Howdy. So things are starting to get back to normal after NAHBS. I’ve started to do a write up of the event, but I am still working on it and figured it was more important to get going in the shop again then hashing out a travel piece that is now ancient bicycle folklore to all of you high speed, wi-fi, 4G bike porn junkies.
The stainless lugged disc brake bike is ooh so close to being done, but I am waiting on a few things before I can finish it. I will hold off from posting pics till its complete. Instead I would like to share the start of my next build which is already turning out to be a very interesting project. The frame is for a local wheel builder, Marcus Long, who launched MRL_Design last year. There is no better way to show case hand built wheels than on a hand built custom frame. Marcus has already built the wheels, which are certain to turn heads. Yes, those are wooden rims.
Hand built wheels. Wooden Ghisallo Rims with Vintage Campy Hubs and Challenge Handmade Tubular Tires
Tied and Soldered Spokes
If building a frame for a bike that was going to have Ghisallo Rims wasn’t cool enough, Marcus also plans on putting a full vintage Campagnolo Nuovo Record gruppo. He scored the gruppo off of an old French Bike called a “Royal Asport” that someone was selling off craigslist very cheap not realizing the components were worth more than what he was selling the whole bike for. I had not heard of Royal Asport before this, but it turns out that they were a small company around in the 1960’s that was bought out by Gitane. Maybe some of y’all know about them?
Donor Frame
Custom Made and 531! Hell yeah!
The Full Campy
Since this was an old French bike, the first thing I noticed was that it used the now obsolete French bottom bracket size of 35mm x 1. We wanted to use as much as the original components as possible so the first step was to hunt down a bottom bracket shell with the right threads cut into them. Luckily, it did not take that long for me to find one at Cycles de Oro.
NOS Cinelli French Thread BB Shell courtesy of Cycles de Oro
It is a cast shell, but as it was probably made with older techniques and has taken a bit more work than using more recently made products. The first thing to do was to get the sockets sized properly for the tubes. I do this with hand reamers as they insure a round and even fit.
Next, I needed to clean up the edges of the sockets, make them square and the points more pointy. I then sanded down the shell and drilled a couple holes for a little flair. All together it was about a days work to get to a workable place. Time for a bike ride and then maybe a beer.
Though the bike is based around vintage parts, it is going to get a modern twist with the addition of couplers. Some of you retro-grouches’ blood pressure probably just shot through the roof with the mention of that. But I say why the hell not? Classy and versatile. Brazing up the couplers is the next task and I am trying to be better about documenting the build process, so stay tuned.
Now go ride your bike. Its nice outside(well, at least where I am).
About what date did this campag set come out
Hi Baden, my guess would be early to mid 70’s based off of the frame. Campy made the nuovo record from the late 60’s to early 80’s and the design essentially stayed the same during that time so it’s a little hard to totally pinpoint a date. Thanks for stopping by.