speedevil 

I'm building my first bike from components, and I'm ready to install the campy ultra-shift levers and the cables.

I've never ridden a bike with brifters before, much less built a bike with them.

Is there anyone in the Chicago area (far western suburbs would be closest) that would be able to supervise/help with this? Pizza and some beer would be available if that helps to swing the decision.

Thanks in advance.

FBinNY 

Chicago is blessed with a number of great shops. Village Cyclesport in Elk Grove is probably convenient to you and well capable of helping with this, though I don't know if they'd be willing to advise rather than do it as a billable job.

The kind of "help me do it myself" help you want is usually most likely when you have an established relationship with a shop. It's hard to get a freebie walking in cold unless it's part of a larger transaction, since shops can't survive without cash business.

speedevil 

I was thinking someone might be willing to supervise/help at my place. I have a good relationship with a bike shop in Oswego, maybe I should just go there and ask them to help. I don't mind paying shop time, they seem to know what they're doing. I just don't know if they work with Campy much - most of their bikes are Shimano or SRAM.

Thanks for the suggestion.

FBinNY 

Most shops do more with Shimano or Sram because they have much larger market shares. You should ask the shop in Oswego how familiar they are with Campy.

Otherwise, if you're willing to do a drive, one of the most knowledgeable shops (especially with Campy) in the midwest is Yellow Jersey in Madison, Wisc. They do most work on the spot, at very competitive prices. If the distance is OK, give them a call and see what you can work out.

HillRider

One big Campy dealer in Chicago is Lickton's Bikes on Lake Dr. in Oak Park. They aren't the most sociable folks but are Campy experts.

BTW, did you RTFM (Read The F****ing Manual), i.e. did you read the instruction booklets that came with your components? They are also available in .pdf form on Campy's web site. A careful reading of these should answer most if not all of your questions.

Homebrew01

It's not really that hard. I just installed 2010 levers which require a Torx driver. The hardest part is pulling the hood back far enough to get the tool in. I also found it easier to remove the clamp completly, slide it on, then reattach the lever. Figuring out where the shift cable goes in is a little confusing too. The shifter has to be shifted all the way down (or was it up ?).

HillRider

Well, what you have to do is push the mouse-ear a bunch of times to be certain the hole for the cable entrance is opposite the entrance port under the lever.

speedevil 

OK, I got the right brifter installed and tightened down. Wow. Tugging on the hood is a nuisance. Is it simpler to take it off until you're done?

BTW, I read through the instructions for the brifters because that looks to be the more difficult part of the install. I also found a couple of youtube videos that were helpful to see the sequence.

I don't have cable adjusters on the CAAD8 frame, just cable stops. Should I install inline cable adjusters or are there adjusters that will fit the cable stops?

Thanks in advance.

HillRider

The rear derailleur should have it's own cable adjustment barrel built in so an in-line adjuster isn't a necessity. The front derailleur has no adjuster but Campy's multi-step ratcheting front shifter is less touchy to set up than Shimano's one-click indexing but an in-line adjuster is a real help.