speedevil 

Over the weekend, I finished this Eddy Merckx build. This is the first carbon frame I've built so I'm very interested to see how it compares to the CAAD8 that was the donor for the components. This frameset had not been built previously, and the steerer was uncut.

It has a full Campagnolo Veloce group, with ultrashift levers and ultratorque crankset. The crankset isn't Veloce, I swapped that one for a 50/34 compact carbon Athena unit. I had to shorten the chain by one link due to switching the 52/39 for the 50/34. I use Wippermann chains and their Connex links, so that took all of 30 seconds.

The build went well once I sorted out the BB. The BB was originally italian thread 70mm width, but when I got the frame it had been converted to english thread, but was a little over 70mm wide. I got the BB faced down to 68mm and installed the cups and the crankset. Facing tools are expensive, so I had a shop handle that for me - I won't face enough BBs to make the purchase worthwhile. Normally I'm a tool junkie, but this one was over the line of reasonable (well, my line of reasonable anyway).

I used all new Campy cables and housings, because the ones on the CAAD8 had seen a few thousand miles, so why not start with new cables. Compared against the other parts of the build, new cables are cheap enough.

I used the Boyd Vitesse wheels from the CAAD8, and checked the chain while it was off the bike, no stretch yet. Oddly, the hanger was crooked, so out came the Park tool and it's straight now. Once I fixed that, the rear derailleur was fairly simple to adjust but I had a hell of a time with the front derailleur. To make a long story short, there are two places the cable can run in the left shifter and (of course) I had used the wrong one. Once I figured this out, it took just a few minutes to resolve and the front derailleur was working fine. I rechecked the rear derailleur adjustments and all seems good.

I have to check the fasteners with a torque wrench, and then I'll take it out for a few short rides to see if everything works and make any needed adjustments to the fit. I left the steerer long, so that's why there's an unusual set of spacers on the steerer. Once the fit is good, then I'll cut the steerer to the final length. No real hurry on that.

Anyone interested in a nice 52cm BBQ CAAD8 frameset? I'll post it in the for sale section in the next few days.

Here are some photos.

Dean V

Looks nice.
How can you change the BB threads?
Italian is a different diameter and pitch and also both right handed.

longbeachgary

Very nice.

exmechanic89

Awesome build, really nice.

speedevil 

That's a good question. The BB shell looks like it was reamed and a sleeve epoxied in place which was then tapped with an english thread. This was done before I got the frame so I can't say with certainty. I believe you can tap an english BB shell out to an italian thread, but not vice versa.

What I can say with certainty is that the BB had english threads, and was just over 70mm in width. It is now 68mm in width and the Campy crankset is quite happy in there.

Merckx corporate in Belgium confirmed that the BB was originally italian threading and 70mm in width.

Definitely unexpected.

gettingold

Nice looking bike. So how does it ride?

speedevil 

I can't answer that just yet. A combination of weather and Christmas plans prevented a ride before leaving for a family weekend. I'm hoping to be able to answer your question on Tuesday.

sparrish

Quick question as I am building up using the same model frame. What was the diameter of the front derailleur clamp? Thanks in advance

speedevil 

I'm pretty sure it was 31.8 or 31.9mm. it's a standard size, The regular Campy FD fits fine.