ascherer 

Wow, the House of Hal! He's quite a legend. Great guy to talk shop with too.

noglider 

He really is quite a guy. I've been holding onto pride that I do all of my own work, but now I'm giving that up. It doesn't make sense for me to do some of it, even though I know how. And there's no way I would have noticed the front triangle misalignment, nor could I have corrected it. He clamped the BB in the alignment table and bent the frame so as to make it parallel to the table. He had an interesting gauge to check. With the alignment table, that part was easy, even easier than the rear triangle.

It's amazing how forgiving a steel frame is. Back in 1991 or so, I had Peter Weigle spread my McLean from 120 to 126, and in those days, we believed that going any further could cause damage. Hal didn't warn at all about going from 120 to 130, and the frame looks fine.

I'm going to be putting in a Hollowtech II BB and installing an Ultegra 6600 crankset. I just ordered the tool and the crank fixing bolt, and they'll arrive this week.

There's something about this bike I love so much. Maybe it is the flexibility, and maybe it's the fit, and maybe it's both. I've decided to sell my Bianchi Volpe, as it suits the same purpose and has the same features, and I just like the Raleigh better.

Bandera

The Flat Table & it's kin the Fork Jig got regular work in our distinctly old school shop "back when" for initial QC and post wreck re-alignment.
Amazing how well a properly aligned machine handles vs. one that is just assembled assuming it is correct and sent on it's way.

Great that you have found an experienced craftsman w/ the now rare set-up to do the job properly.
Tempted to take all of your frames in now for a thorough QC?

-Bandera

noglider 

You bet, @Bandera. Bicycle Habitat is a very good shop, but like others, there are no tools for working on steel frames. Hal also has the fork jig in his basement. I've used that, and it's a nice tool.

ascherer 

Wish I'd known, I have the 6600 tool. Say, do you know Jeff Z in Maplewood? Was at his house today.

noglider 

I might have borrowed the tool from you, but I rarely regret buying tools, even when I don't use them often. I have some pretty specialized tools, and I still use them. If you ever need anything, I have a Park TS-2 truing stand, dropout straightener tools, a derailleur hanger alignment tool, a zillion different freewheel extractors, and so on.

I do know Jeff Z. His wife and I used to collaborate on the bike advocacy group. Haven't seen them in over three years.

ascherer 

Emailed you.

Salamandrine 

Whatever happened to the drum brake idea? I was hoping for a review. Never used them but was always intrigued. I had some drum brake hubs for some time in my parts bin, but ended up donating them to a coop when I left SF.

noglider 

I found drum brakes to be just too damned heavy. I put the drum brake hubs on a Surly Cross Check, which I've since sold.

I sold the rear to @jimmuller, and he's keeping it as a spare, in case the rear hub on his tandem goes south.

The front is on my Raleigh Twenty, a project of mine on hold for over a year. That is where it should prove useful, as the brakes that originally came on that bike were unconscionably bad. I basically consider that bike unusable without a brake upgrade.

Salamandrine 

Thanks for the comments noglider. I don't remember the drum brake hubs I had as being terribly heavy, but it's been years. They were Sachs brand w/ aluminum shells.

FWIW that Raleigh 20 looks great with that front hub brake. Like it was always meant to have one.

noglider 

OK, the new incantation works. I've been home sick for three days and have put in a little work each day. It now rides.

These are the changes:

Rear wheel: used Bontrager, 24 spokes
Cassette: new 8-speed
Rear derailleur: used Sora
Front derailleur: used Ultegra
Cranks: used Ultegra
Small chainring: used Ultegra
Middle and large chainrings: new RaceFace
Shifters: Used Sora
Tires: new Clement Strada LGG 32mm (60 tpi)

I'm impressed with how well the rear derailleur works. On the other hand, I'm disgusted with how poorly the front derailleur works. I hope adjustment will fix that. The problem may be in the design of the left shifter. I'm a little leery of Sora stuff, since there's so much plastic.

I have to put the rack back on and also install the fenders that I have been meaning to install.

The tires are very nice. I inflated them to around 50 or 60. They're narrower than the Vittoria Voyager Hypers I had, but they are plush enough, for sure.

ascherer 

@noglider can't see the pix

nlerner

That looks great!

noglider 

Fixed. The cables are too long, on purpose, so I can make adjustments. Friction tape was a terrible idea for temporary handlebar tape. It's sticky on the outside and it leaves dirt on my hands, it doesn't provide cushioning, and it smells.

Sir_Name 

Hey noglider, great looking build! I can't quite tell from the pic, does the rear brake cable housing pass through the first guide just behind the head tube and terminate at the stop behind that? It's probably just light reflecting off that portion housing that makes it look to me like it might be exposed cable (on mobile), but worth asking...! What do you have on the front spokes? I assume those little 'straws' are reflective.

nlerner

Oh, I liked it better when they pics weren't showing up.

noglider 

@sir name, unfortunately the housing doesn't fit through the first guide, so I had to strip off the plastic sheath. I'd love a suggestion for fixing that. I guess modern housing is thicker?

Also, the cable guides are on the right, but the rear brake is on the left, so the cable has to go around the seat post. I don't like that. I could either abandon the guides and use clamp-on guides or use a right-pull brake caliper.

Those straws are reflective. I like 'em. They're cheap. I put one on each fourth spoke on the front wheel of my bikes. I haven't gotten around to observing them from afar, but I suspect they work well, as they catch my eye at home.

I can't decide if mismatched rims bother me. Maybe I'll address that at some point. This rear wheel might not last, as it's a lightweight racing wheel.

@nlerner, thanks! @ascherer, you can see the pictures now. Darn google photos.

oddjob2

Wow, I know you've loved that Bianchi Volpe!

I have to get my Miami, FL sourced International built one of these days.

noglider 

Yeah, I have loved it. But when "competent" is the best I can say about it, I could do better. It has worked pretty well. It was well designed. The handling is predictable but boring. And it's heavy. The paint has held up miraculously well, considering I'm really rough on paint.

I can't get the value out of all the accessories I put in, so I'll probably take off the dynamo lighting, fenders, and rack.

I'd like to know what you think of the International, so hurry up and get it done.

Bandera

It would be interesting to interview the original designer at Carlton who oversaw International production on how the design has endured and morphed into so many successful owner-mods for the last 40 years or so.

Does anyone know who that might be, and if they are still with us?

-Bandera

noglider 

It's the result of decades of slow evolution, using what worked.

ascherer 

Tom, it looks great! I think we must have an International ride very soon!

I pretty much wrapped up my build just tonight. Built the front wheel yesterday and today I swapped over drop bars and re-cabled everything. Like you my cables are long to allow tweaking. I didn't have any problem with the housing on the top tube guides. On my frame the side of the front guide is cut away on the non-drive side, so the housing fits in sideways rather than having to go through an opening. It's sort or like a hook rather than a full loop, if you can picture that.

Sir_Name 

Ah, that explains it. I used Jagwire Pro cables on my '71 International - they're a good fit and work well.

Pro Compressionless Brake Housing | Jagwire

Too bad about the right-side cable guides versus left-side caliper stop. I think I'd be tempted to use centerpulls in that case, or maybe see what's what with mount the existing caliper to the underside of the seat stays - but hey, whatever works.

How do you like those bars?

noglider 

Yeah I'm thinking of trying some MAFAC brakes. I have a spare set, and the frame was built with center pulls in mind.

Thanks Andy. Yes let's do that.

ascherer 

The Mafacs are working beautifully on mine. Don't like the levers, though. I have a set of aero Exage levers that I used with Mafacs on my PX-10 that work quite well. Black hoods, and they don't fit the rest of the build which is reasonably period correct. Maybe if they had tan or white hoods...