Adapt and conquer!

Vintage bicycle components are often wonders of simplicity. They were designed to do a specific job with lightweight, reliability, ease of use and often with a little bit of style. Sometimes when you are trying to get more versatility out of a bicycle you must also work to expand the capability of the components. After all, the complete bicycle can only do what it is possible for it’s individual components to accomplish. Following is a summary of some of the modifications I have undertaken to adapt these otherwise unremarkable components into more functional versions, so that the complete bicycle it is greater than the sum of it’s parts.

Sometimes these parts have a limited capacity to do their job. In the case of this Campagnolo 980 derailleur the limitations are based on the range of gearing that was popularly in use in the late 80’s. For my purposes I wanted to use a wider gear range than this derailleur could normally handle, not only in terms of chain wrap but also as to the largest freewheel cog size that it could accommodate. Modifying it to replace the stock cage mechanism with a modern Soma extended cage required the extra step of drilling and tapping the new cage to match the M7 x 1.0 spring/pivot bolt threading from the M6 threading that the Soma replacement comes with. Additionally the Campy pulleys that were on this derailleur were showing the signs of cracking that is common to this type. I replaced those with some older Shimano 105 pulleys that I had in the parts bin.

I’ve had some Campagnolo Victory hubs laying around for some time now which should be great for this build. I have always liked the look of high flange hubs but these low flange units are probably a better choice for this job. High flange hubs just seem to shout out “classic style” to the observer but these Victory hubs are a little more understated and perhaps underappreciated as well. I can’t recall ever hearing about someone building old school Campy road hubs into a purpose built gravel wheelset though.

 

I want to take full advantage of the great tire clearance that is usually found on bicycle frames of this era. Using a wider rim along with perhaps a 32c tire should give me the kind of gravel road performance that I am looking for. With a wider rim you don’t need to go quite as large on the tire size itself to get a much improved ride. The wider rim also improves the flex characteristics of the tire by changing the overall profile, and while going wider does not necessarily reduce the rolling resistance it can improve the handling of the bicycle. The rims I am using are Weinmann AS23X’s along with some Sapim straight gauge spokes. There is no reason to go with a lighter weight butted spoke since weight is not really an issue for me. Most people that obsess over the weight of their bike also tend to fudge their numbers when weighing their machine. By the time I get this thing ready to ride 23 or 24 pounds will make absolutely no difference when I put my overweight butt on it. Better to have something that is not going to break on me!

The forks I found are a bit of a pot-luck item. My local shop had a set with the correct steerer tube length and a halfway decent headset so I picked them up cheaply. They fit nicely without any modification and the lugs also pair well with those on the frame itself. The only issue is that these forks are probably from the 1980’s and as such have a bit less tire clearance than I would like. I think that 32c tires will fit pretty well but that may be the size limit. I will go with these for the time being but I will also keep an eye open for an alternate set just in case I want to go with a bigger tire.

Thumb shifters, downtube or stem mount? Well, I am trying to decide that right now. I have a set of Suntour thumb shifters, some Campagnolo downtube shifters as well as a Ene Ciclo stem mount unit. I may put them all on and see how they feel when I get the bike farther along. Until then I am on the fence about it.

I wanted a riser stem to get the riding position that I preferred for this bike. The problem is that most riser stems will not allow a drop type bar to be inserted due to the radius of the bends in the bar. I was able to find an off-brand stem with a removeable faceplate that should solve the problem. This and an old set of Sakae/Modolo anatomic fit bars should work well together. The bars are grooved for aero levers which probably make more sense on a bike like this. Aero cable routing is still retro and I won’t mind the clean look for a change!

Nothing super-technical is going to be required here. The next step is to build up the wheels, after which I should be able to check out the brakes for reach and clearance. Then comes dialing in the drive train to see if those components play well together. After that, a preliminary assembly followed by some road trials to sort out any remaining issues and there it is, an Italian-Resto-Vintage-Franken-Grinder! Well, I may be getting a little ahead of myself here but that’s the plan.

Previous post on this project is here.