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!