This is an update to Cost/Benefit: Restore Serotta or Buy IRO SS. I've got most of the parts recommended by cuda2K, but feeling ham-fisted in pulling it all together. Got Zinn's Roadbike Maintenance, but there are issues he doesn't.

Could someone help out on this quick list:
1. Seat post won't fit into seat tube: it always fit & recollect standard 27.2.

2. Got latex brake hoods from Loose Screws & cut degraded right hood off with box cutter. Zinn doesn't address how to install brake hoods.
Assume I must take brake cable off brake lever. The brake lever is covered with grey plastic (?), but it's not obvious where I'd apply a tool to get it off.

3. Right pedal is off and it will twist into crank arm, but freezes after several turns. Not clear to me how to execute final tightening and installation: do I need 15mm pedal wrench? This is a Campy SR or Neuvo record crank & somewhere I read that pedal attaches using hex wrench, but whatever detente is on pedal shaft, it doesn't look 8-sided.

4. I bought close-out Mavic 700cc tire from https://www.thebikebiz.com. Actually a track set--it's their thing. The axle has nuts rather than QR. Embarrassing not to know this but are all hubs hollow to accept QR? (I can't find the original QR in any case. Can I buy generic QR? )

5. Chain is twisted (kinked) and off top of derailleur. Should get a chain tool and open up the chain open and rewrap?

Many thanks. I've just forgotten how bikes assemble/disassemble. I broke down Serotta for air travel to Germany near every year in 1990s. I couldn't have been this unfamiliar/inept with getting it on the road.

Richard Moss

1) Most Serottas were built with Columbus or True Temper tubing, and yes 27.2 is the most
common seat post size. Are the ears on the seat post collar pushed inward (closed too much)?
that could cause problem with fitting seat post in.
2) yes you will need to disconnect the brake cable to put on new hoods. you'll need to loose the cable from the brake calipers. while you're at it might as well replace the cables (if they're old, i.e. not replaced since the 90's).
3) yes you will need a pedal wrench. be careful to not cross thread the crankarm.
4, 5, 6. . .

Not to be rude but it sounds like this might be a bit too much for you at the moment.
since you list D.C. as location I know there are more than a few good bike shops which could
help with the build. Then maybe take a maintenace class?
Serotta is a nice marque (I know, I owne one) and campy components are too nice to mess
up learning or refamiliarizing yourself with bike maintenance on.

Marty

Install brake hoods by greasing the inside of hood and palm rest body with lithium grease. Many people use handsoap instead. Try not to stress the hood too much or it'll rip.

Grease pedal threads and be positive that you aren't cross threading your crankarm when the threads mysteriously lock in the middle of pedal install. This is a sure sign of crossthreading but could be just a poorly cut axle face.

Danny

As above, but #2) Try removing the lever from the bar and attaching from the base up. Hope that makes sense.

1) Look at the seat tube's bolt clamp, does it look like closed-in and not parallel? If so wrap a rag on a suitable sized flat screwdriver and force the clamp to open a bit while u insert the post.

2) All I have to say is, the gummy hood is pliable, don't be afraid to stretch it.

3) The pedals are NOT INTERCHANGEAGLE! Be sure which side is which. The right side is normal threaded (clockwise to tighten) while the left side is reversed threaded (cc to tighten).

4) Don't remember but I believe so.

5) Comeon man, any restoration, major maintenance, give it a new chain. $15 bux?


If u give up, wanna sell that frame to me? P.M. me with a pix, history and $.

It's the same seatpost you had from before? Make sure there's no gunk in the seat tube and that the collar didn't get squished together somehow.

Not familiar with campy stuff, but make sure that your threads are clean on the pedal and the crank, and use grease. Every pedal I've had to install used a pedal wrench and installed the same way, but no guarantees.

Are you converting this to a singlespeed? I missed the original thread. If not, you're going to have a hard time putting a multispeed freewheel on that wheelset.

If the wheelset is indeed a track wheelset, then no, the axles are not hollow. You would never want a quick release skewer on the track, that would just lead to disaster. It may be possible to replace the axle with a hollow one, but I'm not sure, having never done it. What's wrong with track nuts? A small 15mm wrench isn't difficult to carry, I just throw one in my bag.

Sometimes that happens. If you can't uncoil it, you'll have to break the chain with the chain tool and uncoil it that way. Don't push the pin out all the way. Even if you don't have to take the chain apart, make sure you clean it up and re-lube it.

Thanks to all for guidance on the seatpost, pedal, & brakehood installations. I should start over with lubricants and tools in hand. In response to localtalent: it is same seatpost; I hadn't thought of the seatpost's becoming squished & the inside may well be gunked--or rusted. Bike was stored for a decade.

Thanks localtalentfor providing the 15mm bolt spec for the track nut. Ended up with the trackwheels by being too hasty and too focused on price. I only needed a front wheel, but a local bike shop quoted $200 & so I checked out Colorado Cyclist, the one catalog sent to me: mildly shocked by $600 wheelsets. https://thebikebiz.com wheelset closeout was $120 & figured I'd sell rear wheel. But a fixed-gear, single-speed would be fun & frames like pake or IRO are affordable.

(I've been off bikes for a decade so astounded by extent to which professional gear is in consumer market, e.g. $2,000 frames, $2,000 gruppos & c.

I was working in Taiwan, who is very proud of Giant's transition from OEM to strong brand & sponsors of US Olympic Mt. Bike team and Team High Road. Never saw carbon fiber or composite frames in Taichung, 3rd largest city. Bike shops stocked lots of kids bikes and kind of urban cruiser. (Trying to explain why trends in U.S. market since 1990 are surprising.)

lotek (Marty) does make a good point--and I take no offense--that I'm not set up in terms of tools, or ready in terms of knowledge to do this on my own.

I was editor of DC Velo News--back when there was a club and an annual race behind the White House on the eclipse. So I knew many of the shop owners & in particular:

College Park Bicycle (Larry Black)
Revolution Georgetown (Pinky--then had small neighborhood shop)
Mel Pinto's (next door to Revolution & not named so; he was importer.
Proteus College Park ( Looks down on its luck. But 1980s, Yamaguchi was the framebuilder, who became builder for U.S. Olympic Team https://www.yamaguchibike.com/content/History

I don't remember exactly where, but I was surprised to see service bundle pricing comparable to what I pay for motorcycle mandated intervals. Somewhat exaggerated but not by an order of magnitude.

Marty, what shops do you have confidence in now, 2008? (Because any opinion I have is +/- 20 years.

Thanks everyone,

Richard