cudak888 

Build:
1989/90(?) Pinarello Cadore frameset
Campagnolo 1991/2 first-gen Ergo brifters, Record/Chorus/Athena
Campagnolo Chorus RS RD
Campagnolo Chorus RS FD
Campagnolo Chorus RS crankset, 175mm
Campagnolo Chorus RS monoplaner calipers
Campagnolo 8-speed cassette, 12-23
Unknown (Galli?) headset
Campagnolo Gamma clincher rims
Campagnolo Chorus RS rear hub/Shimano 600 front
Cinelli XA stem, 26.4, black anodized, 100mm
Cinelli Giro D'Italia bars, 26.4, 40mm, no groove
Mavic 330/SSC seatpost, 27.2
Selle Italia Turbo SLG saddle
Shimano 600 pedals, Dura-Ace steel clips
Pariba Triathlon tires (120 PSI)
Jagwire Ergon Green cable housing
Fizik black suede Microtex tape

-Kurt

The Thin Man 

That's a hot looker! I'd love to see a lettering restoration on that beaut!

Lapdanceinlyrca

looking good.

txvintage

Looking good Kurt. Tis the season for Italian steel!

Chris W.

Well done Sir!

Cheers,
Chris

due ruote 

Sweet. I hate to say it, though, but I feel it would look better with black housing. Not sure I can explain why, because the match looks really good; I just find the cables a bit distracting. But maybe that's what you were going for.

[edit] However, if you could find bar tape in that same color, that would be a different story.

BentLink

While it's a bit much on the neon, that is one nice looking ride! Great job...

Grand Bois

I wouldn't have so much hate for brifters if they all looked like those. How well do they work?

DRietz

Grand Bois, out of my personal experience, the older Campy brifters are phenomenal lookers and they work really well. I think some people mention disliking them because of how sharp the shifts are, but I don't notice it.

Oh, also, beautiful bike Kurt!

cudak888 

That's the final detail on the agenda - I only wish I could find some that are the right size and font.

I've always felt that way about chrome Schwinns done up with red cable housing - yeeech - the cables upstage the chrome like a bunch of blood-red earthworms crawling over your frame.

I was dead certain on doing this combo though; the neon panels look out of place when you see this machine as a frameset. Doing the saddle and bar tape in that same color would have been amusing (in a 1980's Zunow sort of way), but I knew that I wouldn't find either. Furthermore, I can't stand black hoods on anything but black bar tape. Hence, this combo.

You might find it a better looking combo if you see it in person. That said, 1980's neon detractors will never like it, frame or built.

They operate as well as they look. Every shift is flawless, and the RD feels very positive and solid - it reminds me of an indexing Nuovo Record without the chainwrap problems. Very different in comparison to the Shimano 600 STI tri-color set I once used, which had that traditionally Shimano spongy lever "feel."

The folks who don't like them are probably used to Shimano. To each their own; I don't like indexed Hyperglide. HG feels too vague and sloppy for my tastes, especially 8-speed. 7-speed is quite reliable by comparison, but all Shimano indexing systems seem prone to incomplete shifts if you let off the lever too quickly.

Some folks love that. I don't - give me a positive push-and-clunk any day of the week.

This said, I was sold on Campag 8 speed a few months ago, when a friend brought a LOOK KG 66 in with a reasonably early Mirage group (8-speed) on it. He was running a 6-speed chain on the thing. A Shimano 7-speed system would have balked at that in an instant, much less an 8-speed system. The Mirage group - with that '70s Regina chain - worked flawlessly. I couldn't believe it.

-Kurt

thirdgenbird

i want this frame...

devinfan

Fantastic build. That's not to much neon, that's not enough! It looks great the way it is, but if you could find a neon saddle and bar tape, it would send it over the top. In a good way.

divineAndbright

Nice one, if I was in the director seat I'd do my best to dig up some old stock or lightly used all dark anodized rims with no "braking surface" from the late 80s (even if they would get ugly over the years with brake use!), matrix made a nice one, with a sorta aero shape even, the silver ones don't work, plus the all black rims look great with tan sidewalls.

RFC

Very nice, Kurt.

cudak888 

I've got a box-section Mavic, and a GP4 pair. Neither of the hard-anodized rims look that good on a black frame; the anodizing is a greyish brown color which doesn't compliment it.

The best thing to do is go straight to truly black-anodized rims. I have a pair of box-section Ambrosios that fit that description, but they're a mix of high flange and low flange Campag Record.

-Kurt

Maanster

Looks very pretty, and I bet it rides just as well as it looks. I happen to use a setup almost exactly similar to yours on my old italian steel, and can only agree with you on the early 8speed ergos. Shifting is so accurate and responsive, no spongyness whatsoever and just the amount of gear ratios I need.

Personal opinion: While the Mavic seatpost is a rare bird, I think a polished campy aero would do the frame more justice and suit the gruppo better. Right now it almost gives the impression of an extended seat tube, but maybe that's what you want.


/maans

Reynolds 

Very nice!
A question: why did you exit the cables before ending the wrap? Do they work better that way or it's for looks?

cudak888 

An extended seattube would be what I saw on a local Merckx MX Leader. Yech - went up 3", the same effect you are seeing with that Mavic post.

That said, one of my fundamental rules of build-ups is to match stem color with the seattube, no exceptions. I tried an all-black post; it clashed with the clear anodized bar sleeve. The Mavic balanced it out. Seatpost and saddle is black/silver/black; handlebar, stem, and bar wrap is black/silver/black.


For looks. I'm adamant about always leaving a perfect edge between the bar tape and handlebar sleeve.

junkfoodjunkie

Nice looking bike Kurt!

-Jake

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I couldn't agree more. Shimano Brifters look like clunky garbage...those campy levers don't look much different from normal brake levers.

Those campy brifters are Probably the only reason why I'm compelled to build a bike with a campy drivetrain

cudak888 

I didn't mind the way the 600's looked. A bit large, but reasonably pleasing; they complimented my Giro D'Italia bars nicely:



I wish I could say something positive for the way they operated.

I rather like the current SRAM design - particularly as you can get gum HUDZ hoods for them. If I had to pick out modern brifters, they'd be my first choice. Campag's SR-11 design is flat out disgusting, their previous hood was boxy, and everything Shimano has put out recently looks as if it came out out of the drafting board's trash can.

-Kurt

ColonelJLloyd 

+1 Those Shimano brifters are terribly unappealing to me. The early Campy Ergo levers, however, are pretty sharp. I'd put them on one of my rides. They have nice lines and look to follow the curvature of the bar exactly on Kurt's Pinarello.

cudak888 

The first-gen Campagnolo Ergos look even better on Campione Del Mundo's, but you can't downshift from the drops on one of those bars.

-Kurt

gaucho777 

Sharp looking bike. I don't find the neon too much. It's a plus that the neon is contained in the more classic-looking bands, versus the fade patterns which were popular in the 80s. I recently saw a bright purple faded Pinarello at a garage sale at a decent price, but the paint scheme on that bike was just a little too much for me. Not at all the case here.

+1 on black rims.

Btw, those black anodized Campy parts would also look great on this bike:

cudak888 

I'm half tempted to trade my cranks, derailers, and brakes for your Century bits.

-Kurt