Mad Skills

   I mentioned to a recent customer how I really enjoy the building and selling of vintage bicycles, but the repair/tune-up side of my business is far more consistent. It is not always the case when I want a repair to be interesting, because that often means I am running into some kind of complication, but occasionally I learn something new and useful for future projects.

   In this case someone brought me an inexpensive BMX bike that had gyro brakes, that is, a mechanism that keeps the cables from being tangled when the handlebars are rotated 360 degrees. The bike had been stored somewhere damp and the cables rusted in the housings and were completely seized. I found an inexpensive new cable kit on eBay and was enthusiastic that I could pull off reassembling the brakes, even though it wasn't something I had performed previously.

   The configuration (shown below) is made up of a top plate that is connected to the bars/steerer tube, just below the stem. This plate is where the housing for the right-hand brake lever is anchored and connected with cables to a middle plate. This plate is actually two pieces, joined by a flange, which rotate independently. The middle plate is also connected by cables to the lower plate, where housings are anchored to the head tube of the bicycle.

   The two cables on each plate are necessary to keep even pressure on the round plate as the bars are rotated. These split cables come together at a covered mechanism cyclinder on each end - one going to the brake lever and one to the rear brake. In the photo below of the Y-cable section for the handlebar end, you'll note that one side of the split is a bit longer. This compensates for the shorter length of travel needed on the right side, over to the brake lever.

   After studying all of the parts before disassembling the non-functioning brakes, putting it all back together wasn't too difficult. The real challenge was setting up the brakes, since there isn't a lot of travel in the plates up and down, which meant there wasn't much room for making corrections to the brake pressure. The rim had to be perfectly straight and the pads aligned properly on the rim's braking surface!

   As promised in my last blog entry, here is a more in-depth collection of photos of Brendan's Malvor-Bottechia bicycle. Right now I have the bike parked below the huge poster of Giuseppe Saronni that my buddy Ralph game me, as it looks incredibly similar, except with more white paint and chrome seat/chainstays. By the way, in keeping with the blog theme, this was my first experience with cloth bar tape, which is far less forgiving than cork tape! I was patient, and it turned out alright.

   I'm sure you will agree that this is one of the most beautiful machines I have built:

   Over the last few years, I have built some interesting bikes for another customer named Tom, who has learned (the hard way) about the myriad compatibility issues with custom builds. He had an old TREK 520 touring frame custom painted in a hue eerily similar to the "Congac" color of my first 10-speed, a Ross Grand Tour II from the early 1980s.

   Tom's intent was to have fatter tires, and in order to clear the frame, he went with some 650mm wheels. The front wheel had a hub that can be powered for pedal assist, so the wheels became the priority when we realized that no adapters could possibly lower the V-brakes to a position to provide enough braking power. The only solution was to have someone re-braze the brake mounts lower on the seat stays.

   It was a shame to somewhat ruin the custom paint, but Tom had the affected area covered in black paint, and it blends in pretty well with the brown. Yet another new process for me came about when I hooked up a set of Problem Solvers "Travel Agents" to improve the cable travel from linear pull drop bar levers to V-brakes. Simply put, the contraption loops the cable around a pulley to provide the correct length of cable travel:

   Tom collects some really nice parts for his bikes, as we outfitted the TREK with Velo Orange cranks, old-school pedals and stem, a Microshift Sword drivetrain and Shimano Deore brakes. The vintage Sakae Road Champion handlebars with the randonneur bend are a nice throwback touch.

   My friend Johnathan stopped by a few weeks ago for a little "Bicycle University", as he performed a good portion of the work putting together his 1998 TREK 5500 OCLV carbon bicycle, with some minor instruction. He has watched me assemble a few bikes that make up his eclectic collection and has often lended a hand or two, so he has acquired some real wrenching skills! No, we are DEFINITELY not Lance Armstrong fans, but Johnathan works for the Postal Service, so this bike was the highlight of our work together.

   He snapped a couple of photos for me to share before proudly loading it into his car:

   Back in April, a potential customer inquired about the Colnago Export frameset I had featured in the queue of my For Sale and Projects In Progress page. I explained that I had a few builds planned ahead of it, and that my repair/tune-up work would be a priority, but he mentioned it was a future birthday present for himself and that there was no rush.

   I had all of the parts ready to go, so during a spell of bad weather days, I set to the assembly. After a few exchanges with Rich about his preferences, etc., the Colnago was completed, and we scheduled a pick up of the bike within the next couple of days.

   The specs are Campagnolo Chorus 8-speed group, Cinelli bars and stem, Selle Italia X-1 saddle and a wheelset built with Regida CSB DP-18 rims, Campagnolo hubs and Vittoria Zaffiro Pro V tires (my new vintage-look tire of choice).

Our Virtual Museum

   I had a much-welcomed visit from my friend Brendan last weekend. It had been way too long since our last get-together, and we had a good time catching up on various subjects. The conversation always comes back to cycling and bicycle projects, and he had brought along a beautiful Bottecchia bicycle frame in the black and white Malvor team colors from 1983.

   Brendan has excellent taste, along with a desire to trick out his machines with components that sometimes seem more like jewelry. It may be a thrifty streak in me, but maybe it goes along with my feeling that everything in my collection should be rideable and not for display, that my collection stresses function over form (ugh, sounds like I'm delving back into my early architectural studies).

   In any case, we both have some really rare stuff, and I joked that, if we combined our collections, we could open a small cycling museum. Lately I've been bogged down with repair work, and the erratic spring weather hasn't allowed me a whole lot of interesting rides. Excuse me if I recycle a bit of info you may have already seen, if you are a longtime regular reader, but I thought it would be fun to set up this blog entry like a tour of this imaginary museum.

   The built-up Bottecchia will be featured in an upcoming blog entry, but it would be the newest exhibit in our walk through the hallways. As always, you can click on any of the photos to enlarge them:

The Italian Malvor-Bottecchia team existed from 1983 to 1990, and this frameset, constructed of Columbus SL tubing, reflects the colors of the debut team. Although not initially loaded with big stars (pictured is Swiss rider, Robert Dill-Bundi, who won a stage of the Giro d'Italia and Tour of Romandie), in later years the squad included legends like Giuseppe Saronni, Mauro Gianetti and Franco Ballerini. This bicycle is (will be) built up with Campagnolo Super Record components, many with tre-colori painted engravings!

This 1989 Eddy Merckx Century in Hitachi team colors, is just like the one the Belgian star Claude Criquielion rode to victory during that season’s La Flèche Wallonne. Although the team bike would have been outfitted in Mavic components, this version features Campagnolo C-Record gruppo – the stuff the owner lusted after in catalogs when he was a teen during that era. However, it is equipped with the handlebars, saddle and pedals that Claude used.

Although many of cycling's biggest stars, such as Merckx (pictured with Ugo De Rosa himself), Argentin, Motta, and Moser rode De Rosa bicycles to victory, the bicycles were often secret custom jobs, eventually badged up in the colors of team sponsors. This De Rosa Professional SLX from the mid-1980s is equipped in a beautiful Campagnolo C-Record group, 3T cockpit and Mavic wheels.

Belgian star Roger de Vlaeminck won every one of the five Monuments, including FOUR victories of Paris-Roubaix. Although he was best known for riding Gios bicycles, a special Colnago RDV tribute version of their Master model was produced in the early 1980s. This one was slightly modified and repainted, perhaps for a small pro team. It has been outfitted in more modern Campagnolo components for performance on the road, and the #27 raceplate represents the number de Vlaeminck wore during his last victory in Roubaix.

Our musuem directors are big fans of Irish legend Sean Kelly, and this bicycle is a replica of the machine used in the earlier part of his career, though at this point he had already won both the Tour de France green jersey and Paris-Nice twice, as well as the Tour of Lombardy. The Vitus 979, featuring aluminum tubes chemically and mechanically bonded to cast aluminum lugs, has been badged up in Sem-France Loire team livery of 1982-83, and includes Mavic SSC components.

Our first step into the more modern wing of the museum finds this 2012 Cannondale SuperSix 5 in the colors of the Liquigas-Cannondale team. The squad during that time was loaded with stars like Peter Sagan (pictured), Vincenzo Nibali, Ivan Basso and Elia Viviani. The bike is equipped with a reliable Shimano Ultegra group and Mavic Cosmic wheels.

Swiss great Fabian Cancellara excelled in the classics, winning Paris-Roubaix, Ronde van Vlaanderen and Strade Bianche, EACH three times! He also won four world titles and two Olympic gold medals in the time trial and holds the record for the most days in the Tour’s yellow jersey (29) without ever winning the overall title. The 2008 Cervelo Soloist, is the bicycle Cancellara rode to victory in that season’s Milano-San Remo. The bike has SRAM Force drivetrain, 3T stem and fork and Zipp 30 wheels.

Although this 1999 Look KG 231 is in an attractive gold/raw carbon scheme and not team colors, it is the same model used by that season's Crédit Agricole squad. Their roster was loaded with stars like multiple Tour de France stage winners Jens Voigt (of "shut up legs" fame), Pierrick Fédrigo, and Chris Boardman, as well as two Paris-Roubaix champs in Stuart O'Grady and Magnus Bäckstedt. A young Thor Hushovd was also present, before his Tour green jerseys, classic wins and World Championship made him a household name.

The legendary Alejandro Valverde had an amazing 133 pro victories, some of which came into his early 40s! This 2008 Pinarello Prince is a replica of the bike his Caisse d'Epargne team rode during his stint in the yellow jersey during that season's Tour de France. Valverde won the 2009 Vuelta a España and had twenty top ten Grand Tours finishes, but he is probably best known as the king of the Belgian Ardennes, having won La Flèche Wallonne a record five times and Liège–Bastogne–Liège four. The Spanish star had already set a record of six podium finishes at the World Championships before finally claiming the title in 2018.

Saeco squads from 1996-2004 were loaded with talent, and this 2002 Cannondale R2000 Si proudly shows the team colors! Ivan Gotti, Gilberto Simoni (pictured) and Damiano Cunego totaled five Giro d’Italia and three Tour of Lombardy titles while in the Saeco lineup. Youngsters eventually moved on to lead other teams, such as Paolo Savoldelli, who won the Giro twice, and Cadel Evans, who won the Tour de France and a World Championship. Unfortunately, the team may be best remembered for stars like Mario Cipollini and Danilo Di Luca, who won tons of races, but led very troubled lives. The bike has an insteresting blend of Ultegra and Campagnolo stock parts.

Technology used in the construction of the 1983 Peugeot Y-10FC provides a nice transition back to the vintage machines. Essentially a collaboration between Vitus and Peugeot, which involved aluminum lugs, much like Vitus' 979 and Carbone bicycles of the time, mechanically and chemically bonded to Peugeot’s specially designed carbon tubes. The company definitely had the mountain climbers, such as Robert Millar (pictured), on the Peugeot-Shell pro team in mind when they built this frameset! The bicycle features full Mavic SSC group of the period.

Sean Kelly won an astounding 193 professional races, including nine of cycling's Monuments, seven consecutive Paris-Nice victories from 1982-88 and a win in the 1988 Vuelta a España. These days the Irishman's knowledge and sense of humor shine during his color commentary for British Eurosport's.cycling coverage. The Vitus 979 version in KAS team colors represents the bicycle he used during the peak of his cycling powers. The bike has been built up in full Mavic SSC components.

This 1989 Bottecchia bicycle is a replica of those used by the ADR team, which was led by Greg Lemond. Experts will point out that during his famous nine second victory in that year’s Tour de France, the American rode red/white or yellow bicycles that were actually his own TVT carbon frames badged up as Bottecchia, since they were the team sponsor. However, there is photographic evidence (right) that he rode the purple and yellow steel bikes at some point during the season. This version of the bicycle has been set up as a single-speed with Campagnolo, Cinelli and Mavic parts.

The 1995 Vitus 992 in Lotto-Isoglass team colors, is similar to the one ridden by Andrei Tchmil in that year’s Paris-Roubaix. The Soviet star had won the “Hell of the North” the previous season, and won many other Classics during his career. Similar in construction to the company's 979, the 992 featured ovoid-shaped tubing to create more stiffness in the frame. The bicycle has been assembled with mostly Mavic components with a set of Shimano Dura-Ace brake/shift levers for modern performance.

Since 1957, until his death last October at the age of 91, Irio Tommasini (photo right) had been building frames in his small shop in Grosseto, Italy. His company's high-end steel framesets have been famous for intricate chrome lugwork, engravings, cutouts and lavish - sometimes bordering on gaudy - paintjobs. This late-1980s Tommasini Diamante has been built up with Campagnolo Super Record gruppo, including the famous delta brakes, and some pantografía parts.

For many folks who caught the cycling bug in the 1980s, it was Greg Lemond and/or Giuseppe Saronni (photo left). The Italian star had just outsprinted the American for the World Championship, and he did so on a bike just like this early-1980s Colnago Super-Profil, so named because its top tube was "profiled" with a longitudinal crimp that was meant to improve stiffness. Thousands of the frames were sold in the color later called "Saronni red". The bike has been equipped with Campagnolo Super Record parts.