Month: May 2020

Installed the Cuissi Inox bottle cage (thanks, Rob), and the Campagnolo crank bolt covers.

Ground about 3mm off the seatpost binder bolt recessed nut, filed it smooth, and installed it.  Greased the seatpost and installed it.  Clamped the SA white saddle to the seatpost and sort-of aligned it.  Tightened the clamp bolts but it will need to be set to the right place once the bars are on.  The white saddle looks great with the blue frame and the white decals.

The bearings and the brake lever ferrules are supposed to be delivered on Saturday, they are the last parts I’m waiting for to finish the build.  Getting it ready for the maiden voyage should take a couple of hours.

The headset bearings were delivered a couple of days earlier than initial estimates.  Under-promise and over-deliver is alive and well – but no complaints.  I replaced the 5/32 bearings with 3/16 bearings, and quickly noticed that the lower race wasn’t in the correct place in the lower cup.  That meant that this headset uses 5/32 bearings, which is what I had.  After texting back and forth with a knowledgeable bike guy (thanks, Bob) I learned that 5/32 is in fact correct, and that I had not used the correct number of bearings.  I fixed that error and the headset is much better.

Installed and adjusted the stem and bars.  Pretty easy and quick once the headset was sorted out.

Next is the brake hoods.  I lucked onto a set of NOS Campagnolo white brake lever hoods a few months ago and picked them up, knowing I would use them on this build.  Installing the hoods was an exercise in frustration and anxiety, since older hoods are known to tear when stretched, and you must stretch them to get them onto the brake levers.  Another knowledgeable bike guy (thanks, Scott) suggested putting the hoods in very hot water, allowing them to become more pliable, and then sliding them onto the lever body.  It worked – no tears and they’re in place on the levers.  Slid the levers onto the bar, positioned them to what I think is the proper place, and tightened them down.

Ran the brake housing for the rear brake, left of the stem and up under the bars then down to the lever.  Checked lock to lock bar turns without any binding, and cut it length.  Installed the cable and clamped it in place.  Rear brake is braking.

Ran the brake housing for the front brake, make the housing loop the same height as the rear brake housing, cut it to length, installed the cable, clamped it in place, and we have front braking.

It’s ready for a test ride.  Rechecked the fasteners to be sure they’re tight, and rode down to the neighbor’s house and back.  There is a bump in the front rim that I noticed while braking – I might be able to repair that but if not, I was going to relace the hubs to new rims anyway.  I just might have to move that project up earlier on the calendar.

The levers seem to be correct, but I want to get some miles in before I decide that for sure.  Once that’s settled, I’ll wrap the bars and the Pinarello will be finished.  Thank you for following along with this project.

The replacement bottom bracket arrived a day earlier than expected, and given the increase in the number of items that are being shipped these days, is something of a surprise.  A good surprise.  Confirmed that the BB is the one I ordered and installed it, torquing the cups to the proper spec.

HOWEVER, the axle in the cartridge BB, being the correct length is not the only part of the puzzle.  The original axle is asymmetric, meaning that the drive side extends further from the centerline and the non drive side is closer to the centerline.  The difference is enough that the chainrings don’t have enough clearance with the symmetrical axle.  So, the search begins for a replacement BB with an asymmetrical axle.  Luckily enough I found one and it finally arrived.  The cup and axle races are in excellent shape, so we are back on track.  Cleaned, greased, and installed.  Crankarms are on and torqued, and the clearance to the chainstays is good, for both the chainrings and the crankarms themselves.  This crankset is old enough that the crankarms are straight, not curved, so the clearance is set by the width of the bottom bracket axle.

The Nuovo Record RD is lubricated at the pivots and the main bolt, and installed.  The spiral SS housing and liner are cut to length and installed.

The front derailleur attaches to the seat tube by a band that clamps around the tube.  To position it properly, the cage that encloses the chain needs to have 2-3mm clearance between it and the largest chainring.  There is some debate about the proper orientation of the cage to the chainrings.  Some folks say they should be parallel – others say the rearward part of the cage should be slant towards the center of the bike by a couple of degrees.  I’m going with parallel for now.  Friction shifting is more forgiving than indexed shifting.

Installed the chain (without going through the derailleur cages) and sized it to big-big plus 4 links.  I think it will wind up 2 links shorter than that, but I’ll let the shifting performance tell me if that is necessary.  Ran the shift cables, using cable liner around the BB shell for both FD and RD cables.  The RD hanger was not straight, it was in a bit at the bottom.  Adjusted it to straight, then reinstalled the RD.  Fished the chain through the FD and RD, installed the quick link.  Set the hi-lo limit screws and adjusted the shifting.  Installed the pedals and torqued to spec.  Adjusted the axle locating screws in the rear dropouts to center the rear wheel.

A bit of headset drama – whoever assembled the bike before I bought it used 5/32 balls in the upper and lower races, and I found out that Campagnolo used 3/16 balls in their Nuovo Record headsets.  I ordered a bag of 3/16 balls so that I can replace the existing balls with the correct size.  So until they are here, I’m pretty much at a standstill.  A good friend used the phrase “parts pause” and it certainly applies here.  Frustrating, but a part of the C&V build game, at least for those of us without a large parts inventory.

Until next time…