Custom steel frame from Cicli Barco
11-06-23, 06:10 PM
#1
Custom steel frame from Cicli Barco
So for the better part of 25 years all I've ridden has been used bikes, not that there is anything wrong with my SL tubed EM Motorola, SPX tubed Fondriest, or 80s De Visini in red cromovelato and any of my 3 90s Miyata mtb, NONETHELESS, I wanted to treat myself with a custom geo bike.
The choice of frame builder
For obvious reasons it had to be Italian! Initially I thought Battaglin looked nice but the more I saw their videos, read their newsletters/emails the less I wanted one, they seemed just too elitist and something didnt sit right with me...Did some more research and found Cicli Barco, somehow they seemed very low key while at the same time producing some of the most stunning bikes, both under their own name but also for other bike brands.
Reached out in February 2023. I had a quite clear picture in my mind of how I wanted the bike to look and the geo to be. Classic road bike, horizontal top tube, quill stem, rim brakes, 5 arm crankset, steel fork and no pla...carbon!
Designing the frame
After a few initial emails describing above and reciving some marketing material and price list I had a good feeling and transfered the 50% of the price so they could get started. Initially the estimate for the frame was October, just in time to get a couple of rides before Swedish winter!
After that it quickly became quite detailed. To preserve the classic looks I needed slim tubes (perks of weighing 65kg) went a bit back and forth on Columbus spirit vs XCr but settled on XCr with the following dimensions:
28.6mm seat tube
28.6mm top tube
31.7mm down tube
Fork
After that it was time for fork crown! Given that I wanted a steel fork and not their VIVA fork which is steel with a carbon steerer my choices were a bit limited. I initially wanted style 1 or 4 but these were not available for the all steel fork so settled with style 2. The VIVA fork looked veeeery nice though, however that would make it impossible to use with a quill stem so settled for an all steel one
Viva fork:
Lugs or no lugs....
This was one of the harder decisions. I really like the look of a nicely fillet brazed frame, but equally, given the classic style I was going for maybe lugs would be more suitable.
Turned out they didnt do fillet brazing since their scapin days, not sure why, didn't inquire, they reassured me that their tig welding was very good though, jumped on their Instagram, and yep, they were a thing of beauty. Given that all my other bikes have lugs I was now convinced welded was the way forward!
Have you seen our extras menu?
Turns out they had one, and I wanted almost everything on it!
Not sure why one would want this on the bb shell, I knew I wanted it though not on the BB shell but rather on the top tube, just behind the stem and bearing my newly born daughters initials, who some day, if I dont crash it, will inherit the bike
Columbus dove? Classy! This was going on the upper part of the seat tube where the tubing sticker usually is
Italian flag in the rear? How could I not?! Just look at the seat cluster from behind! Riders on their chinese made carbon bikes will tremble in equal amounts of horror and awe when I pass them on the roads
The choice of frame builder
For obvious reasons it had to be Italian! Initially I thought Battaglin looked nice but the more I saw their videos, read their newsletters/emails the less I wanted one, they seemed just too elitist and something didnt sit right with me...Did some more research and found Cicli Barco, somehow they seemed very low key while at the same time producing some of the most stunning bikes, both under their own name but also for other bike brands.
Reached out in February 2023. I had a quite clear picture in my mind of how I wanted the bike to look and the geo to be. Classic road bike, horizontal top tube, quill stem, rim brakes, 5 arm crankset, steel fork and no pla...carbon!
Designing the frame
After a few initial emails describing above and reciving some marketing material and price list I had a good feeling and transfered the 50% of the price so they could get started. Initially the estimate for the frame was October, just in time to get a couple of rides before Swedish winter!
After that it quickly became quite detailed. To preserve the classic looks I needed slim tubes (perks of weighing 65kg) went a bit back and forth on Columbus spirit vs XCr but settled on XCr with the following dimensions:
28.6mm seat tube
28.6mm top tube
31.7mm down tube
Fork
After that it was time for fork crown! Given that I wanted a steel fork and not their VIVA fork which is steel with a carbon steerer my choices were a bit limited. I initially wanted style 1 or 4 but these were not available for the all steel fork so settled with style 2. The VIVA fork looked veeeery nice though, however that would make it impossible to use with a quill stem so settled for an all steel one
Viva fork:
Lugs or no lugs....
This was one of the harder decisions. I really like the look of a nicely fillet brazed frame, but equally, given the classic style I was going for maybe lugs would be more suitable.
Turned out they didnt do fillet brazing since their scapin days, not sure why, didn't inquire, they reassured me that their tig welding was very good though, jumped on their Instagram, and yep, they were a thing of beauty. Given that all my other bikes have lugs I was now convinced welded was the way forward!
Have you seen our extras menu?
Turns out they had one, and I wanted almost everything on it!
Not sure why one would want this on the bb shell, I knew I wanted it though not on the BB shell but rather on the top tube, just behind the stem and bearing my newly born daughters initials, who some day, if I dont crash it, will inherit the bike
Columbus dove? Classy! This was going on the upper part of the seat tube where the tubing sticker usually is
Italian flag in the rear? How could I not?! Just look at the seat cluster from behind! Riders on their chinese made carbon bikes will tremble in equal amounts of horror and awe when I pass them on the roads
Last edited by curiousabe; 08-14-24 at 02:47 PM.
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11-06-23, 07:07 PM
#2
Edumacator
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Goose Creek, SC
Posts: 7,560
Bikes: '87 Crestdale, '87 Basso Gap, '92 Rossin Performance EL-OS, 1990 VanTuyl, 1980s Losa, 1985 Trek 670, 1982 AD SLE, 1987 PX10, etc...
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Whoa...that’s pretty incredible. Congrats!
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1987 Crest Cannondale, 1987 Basso Gap, 1992 Rossin Performance EL, 1990ish Van Tuyl, 1985 Trek 670, 2003 Pinarello Surprise, 1990ish MBK Atlantique, 1987 Peugeot Competition, 1987 Nishiki Tri-A, 1981 Faggin, 1996 Cannondale M500, 1984 Mercian, 1982 AD SuperLeicht, 1985 Massi (model unknown), 1988 Daccordi Griffe , 1989 Fauxsin MTB, 1981 Ciocc Mockba, 1992 Bianchi Giro, 1977 Colnago Super, 1971 Raleigh International, 1998 Corratec Ap & Dun, 1991 Peugeot Slimestone
1987 Crest Cannondale, 1987 Basso Gap, 1992 Rossin Performance EL, 1990ish Van Tuyl, 1985 Trek 670, 2003 Pinarello Surprise, 1990ish MBK Atlantique, 1987 Peugeot Competition, 1987 Nishiki Tri-A, 1981 Faggin, 1996 Cannondale M500, 1984 Mercian, 1982 AD SuperLeicht, 1985 Massi (model unknown), 1988 Daccordi Griffe , 1989 Fauxsin MTB, 1981 Ciocc Mockba, 1992 Bianchi Giro, 1977 Colnago Super, 1971 Raleigh International, 1998 Corratec Ap & Dun, 1991 Peugeot Slimestone
11-06-23, 11:05 PM
#4
Senior Member
What tubing is that?
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08-14-24, 02:35 PM
#6
Ok just realized I never posted the complete build. Have updated the first post and will post the following parts of the process in subsequent posts below
------
ColorI knew I wanted red/orangeish cromovelato. However since they dont offer any chromed frames/forks I was initially concerned that the end result would not be like a real cromovelato but after some more digging on their FB and instagram I was convinced otherwise and once I saw the photo above I knew that was exactly the color I was looking for. Coupled with white lettering for the logo and white cable housings. Said and done! ComponentsBarco provided me with a pdf listing their offerings, little did they know that I was very ocd about specific componenets. This would be a mix of new and old! GroupsetSince no one is seizing the the opportunity to create a polished all alloy groupset any longer I did spent a considerable amount of time looking for a NOS/NIB Campa 10s groupset. In the end I caved in and settled for the best close thing, I.e. Campagnolo centaur 11 in silver, however, there was one issue :butt:
I think some higher power felt sad for me since I had wasted so much time looking for a NOS groupset since directly after having settled for the centaur 11 groupset this thing of beauty popped up, locally, a 20 min drive away, new in box, for a mere 90 eur! Asked Cicli Barco to order the groupset for me excluding the centaur Crankset since I would be shipping my new found treasure to them! 
O stem, where art thou?In my world there is one stem that reigns supreme, namely the 3ttt Mod. 1 Record Strada (2nd version). I have it on two of my other road bikes, the chiseled top is just a thing of beuaty. 
I kid you not but I spent like 3 months trying to find a NOS or a mint condition one in 80-90mm. After reading some horror stories of a few of these failing (by now they are close to 40 years old) I decided to end this pursuit and set sight for Japan, which offered the next best think, NITTO NP (pearl) 
Handlebar I needed something in 380mm width, and wanted something compact and modern, ofc in silver, and while hunting for the above Nitto I came across the Nitto M106NAS, unfortunately no one was stocking this in europe so I had to order it from Japan, fortunately customs let it slip through, however I still have an axe to grind with the customs, more on that later...
SeatpostJust like with the stem, there is one seatpost to rule them all in terms of looks, Campagnolo record c aero! Scored this one on ebay, NOS, for 75eur. TUrns out it wasnt a record one though, oh well, it looks almost the same 
------
ColorI knew I wanted red/orangeish cromovelato. However since they dont offer any chromed frames/forks I was initially concerned that the end result would not be like a real cromovelato but after some more digging on their FB and instagram I was convinced otherwise and once I saw the photo above I knew that was exactly the color I was looking for. Coupled with white lettering for the logo and white cable housings. Said and done! ComponentsBarco provided me with a pdf listing their offerings, little did they know that I was very ocd about specific componenets. This would be a mix of new and old! GroupsetSince no one is seizing the the opportunity to create a polished all alloy groupset any longer I did spent a considerable amount of time looking for a NOS/NIB Campa 10s groupset. In the end I caved in and settled for the best close thing, I.e. Campagnolo centaur 11 in silver, however, there was one issue :butt:
I think some higher power felt sad for me since I had wasted so much time looking for a NOS groupset since directly after having settled for the centaur 11 groupset this thing of beauty popped up, locally, a 20 min drive away, new in box, for a mere 90 eur! Asked Cicli Barco to order the groupset for me excluding the centaur Crankset since I would be shipping my new found treasure to them!
08-14-24, 02:36 PM
#7
Pedals
Yeep, here as well, in my mind there are one set of pedals! I did however have to commit a cardinal sin...Enter SHIMANO Dura ace PD-7810
Headset
Actually there is no clear winner here, initially we were going for a polished chris king one but on cicli barcos recommendation we settled for a campa record one, a great suggestion, not only is it beautiful but also easily servicable, just like the square campa record bottom bracket I had them order!
Handlebar tape and saddle
Here I was a bit indifferent, I have brooks leather tape and swallow or swift (cant remember lol) on a different bike but this felt a bit dated somehow. Settled for the C17 and cambium tape, both in orange!
Wheels
This was more cumbersome than I had anticipated. I just wanted a nice pair of wide alloy clinchers, polished, not too tall, with a nice pair of alloy polished hubs. Ofc no one seem to be offering this in the eu. Started looking into a custom wheel set but trying to keep some semblance of budget and spotting a lightly used pair of Campagnolo Nucleon locally (ok the hubs are black) with silver spokes I opted for these.
Tires
GP 5000 have served me well, they also come in a nice cream color!
Geometry
I actually opted for my bike fitter create the geometry. Not that I did not trust Cicli Barco on this but in my mind the end result must be better bi visiting a bike fitter, getting up on a jig and doing multiple recorded iterations to find optimal geometry vs filling out a form with 7 or so measurements which Cicli Barco requested.
Said and done, visited the guys at pain free power https://painfreepower.se/ once the geo was drawn up there were a lot of back and forth between me, pain free power and cicli barco. After 20 or so email the geometry was finalized. With that said, I probably shouldn't have, but I had to intervene and request two things, namely, if possible, shorting the head tube (tall head tubes are ugly) and making the top top completely horizontal (initial geo had some slack).
This was revision 2 I think, provided by the bike fitter
Final revision provided by Cicli Barco, it was finally time to have the frame built!
The waiting game begins
By now we are approaching July 2023 and this is were the waiting starts for real, now more conversations about tube sizes, geometry or component selection...
I collected all of the components I had been hunting down, packed them up together with the wheels and included a small gift in the form of snaps representing sweden and sent them off to their workshop in Italiy
Thiefs!
Remember that I had an axe to grind with customs? Well, packages arrived safely in Itally, however, there was one major issue. Turns out the small box of snaps (10x5cl) was missing from the components package.
From what I gather it is OK to by post ship a small amount of alcohol intended for personal consumption as a gift within the eu. The Italian customs obviously did not think so since they decided to confiscate it
Yeep, here as well, in my mind there are one set of pedals! I did however have to commit a cardinal sin...Enter SHIMANO Dura ace PD-7810
Headset
Actually there is no clear winner here, initially we were going for a polished chris king one but on cicli barcos recommendation we settled for a campa record one, a great suggestion, not only is it beautiful but also easily servicable, just like the square campa record bottom bracket I had them order!
Handlebar tape and saddle
Here I was a bit indifferent, I have brooks leather tape and swallow or swift (cant remember lol) on a different bike but this felt a bit dated somehow. Settled for the C17 and cambium tape, both in orange!
Wheels
This was more cumbersome than I had anticipated. I just wanted a nice pair of wide alloy clinchers, polished, not too tall, with a nice pair of alloy polished hubs. Ofc no one seem to be offering this in the eu. Started looking into a custom wheel set but trying to keep some semblance of budget and spotting a lightly used pair of Campagnolo Nucleon locally (ok the hubs are black) with silver spokes I opted for these.
Tires
GP 5000 have served me well, they also come in a nice cream color!
Geometry
I actually opted for my bike fitter create the geometry. Not that I did not trust Cicli Barco on this but in my mind the end result must be better bi visiting a bike fitter, getting up on a jig and doing multiple recorded iterations to find optimal geometry vs filling out a form with 7 or so measurements which Cicli Barco requested.
Said and done, visited the guys at pain free power https://painfreepower.se/ once the geo was drawn up there were a lot of back and forth between me, pain free power and cicli barco. After 20 or so email the geometry was finalized. With that said, I probably shouldn't have, but I had to intervene and request two things, namely, if possible, shorting the head tube (tall head tubes are ugly) and making the top top completely horizontal (initial geo had some slack).
This was revision 2 I think, provided by the bike fitter
Final revision provided by Cicli Barco, it was finally time to have the frame built!
The waiting game begins
By now we are approaching July 2023 and this is were the waiting starts for real, now more conversations about tube sizes, geometry or component selection...
I collected all of the components I had been hunting down, packed them up together with the wheels and included a small gift in the form of snaps representing sweden and sent them off to their workshop in Italiy
Thiefs!
Remember that I had an axe to grind with customs? Well, packages arrived safely in Itally, however, there was one major issue. Turns out the small box of snaps (10x5cl) was missing from the components package.
From what I gather it is OK to by post ship a small amount of alcohol intended for personal consumption as a gift within the eu. The Italian customs obviously did not think so since they decided to confiscate it
08-14-24, 02:36 PM
#8
First signs of life - September 2023
Came back from work and noticed I had a new email from Cicli Barco! They wanted to confirm the placement of the heart which meant I got a first glimpse of the frame! Decided to have them lower it a few cm.
Brace yourselves – Winter is coming
It is now winter in Sweden, the snow is falling heavily, its dark almost 24/7 and everyone mood is generally depressing, including mine. Then after work I noticed I had a new email from Cicli Barco and the depressing mood quickly went away! The frame, fork and headset ended up being 2350 gram!
I couldn't be happier, the frame looked absolutely stunning! It had now been sent of to their mechanic for mounting the components ( typically would have done this myself but work combined with small baby simply didn't afford me the the time).
In fact, I was so happy to finally see the finished frame that it took me a few days to realize that there was a grave error...The Cicli Barco logo/lettering on the seat and down tube I had requested to be painted white where not white!
They deeply apologized and offered me a discount on the final price or to have it sent back to the painter. I had to think long and hard about this, the exposed polished steel looked quite nice, however, I had already ordered white cable housing and wanted the white housing to match with the white logo. In the end I settled for having the logo painted white as initially planned since I feared had I not done this I would regret it later down the line.
We also had received about 20cm snow so I wouldn't be doing any cycling for the next couple of months so a few more weeks of waiting wouldn't hurt.
Came back from work and noticed I had a new email from Cicli Barco! They wanted to confirm the placement of the heart which meant I got a first glimpse of the frame! Decided to have them lower it a few cm.
Brace yourselves – Winter is coming
It is now winter in Sweden, the snow is falling heavily, its dark almost 24/7 and everyone mood is generally depressing, including mine. Then after work I noticed I had a new email from Cicli Barco and the depressing mood quickly went away! The frame, fork and headset ended up being 2350 gram!
I couldn't be happier, the frame looked absolutely stunning! It had now been sent of to their mechanic for mounting the components ( typically would have done this myself but work combined with small baby simply didn't afford me the the time).
In fact, I was so happy to finally see the finished frame that it took me a few days to realize that there was a grave error...The Cicli Barco logo/lettering on the seat and down tube I had requested to be painted white where not white!
They deeply apologized and offered me a discount on the final price or to have it sent back to the painter. I had to think long and hard about this, the exposed polished steel looked quite nice, however, I had already ordered white cable housing and wanted the white housing to match with the white logo. In the end I settled for having the logo painted white as initially planned since I feared had I not done this I would regret it later down the line.
We also had received about 20cm snow so I wouldn't be doing any cycling for the next couple of months so a few more weeks of waiting wouldn't hurt.
08-14-24, 02:37 PM
#9
Turns out this was a very easy fix for their painter and a few days later this was corrected :banana:
Now it was back off to the mechanic again!
Panto? Panto!
While browsing facebook I came across a beautifully pantographed seat post and given that the bike was yet to be finalized a kindly asked Cicli Barco if they would be willing to pantograph the seat post I had sent them to achieve a similar result, they could, for 130 eur, I probably overpaid for this but I knew I wanted it!
Now it was back off to the mechanic again!
Panto? Panto!
While browsing facebook I came across a beautifully pantographed seat post and given that the bike was yet to be finalized a kindly asked Cicli Barco if they would be willing to pantograph the seat post I had sent them to achieve a similar result, they could, for 130 eur, I probably overpaid for this but I knew I wanted it!
08-14-24, 02:38 PM
#10
Christmas!
2023-12-20 came how from work, noticed a new email, after 10 months, around 120 emails and countless hours spent hunting down components it was finally complete and ready to be shipped!
Note that I already replaced the ugly brooks plastic end caps with nice alloy ones from Nitto. Turns out my intially planned all italian bike ended up composing of an italian, german and japanese coalition of componenets, now why does that sound familiar...
---------------
The bike arrived a few days later and it looks even more stunning in real life, turns out no chrome is needed to achieve a cromovelato like finish
Overall Im super happy with the process and end result, Andrea at Cicli Barco was great dealing with, always quick to reply and quick to let steer me out of bad ideas I might have suggested. Cost landed at around 6k eur, expensive sure but still cheaper than some of the carbon bikes. Kinda nuts that you can get a custom geo steel frame in one of the most expensive tubeset hand built by some of the most experienced builders for cheaper than some plastic molded in china.
Let me know if you have any questions regarding the process, bike or overall experience
Now its time to wait another 3 months for spring to arrive, which is not all bad since I will probably take 3 months to decide on what bottles cages to go for, currently going back and forth between the Nitto bottle cage r or the Stainless Steel Cage from King cage.
2023-12-20 came how from work, noticed a new email, after 10 months, around 120 emails and countless hours spent hunting down components it was finally complete and ready to be shipped!
Note that I already replaced the ugly brooks plastic end caps with nice alloy ones from Nitto. Turns out my intially planned all italian bike ended up composing of an italian, german and japanese coalition of componenets, now why does that sound familiar...
---------------
The bike arrived a few days later and it looks even more stunning in real life, turns out no chrome is needed to achieve a cromovelato like finish
Overall Im super happy with the process and end result, Andrea at Cicli Barco was great dealing with, always quick to reply and quick to let steer me out of bad ideas I might have suggested. Cost landed at around 6k eur, expensive sure but still cheaper than some of the carbon bikes. Kinda nuts that you can get a custom geo steel frame in one of the most expensive tubeset hand built by some of the most experienced builders for cheaper than some plastic molded in china.
Let me know if you have any questions regarding the process, bike or overall experience
Now its time to wait another 3 months for spring to arrive, which is not all bad since I will probably take 3 months to decide on what bottles cages to go for, currently going back and forth between the Nitto bottle cage r or the Stainless Steel Cage from King cage.
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08-14-24, 02:41 PM
#11
2024-08-14
Finally found my dura ace pedals, was sure I had thrown these away by mistake when cleaning the basement lol, swapped ot the pd es600 (amazing pedals)
The only other change i did was to swap out those ugly black plastic/rubber bpbrooks bar end caps to some nitto bling ones
I also settled for these nitto cage r bottle cage copes from studio brisant, which j can highly recommend! https://studiobrisant.com/en/edelstahl-flaschenhalter-glaenzend-retro-klassik
And white bottles from pedaled (elite fly)
Since bike was now finally feature complete I decided to weigh it. Viewer discretion advised, weight wheenies might find the following content offensive.
Starting from row 18 "extra bös" i was lazy and just added in swedish the delta for the stuff i didn't google weight for back when I creates the spreadsheet. This is stuff like holder for cycle computer, varia holder, bottle cages, ring bell and saddle bag. Seeing as main focus of this build has always been comfort and eye candy weight has never really been a priority Would however be fun some day in the future to rebuild for weight wheenie crowd and see how light i could make this go. Maybe in a few thousand miles when the groupset is nearing EoL .
Could easily save almost 500 grams simply by swapping saddle for my flite with titanium rails and tpu tubes, but then again, thee c17 saddle and my ass is like a match made in heaven and the conti race tubes have never let me down for thousand of miles these past 5 years.
Finally found my dura ace pedals, was sure I had thrown these away by mistake when cleaning the basement lol, swapped ot the pd es600 (amazing pedals)
The only other change i did was to swap out those ugly black plastic/rubber bpbrooks bar end caps to some nitto bling ones
I also settled for these nitto cage r bottle cage copes from studio brisant, which j can highly recommend! https://studiobrisant.com/en/edelstahl-flaschenhalter-glaenzend-retro-klassik
And white bottles from pedaled (elite fly)Since bike was now finally feature complete I decided to weigh it. Viewer discretion advised, weight wheenies might find the following content offensive.
Would however be fun some day in the future to rebuild for weight wheenie crowd and see how light i could make this go. Maybe in a few thousand miles when the groupset is nearing EoL .Could easily save almost 500 grams simply by swapping saddle for my flite with titanium rails and tpu tubes, but then again, thee c17 saddle and my ass is like a match made in heaven and the conti race tubes have never let me down for thousand of miles these past 5 years.
Last edited by curiousabe; 08-14-24 at 02:46 PM.
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08-14-24, 06:23 PM
#12
Senior Member
Very nice. The seat stay/ seat tube junction sure looks fillet brazed to me! I don't see how you could have TIG welds looking like that.
08-15-24, 10:04 AM
#13
Crawlin' up, flyin' down
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Democratic Peoples' Republic of Berkeley
Posts: 5,903
Bikes: 1967 Paramount; 1982-ish Ron Cooper; 1978 Eisentraut "A"; two mid-1960s Cinelli Speciale Corsas; and others in various stages of non-rideability.
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That is drop-dead gorgeous. Simply stunning.. Thanks for sharing the process. It sounds like you and Barco together sweated all the details and came up with a fantastic bike.
Good call on redoing the down tube and seat tube logo paint, by the way. I thought the silver looked pretty darn good . . . until I saw the white. It really pops and looks terrific.
If the ride is half as good as the looks, you'll be riding with a silly grin on your face - not to mention turning heads - for many, many years.
Good call on redoing the down tube and seat tube logo paint, by the way. I thought the silver looked pretty darn good . . . until I saw the white. It really pops and looks terrific.
If the ride is half as good as the looks, you'll be riding with a silly grin on your face - not to mention turning heads - for many, many years.
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"I'm in shape -- round is a shape." Andy Rooney
"I'm in shape -- round is a shape." Andy Rooney
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08-15-24, 11:34 AM
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: San Jose (Willow Glen) Ca
Posts: 10,367
Bikes: Kirk Custom JK Special, '84 Team Miyata,(dura ace old school) 80?? SR Semi-Pro 600 Arabesque
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Pedals
Yeep, here as well, in my mind there are one set of pedals! I did however have to commit a cardinal sin...Enter SHIMANO Dura ace PD-7810
Headset
Actually there is no clear winner here, initially we were going for a polished chris king one but on cicli barcos recommendation we settled for a campa record one, a great suggestion, not only is it beautiful but also easily servicable, just like the square campa record bottom bracket I had them order!
Handlebar tape and saddle
Here I was a bit indifferent, I have brooks leather tape and swallow or swift (cant remember lol) on a different bike but this felt a bit dated somehow. Settled for the C17 and cambium tape, both in orange!
Wheels
This was more cumbersome than I had anticipated. I just wanted a nice pair of wide alloy clinchers, polished, not too tall, with a nice pair of alloy polished hubs. Ofc no one seem to be offering this in the eu. Started looking into a custom wheel set but trying to keep some semblance of budget and spotting a lightly used pair of Campagnolo Nucleon locally (ok the hubs are black) with silver spokes I opted for these.
Tires
GP 5000 have served me well, they also come in a nice cream color!
Geometry
I actually opted for my bike fitter create the geometry. Not that I did not trust Cicli Barco on this but in my mind the end result must be better bi visiting a bike fitter, getting up on a jig and doing multiple recorded iterations to find optimal geometry vs filling out a form with 7 or so measurements which Cicli Barco requested.
Said and done, visited the guys at pain free power https://painfreepower.se/ once the geo was drawn up there were a lot of back and forth between me, pain free power and cicli barco. After 20 or so email the geometry was finalized. With that said, I probably shouldn't have, but I had to intervene and request two things, namely, if possible, shorting the head tube (tall head tubes are ugly) and making the top top completely horizontal (initial geo had some slack).
This was revision 2 I think, provided by the bike fitter
Final revision provided by Cicli Barco, it was finally time to have the frame built!
The waiting game begins
By now we are approaching July 2023 and this is were the waiting starts for real, now more conversations about tube sizes, geometry or component selection...
I collected all of the components I had been hunting down, packed them up together with the wheels and included a small gift in the form of snaps representing sweden and sent them off to their workshop in Italiy
Thiefs!
Remember that I had an axe to grind with customs? Well, packages arrived safely in Itally, however, there was one major issue. Turns out the small box of snaps (10x5cl) was missing from the components package.
From what I gather it is OK to by post ship a small amount of alcohol intended for personal consumption as a gift within the eu. The Italian customs obviously did not think so since they decided to confiscate it
Yeep, here as well, in my mind there are one set of pedals! I did however have to commit a cardinal sin...Enter SHIMANO Dura ace PD-7810
Headset
Actually there is no clear winner here, initially we were going for a polished chris king one but on cicli barcos recommendation we settled for a campa record one, a great suggestion, not only is it beautiful but also easily servicable, just like the square campa record bottom bracket I had them order!
Handlebar tape and saddle
Here I was a bit indifferent, I have brooks leather tape and swallow or swift (cant remember lol) on a different bike but this felt a bit dated somehow. Settled for the C17 and cambium tape, both in orange!
Wheels
This was more cumbersome than I had anticipated. I just wanted a nice pair of wide alloy clinchers, polished, not too tall, with a nice pair of alloy polished hubs. Ofc no one seem to be offering this in the eu. Started looking into a custom wheel set but trying to keep some semblance of budget and spotting a lightly used pair of Campagnolo Nucleon locally (ok the hubs are black) with silver spokes I opted for these.
Tires
GP 5000 have served me well, they also come in a nice cream color!
Geometry
I actually opted for my bike fitter create the geometry. Not that I did not trust Cicli Barco on this but in my mind the end result must be better bi visiting a bike fitter, getting up on a jig and doing multiple recorded iterations to find optimal geometry vs filling out a form with 7 or so measurements which Cicli Barco requested.
Said and done, visited the guys at pain free power https://painfreepower.se/ once the geo was drawn up there were a lot of back and forth between me, pain free power and cicli barco. After 20 or so email the geometry was finalized. With that said, I probably shouldn't have, but I had to intervene and request two things, namely, if possible, shorting the head tube (tall head tubes are ugly) and making the top top completely horizontal (initial geo had some slack).
This was revision 2 I think, provided by the bike fitter
Final revision provided by Cicli Barco, it was finally time to have the frame built!
The waiting game begins
By now we are approaching July 2023 and this is were the waiting starts for real, now more conversations about tube sizes, geometry or component selection...
I collected all of the components I had been hunting down, packed them up together with the wheels and included a small gift in the form of snaps representing sweden and sent them off to their workshop in Italiy
Thiefs!
Remember that I had an axe to grind with customs? Well, packages arrived safely in Itally, however, there was one major issue. Turns out the small box of snaps (10x5cl) was missing from the components package.
From what I gather it is OK to by post ship a small amount of alcohol intended for personal consumption as a gift within the eu. The Italian customs obviously did not think so since they decided to confiscate it
__________________
Life is too short not to ride the best bike you have, as much as you can.
Life is too short not to ride the best bike you have, as much as you can.
08-15-24, 12:19 PM
#15
Steel is real
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Not far from Paris
Posts: 2,428
Bikes: 1992Giant Tourer,1992MeridaAlbon,1996Scapin,1998KonaKilaueua,1993Peugeot Prestige,1991RaleighTeamZ(to be upgraded),1998 Jamis Dragon,1992CTWallis(to be built),1998VettaTeam,1995Coppi(to be built),1993Grandis(to be built)
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834 Posts
Great bike and great build 
08-15-24, 12:27 PM
#16
Stop reading my posts!
Bravissimo!
08-15-24, 01:41 PM
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Posts: 6,357
Bikes: 1989 Cinelli Supercorsa
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That's a really stunning bike you have there! I really like the colored stripes/bands on the seat and chain stays.
08-15-24, 01:56 PM
#18
That is drop-dead gorgeous. Simply stunning.. Thanks for sharing the process. It sounds like you and Barco together sweated all the details and came up with a fantastic bike.
Good call on redoing the down tube and seat tube logo paint, by the way. I thought the silver looked pretty darn good . . . until I saw the white. It really pops and looks terrific.
If the ride is half as good as the looks, you'll be riding with a silly grin on your face - not to mention turning heads - for many, many years.
Good call on redoing the down tube and seat tube logo paint, by the way. I thought the silver looked pretty darn good . . . until I saw the white. It really pops and looks terrific.
If the ride is half as good as the looks, you'll be riding with a silly grin on your face - not to mention turning heads - for many, many years.
I was super conflicted re the logo, at first I didn't even notice the omission of the white lettering because it looked that good, only a few days later it became apparent and by that time I'd grown fond if the silver so was super conflicted. In the end I decided to stick with my initial idea since I wanted to match the cable housing color with the logo and I'd know I wouldn't be able to let the "what if" go if I kept it silver. And yes, fully agree, the white really makes it pop!
The ride is simply amazing, its quick and agile without feeling twitchy and more importantly, it's the first bike I've literally felt nothing other than tires legs on 100km rides. With all my other bikes, despite being set up by bike fitters there is always something, albeit minor, some strange lumbar ache, neck pain, wrist pain. With this beauty my whole body feels perfect.
08-15-24, 03:04 PM
#19
Senior Member
How was this achieved?
There are chrome paints and on top a candy is applied. Goes down like a normal paint, etch surface, primer, chrome paint, candy, clear. But it leaves a hell of an edge transitioning to bare tube.
Or did they polish the stainless, put down a binder coat, then candy, then clear?
There are chrome paints and on top a candy is applied. Goes down like a normal paint, etch surface, primer, chrome paint, candy, clear. But it leaves a hell of an edge transitioning to bare tube.
Or did they polish the stainless, put down a binder coat, then candy, then clear?
08-15-24, 03:06 PM
#20
Senior Member
fyi, I am also working on a custom XCR frameset and want cromovelato highlights, not full coverage. I spoke with Joe Bell about it and he has no direct experience but thought stainless may hold onto a binder coat better than chrome.
08-15-24, 05:10 PM
#21
How was this achieved?
There are chrome paints and on top a candy is applied. Goes down like a normal paint, etch surface, primer, chrome paint, candy, clear. But it leaves a hell of an edge transitioning to bare tube.
Or did they polish the stainless, put down a binder coat, then candy, then clear?
There are chrome paints and on top a candy is applied. Goes down like a normal paint, etch surface, primer, chrome paint, candy, clear. But it leaves a hell of an edge transitioning to bare tube.
Or did they polish the stainless, put down a binder coat, then candy, then clear?
Can look through the email conversation tomorrow I had with them regarding color but I don't think i remember them them saying more than that they had to polish to to mirror shine before paintjob.
08-15-24, 06:04 PM
#22
Senior Member
Honestly I'm not sure, only thing i know is that they had to polish the frame to a mirror shine before applying paint job. When I put it side by side with my 80s De visini bike with has a real cromivelato, albeit red you can see that the real deal has a certain shine that this doesn't have. Wouldn't say it looks better just a slightly bit different.
Can look through the email conversation tomorrow I had with them regarding color but I don't think i remember them them saying more than that they had to polish to to mirror shine before paintjob.
Can look through the email conversation tomorrow I had with them regarding color but I don't think i remember them them saying more than that they had to polish to to mirror shine before paintjob.
I'm happy to hear they do this process. We were speculating the stainless may have more grab and less likely to chip like traditional cromovelato.
08-15-24, 06:21 PM
#23
I think it then would be the latter, a binding agent with candy and clear. The chrome paint is just shiny paint and your prep is the same as paint. Etch the surface first, you don't make it smoother, the primer won't bite.
I'm happy to hear they do this process. We were speculating the stainless may have more grab and less likely to chip like traditional cromovelato.
I'm happy to hear they do this process. We were speculating the stainless may have more grab and less likely to chip like traditional cromovelato.
08-15-24, 06:49 PM
#24
Crawlin' up, flyin' down
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Democratic Peoples' Republic of Berkeley
Posts: 5,903
Bikes: 1967 Paramount; 1982-ish Ron Cooper; 1978 Eisentraut "A"; two mid-1960s Cinelli Speciale Corsas; and others in various stages of non-rideability.
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Yea at least to the touch the paint feels alot more solid/robust and "thick"on the barco one as opposed to my de visini, on the other hand the de visini bike is close to 40 years old but you can see in places where it has chipped that the paint seems very "thin" so im sure your theory is correct
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"I'm in shape -- round is a shape." Andy Rooney
"I'm in shape -- round is a shape." Andy Rooney
08-15-24, 07:45 PM
#25
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 4,918
Bikes: 82 Medici, 85 Ironman, 2011 Richard Sachs
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When I found out that Cicli Barco makes the Bianchi XCR, Cicli Barco replaced Bianchi as a potential bespoke bicycle I would return with — if my wife makes me go to Italy🤞
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I don't do: disks, tubeless, e-shifting, or bead head nymphs.
I don't do: disks, tubeless, e-shifting, or bead head nymphs.
