Restoring a Bike to its Old Glory

I have been spending so much time talking about Campagnolo components I am tempted to start another blog in that name; this is another one. A while back I identified all the Campagnolo components on my Specialized Allez. All the components were Nuovo Record, except the shifters and derailleurs that had been "upgraded" to the C-Record shifters and C-Record era Chorus Derailleurs below.







While these are very nice components, I just felt they did not belong with the Nuovo Record parts so I endeavored to restore the old style drivetrain components to their old glory.

Here is the new side view.


The classic Nuovo Record Shifters



The front Derailleur with the very classy clamp.


And the pièce de résistance, the Nuovo Record rear derailleur.

This little gem was lasted almost unchanged for 16 years as the must have racing derailleur. There were some incremental changes however, each getting it's own yearly patent number. I looked to find a late model; this being a Pat 84. There are simply a jillion of these derailleurs out there but they are still quite pricey. I actually found this one in Poland. Turns out the pulley back plate was bent (a very easy fix) and the pulleys are Shimano. The OEM pulleys for these are quite pricey and hard to find, but there are some high quality replicas for about $30, which I will be purchasing in the near future. The NR derailleur was rated for 6 speed, but handle pretty much any tooth count about up to 8 speed. I have retained the 7 speed 13-23 freewheel for now, but I have a 5 speed in reserve. My reasoning for the 5 speed instead of the 6 speed, is because there is something still classic about a 10 speed race bike.

I have the Regina Extra chain that came with the other components but it is a couple of links too short. I have still run the chain through the derailleurs and it works great. But I continue to use a SRAM 8 speed chain, as it works great and is easily replaceable.

You Don't Know Campy

Recently I came across someone in the Netherlands selling a "Gazelle AB-frame, Reynolds 531c, Campa Thriomphe rare" on ebay.
The seller believed or at least advertised a Gazelle
Gazelle AB-frame, Reynolds 531c, Campa Thriomphe; or a Gazelle AB frame made from Reynolds 531 cromoly with a Campagnolo Triomphe gruppo. The Triomphe is certainly not top of the line, just a step above Gran Sport, but one rarely sees the gruppo in the United States and they work very well, so it might be worth buying. The issue is this bike does not have a Triomphe gruppo. Above is the bike and below are the components and the real model.


Crankset: Campagnolo Triomphe; I think they got this one right
Front derailleur: Campagnolo Triomphe; not Triomphe, most likely Victory



Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Triomphe (very rare, take a good look); the rear derailleur is a Croce d’ Aune. As strange as this derailleur looks, they are about as rare as C-Record and usually sell for less.


Brakes: Campagnolo Triomphe; these are old style Veloce.
Brakelevers: \Campagnolo Triomphe; these are old (C-Record era) Chorus.


Hubs: Campagnolo Triomphe; not Triomphe, probably Nuovo Tipo. These were the bottom of the line Campy hubs with stamped steel races.


Seatpost: Campagnolo Record; not Record, these are (C-Record era) Chorus again.


Headset: Campagnolo Mirage; This looks like a winner, of course the model is on the headset, so it makes it earlier to figure out.



And just for fun I'm including the shifters which appear to be (Record era) Chorus friction.

My issue here is not that this seller is trying to pull the wool over someones eyes; I'm sure he really thinks these components are what they think they are. But if you are in the market for vintage Campagnolo, do some homework or find someone who knows; or you may end up with this mismatched gruppo, while it may work, has no real value as a collector's piece.

Take care.

Meet the New Saddle, Just Like the old Saddle (Hopefully)

I recently asked the question What is your go to saddle? on the MTBR Singlespeed board and showed my Sella Italia saddle below. A problem arouse, when I started to do longer rides and really put the black Flite saddle to the test, it turns out I am they are not as good a fit as I thought. The black Flite I below has I believe aluminum rails and probably a leather cover. My first Sella Italia Flite saddle came on my green fixed gear. It was the most comfortable saddle I had ever ridden, so I figured I was set; the Sella Italia Flite is probably the most popular race saddle on the planet so there would be an endless supply if I ever needed another. A short time later I found a web store selling NOS yellow/black Flite Ti Alpes, so I bought two and mounted one on my Rocklobster and it worked as a very comfortable MTB saddle. Interestingly the "Alpes Ti saddles" are not your run of the mill Flite saddles (more on this later). I later found a similar yellow/black Flite Ti on ebay, but is was not an Alpes.

The hot spots with the black Flite convinced me that all Flite's are not the same. I checked the padding and discovered that the padding on all three yellow/black Flite Ti's is noticeably softer. I thought perhaps the issue might be the combination of a leather cover with a Titanium rail, but I found I had a well worn Flite Ti on my Specialized Allez. When I checked the padding it was the firm padding like the black Flite. Hmmm. I sent an email Sella Italia with photos of the saddles I had was wondering what the differences was between the saddles. Sella Italia got back to me and basically siad there was no difference between any of the saddles; that the padding and shell are identical on all the saddles; he theorized that the padding of some of the saddles may have broken down over time, leaving some of the padding softer. There might be something to this, the black Flite is dated 2001, the white Flite Ti is dated 2000, all three of the yellow/black saddles are dated 1996; maybe in 4-5 years these saddles will be rideable but that doesn't help me now.

What's really got me going with this is I thought I had the whole saddle thing figured out; if I needed another saddle I'd just get another Flite. Well now I know I need to find another saddle that works.

The black Flite


The yellow/black Flite Ti


A yellow/black Flite Alpes Ti



The Alpes Ti was a saddle primarily sold in Europe as a mountain bike saddle (the edges were trimmed ala the early Bontragers (below).



So I guess it was no surprise that I went from a Bonty to the Alpes. This would also explain why I didn't think a regular Flite was as comfortable as the Alpes. However I also found that the yellow/black Flite Ti was as comfortable as the Alpes; the padding is thinner and less dense. Of course there are no more of the yellow and black Flites regular or Alpes being made so I'm looking for something new. I trimmed the list down to a Selle Italia SLR XC.

I'm leaning toward the Selle Italia (okay I bought one) as it has a similar trimming as the Alpes.



I also find it interesting that after over a 100 years of Italian road saddle styling, Selle Italia used the old Bontrager trick to design a mountain bike saddle. Also, it turned out there was a lot more difference between the standard old style Flite Ti, the black/yellow Flite and the Alpes Ti, and I find this kind of trivia fascinating.

Update 02.26.2011

Well the Selle Italia SLR XC hasn't quite worked out. It stayed comfortable for about 25 miles then developed some hot spots outside and adjacent to my sit bones; it may need some breaking in or it may just make for a good mountain bike saddle. But that has left me on a renewed search for a new replacement road saddle. My next saddle was a Ritchey Streem (Comp).

This is a photo of the WCS but it looks identical to the Comp; it even has the identical shell(which of course you can't see). The primary difference is the Comp has steel rails and a vinyl cover; the WCS has Titanium rails and a leather cover. I picked up the Comp as a test saddle. Being a bit of a bike snob, if the Comp works out I will go for the WCS. I went for a short 25 mile ride and no hot spots. On Monday (2/28) I'll do a longer ride and see if it is truly going to pan out.

You Can't Keep a Good Bonty Down

Back in August 2020 I talked about my Bontrager Privateer S and My Road to Singlespeed
“Although I bought the “S” Sport level, I upgraded the hubs, shifters and cranks to XT, resulting in a XT gruppo with Avid brakes. The original shock was a Rock Shox T2; an elastomer version of a Judy XC, that is upgradeable with cartridge kit to the equivalent of the Judy. After attempting such an upgrade, I blew out the cartridges at a rate of 1 a month, so I replaced it with a Marzocchi Super Fly”.

The Bontrager with the Judy was a good race bike (with a crappy fork). The upgrade to the Marzocchi resulted in a bike to die for; in my mind the two are inseparable. As I mentioned in my previous blog, after riding the bike for about three years I converted it to a Singlespeed. After I had a custom Singlespeed made by Rocklobster, I reassembled the bike as original as I could; the primary missing components are the OEM shock (of course) and the OEM "Comp" seatpost I used when I built another bike and then sold it. I have since replaced it with a similar "Select" seatpost. You can imagine then my dismay when I sent the shock to Marzocchi and they told me a corroded stanchion made the shock un-rideable and new stanchions are no longer available. I immediately started going through the stages of grief. 1) Shock and Denial; well maybe it’s not as bad as they say. Yes, that’s it Marzocchi simply has super high standards on what they will rebuild due to liability issues. There was actually some validity to this, as the corrosion was a single pit on one stanchion. Unfortunately my wife picked up the fork and they put the fear of god in her that I should not try and re-build the shock as it surely would catastrophically fail. This of course led to pain and guilt. It was all my fault for not rinding the bike and keeping an eye on it. I just let it hang there in the garage for years as the corroded pit became deeper and deeper.

Next came anger and bargaining. I went back and forth between retiring the Bontrager and buying a new fork. Marzocchi had offered by $150 off a new fork, meaning for about $220 I could have a new middle level fork to replace the Superfly. Replace the Superfly? What am I saying? I can’t replace the Superfly, it’s what makes the bike “the" bike. One issue regarding the buying of a new shock is the travel limitation. One consideration in the geometry design of mountain bikes frames have a to do with the length of the fork. The first mountain bikes did not have suspension forks, so the frames were built around a fairly standard size fork; the first shocks were designed around this standard size. As forks developed more travel, bike frames were designed around them. My Bontrager Privateer was designed around a 63-80mm or 2.5-3 inches of travel, anymore could degrade the handling of the bike; also the fork needs to have brake bosses Most of the used shocks on ebay are around 4 inches or 100mm. However I did some bargaining in my head and picked up a Marzocchi EXR Pro for $40 (the price was actually $5, but the shipping from Canada was $35; shipping, the bain of ebay. The shock is a dreaded 100mm and I when it arrived the steerer looked very beat-up and I suspected it was bent. Indeed it was bent, the beat-up condition appeared to be the result of someone trying to straighten it.

Oh well, back to the bargaining board. I checked ebay again and saw a Marzocchi Z5 X-Fly. While it was quite a bit down the food chain from a Superfly, it was available in 80mm and according to the seller had been expertly rebuilt, so I bid a “buy it now” for $130 ($115 plus $15 shipping). After I bought the shock I suddenly has an epiphany, what if this guy can rebuild my Superfly. I sent the fellow, Mark an email and I jumped over 3) Depression right to 4) the upward turn; Mark said he had a stanchion and could rebuild my Superfly. Mark explained that he has a passion for Marzocchi forks, especially the older Bombers, and makes it his hobby buying up forks, rebuilding and selling them. He also agreed to cancel my purchase and put the X-fly back on ebay. So much for grieving!

I sent the fork off to Mark and about a week and a half later it came back. Now, granted the exterior of the shock was still in good shape, but Mark did a remarkable job; he didn’t just rebuild it, he re-manufactured it. Here is the work order;
it came back at least as good as new. I took the bike out for a ride, the first time I have ridden the bike in over 5 years and it was a pleasure. I had forgotten what a ride to die for the bike is with the Superfly fork. Unlike other forks I’ve rode with, you can’t really feel the Superfly working, it just does. It eats up small bumps and washboard like it isn’t there and takes a good part of the edge off bigger bumps. While the bike will remain an 8 speed, it will be ridden and hopefully passed on to my 12 year old son. Regardless I am really happy that the shock and bike are working together again; really stoked!

Campagnolo Components Part 2

Of all things I found the Cannondale specs (1987) on the parts I switched out from the Cannondale (SR900) to my Specialized Allez. When I really started to pay attention to the parts, I was under the impression that someone had spec’d the bike as some dream build; turns out it was true, but the someone was Cannondale. Here is what the spec sheet said on the parts I transferred that were the same;

Hubs......................Campagnolo Nuovo Record

Crankset...............Campagnolo Super Record, 42/52
Pedals...................Campagnolo SL, toe clips and straps
Brakes..................Campagnolo Nuovo Record, recessed allen bolt
Headset................Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Front Derailleur..Campagnolo Nuovo Record (Since the Allez did not have a braze-on front
derailleur mount, I replaced it with a Chorus clamp-on).
Parts that were different;

Freewheel............instead of a Suntour New Winner freewheel, there was a Regina Winner.
Handlebar............instead of a TTT Tour de France, there was a Cinelli Giro d’Italia
Stem.....................instead of a TTT, there was Cinelli 1A
Derailleurs...........instead of a rear Campagnolo Nuovo Record, there was an Athena that
replaced with a Chorus.
Shifters................instead of Campagnolo Nuovo Record, there were C-Record Syncro II

The inclusion of the C-Record Syncro II shifters and Syncro compatible Athena rear derailleur has me believe that the Cannondale swapped out the parts from was upgraded to Syncro after it was purchased. The bike and other components are 1987, but the Syncro II did not come out until 1989.

This may not seem interesting to many, but it is way cool to me.

Things That Go Bump and Ouch!

Well here I am, back from the dead. Well not really dead, just flat on my back and breathing slowly. It’s been 5 ½ weeks since the accident and I started riding at week three; all my rides so far have been to Sand Point at Nisene Marks). The first ride was okay going up and torture coming down. The second ride (week 4) was better, the third ride (week 4 ½ ) was way too cold; the temp was near 40 deg with a 15 mpg wind chill coming down. The next ride (5 weeks) was much better (I dressed better and it was a little warmer). Tomorrow will be 5 ½ weeks on Monday, with a planned 6 week ride on Wednesday; yes retirement is rough. But there will some added protection in the future.

This crash was a complete surprise to me. I was riding a trail I know very well and have done 20-30 times. This is however was my second helmet breaking crash in 3 months, which started around the time I switched handlebars, so I know part of the problem is I have not taken into account my new bars that do not have me naturally seated as far back as the old bars, leaving me weighting the front too much. But regardless, I have decided that broken ribs and hospital stays really suck ( even with health insurance is also too expensive), so at the risk of looking like some free rider, I’ve picked up some body armor.

This is the Troy Lee Design bp 5850-HW, protective shirt. As you can see, it has padding in all the right places. It is actually used as base protection as you can see, here . I also have to agree with the tester that “This shirt provides amazing coverage, breathes great, and is so comfortable, you totally forget you are wearing it.” I have also purchased some elbow/forearm protectors (different from those on the testers web site). Rather than padded they are more protective. While you can’t see my forearms in the photos, both have taken the brunt of my last couple of falls.


These are on back order so I'll have to wait until I tackle the Vienna Trail, but as soon as they come in its a must do and a confidence re-builder. I am thinking one of the reasons I was injured so badly was rather than bail early, I stayed on the bike too long. Hopefully with this padding I will not be so reluctant to ditch the bike and hit the dirt.

For Every Season There is a Time

I crashed my bike. These are the times that are best described as the quick or the dead; or better still the good or the dead. As the trails in and around Santa Cruz get ground down and washed out, what were once vices are now habits, or at least what were once non-threatening have become technical. Do I sound stoned? It must be the Percocet. There are several short, fun technical trails in Santa Cruz that can lead to your demise; the Delaveaga Top of the World Trail; the Vienna Woods Trail at Nisene Marks; and The Enchanted Loop at Wilder to name a few. Ride these trails in the fall at your own risk, as little trail maintenance has been done since the rains ended and you might need a rubber head and a spring like tail.



The fall was spectacular. I was riding down the Vienna Woods Trail, which is your standard Santa Cruz singletrack, transversing the side of gorge with two friends from my church. In one spot there is a tree growing on the cliff side of the trail that has 12" of root across the trail and the back side drops off about 2 feet. As I rode over and down the root, I lost my balance and rode off the trail straight down into gorge. By the time I realized I needed to jump off the bike I had picked up way too much speed, so reached out with my left arm and grabbed a tree. I really don't completely remember what happened next, but I ended up with a circular mark on my chest, which obviously came from the end of my handlebar. I believe what happened was when I let go of my handlebar to grab the tree trunk, my front wheel turned sharply to the left, causing me to catapult over the handlebar, my chest catching the left handlebar end in the process. I flew through the air about 8-10 feet, and landed on the backside of my right shoulder and the right side of my head. The end result was 5 broken ribs and a punctured lung. I later examined my Giro Athlon helmet and found there are at least 4 major cracks; 3 on the right side just above where my ear would be and another in the front just above where my left eye would be. The helmet was 3 months old; damn!

Fortunately I was not riding alone and my geared friends helped me hike out, by pushing my bike; most embarrassing. I managed to drive to the ER, assuring my friends I was fine, thinking all I had was a few broken ribs, but an x-ray showed my right lung was partially collapsed, so they stuck a tube in my chest, which was almost as bad as the ribs. Fortunately it only took about 24 hours and most my lung had re-inflated and they took out the d@mn tube so I could go home. The final part of this indignity is the worse poison oak I have ever had, but this has also introduced me to Zanfel; it's expensive and you have to really rub it in, but the stuff really works at all stages of poison oak even after the blistering stage. Fortunately I also have the most understanding wife in the world who is nursing me back to health and only insists I let the ribs reattach themselves before I start riding again; three weeks.

After two nights in the hospital I am home dealing with pain management, so I am a bit looped. Still I seem to be doing much better at this stage then my last major, rib breaking crash of 2007. This was a road crash that were, as I eluded to earlier, I landed in a similar manner and broke five ribs on my right side; but I digress. I am a very lucky person, something I take advantage of it as much as possible, as it's what god wants us to do.

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