old's'cool

I acquired a well used and loved Cilo touring bike last summer in Fort Collins, while I was looking for a bike for my son. The equipment on the bike for the price I paid made it a steal, but I ended up deciding to build it for myself and I got me son a much newer Novarra Forza, since he seemed to be more attracted to the newer technology and I didn't want to trap him in my C&V paradigm.
The Cilo was obviously well used & well cared for for most of its life, with some obvious non-original but high quality components, such as Shimano 600 RD, Suntour Superbe FD, and Shimano sidepull brakes. I have no information about the vintage of the bike, but going by the C-Record hubs, Rigida rims, and Campy shifters & assuming that these are original, I figure it's from the mid-70s (which is my sweet spot anyway).

Here's a thread on the teardown from last summer. https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/676092-Just-snagged-a-funky-old-Cilo-touring-bike-off-CL-tell-me-how-I-did-(pics)

After the teardown I boxed up and stored all the parts, since I was anticipating a cross country move, which happened earlier this year. The frame had been already repainted in a fairly bush league manner, but at least it was free of rust & dents. So I had it powder coated red, piggy backing on someone else's bike project, so I got an excellent deal (free, can't beat that - Thanks Chris!).

Now that I'm somewhat settled in, I found time to start the buildup yesterday. The frame was said to be Reynolds 531, and I believe it. Dropouts are Campy. On my bathroom scale the frame came in at 4.6lb and the fork at 1.6lb, less headset & BB, for a total of 6.2lb according to my scale. Since the scale resolution is 0.2lb, worst case is maybe 6.6lb?

Photos of frame, fork and all the farther I got yesterday below. I have all the components for the build, which are all European except for the freewheel. Partial list: NR RD & FD to match the shifters, Mafac Competition brakes (with Weinmann levers for now) & Belleri stem with Belleri randonneur bar. Bike will be dressed with full touring kit, less fenders, including front pannier rack & vintage Jim Blackburn rear rack, and will go into commuting service along with the other bikes in my commuting rota.
I'll update this thread with more pics as work progresses.

Gary Fountain

Are you going to put decals on it? From your parts list it sounds like it will be a lovely bike and be a grand tourer. The only thing I would suggest, and this is only a minor point, is to look for an old Campy Rally rear derailleur. I really like the 1st generation Rally's as they seem to have the same charm as the Nuovo Record RD's.

Anyway, I will look forward to the re-built Cilo.

old's'cool

Thanks! I do not have decals, and don't know what vintage or appearance to look for, so I was going to leave it generic.
Do you have a pic or a link for a Rally RD? And what is the basis of your recommendation?
Here are some pics of progess as of yesterday:













[this one got edited by the net nanny so you have to copy the URL, paste it to your browser and edit the asterisks to letters that phonetically are Eff Vee Cee Kay ]







The sharp-eyed among us may notice that my standard of polishing & cleaning is by no means at the Khatfull level. Since this bike's destiny (as with all my bikes) is to work for a living, mainly in commuting service, I can't justify the time & effort for a fully blown Khatfulling job on the chrome & aluminum bits. In fact, I coined a term for my procedure, I call it Khat-half-assed.

Gary Fountain

Your frame reminds me of a 1970's English built light/fast touring bike. it has a flat fork crown, Campy long and eyeleted dropouts, no clamp fitting for the front derailleur, no guides for the rear brake cable and rear brake centrepull braze-ons. The seat and head angles appear to be a little relaxed. I wonder what these angles are? The rear stays are long and the front rake looks long which is conducive to a more comfortable and stable ride.

I think your frame was constructed with cyclo-touring in mind.

If you search VeloBase.com for a Campagnolo 3450, Rally (first generation) you will see a great photo of the derailleur. There were two versions of the derailleur but the first version really looked spectacular.

Not a great photo of the Campagnolo Rally rear derailleur but this is one I had on a bike that was very similar to yours:



NOTE: There would be nothing wrong in using the Campy. Nuovo Record rear derailleur though. It would suit your bike set-up as you now have it, especially with that smaller 5 speed (from what I can see) block you have on the rear wheel. The Rally rear derailleur would be more conducive to a block with a wider range of sprocket sizes as in the photo above.

old's'cool

Thanks again for the input. I agree, the frame appears to be very well configured for my needs. As for the Rally derailleur, the 13-15-17-19-21 block is specifically selected to go with the 42 & 53 chainrings to give me 7 well spaced ratios that cover my needs for commuting. I have no reason to doubt that the steps, the range and the wrap of my setup are within the C-NR's capacity.
In short, for my needs, I value almost everything about traditional touring bikes except the gearing (I exchanged the 14-32 cluster of my Grand Jubilé for a 14-21 unit within a few months of my initial purchase of the bike as new, and soon thereafter changed the Cyclone GS for a short cage Shimano Crane, since the GS looked a little silly hanging down there with only 16 teeth to wrap. My GJ now sports a "more correct" short cage Cyclone).
But I really do appreciate the interest and the input. BTW, I see you're from across the big pond, so greetings from the Great Lakes!

old's'cool

Here's a pic of where I got to yesterday. Now in a ridable state, took a short test drive on the gravel road at my house, everything seemed fine. Goal is to add bar tape & other finishing touches next Saturday AM, and take it for a shakedown run. Then add racks & panniers and take it commuting the following week. I'll get detail shots of all the equipment next weekend.

RobbieTunes 

Excellent work.

My Cilo project goes into the PC this week.

Gary Fountain

Well Done. There's nothing like a red bike.

old's'cool

Thanks fellas Robbie, did you post your Cilo bike at some point? I don't recall seeing it.