Who knew? Not me.

It's been a long time since I've sought out any Campagnolo parts. But now that I'm transferring my old group from a Cannondale frame I no longer ride to my custom Evans frame, I still didn't really look. I just figured the old stuff was no more. 

I needed brake and shift cables for the build and I asked Dale to order a set of anything. She pulls up a complete NEW package of Campagnolo cables, housings, ferrules, and ends!

I dragged my feet a little, trying to rationalize cheap stuff. Dale slid my original brake levers toward me, with the new Campy hoods she'd found for them giving me her "seriously?" look. 

Then she also found brand new Campagnolo brake pads: black, old school, CAMPAGNOLO block lettering. I've only had 2 or maybe 3 sets of those pads in my entire life. (Those who've seen my videos can attest that I don't brake too much.)

Thanks Honey. 

One small step . . .

... and that's it. Just one small step, but it is a good one. Dale found Campagnolo brake hoods in Italy and they look and fit great!

These are non-aero original style where the brake cables come out the top and loop down old school. 

The other day, I hung the rear changer on the frame and put the rear wheel in to make sure that the changer could reach the inner most cog on the 9-speed cassette. It does fine. 

I'm getting pretty excited about this project!

Old School Nobody Gets

I got this project taking shape, that I have kept secret.

As I solved problems and I started collecting missing/needed parts, I started talking to people about it.  However, as I described the custom steel bicycle frame that I found on EBAY, and about how I planned to build it up using my old school Campagnolo group from an old bike that I wasn't riding, people looked at me like I had slipped into a language they didn't understand.

OK, no need to keep this secret any longer; nobody cares what I am doing.  Well, nobody but Dale, and maybe you.

Sean: "Dale, I've decided that the Evans frameset is Reynolds tubing."

Dale: "You know why you decided that?  Tube shapes.  I worried about a one-of-a-kind custom frame built by a frame builder in Denver and what he might have made it from. I had to learn how people were building frames, what was available for tubing and lugs, and then I looked at a ton of images and read about frame building.  I'm not sure that you can buy much other than Reynolds, but with those oval chain stays, rather than crimped the way most old Columbus tubesets were, I decided it was Reynolds too."

Sean: !!??!!

Custom modified seat tube lug

This image of the seat tube lug shows additional points added to the lug for beauty and symmetry. The EBAY listing had very little information:

"Custom Evans Road Bike Frame 56cm LARGE Hand Built Steel.
Hand built by a local frame builder in Denver, CO."

 No builder name, no angles, drop, rake, or specific tubing.  The listing did have bunch of good quality images from which I could see the artistry, attention to detail, craftsmanship, and that the geometry would be good for my use.  When I unpacked it at home, it was exactly what I expected.  Beautifully built and straght tubes.

This project got started when OLPH and Plain Jim started talking about beautiful steel lugged frames, and got me thinking about putting my Campagnolo group on something I'd ride again.  OLPH bought a Tommassini and had it built up with a group matching her other bikes.  She ordered the frame without all the name decals, like 10 or something usually on modern bikes.  It is a sweet electric blue and very uncluttered with no name tags except for the head tube badge.

Speaking of head tube badges:

Head tube badge of Kokopelli

"Kokopelli is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head), who has been venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and agriculture. He is also a trickster god and represents the spirit of music.

In his domain over agriculture, Kokopelli's flute-playing chases away the winter and brings about spring." Wikipedia

Perfect for presiding over cycling too.