Drillium Dude 

^ You may hate me in a minute, after your "Rules" post on Rootboy's PX-10 dropout hanger thread

Okay, got the frame back from my LBS (that would NOT be the LBS that almost caused me a heart attack with the Everest alloy freewheel debacle) and now have the new Chorus headset in.

When I picked it up, Darcy (head mechanic and wheel-building Jedi-warrior to boot) told me she had to add in a second compression washer because - you guessed it - the steerer tube was about 3/32" too tall. So, there was a gap of that dimension between the top cup and the locknut. Looked dopey - but I told her I could "fix" that. She agreed once I was done with my fix, she'd re-tighten everything back up for me for free.

So, once I got home - out came my trusty Dremel and I went to work. It was short work to run a reinforced cutting wheel around the area which I marked, then a quick and clean file to the top of the threading. Clean, and I eyeballed it just right - the top nut snugs right down on the original washer and all is flush as it was meant to be:



BTW, those are Robbie's Campy cable adjuster stops and one of Shnibop's Chorus brake calipers - note I have updated the pads for more progressive stopping power.

Now, before anyone labels me a Drew, you should know I did this little bit of surgery after ensuring that I could still install a Super Record headset if I so choose at a later date to set her up in vintage clothing. There was actually closer to 1/8" clearance between the top of the steerer and the point where the threading ended on the SR locknut on the original setup, so I still have room to play with

Here's a shot with the current parts - this angle almost makes it look like a TT frame:



That's it for now. Think I'm going to take a day off tomorrow...

DD

Dawes-man

'Fraid you've lost me there... if indeed you are talking to me?

Drillium Dude 

^ Oops - that would be Rootboy's thread on the PX-10 dropout/Campy NR rear derailleur solution thread

It may have only been 3/32" but I sorta broke your Rule #1 by modding the fork steerer.

DD

Dawes-man

Nah, that's cool

rootboy 

Nice DREW on that head tube D. Dude Seriously, looks great so far. The job on those lever bodies, which look so alien and space age to this old fart, is outstanding.
Great work. Can't wait to see this build. Yet another of D.Dudes fantastic orange bikes.

gomango

+1

Jeff, your work is top notch and highly entertaining.

Lots of talent!

I would have to think you would do some knock out work as a frame builder.

Your attention to detail/knowledge base could produce some outstanding results down the road.

Just a thought.

poprad

"Your attention to detail/knowledge base could produce some outstanding results down the road."


Hell yeah it would. Maybe we should start a "send DD to Framebuilder's School" donation thread.

Drillium Dude 

Thanks! It was pretty straightforward, actually. And I agree about the lever bodies - they look like something out of Buck Rogers, or Flash Gordon according to Alex Moll Wish I had some translucent orange hoods for these!

And from what I've read over the past few days, orange seems to be the new red.

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thank you

I have thought about doing a frame at some point in my life, however, I know nothing about the technique of brazing. I suppose I could do all the lugs/BB shell and whatnot and then have somebody more experienced braze it up, but that would defeat the purpose. Maybe someday...

This will be the perfect weapon for our ride(s) this summer in MN. It'll be available for test rides for that week or so in early July.

DD

Drillium Dude 

Hey, now there's a thought

Credit the Navy for instilling the "attention to detail" in me. From day one (20 June, 1988) that was drilled into us day in, day out. I always knew it would pay off

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments and helpful information so far, and a Happy New Year to you all!

DD

Drillium Dude 

Seatpost has now been nailed down - this will be sporting a 27.2mm Record Ti soon

My last bike-related purchase of 2011 turns out to be the most modern bike component I have ever procured.

BB, cable set, 8-speed chain and Chorus front derailleur are all that remain to be found.

DD

Henry III

I forgot. Are those tubulars you got from me going on here or on a different bike?

Drillium Dude 

Heck, do they even make tubular rims for modern stuff? If so, that illustrates how far behind I've been lagging technologically.

Nah, I'm going to build up a special set of wheels for the Colnago Super and put them on that. I'm taking a pair of grey-anodized GP-4s and stripping the ano off, then polishing them up before lacing them to a high flange NR hubset. Should look really sexy when complete

DD

kvnmuadib

don't know what as means either but <AS> appears on most rings I have seen from the c-record era. I Ihave seen 53/39 combos typical for 8 spd on early 90-91 chorus cranks w/o pins and have have a slightly later (mid 90's campy crankset ) that does have pins in the rings so possible a ltr development.

kvnmuadib

english or italian threaded bb ...braze on for the fd...? ihave a chorus fd nos but it's clamp on....

Drillium Dude 

English threaded 68mm width, 102mm spindle as per RobbieTunes. My research was coming up with the same answer. The derailleur would be a braze-on type.

That "AS" marking really has me puzzled - there has to be a reason for that to be stamped on the chainrings.

Anybody have an idea?

Oh, and for all of you wanting to see more drillium: I've relented and I will be doing some bit of drilling on the brake levers and have something interesting in the pipeline for the brake calipers, too. Stay tuned...

DD

Otis

Let me know how that turns out. I found stripping GP-4's pretty much impossible. But I know you got gumption.

Drillium Dude 

^ I'll do that. Shnibop and I were discussing how to get polished alloy rims without paying through the nose on Ebay and came up with this as a possible solution. He actually stripped/buffed a section (and is finishing off the whole thing) of a dull-silver anodized Mavic rim and it turned out great. But perhaps the grey might be a bit tougher?

Ah, time to find out - I can't shy away from a challenge

At least my rims are separated from the hubs and spokes!

DD

Otis

It's tough stuff. In my experiance the steel ferrels were toast before the ano was completely off. I was on the same mission for awhile and came to the conclusion it was better to pay for NOS polished rims in the end. But, go Navy..........

Henry III

They still do make modern tubulars. I just got out bid on some Rolf tubulars I was going to get for my Colnago Mix. A good portion of modern carbon wheels are tubular. I have my eyes on another set of tubulars currently on eBay with tires for dirt cheap with a Campy freehub.

RobbieTunes

I've got a new set of tubulars with a Campy 8-sp rear hub. They're out there.
Ceramic bearings, DT Swiss double-butted spokes, Ambrosio Crono (Durex) rims.
Hope Tech hubs. I traded a bike for them, and I think the deal was fair.

The only real deal I've seen as far as removing anodizing is a product sold to auto body shops.
It's generally in the same catalog as the media-blasting equipment, I think the mfg is "Watson's"
The instructions have to be followed explicitly, but it's not as corrosive as EZ-Off.

Drillium Dude 

^ Or try Jestco Products anodizing remover - that's what I've been using the past three years and I'll never go back to the mess and cost of Easy Off. Jestco's hands-down the best thing I've EVER used for removing anodizing.

DD

shnibop 

I should clear a few things up...

I guess I wasn't totally clear with DD and my pictures add to the confusion.

I stripped a section on a Mavic GL330 and polished it up in about a minute.

GL330's start out as the typical dark grey you would see on any Mavic rim from that era, not silver as DD understood.

The rim soaked in Jestco for about 5 minutes, I rinsed/sponged it off with soap and water, then ran it over the buffing wheel for a minute for the results seen below.


IMG_2379 by shnibop, on Flickr

IMG_2378 by shnibop, on Flickr


Only the area between the spokes on either side of the valve hole was polished. The dull silver is what is left behind after stripping the dark grey ano.

In the end it will be somewhat of a pain the butt but I'm saving the cost of new spokes and the time to build a wheelset from scratch.


The results are quite impressive, especially considering the effort involved. DD should have no problems with his GP4's unless they're anodized in something completely different.

Dawes-man

That IS impressive. I use a Japanese product called 'Pipe-man' but that 'Jestco Products anodizing remover' seems much more effective.

One thing, though, and this is only something I was told by my old LBS guy, Mr Sugiyama. I don't care for anodised finishes and I mentioned to him that I was thinking of stripping it off a pair of 27" rims I had. He reckoned it was a bad idea because with rims it added to their strength and figured in the makers' calculations. So I dropped the idea. I would love it not to be so but...

Michael Angelo 

+1