Nothing serious today, didn't have much time. But since I'm waiting for Spidel brake calipers to arrive, I will need pads for them, so decided to make a start. I tend to use Weinmann pads as the basis for any vintage brakes that come without pads. They are inexpensive, easy to find and made of aluminium. Which can be polished quite easily to a mirror finish, if someone had time and energy for that. This time I just gave them once over with a scouring bit on the rotary tool and then a brass brush bit. Perhaps at some point I'll give them a bit more attention, after I tighten all the wings. Donor pads are made by Fibrax (Steel & Alloy compatible) and they are basically identical to Weinmann ones, could be used as they are. But they are made of steel, which I don't like, because it's more slippery in the calipers. The rubber pads are a perfect fit. And the chamfered nuts are also pretty decent and I find them better for caliper brakes than aluminium (or steel) domed nuts Weinmann pads sometimes come with.
A new old stock, 116mm TA 344 bottom bracket spindle arrived today. I've cleaned some surface rust off it (nothing serious) and decied to see whether Sugino cups I have will be a match. It certainly seems so. With caged bearings there is about 1mm clearance between the cup face and the beginning of the taper, so with loose bearings I will use it with, definitely there shouldn't be any issue with cranks rubbing on them (and also, cranks won't reach the bottom of the taper anyway). I will be using this setup with Spidel 105bis crankset, so the chainline should be still alright. 1mm closer to the centre of the frame than with 118mm spindle originally intended, but that should also result in a smaller chance for the chain rubbing against the FD cage in unorthodox gear combinations, so I'm fine with that. It looks like that's another bit sorted. In the end, Superator gets Superbe and SR Royal mix I was originally planning for it (albeit with Spidel brakes). C5 will be rebuilt very close to catalog specification (Belleri stem and handlebar, Weinmann (Carrera) Brakes, Spidel / Stronglight 105 crankset, Selle San Marco Concor saddle, probably SR Laprade seatpost) but with Huret Jubilee derailleurs instead of Huret Success and with Simplex SLJ shifters instead of Huret Success ones.
