onespeedbiker

I added a few "upgrades" to my old Olmo and took them for a test ride. These upgrades included a new to me Regina Corsa 14-27 freewheel and new to me Gran Sport brake levers (both from ebay). The first thing I noticed was the levers were loose and slipping on the handlebar. The bar is a Japanese version of a Cenilli, however the tube OD reduces as the bar bends down. Then the freewheel started slipping which got worse as the ride went on; then I got a flat tire. When I got home the first issue was the freewheel which looked to be in VGC however the bearings which spun freely, now sounded like they were full of sand. I flushed the freewheel with WD40 which loosened up the bearings and a good amount of gunk came up (the seller said all parts are disassembled, cleaned and lubricated; right. I then packed the bearings with Phil's bearing grease and a 50 mile ride shown the pawls where free and the bearings happily spinning. Next I tackled the levers. The old Campy Nuovo Record/Gran Sport levers apparently want a specific size OD handlebar; if you look at the old Cinelli's you'll see the OD does not very at any of the bends. Here are NR levers and bar clamps. If you look at the clamps you will see the post has two diameters; the upper is smaller and threaded and the lower has a larger OD. The round part obviously warps around the bar and the post goes through a hole in the lever body. The hole ID in the lever has the diameter of the smaller threaded portion of the post. This means the larger portion works like a stop; if you look at the C-Record clamps the posts are a single size threaded post (same as the smaller with the older clamp) to the top of the clamp (I previously had a Triomphe lever and clamp which tightened up with no issues). My fix was to drill out about half the hole from the bottom of the lever the same ID as the larger OD of the post. This allowed the post to go farther into the lever and Voila! I can now tighten the lever clamp so it no longer slips on the bar (another solution would be to use C-Record lever clamps).

Finally the flat tire. For the first time in a long time I forgot my pump and there wasn't another cyclist with a pump to be found. Fortunately there was a bike shop about 1 1/2 mile down the road, but it felt like a much longer walk. Anyway I'm pretty happy with myself and sometimes it seems these issues crop up just to let me problem solve; one of the joys of my life!

FBinNY 

I can understand the freewheel and flat, but I'm surprised you didn't notice the loose levers when setting the bike up.

Anyway, I'm glad you're not upset about the walk (I assume you weren't wearing cleated road shoes). I come from another school of thought - the 5Ps, Proper planning presents poor performance. I never forget my pump or tube, because each bike has it's dedicated pump and loaded seat bag and/or spare tubular tire.

Then again, I'm the guy with a warehouse and house key permanently attached to my commuter (1 per water bottle screw). This after riding to the warehouse one rainy November Saturday morning, finding myself soaked to the skin and locked out, and enjoying a cold miserable ride back home.

BTW- Murphy's Law never fails, ever since I've had spares on the bike, I've never needed them. (two years now)

HillRider

Of course you realize what saying that will do. It's like talking about the perfect game in the 8th inning. You just challenged the fates. Remember Murphy is undefeated, untied and un-scored upon.

FBinNY 

Absolutely, but actually having spare keys trumps the impact of talking about it. However I'm going to check that the screws are tight, can't have a key fall off the very day I forget my keyring.

onespeedbiker

I tightened the levers as tight as they would go (prior to the modification) and figured they would be tight enough since the Triomphe levers worked so well; NOT!

I have about 7-8 bikes that I ride regularly and 2 frame pumps; sometimes I have one of those senior moments and the pump stays on the last bike I rode .

hueyhoolihan

that's what "test rides" are for. if they didn't periodically uncover our bicycle's shortcomings we would soon dispense with them.

sounds like just another successful test ride.

onespeedbiker

Yes! Sometimes when you have a shake down ride, something falls off..