A Couple More Lessons

   A carry-over from my last article with a school theme, I learned some new skills during the last few days. Two of them involved a Campagnolo Record 10 speed brake/shift lever that was skipping a couple of gears on its upshift.

   As part of a rebuild, I had replaced the G-springs, which control the ratcheting in the shifts. I had disassembled the lever several times, thinking I had missed some step or not seen some flaw in the mechanism. I could see the small gear near the paddle slide three notches, instead of just one, during the first shift and couldn’t figure out why this was happening.

   I had seen online that Cycles BiKyle (formerly Bikes BiKyle, which I remember vividly, because they once co-sponsored a local team with the Philadelphia Flyers) in Bryn Mawr, advertised their in-shop servicing of Campagnolo Ergo shifters. I stopped in and spoke to a really nice guy named Nolan, who took the time to test the lever himself.

   He explained that, in order to operate smoothly, the new G-springs, when in combination with the older spring on the paddle, would require the back tension the brake calipers would supply when everything is installed on a bike. He simulated this by installing a cable then, using a third-hand tool, applying the back tension needed to show that I had actually performed the rebuild correctly with all ten gears clicking in nicely.

   I was quite pleased that Nolan allowed me to escape any further mechanical work/charges and that I learned the use of a new tool. The funny thing was that when Jordan came by a couple weeks ago to work on his Bottecchia, he left me a couple of things he didn’t need, and one was a Pedro’s third-hand tool (although they call it a fourth-hand tool, ha)!

   One of my cycling buds, Dan, had an incredibly annoying creaking during his pedal stroke. I know from experience that isolating creaks and squeaks in a bicycle can be perplexing, but he felt it was in the pedal itself, however unlikely this would be with a brand-new set of Shimano Ultegra SPD-SL pedals. I took a ride with Dan about a week ago, and it did seem obvious that the creaking was at its worst during the downward pedal stroke, and it definitely was from the left side.

   He gave me the pedal to see if I might be able to do something with it, and I turned to a Park Tool video to get a general idea of what to expect with the pedal tune-up process. Of course, removal of the spindle required a special tool, and since I didn’t want Dan to wait longer than he had to, I headed over to the ol’ reliable Bikesport.

   James and I were perplexed by Shimano’s decision to use the maximum strength red Locktite Threadlocker on a locknut that was plastic and was supposed to be removed by a plastic tool. James had put the pedal in a vice and applied enough pressure with a wrench that he was afraid that something was going to snap. He said, “I’d hope it would be the tool, but I don’t really want to take the chance."

   He said I was welcome to step up and “roll the dice”, if I wanted to. I had to use both hands to crank the wrench, but it did finally pop free...well, free enough. I still had to apply a good amount of pressure as I slowly twisted through about a half inch of threading to remove the spindle.

   There was a fair amount of looseness or lateral “play” in the spindle, and I thought that could be the main issue, but I took it all apart to re-grease the parts and make sure nothing was cracked inside. Everything is now re-lubed, tightened up (without Locktite this time!) and reassembled for Dan’s next test ride.

   It has been a long time since my stock of finished bikes has been so low, with an unexpected burst of sales taking place the past few weeks. I will finally have some room to hang the project bikes that had been leaning on walls around my shop, and maybe a couple of new ones?

   The purple Vitus 979 doesn’t have a lot of work left on it, and it was very well maintained, since it was owned and raced by a USCF-licensed mechanic. The bike really just needs a few touches, like the crankset, bottom bracket, bars and stem. I had a set of Cinelli bars and a stem, so those were a quick swap.

   I found a Mavic “Starfish” 631 crankset that had the unusual triple adapter, which fits between the double chainrings and creates a separate mounting surface for an inner chainring. I disassembled that arrangement, and bought the appropriately sized spacers to turn the crankset back into a double. The triple adapter (photo below) and inner chainring should net a decent monetary return as well.

   The Vitus also came with a very rare set of Mavic 640 pedals, and parts like those are always better to sell separately than as part of a bicycle project, when you are trying to make money back on one of these donor bike situations. The end result is that I can just charge Brendan for the replacement parts for this bike, instead of the inflated price of the Mavic parts we used on his Sean Kelly Vitus.

   A new project that you will be hearing about soon is a dark blue 1983 Ciocc Mockba ’80 that I picked up from a really nice guy in north Jersey. He had installed Campy 8-speed Ergo shifters for performance, but I’m going to backdate the system a bit. This bike has some fantastic Super Record engraved (pantografia) parts, and I happened to have in stock a group-appropriate crankset that already had the fluting painted in blue and yellow – it will match up nicely with the colors of the bicycle!

Yes, the former owner took the picture from the wrong (non-drive) side!

   All the small parts arrived to polish off the Tommasini Super Prestige bicycle, and Dirk made a trip up from Annapolis to visit the shop and pick up his new baby. I’ll sign off with some pics of the Italian beauty:

Back To School

   I’ve never been a big fan of the month of September. Sure, I enjoy the start of futbol (soccer) season, but despite being a good student, I didn’t enjoy school at all and couldn’t wait to be finished. My attitude hasn’t changed much since my wife is an elementary school teacher, and I enjoy having her around, plus she’s always in a better mood when school is not in session.

   I did enjoy homeschooling my boys, particularly when it was a subject in which they were interested, and I suppose the enthusiasm some of my friends have for learning about bicycles gives me a similar feeling when I share my knowledge with them. “Bicycle University” was in full swing again last weekend when a new friend drove down from New York with a couple of bicycles on which to experiment.

   Before Jordan showed up, I actually learned a couple new skills, one that involved a faulty rear derailleur. I had purchased a Campagnolo Record rear derailleur for a new project (more on that later) and when it arrived, I found that the limit adjusting bolts had been overtightened, and the heads were nearly stripped. I asked Nick at Bikesport if he had any tricks to remove them, and he suggested we throw the part in their cleaning machine, which would hopefully remove some of the grease and debris to help loosen the screws.

   We had luck with one of the screws, but the second would require a little more risk than Nick wanted to take on such an expensive part. He suggested I use a small metal drill bit down through the head of the screw and then use a small Torx wrench (similar to an Allen wrench, but with a six-point star-shaped head) in the hole, hoping that would provide more “bite” to the metal surface.

   Using an electric hand drill wasn’t exactly precise, but I didn’t have to drill too far into the screw, and I took great care to go slowly and keep the drill perpendicular to the screw head. The derailleur screws were only four millimeters wide, so I used a 1/16” bit, about 1.6 millimeters in diameter, and a T10 Torx wrench, which is just over two millimeters, fitting just enough into the hole for the star points to grab. I made sure to put on my leather work gloves, which provided a grippy surface, as well as protection from the tool possibly slipping and stabbing into my hand, and the bolt backed right out!

   Little did I know that the same technique would come in handy when Jordan showed up and presented me with a vintage Athena derailleur that had a barrel adjuster broken off in its hole. This bolt was a little bigger, so I just adjusted the drill bit and Torx sizes, but the technique was just as successful!

   Jordan’s instruction involved assembly of a mid-1980s steel Bottecchia, and he had done a decent amount of work on his own, taking apart a Bianchi bicycle that was just a bit more modern, in order to use its Campagnolo Ergo 10-speed system. I found him to be very knowledgeable, both in bicycle construction and racing history, so we had some great conversation and time flew by the four hours or so he spent in my shop.

   He was mostly lacking all the specialty tools and a bit of the technique required to set up everything to work smoothly. We hit a bit of a snag, both literally and figuratively, in our attempts to vacuum-feed a thread guide through the frame’s internal cable routing, and Jordan had to be heading home soon. At that point, I hadn’t even gotten to his stripped barrel adjuster problem, so I offered to finish up his bike work and meet him halfway to exchange funds and the completed Bottecchia. Disclaimer: I am not a fan of the splash bar tape in any way, shape or form, but that was Jordan's choice. Since I can't abide by that completely, my Facebook page features an alternate, more aesthetically pleasing, version with black tape.

   The other new skill I learned involved one of the most difficult tires I’ve ever had to put on a wheel and a tool I picked up at Bikesport. I remember snapping off a couple tire tools on tight tire beads before, but I was really struggling with the Vittoria Corsa G+ Competition tires I was attempting to put on the Mavic MA40 rims for Brendan’s KAS Vitus 979 conversion. The front tire presented far less problem, but I suspect the bit of wrestling I did with that one wore my hands out for the assault on the rear, which I eventually quit on!

   I’ve made a bit of a habit of showing up at Bikesport an hour or so before they close, when things are winding down a little - plus there are far less customers for them to deal with, and the chances of them being able to provide me some quick help are better. Nick pulled on the tire with relative ease using a tool I hadn’t seen, a Crankbrothers Speedier Lever.

   The wedge on the right end works just like traditional levers to remove a tire, but the key left side feature is a hook that goes over the rim and guides the tire into place as you rotate the tool around the wheel. The tool can be pushed away or pulled towards yourself, whichever direction you feel gives the best leverage, but a great detail is the shape of the tool, which acts like a knuckle guard, preventing the chewed-up skin you could get if the tool slips and sends your hand into the spokes! There are plenty of YouTube videos showing the tool in action, if you are interested.

   I had a few leftover parts from my last Vitus 979 project, and a couple things I had held onto in anticipation of Brendan’s job, so there were just a handful of things to collect. Unfortunately, those were some of the most difficult parts to find (at a reasonable price), namely a Mavic 630 crankset, 351 handlebars and 365 stem. Taking a page out of Taylor’s Saronni project, Brendan found a “donor Vitus” (pictured left) for the remaining parts, and I quickly moved to buy it at a fantastic price. By substituting in some less expensive, but still appropriate parts, I should be able to quickly resell this bike to significantly discount the cost of the parts we are keeping. I’ll detail the purple 979 in an upcoming blog, but for now here are some photos of the completed tout-Mavic KAS Vitus 979, Sean Kelly tribute bicycle:

   With all of the bicycles and repair work that has been coming through my shop lately, I’ve been neglecting to mention a couple of projects that I’ve been tinkering with sporadically the past few weeks. I picked up a new-old-stock 2006 Wilier-Triestina Escape frameset that is painted in the French Cofidis pro team colors. I found a feature from Cyclingnews.com on rider Chris Sutton and his team bike, and I intend to match up the specs as much as possible.

   I’ve already collected the majority of the Campagnolo Record Carbon parts, along with the carbon FSA K-Force MegaExo crankset. The bike features a mix of sponsor-influenced choices, such as an ITM Millennium bar/stem combo and a Ritchey WCS seatpost. The most difficult find will probably be the unique Mavic Cosmic Carbone wheels – I’ve seen some available, but I’m hoping for a reasonably-priced set.

   The other project I've been working on is actually already “spoken for”, as a reader contacted me after seeing the Tommasini Super Prestige frameset on my In-the-Works section of the For Sale & other projects in progress page of this blog. Way back since Sue and I left on our Canadian vacation, I have been discussing the build with a gentleman named Dirk from Annapolis. We are going with an Athena group and a set of Campagnolo Omega wheels that had in stock, and while I’m awaiting a few small parts, we have been sharing ideas on finishing touches like saddles and bar tape.

More to come soon...