OH-MY-GOD-Bikes

   Because my current projects are winding down and there wasn’t a whole lot of news to report on them, I was trying to come up with an interesting subject for this blog entry. During my search online to find one or two small parts to finish off the builds, I came across some interesting bicycles. About a year ago I featured some amazing concept bicycles, but this time around I won’t discuss demo-type bikes you’d only find at a trade shows. These bicycles could/can be found for purchase in manufacturer catalogs or on websites – although most were built in limited quantities and are also VERY pricey!

   I’ll start with a classic! In 2010 Wilier Triestina re-introduced one of the most recognizable frame colors in cycling, a copper finish as easily identified with Wilier as celeste is identified with Bianchi. The Gioiello Ramato (copper jewel) is a lugged steel frame with a chrome fork and chainstay in the classic style.

   Wilier indicated that the paint process used was "faithful to the techniques that made the original ramato Wilier famous". That beautiful copper finish was obtained through a process called cromovelato in which copper lacquer was applied over the chrome finish - very early Wiliers were actually copper plated according to some sources.

   By the way, if you haven’t previously used this blog to brush up on your Italian, I’ll remind you to pronounce the company name “VEEL-ee-air”, which is an acronym for Viva l'Italia Libera e Redenta (long live Italy, liberated and redeemed).

   Steven Bock of Detroit Bicycle Company included a 93 tooth laser-cut chainring on his Land Speed Bike, which features a perforated frame and stem, accented in gloss black and copper. Steve has a background in automotive show car building, but inspiration for this machine came from a six day rider named Alfred “The Red Devil” Letourneur, who hit 108.92 mph on a Schwinn Paramount in 1941.

   The next two entries come from Faggin, a respected builder that has been around since 1945. Perhaps if you pronounce the word “fah-GEEN”, and use a little Italian flair, the name won’t bother your ears quite as much.

   At first glance, their Fiorentino (Florentine style), with its orange cromovelato finish, will seem like a Wilier copycat. However, a closer look will reveal distinctive chrome lugwork that recalls the lily, or giglio (“JEE-lee-oh”) of Florence, that is a revered symbol of the Italian city.

   You might see a cyclist riding by on the Faggin Primavera Black Edition and think that the bike looks much like the other sleek black machines so prevalent in the market these days. When he stops to ask where he can get a good cappuccino, you will discover that the tubes are completely covered in stitched Italian leather! Personally, I think the “standard” Primavera is more attractive with tan leather and cream-colored lugs and gold-painted cut-outs, but both have a very cool look, no matter which you prefer.

   To borrow a phrase from the Retrogrouch, “If Spiderman had a bike, he would have a Razik Vortex.” The frame combines a latticework of carbon fiber and Kevlar that the company claims disperses vibration like no other design. The tubing manufacturing process is not unique to Razik - known as Isotruss, it was originally designed for NASA.

   The first entry from legendary Italian builder Colnago, the Master d’Oro, isn’t available to just anyone - unless you have a gold-plating craftsman “on staff” - but the basic Master frameset certainly is! I just couldn’t help including this wonderful bicycle...

   However, the next Colnago beauty can be purchased by anyone with a big enough wallet! The flamboyant Arabesque was first produced between 1984 and 1985 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the company, but a 2016 interpretation of the original is now available. It has a similar tubeshape as their mainstay Master frameset, but includes the distinctive hand-cut lugs. Although the bike comes with modern ergo shifters, I would want to “trick-out” the bike with some vintage downtube versions (as pictured in second photo).

   Finally, what I would consider my modern dream bike, the Look 795 Aerolight. This is the Premium Pro-team color - or should I say couleur - that recalls the company logo with the Piet Mondrian artwork, also known to us Yanks as “Partridge Family Bus Paintings”. The Bretagne-Séché Environnement pro continental team didn’t exactly light the Tour de France on fire last year, but they sure were visually fantastic riding the 795!

   This bicycle is full of unique and innovative design features too numerous to mention, so I encourage you to take a glance at this bike show video ...

(Click the image to play - and be sure to click the full screen symbol, too!)

   The (non-pro version) 795 costs nearly $15,000 – but never fear, I saw the “street model”, which lacks the electronic shifting and has traditional mechanical braking, listed on eBay for only $5600. Why not buy two? 

Winter Wonderland

   It’s rather hard to explain why, despite the 2½ feet of snow that was dumped on us a couple of weekends ago, that I’ve been more busy down in my shop than ever before. Not only was I doing more "wrenching" (on current projects and on my own bicycles) than usual, but I also have prospects for a couple new clients, AND I was able to sell a bike – a very uncommon occurrence at this time of year!

   I was a bit disappointed that my “repair class” was cancelled due to the weather and some other commitments that my student Hannah had to shuffle around. Her father Mike informed me that we might never get around to it otherwise, so we decided to just let me finish up replacing the Grip-shift levers instead of trying to work around her activities in order to reschedule. I told him that we had done most of the hard work, and the remainder of the job was fairly simple, since both derailleurs were adjusted properly beforehand.

   Something I had always planned on getting around to was replacing the threadless stem/headset adapter arrangement that was on my Colnago (photo left). A few years ago when I built the bicycle (read about the project starting here) I didn’t want to completely disassemble the handlebars, tape and shifters to put in a vintage quill stem. Now that the Colnago needed new tape, I figured it would be a good time to make the change to a more appropriate stem.

   I found a very nice Cinelli stem on eBay and also decided to purchase a set of traditional-curve bars (also Cinelli!) to replace the modern anatomical version that were on the Colnago. The swap was fairly easy, since I was able to leave all the cable hooked up to the levers and just slide them back onto the “new” bars after slipping the quill stem down into the headset. I found that there was a bit too much cable left for the front brake, so I trimmed about 1½ inches of cable and housing and then wrapped the bars with some new cork tape.

   Here are some shots of the completed stem assembly:

   During Saturday’s little jolt of warmth, I knew the roads were going to be iffy with so much snowmelt, salt and cinders around, but I really wanted to ride. I have been really good about using the indoor trainer this year, determined to maintain some semblance of form, but as always, I pretty much hate it! I scoped out the neighborhood and found that the loop around the high school campus was clear and relatively dry, so I did a bunch of laps and made myself very happy to be exercising out in the fresh air.

   I had actually included the photo above of a project in progress on my FOR SALE page last week, and believe it or not, someone purchased it before I even had a chance to start! Well, actually the buyer wants me to build the bike for him, using mostly parts he has collected.

   I took a drive over to North Jersey this morning to meet Frank, take a look at his accumulation of parts and formulate a plan for his 2002 Colnago Dream in the Rabobank team paint scheme. I admitted in an email that I sent him shortly after I returned home that looking through all his boxes had hypnotized me a bit, and I had forgotten a few details in our planning.

   It is going to be an interesting mix of components, but with a Campagnolo Centaur drivetrain at the heart of it all. There are a couple choices we need to sort out, but this will be a fun project with a fantastic lightweight frameset. Frank is not shy about the colors, and I’m excited to see the orange tires and bar tape on the final product!

   My enthusiasm for doing this work is driven by all the nice people I’ve met along the way, including those mentioned earlier in this blog entry. I had a wonderful time talking with Brad, who arrived early in the morning to avoid the big snow event last Friday. We shared all sorts of stories about cycling and talked about personal preferences of bikes and parts, then I laughed at how little time it actually took him to decide to buy the Pinarello Vuelta after he first laid eyes on it!

   As he didn’t have the full payment with him, he left a deposit to hold the bike, and then returned several days later after we were dug out from the storm. He happily wheeled the bike out to his pickup truck and suggested that he may be a return customer with a future project. We have exchanged several messages since on the sometimes difficult identification of vintage Campagnolo parts, which leads me to the most frustrating part of this business – inaccurate descriptions and/or faulty parts provided by uninformed or dishonest sellers.

   The Monteverde project was all set up to be a quick assembly, as Ron and I had all but a couple small parts lined up and ready to go. However, the rear derailleur for the Campagnolo groupset has proven to be a constant nemesis. The seller had originally neglected to include it in the shipment with the rest of the components, and as Ron later said, “Maybe there was a reason why!”

   He had contacted the seller, who forwarded the derailleur, but I immediately noticed when

it was installed that the pulley cage was bent. I carefully straightened it out, and it seemed to operate well enough to shift, but there wasn’t any back tension to keep the top pulley clear of the cogs. Shifting was rough and the pedaling action was noisy as the parts rubbed together.

   There is usually a screw on the mounting assembly (photo right) that can be adjusted to pull the derailleur back and create more space between the top pulley and cogs. This “B-screw”, as it is sometimes called, was not present. Modern Campagnolo derailleurs now have a screw down near the lower pulley, which operates similarly. I looked on Velobase.com to see if I could find any details on this faulty derailleur, but had no luck so I turned to some online forums.

   Let me quickly vent that forums – particularly those involving cycling – are sometimes monitored by people who have nothing better to do than criticize folks who are looking for help, only because they have some superiority complex. Some jerks who responded to my questions insisted on exact formats of information, much of it totally unnecessary to answering my question, just so they could impose their will. Then there are the wise guys who just like to provide their special brand of humor, without helping at all. I have learned from past experience never to respond to anyone but the people who truly want to help because the first thing to happen is the level of maturity drops off, and the name-calling starts. It then becomes like a pack of wolves, as the regulars gang up on (what they perceive to be) the newbie, even though they have absolutely no idea of your level of experience. Just because you don’t know one specific detail doesn’t mean you are totally clueless!

   Eventually one very helpful member pointed me towards a 1988 Campagnolo catalog that had photos of the original part, and I was able to conclude from a blow-up photo I found in the Branford Bikes website "Knowledge Base" that someone had tampered with Ron’s derailleur. The mounting washer should have tabs that keep it anchored in position behind the frame’s derailleur hanger. Compare the part circled in red in the photo below with part “B” in the blow-apart.

   This issue reminded me of a similar problem I had with a Mavic derailleur, except that part was missing completely. This Campagnolo derailleur had the part, but it was not the original, and it didn’t function correctly. After consulting with Ron, we decided to buy on eBay a similar Athena derailleur that was broken and scavenge it for parts. Now we just need to wait out (as usual) the overseas shipment.