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.