Rocket-Sauce 

A few of you know that I have wanted a Peter Mooney for a LONG time. Aside from his frames being among the finest available, and on par with any of the master builders out there, I like that he is local. I can -and do- pop in to one of his shops and talk with the man himself. He is very friendly, and super knowledgeable. Another reason I have wanted one for so long is that, like me, Peter Mooney was a rower (see my profile pic).

After years and years of patiently waiting, a frame in my size and price range (actually half of my price range!) finally popped up. I contacted the seller and was on my to meet him that day. I drove 45 minutes to see him and my heart sank a little when I measured the frame and found that the actual size was 60cm c-t-t, not c-t-c. The TT is 58cm c-t-c which is about 2cm shorter than I prefer.

But it was only $195, and included a Record HS, and a Record aero seatpost. I did some quick math in my head and decided I could make it work with a longer stem and more seatpost showing.

Here is the frame as sold:


The Record seatpost was (way) too short, so I sold it. I ended up selling the headset too, so I could try one of the Innicycle Conversion Headsets. I have a 135mm Ritchey mtb stem that would give me enough reach, but it only uses 25.4 bars and the selection of modern compact bars in 25.4 is pretty slim. I already had a 130mm Thomson stem that I wanted to use, so I decided to give the Innicycle a try. After figuring out the (not intuitive) setup, I am super impressed. It is a very elegant design, and the finish quality is top notch.


That was all before the holidays and it has sat in my cellar ever since.

Yesterday's crazy mild weather made me want to RIDE, so I pulled it out of the cellar and onto my workstand. The plan was to swap parts from my Soma Stanyan.


And I am *mostly* done.

Still need to dial in the fit (steer tube will be trimmed, saddle position, etc). And need to install the shift cables -which reminds me. This whole build has been going super smoothly.


UNTIL I noticed that there is a ferrule stuck in the rear derailleur cable guide on the bottom of the driveside chainstay.

I went at it with a needle nose pliers and an awl, but it is in there good. So now it is soaking in some penetrating oil and I will have another go tomorrow.

And install the shift cables, bar tape and new hoods.

THEN I will finally ride it!

thinktubes 

Looks sharp!!!!

I do find the branding on the rims/tires a little much. Hard to escape when using newer stuff.

Rocket-Sauce 

Yup. They are only temporary. Plan to eventually build up some H Plus Son Archetypes...

Rocket-Sauce 

I forgot to mention some details....
I contacted Peter Mooney and found out that it was built in 1984 from Columbus SP tubing.

I am looking forward to riding it to Wheelworks as soon as the weather gets warm.

Bianchigirll 

It looks great. I remember going to Belmont once and a while and seeing some frames hanging there. There was a beautiful orangish smoke one once that I thought I should have had.

ascherer 

Looks great, love the color (colour? colorway?)

delbiker1 

I Love that blue. I sure would like to see a picture of it in full sunshine. Black and blue go together so well. Good on ya!

dddd

Oh man, nice ride. You must be itchin' to ride that thing!

Looks like upright geometry to me, so seems like a better chance of the needed long stem and forward saddle adding up to a good handling balance.

Classtime 

Very nice! Looks like it fits you as well as your Soma. Got an idea for that ferrule-- spray some canned air inside the ferrule to chill it. Maybe it will shrink a bit so you can be more successful with the pliers.

dddd

For that ferrule, I would cave in the ferrule from the side, to buckle the cylindrical wall and thus reduce it's diameter. A sharpened or thin, flat-blade screwdriver with it's tip running parallel to the cable path ought to bend the soft metal in just the right way to loosen it's fixation in the stop bore with one blow from a small hammer.

pastorbobnlnh 

IIRC, your Mooney was listed on NH-CL, but I could be mistaken and it just showed up here since it was in nearby MA. In any event, it is great to see it in the hands of a fellow C&Ver!

OldsCOOL

Sharp looking frame. Color and decals are super cool and attention getting!

francophile 

Use an easy-out to get the ferrule - same you would use to remove a broken bolt. You know, drill the bolt, use the reverse-thread easy-out to unscrew? Only you don't need to drill in this case b/c it has a hole in it already.

Irwin and Craftsman both make a cheap kit you can get for under $10 at most auto parts stores, Lowes, Sears etc. Or larger kits are on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/ATE-Tool-piec.../dp/B0002UJNWE

Good part about going this route is you should be able to get a lot of torque across a larger surface area inside the piece and spin it out and less risk of superficial damage IMO

BTW - Frameset is my size. Looks awesome. Love that deep blue color.

Rocket-Sauce 

The stuck ferrule popped right out after soaking

And so without further adieu....
Here it is!



The super long stem seems like it would be more at home on a mtb. Not crazy about how heavy it looks. Maybe I will look out for a 130mm Cinelli 1A in black.


This is one of the odd little quirks is that the rear brake bridge and the fork crown are not spaced the same. The front brake fits fine with standard pads. The rear, however needs longer reach than the 2003 Campy Records provide.

Enter BDop's offset pad holders





Still need to dial in the bars. I think I need to rotate them down a few degrees.

I rode it around the block and on the trainer. I like the fit, but will need to get used to being so "far" away from the TT. I really feel like I am over the bike, and not on the bike. And I have never had a road bike with the stem so far out over the front wheel. But I feel comfortable on it.

There are a few quirks about the frame I would change if I could. I would prefer two water bottle cages, for one. And I wish the cable stops on the TT were a little further apart -liked exactly where the guides are. Similarly, I think the cable guide on the chainstay could be closer to the dropout, so there'd be less housing.

The wheels look too noisy for my eye. I think I will attempt "de-branding" them....

Now give me some sun so I can ride!