most part, and I do have a decent amount of black coloring on the bicycle. You can drive yourself crazy with this kind of stuff!

   While I was waiting for the mailman to deliver the bottom bracket, I installed the brakes and rear derailleur. Having the chainrings in place is necessary to line up the front derailleur, so I figured attaching that would be pointless. Because the C-97 had downtube shifters, I purchased a surprisingly inexpensive pair of Campy cable stops (photo below left) to accommodate the modern handlebar paddle shifters – some folks call these brifters, a nickname for the combination brake-shifters.

   The handlebars took a little bit of thought as well, partly in an effort to avoid extra work, but also to eliminate the effort and cost to find a vintage Colnago stem. With older stems you have to slide the bars through a hole that is just large enough to accommodate their circumference, before centering and tightening them to the stem. I didn’t want to unwrap one side of the beautiful bar taping job I did only a short time ago, nor did I want to remove one of the brake/shifter levers and have to realign everything before reassembly. A couple companies sell a modern stem with a removable faceplate that will fit into a quill stem, but they tend to look clunky. I went with a chrome quill to threadless adapter that allowed me to mount a modern Ritchey stem to my bars of the same manufacture (photo below right). I’m happy with the results, and if I change my mind about finding a Colnago stem, I can be patient during my search. (update: I've now gone with beautiful Cinelli quill stem and bars)

   I had to replace the rear brake cable housing because it is one continuous piece on the C-97, while the Dream Lux’s was in two sections. The internal routing through the frame’s top tube was also a bit tricky because slack has to be left in order for the handlebars to pivot freely without binding the cable. Remember to measure twice and cut once!

   The new bottom bracket and chainring assembly was fairly simple, and most importantly, operates smoothly without rubbing on the frame! As expected, the black finish on the bottom bracket is hardly noticeable, and I'm happy with that decision as well. I was then able to attach the front derailleur and chain, before making final adjustments to the shifting operation.

   So that I would have a place to clamp the bike while I worked on it, I had taken an educated guess as to where the seat height should be, then inserted and temporarily tightened the saddle and seat post assembly. I was amazed to find that when I first sat on the finished bike that the seat was almost exactly where it should be - I must really have a sense for my “fit” on a bicycle after all these years!

   I took a ride of decent length, but not too far from home, in case of any problems, and took along a couple Allen wrenches for quick adjustments. The feel of this bike is so similar to the other Colnago, which I attribute to the consistent geometry. On steep climbs, the weight of the steel frame versus the aircraft aluminum is fairly obvious, but it’s not too bad. After some minor fine-tuning to the bike, Sue and I enjoyed a ride into Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon with nearly perfect weather. Besides an unfortunate flat tire in Manayunk, Sue’s only complaint during the 44 mile roundtrip was (joking) that my bike chrome sparkled too much!

Swiss for the Mrs.

   There have been a few difficulties with the Colnago rebuild. While these issues are nothing major, I think it would be better to cover them in full next week, when I’m hoping to have all my needed parts in hand for completion. Stay tuned for that, but it the meantime…

   Sue had expressed a regret that they hadn’t paved the section of the Schuylkill Trail nearby, because it would have been so convenient to take her road bike on it without fearing punctures or damage to her precious Cannondale (photo above) from cinders popping into underside of the frame. She has a mountain bike, but the gearing is a bit slow for the full-tilt riding she has been enjoying lately. I immediately began a search for an inexpensive road bike her size on which I could install some cyclocross tires. I initially thought about doing a cool custom repaint for her, but then I came across a classy-looking bicycle, made by Cilo. This was a company I knew nothing about, so I had to do a little research.

   Someone must have thought Cilo was an Italian name because the handlebars were secured with a small piece of tape with the red, white and green tricolor of the country’s flag, but the company was actually in Switzerland, the name being an acronym for Charles Jan Lausanne-Oron. The letter “J” from the manufacturer was transformed to an "I" for pronunciation purpose in French, the language spoken in the company hometown. "Lausanne-Oron" refers to a holding in Lausanne, associated to the industrialization of the city at the turn of the 20th century. Sue has some Swiss background through her much-loved late grandmother’s side of the family, so I thought the bike’s unique back-story made it perfect.

   I’m a little unclear on the pronunciation of the word, whether it’s “see-lo” as the French would pronounce it, or “chee-lo” because of the abbreviation of Charles, but the French seems more logical, so I’ll go with that. The company went bankrupt in 2002, however, a few notable pro cyclists rode Cilo machines, including 1946 world champion Hans Knecht and Tony Rominger (photo right), who won the Vuelta a España in 1992, 1993 and 1994 and the Giro d'Italia in 1995.

   Except for a ragged saddle and mangled aluminum seatpost, Sue’s bike was in pretty good condition when I picked it up from the Craigslist seller. Since they are useless for someone who does daylight riding exclusively, I removed all of the reflectors and brackets, then did a good cleaning, lubrication and general tune-up. There were also couple scrapes on which I performed spot sprays of glossy black to protect the exposed metal.

   The bicycle really looked sharp after installation of the Selle Italia saddle and black XLC alloy seatpost. I finished the refurbish job with a pair of Kenda cross tires, a set of Look clipless pedals and some Bontrager bottle cages. Sue likes to go fast on the flats, but I know she gets bored riding the same paved trail sections over and over. Now she can use her “new” Cilo to take advantage of some different parts of the Schuylkill/Thun between Phoenixville and Reading, and also the Perkiomen Trail that is nearby her school.

More Shiny Objects

   I recently purchased from an eBay seller in the Netherlands a fantastic Colnago frame from the early 1990s – EXACTLY what I was looking for! The frame is specifically a C-97 Competition Decor model (see photo left), and the beautiful royal blue color makes it easy for me to imagine the powerful Mapei team from that time period riding a similar bike!

   As I explained in my last post, I stripped down my previous Colnago bicycle and sold the frame. Although I saved most of the components from the Dream Lux, it had a threadless headset with a stem clamped to the steering tube, while the C-97 requires the traditional threaded headset and a quill stem (see comparison photos below from Sheldon Brown’s excellent cycling website). My pals at Bikesport recommended that I have the headtube re-faced and reamed before pressing the headset in place, due to some paint chipping and oxidation on the head tube. Since this could cause uneven seating of the headset races, I figured this is the last thing anyone would want to happen to a brand new Campagnolo Record headset!

   I don’t have experience with (or the specialized tools for) pressing a headset, so I decided that this was another step to leave for the pros! While this whole process wasn’t going to be cheap, it was definitely something I wanted done correctly, and I was surprised by a timely Bikesport coupon for discounted parts that arrived in the mail, which helped lessen the pain from the service charge.

   I picked up the completed job (photo below right) a few days ago, and I knew I had made the right choice, because one of the guys was polishing the chrome with a rag to remove any fingerprints. I would expect a top-quality shop to have appreciation for “the good stuff”, and I especially enjoyed the look of admiration on the mechanic’s face when he handed the frame to me over the counter.

   I had been disappointed with the lack of paying customers down in the shop this spring, but I finally have a couple folks scheduled next week for some minor work. When I have a chance, I will update the progress assembling my C-97. I also plan on discussing a little side project for my wife that I have been working on for a few months.

Hope you are checking out the Giro d’Italia – fantastic to see American Taylor Phinney wearing the maglia rosa!