mrjav

I took the dive to turn a rough 56 cm Ghibli into the one I always wanted. Recreated the classic paneled paint job, found original decals from Joe Bell and got the Croce group from eBay.

The idea was to build it with parts from what I call "Campy's Lost Years". You know, Syncro, Electa, Delta, early rims (read "tight to fit tires"), Croce, Biodynamic, SGR - beautiful stuff, if only it worked well.

Throughout the process I learned a lot of great stuff. One, I'm now a Rossin fanatic. Two, all that stuff actually worked quite well - you just had to learn about it and how to set it up!

I documented a lot of it on my blog, so be sure to check it out at Masini's Breaking Away Blog. If anything, you can offset the traffic spikes from DNS attacks that seem to be so common this summer!

The full story and more photos over at Masini's Breaking Away Blog: THE ROSSIN GHIBLI IS DONE!.

DMC707

Drool Drool Drool ---- Love everything about it !

Camilo

WOW.

What kind of Syncro shifters do you have? I have a set of what I call Syncro II - 8 speed


The 8 speed Syncro is kind of an odd duck because my understanding is that they sold 8 speed Syncro and first generation Ergo at the same time, and the levers themselves are distinctive in a couple of ways, compared to Syncro, and even some that are referred to as Syncro II, but not 8 speed. My main source on this was Tears for Gears.

I don't have Delta brakes, but I believe the Record derailleurs, brakes (non delta) and aero levers (with non-aero option plugged) I have are "correct" in the respect that they are (as far as I can tell), what would have been offered when these particular Syncro shifters were sold.

I'm not totally sure about all of this because actually becoming an expert on Campy takes more mental effort than I can muster.

Anyway, the only reason I mention all of that is to say I really like the 8 speed Syncro shifting, but it really is kind of a less known era for Campy. It works just fine in spite of critiques I read before getting into it. Not quite as smooth as a set of Dura Ace SIS shifters I have, but they certainly shift accurately and smooth enough (using a Shimano 8 speed cassette of all things) and I think the shifters and other parts of that era are beautiful.

But your bike is spectacularly beautiful and an inspiration. Good job.

mrjav

Thank you! I have to ask, as I've been mulling the question... what early compact crank did you settle on?

I'm seriously thinking that a pretty, polished compact crank that can be used on the old school 102 or 110 campy square tapered bb's would be a nice thing to locate! Who knows - use a second (longer) chain and do a quick swap when you want to go from photo shoot to an epic climbing day in the saddle!

Camilo

I'm sorry I made some edits between you posting the above and me seeing it!

I went with a Centaur crank that looks like this. It looks fine to me, but has caught the (sometimes friendly-negative) attention of more savvy Campy people:



Mine uses an Ultra Torque BB. I know they make very similar looking Centaurs with square taper BB too:



I have no idea why I got the one I have rather than square taper, maybe the older isn't compact - looks like larger BCD in the photos? I definitely have a love-hate relationship with the Ultra Torque BB.

Sugino (non-fluted) and Velo Orange (fluted) make very nice looking compact, square taper cranks, depending on your taste, but you might get into a JIS - ISO compatibility issue.

northbend 

Well now, that is about as cool as it gets!

Very nice

Spaghetti Legs 

That is one cool bike! Well done! A Rossin is on my list of "wants".
@Camilo - those shifters are 8 speed Record, I don't think they were considered as Synchro family. The Synchro II has the knurled nut on the outside of the shifter body. I have a set like yours that I'm hoping to use on an 8 speed build. I posted a thread a couple of months ago when I was learning about them.

I have 7 speed Synchro II on my Bianchi that shift flawlessly so I agree that maybe they get a bad rap. I was thinking of starting a Synchro Thread where people post their freewheel, RD and chain combos for a database of what works.

DMC707

YES !!

Love compact doubles ---- (love normal 53/39 cranksets too, when I can push them ) --- the triples feel weird to me
------ I have to hit the bay up for a couple of those Centaur 50/34 cranksets in square taper

Gary Fountain

Great photos of a great bike. Great frame reno of a great frame. Great components too.

Yeah.....I like it. It's Grrrreat.

qcpmsame 

That is refreshing to see, nice Rossin, with some Campagnolo pieces that don't get the attention they deserve. Kind of a forgotten period, for many of the components from that time frame. You did well in getting everything to work together correctly.

That paint job is really nice, did you accomplish this yourself? You have some very good attention to detail in this entire project, for almost every aspect.

BTW, I enjoy your blog page, good reading.

Bill

daf1009

Sitting in a week long workshop, in Belgium (nothing wrong with Belgium, just jet lagged!)...and saw this...thanks for the pick me up!


I particularly love the picture in the tunnel with the cyclists...the colors echo the bike colors...so that pic rocks! Of course, there is NOTHING wrong with the bike itself! Great job!

Roger M 

Very nice. I have a Rossin as well. I can really appreciate your effort here.

crank_addict

Too cool. All throughout, frame, paint, selection and expression of build. Dig the bladder saddle and hex bars... fun!

mrjav

Thanks, Bill. The shop I use (The Bicycle Stand) was great in matching everything from all the photos I collected for them. They got the colors perfect and the panel positions as well. I filled in all the pantographing. Original decals helps a lot as well. Problem is that the tube shapes make it tough to get a good stick on old adhesive. I have just one Rossin that did get the R all the way down into the gap. Oh well.

Camilo

You and I might have had that conversation! (can't remember who, but do remember the issue about nomenclature). I looked at the tears for gears web site (this page: The last gasps of Syncro ~ tears for gears) and I can't be sure, but this guy seems to call them 8 speed Syncro II. I guess they should simply be called Record 8 speed? Doesn't really matter, but a good example why Campy product lines and names is beyond my limited capacity for learning.

"Syncro-like 8 speed Record indexed downtube shifters"? 8-)

When I was converting my old Italian frame from Shimano SIS which I initially built based on existing parts, to Campy, I bought a Jtek Shiftmate to use the Shimano 8 speed cassette with the Campy 8 speed shifters. I forgot to install and didn't realize it until later because it shifts fine.

Chrome Molly

Wow! Rossins really pop no matter what the color. Yours is just fantastic and I'll stare at the pics for a long while.

velofinds

Stunning! Congratulations on a job well done.

Celloplus 

Damn. That looks absolutely stunning! (Slow hand clap)

greg3rd48 

Incredibly beautiful and detailed.

R3tired

Beautiful, nice job. I built up a Rossin RLX with modern Veloce. Rossins are really nice bikes.