Set-up Man (no closer)

   Although I’ve been enjoying the Pinarello FP Quattro out on the roads for the past couple weeks, I wanted to share how the last few steps went to set up the electronic shifting. I didn’t want to just tack the information onto the end of the last blog, as it was already pretty long.
   During our trip to Baltimore, the last of the parts necessary to finish the Pinarello, namely a sleeve that fits around the crankset spindle and protects the wires that run between the battery and components, should they potentially droop down into the bottom bracket shell. I was so happy to find that the outboard bearing cups came in shiny silver, as opposed to the gold or gunmetal finishes that Campagnolo has used on these parts in the past.
   When I went to size the chain, I found that the front derailleur was set in the big chainring position, which is fine when going through the process of wrapping it around the ring and biggest cog to get the correct length, but it was not going to be good when trying to connect the master link. I immediately turned to some of the documents and videos on Campagnolo’s website to see if there was some sort of reset.
   As directed, I attempted to push the mode buttons on each shift lever simultaneously. A blue light was supposed to flash on the interface unit that hangs from the stem, but mine showed purple, and the shifters did not reset. They did move, and I enjoyed getting a sample of their function, even if it wasn’t what I intended. The only information I saw about a purple light was regarding an incorrect connection, but everything appeared to be working.
   I ended up using the video instructions for making adjustments “on the fly” when you are out pedaling and need to fine-tune shifts. Strangely, these settings are best done in the second and tenth cogs of the 11-speed cassette, but I’d been tuning the shifts later. At this moment, I just wanted to move the front derailleur.
   Now that it was out of the way, I could bring the two ends of the chain together easily. Uh-oh, that wasn’t right – WAY too much slack was in the chain! I’ve seen this problem before with older derailleurs that are used with compact cranksets. The drop between the 50-tooth and 34-tooth rings leaves too much chain slack for vintage rear derailleurs to take up – a long cage derailleur, or something modern, with better back tension is required.
   Well, this certainly was a modern derailleur, so the idea of a faulty part quickly flashed into my mind, but I remained positive. Derailleurs usually have a “B screw”, which you can thread inward, pushing against the derailleur hanger on the frame and tilting the derailleur back. Campagnolo versions don’t always have a traditional B-screw, and this was one of those models. What they have is a bolt that connects to a gear that rotates the upper pivot of the derailleur cage. Adjusting this helped a bit but took up nowhere near enough of the slack in the chain.
   I also noted that when in the largest cog in the back, the top pulley would drag on the teeth of the cog, which would make for some noisy riding when climbing a big hill! Again, the B-screw should help with this somewhat, but I was doubting how this was all going to function together without the correct tension on the chain.
   I sent a quick note to the seller, since he had noted “light use” of this equipment on his own bicycle. He was actually a bicycle mechanic, and although trying his best to be helpful, he sent mostly tips with which I was familiar and weren’t working to solve the problem. He did assure me that everything had worked on his bike, and I resisted asking, “Then why did you remove it?” Some people are Shimano and some are Campagnolo.
   One suggestion of his I did take was to remove another link from the chain, since I had left it on the long side, just to be safe. Unfortunately, this still didn't make the chain short enough, but I remember that I had a “Wolf Tooth” derailleur hanger extender in my parts bin. These extenders allow for derailleurs to shift onto larger cogs than they would normally be intended to reach. This would not only solve the pulley rub problem, but if I tightened it enough in the back position, it could take up the necessary chain slack.
   At this point, I noticed a small hole had been drilled in the bottom of the derailleur hanger on the Pinarello. I wondered if a bolt was threaded in, would it act like a “reverse B-screw” and hold the derailleur (or in this case, the Wolf’s Tooth) in the back position. I looked through my special jar of bicycle nuts and bolts, finding exactly what I needed, and it worked perfectly!

 
   I began to wonder if there was something to the design of the frame (it is supposedly asymmetric) that created the problem, maybe a slightly shorter drive-side chain stay? Someone had drilled this hole for a reason! Anyhow, the shifting performed smoothly, and it was time to take the bike out for some pics:

   Later that afternoon, I set off with extra tools and our emergency cell phone in my jersey pockets, just in case. First, I stopped off at Bikesport to visit my buddy Jeff, as he asked me to come by when I finished building the bike. He had tried to convince me to do a Shimano build, for ease of assembly and finding any necessary parts in the future (even modern Campagnolo stuff has been difficult to locate lately), but he knew my preference for Italian, even if some parts of the process were maniacally complicated.
   I then continued out to complete a 48-mile loop through Skippack, out to Blue Bell and back through Conshohocken to the Schuylkill Trail for the return home. It was probably farther than I should have gone on a “maiden voyage” with the electronic equipment, but it was functioning perfectly, and I was enjoying the ride!