Drillium Dude 

Ha ha - me too! I checked my mail a couple hours ago; nothing yet. I decided to cable up the derailleurs tonight and get it finished off (for now, with what I am currently going to run) so that I can test ride it tomorrow. Always hoping the forecaster has it right and the rain finally stops!

DD

Salamandrine 

Nice crankset. Those were very popular once. Appropriately drilled out. For whatever reason, the actual Sugino branded cranks were way more common BITD than the Superbe branded version. As has been pointed out, Sugino made the Superbe cranks. A not campy bike would typically have Sugino cranks, Superbe brakes, Cyclone derailleurs, etc. Hubs would be Phil, in most cases. I don't know why but these things went together.

Unless you have a set of French pedals, I'd endorse retapping to BSC, but use a real pedal tap and proceed carefully. If it was vintage TA or Stronglight, I'd lean against it. Just my prejudice I suppose.

Drillium Dude 

So I'll end up with a period-correct US amateur race bike with my Superbe brakes, Sugino cranks and Cyclone derailleurs - cool! I even have a (tubular) wheelset with Phils that I may one day press into service on this bike

Since I don't have the tools for it - and let's not forget the lack of expertise - I won't chance doing the re-tapping myself. While doing so would allow a greater selection of pedals, I've currently got options of Zeus and Atom 700s, both of which I've used before and would use again. I love the look of this version of the crank - earlier ones, well, at least another of the same era anyway, lacked the milled spider and the flared spider arm ends a-la Campy Record. The flutes on the back of the arms add to the coolness. Nope, don't want to be responsible for mucking them up!

DD

smontanaro 

If I ever need to dispose of another single-bolt post, I'll be in touch.

Mr. 66

Here's thepedals Iput on my Nishiki, the Kyokuto Pro Vic. These were a pick up from an Austro Daimler last summer.

smoore

I admire you guys. I'm 70 and grew up with all the stuff you're working on. However, at this point I think I'll enjoy the search and assembly vicariously.

HTupolev

Yeah. The bolt access on the old Campy 2-bolt posts makes them a little annoying to adjust, but modern 2-bolt posts aren't really any harder to set up than single-bolt. Either way, I think the fine-tuned adjustability is a crucial feature: the large angular increments of 1-bolt posts usually prevent a good saddle fit from being achieved.

Drillium Dude 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! I'm going crazy

I finally took off the Campy derailleurs and touched up the frame where the FD's clamp had allowed some rust to form. Cabled up the brakes, then installed the derailleurs and Campy 3-arm Gran Sport cranks. Swapped out the Concor Supercorsa for a Flite Titanium. All ready to go by Sunday afternoon, when it was supposed to be dry. Nope.

My camera isn't here yet, but I'm not too bothered about that. I'm tracking it and it's close, but this bike will see some more component changes over the next few weeks...so I will be getting pics up, even tho some of them will be obsolete soon enough. But I am bothered that I've not been able to get out for a good, hard ride on this new gear. I really want to give these brakes and derailleurs a proper go, you know? Fingers crossed for a dry tomorrow

DD

Drillium Dude 

I did some consideratin' - check your PMs

DD

Drillium Dude 

My "new" camera arrived at my building on Sunday but I didn't find out about it until today. And today was dry! So, ride and pictures were both on the agenda today.

Downtown Redmond:



I never knew this sculpture had a lighting feature:



I used to use Flites exclusively. Sold them all off bar one, and I decided to give it a go today. Pleasantly surprised at the comfort, so it may stay:



Superbe brakes worked well, good feel, but maybe a little more flexible than their Campy counterpart:



Beautifully-made Superbe caliper:



Drivetrain consists of Gran Sport crankset, Suntour Cyclone derailleurs and Barelli Supreme pedals with Sola toe clips:



Very, very clean crankset came from @shnibop:



This was the first pair of Barellis I bought last year. The black anodizing on these is pretty thin and not very durable, so it was mostly worn away from the top plates of the cage. Because I decided to have Van re-thread the in-the-mail Sugino crankarms for 9/16ths I decided to take these out of the box and put them back into use - after I stripped the anodizing late last night! When I was done I gave them a once-over with Softsoap and a wad of brass wool to give the cages a brushed look. While the original black/silver would've worked better with the overall theme, these look good, too.



Spanish toe clips:



Very clean front derailleur. I was a bit worried I was going to bottom out the clamp screw before the clamp was holding tightly to the seat tube, but all ended up well:



More to come...

DD

Drillium Dude 

Suntour Cyclone rear derailleur. I'd cleaned up a small scratched area at the upper pivot, but I see my Sharpie touch-up didn't hold up to handling the derailleur during installation. I'll add some Tamiya semi-gloss black acrylic paint to give it some more longevity:



Super-clean, both front and rear. Both worked well, and if I were to compare, the rear shifted a bit quicker since I didn't have to overshift that little bit as per normal with a Campy NR or SR. But really, not so's one would notice. It works well, as do both Campy units. Perfectly happy with the performance of all my drivetrains, this one included:



After over a year riding this bike with only a thin, matte clearcoat finish, there are some small rust blooms taking shape on the top of the BB shell and along the top/bottom of the chainstays, too. I like the look and hope it keeps going:



Light rust blooming on the fork legs, too. Campy hubs with curved track QR levers:



Yup, Campy shift levers moving Suntour derailleurs. Just like back in the day!



Another beautiful Superbe caliper graces the front of the bike:



Suntour calipers operated by Campy levers:



Now the light is red:



DD

Drillium Dude 

Shout out to jreeves for the Elph camera with which I shot these photos - thanks! Finally, a camera that works as it should with no glitches, at a very nice price

Also thanks to WGB for the derailleur set and shnibop for the crankset. In a weird twist, the camera, front and rear derailleur set and the crankset all cost the same amount of money, although they came from three different Forum-ites

For now, the bike is in it's definitive form until the Sugino Mighty crankset arrives and is re-threaded. I'll then swap the Barellis over to that crank, mount it and give it a whirl. I'll leave the Campy BB in - I don't think that will matter one way or the other. I only did a quick 25 miles to determine that everything is functional (the brakes squeal a bit, so I need to sandpaper the blocks a little tonight to start the quieting process...), and it is. I can't really say it's any more/less fun now than in its previous guise. I know the controversial bit will be the 3-arm crankset, and okay, it doesn't really "go with" the bike, but why not? In use, it's plenty stiff enough - I came out of the saddle for a few jumps and the drivetrain went immediately to work, no flex in the crank, just power to the rear wheel. It felt very sprightly in the 42/15 combo, just sprinting away from a dead stop. I could leave this setup as it is and be perfectly happy.

But I am hoping to hear back from another forum member who got in touch with me about long- and medium-cage Cyclone derailleurs. I've been thinking down the road about expanding this bike's gearing. He has derailleurs and a few freewheels that might just fit the bill.

DD

Mad Honk 

Drillium Dude,
I congratulate you on a great build. Similar to one I rode for three years before a fire disrupted my use of the bike. I would say that the Superbe brakes levers were identical to the Campy, so they should play well together. And in looking at the pics posted, I would ask you to put a dab of ink or paint on the right front fork stay at the tip of the space between the blade and the dropout. I am sure it is ok but just to be sure it doesn't fail down the road. Nice looking bike and I am sure it rides nicely. Smiles, MH

TenGrainBread 

Great build. I love the Gran Sport cranks but then again I have a thing for 3 pin cranks.

Drillium Dude 

Btw, in case anyone else has concerns about what appears to be a crack in the fork at the dropout in the photo of the front hub: not a crack, but where the brass didn't quite make it to the surface. That crease is barely a millimeter deep and has been there forever, I've looked at it with 10x magnification and there's no cracking emanating from the crease, either. Just in case you were concerned

DD

merziac

Me too

Wileyone 

DD I am surprised that you say the Superbe Brakes are a little more flexy than their Campy counterparts. I have found just the opposite. The only Campy brakes I have found to be less flexy are the Record Ti series that I have on my Cinelli.
But then again they are dual pulls.

BFisher

Excellent photos and comments.

Right on about the differences between the Campy and Suntour changers. The differences between mine are too small for me to care, and both are gorgeous.

Sweet build so far. Can't wait to see the evolution.

Drillium Dude 

I got the Nitto S-65 on Saturday and installed it Sunday. Hopefully riding tomorrow; the rain has stopped, just waiting for the stuff already on the ground to dry up.

A few pics. The post is absolutely beautiful with a nice satin finish on the shaft and very cleanly finished cradles on top. Hard to believe this was less than $50 shipped:



Saddle is very clean. So far it agrees with my posterior over 25 miles of pavement:



Such a shame to leave beautiful workmanship like this hidden away under a coat of paint!



DD

RobbieTunes

You never let us down...

Drillium Dude 

Slowly but surely, the march of new parts continues:



These are about 1/4" longer than Campy's levers, and are a bit bulkier around the pivot as well, but don't they look cool? I found these the other day and fell instantly in love with that old school logo! I did a dab of distressing tonight with some decanted Tamiya spray and a small sponge. The lettering really pops now:



Does anybody else see a chain? That has to be deliberate

DD

smontanaro 

I'm jealous. What does "distressing ... with some decanted Tamiya spray" mean? Sounds like some sort of cocktail.

BFisher

I've never seen those shift levers before, and I like them very much. That lettering, and the detail around the edge are excellent. Is there a Cyclone or Superbe out there with lettering to match?

Drillium Dude 

I normally personalize my bikes by painting in component features like fluting and engravings with a highlight color. In the case of the Casati, it's black. I build models in my other hobby and have a lot of Tamiya paints for that. I get a great consistency out of this paint from spraying some of it into a cup and letting it gas off for a couple minutes before using it with a paintbrush or toothpick. The gear levers in the pic used to be bare alloy; I added the black, then distressed it by rubbing some of the paint away with a bit of sponge during the drying process.

Similar treatment (though not distressed) on the Campy levers this Suntour pair will replace:



DD

Drillium Dude 

Aren't they cool? There are a number of them on Ebay right now, in various stages of completeness. They seem to go pretty cheap - these were only $3! And yeah, the detail on them is what got me, too. They didn't come with any hardware, but I suspected that Campy nylon washers and such would fit and sure enough, they do. ID of the lever pivot is perfect for a Campy braze-on boss. I'll mount them with Campy hardware

Thanks again for the S-65 suggestion. It really looks the part; hopefully that clamp holds pretty tight!

DD