Colnago Branded Delta's

Whole lotta Campy Delta happenings around here. This set is pretty neat:



Colnago polished-and-labeled Record Delta's. Soooo pretty. Makes me want to buy a Colnago just to have a place to put them.

Campy Delta's

I've got a couple of sets of Campagnolo Delta brakes. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I like them. They feather well, and if I need to come to a screeching halt, they can do that too. And no brake looks as cool



This set is the Croce d'Aune version. Whole lotta engineering going on in these. let's take a peek.



Inside the Croce d'Aune Delta. See those 2 studs at the bottom? Those hold the bottom of the front plate on. The internal is a diamond linkage -- the linkage sandwiches the arms, cable fixing bolts, and a hollow tube at the top, on which the top retention adjuster, and the knurled cable adjuster thread.

Man oh man are these dirty.



The backside. The springs force the arms inward. The studs the brakes press against are the pivots for the diamond linkage. They're C-clipped in place.

Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, you can *not* adjust the height of the CdA delta. The mounting bolt also secures the spring, so if it moved up or down, it would impact the spring mounting and tension. Delta's are finicky enough about setup as is.

Mavic 571/2 HG Hubset

Well I certainly never thought I'd find a set, but it happened. NOS, still in the boxes 571/2 HG hubset. And they're perfect.



Not a scratch.



The biggest problem is, how could I ever bring myself to use these? And so the search for a gently used set continues.

Merckx serials and dating frames

Finally made my Merckx serial list public and palatable for the world at large. Check it out at http://www.cadre.org/Merckx/.

Two versions of the original Powergrade brake lever

Did you know Campagnolo partially redesigned the Powergrade brake lever used for Delta brakes? Me neither.

In 1988, Campy switched to the Powergrade brake lever, so one could fine tune the cable pull at the lever. In 1989, they changed the design subtly.



The angle the cable end holder thingy is adjusted at changed. The earlier lever is on the left and the later on the right. The range on the 1988 version is relatively small, and more horizonal. The later version gives a little more range. The hoods also changed at some point from the type that takes a plug (as found in the pre-powergrade version from 1987 and prior) to one that has a punch out piece molded in.

Useless info, but interesting nonetheless.

The Mavic 571 cassette hub

Finally managed to score a Mavic 571 rear hub.



It came to me with an original, and as far as I can tell, unused, 13-23 Mavic cassette. The original skewer wasn't present; fortunately I have a correct one.



It's not the 571/2HG, so its unlikely I'll use it any time soon -- it would require actually shifting (ha!) to 821 shifters, or Shimano 8 speed brifters...neither are options I'm particularly interested in at the moment. If I stumble across a suitable rim, maybe I'll build it up. Just in case, ya know, I decide to try it out.

How it started....

A comment in my last post got me writing a comment back. Went long enough that it might as well be a post.

It started with the fixie -- though I'd like to go on record as having bought said Pista in 2002, prior to the current ridiculousness, and I sold the thing off to a (way too short) hipster for more than I paid. The geek part started with the blue Merckx.

I had gotten a ridiculous deal on a barely used Bianchi XL Boron. Being as powerful as I am (and smooth too!), I must have flexed it too much when riding, cause the clear coat on it developed spiderweb cracks on the top tube. Not the tube itself, just the paint. It kind of freaked me out a little, though. But mostly, it made for an excellent excuse to get a new frame.

So I started looking around for a new frame on eBay, when I saw the blue Merckx. "It must be mine!" I thought. Or possibly said to myself, the cat, or my wife, who at the time was just my new girlfriend, and infinitely less likely to opine "its nice, but where are you going to put it?"

Anyhow, it ended up selling on eBay to someone else, for more than I was willing to pay. I was sad. So I started doing some research. Merckx Grand Prix are rare, as I began to learn. Depression set it. I'd never have that bike!

Then suddenly it happened. Apparently, the guy who outbid me had a wife or something who did ask where he was going to put it, and the frame was being put back up on the block. For 7 tense days I watched + waited. 10 seconds left, I submitted my bid. My browser spun the little loading arrow. Was the Internet going to conspire against me? Would my bid go through?

As you probably guessed, it did. i ended up getting it for less than I had been willing to pay originally, and less than the guy had got it for. That was almost exactly 3 years ago now. It's morphed in to a mostly-Mavic equipped ride, but its still rocking the Ultegra 600 brakes my friend Jeremy (who spurred this post) gave me so I wouldn't kill myself riding a brakeless fixie. Thanks man!

The Merckx, just arrived, 2004.


I just got another Merckx -- the older one seen in the recent posts. My wife hasn't given me the "where are you going to put it" look yet, but I've already torn down my soon to be old commuter bike, in preparation for getting rid of the frame + pieces I won't be using on this bike. I figure being proactive buys me something, right?

Mavic 821 Shifters

Mavic's 821 shifters were their only non-electronic foray in to indexed shifting***. They're ultra simple, and in some ways fairly crude. I'll do a teardown of them with pictures at some point.

Really, this posting is just an excuse to post a picture shot in my home made lightbox. Makes for a nice, smooth background with no flash reflections. Still needs some work, and I need to get used to shooting in it, but it should make the quality of my pictures at least tolerable.

*** Their MTB Wishbone shifters were the same basic design, using a notched disc. Same general idea, but different. My mistake.

C-Record Brake Levers

Just got a nice set of C-Record/Croce d'Aune brake levers. These are going to be paired up with a set of CdA Delta's, to be used on the new Merckx. Still not sure of the date on the Merckx, but I'm not all that concerned. Its just an excuse to build up a fullish CdA bike. Even going to try using a set of Syncro's in indexing mode.

The levers arrived in pretty dirty condition. I spent 30 or so minutes cleaning them up, and they look fantastic.

Left is before, right is after. Hot soap and water can really work miracles when it comes to brake hoods.

A new bike in the family

I recently stumbled on an early Merckx frame while perusing ebay. Not the earliest, but sort of a transitional frame between the first generation and second generation of Merckx frames. On a whim, I threw what I thought was a low bid on it, and won. It was in Belgium, so I expected to wait quite some time to receive it, but to my surprise, it arrived less than a week later.

Its an SL road frame. My guess is 84 or 85 -- I'll be mailing the folks at Gita, the importer of Merckx bikes in to the US to see if they can give me a date. No idea if they have a list of all bikes made, or if there's a serial scheme they haven't told anyone, but they might be able to give me more info. It has under-the-bottom-bracket gear cable routing -- so not early 80's, on top of the top tube brake routing, so not late 80s, and a single set of bottle bosses, which would be abnormal by the mid-to-late 80's.

Early-to-Mid 80's SL decal.

Early style side-slant lettering on the downtube

The modern EM logo caps on the seatstays.

All of which says to me, 84/85. I'll update when/if I hear from Gitabike.

My Merckx updated...

Its been 8+ months since my original post on my Merckx, so its time for an update.

• 1988/89 Eddy Merckx Gran Prix Frame (Reynolds 753)
  
• Mavic drivetrain (631 Crank, 840 Rear Derailleur, Mavic 862 Front derailleur)
  
• Shimano Ultegra 9 Speed Hubs/Cassette laced to Mavic Open Pro rims, Tufo Tires
  
• Dura Ace downtube shifters + brake levers, Ultegra 600 Calipers
  
• Cinelli Campione Del Mondo bars, 1A stem
  
• Campagnolo Croce d'Aune seatpost
  
• Look 357 Pedals
  

I'm quite happy with it at the moment. I'm sitting on a set of Mavic 821 shifters, that just might be able to do 9 speed, but I'm thus far resisting the urge to test them out. Oh, and good news -- the 840 rear derailleur does a great job shifting across 9 speeds. Very nice + crisp.

Also in the "someday-maybe-never" box are a set of 453 brake levers (not as nice as the DA), the 440 brake calipers (single pivot -- no thanks) and a set of 645LS pedals (might move to them, but I'm wary of clipless pedals that old). Almost everything I need for a full period setup, EXCEPT a 571 cassette setup, in Shimano spline pattern (571/2 HG I believe?). Don't want to give up my 9 speeds, or the ability to get cassettes at a reasonable price point.

The Elusive Mavic 840 Derailleur...

is finally mine. I managed to snag one on ebay for a song -- literally at 25% of the cost it should have gone for. Go me. Click for a bigger picture.



Its got the usual array of scratches and scrapes. I tore it down, cleaned it, and rebuilt it. Its very smooth. Its about half an ounce heavier than a Shimano Ultegra 600 rear (RD-6400), so I won't notice its extra weight. Now I just need to mount it up, set the limits, and see if I can't get it working on a 9 speed setup. It has a ton of range, so I don't think its going to be an issue.

Modolo Brakes - SLK Style...

Modolo made a whole variety of brakes, particularly in the late 80's and early 90's. Eventually I'll get around to cataloging the earlier "Professional" style calipers, but here's a rundown of the SLK family. Click any picture for a larger version.



The ALX90 was, I think, the top of the line at the time. Or maybe it was...



The Equipe. I think this just may have also been designated the KX90. Definitely a pattern with different names for what amount to different finishes -- these look identical to the ALX90's. Can you spot the differences? Slightly different stripes on the brake arm, and the graphics on the levers themselves.



Uh oh. The Master SLK 90. Looks just about 100% identical to the above, but in a white finish.



Finally, the Mach. This is a Mach I, the lowest on the totem pole. Still a nice brake. The fixing hardware is different. They also came with cheapy, molded brake blocks.

In pecking order, they likely go:
Master SLK / Equipe
ALX90
Mach (III, II, I)

But I'm not sure on the top 3. They're extremely similar. I'd only put the ALX90 below the Master SLK + Equipe due to the lack of graphics on the brake levers. Very scientific.

One things for certain. This family is where the Mavic 440 comes from.

More Mavic goodies

631 Crank



801 Derailleur



820 Retrofriction Shifters



As always, click any picture for a bigger version.

Cool stuff. The cranks are destined to be mounted on my Merckx, once I find a bottom bracket of the right size -- 70x113 Italian bottom brackets aren't terribly easy to find these days, especially in a square taper. They're probably heavier than the Ultegras on there now, but weight be damned, I'm all about aesthetics. Sooner or later I'll track down an 840 rear derailleur. They're Shimano indexing compatible, so I'll be able to keep the Shimano 9 speed shifters and cassette. Going non-indexed on my main rider just isn't going to happen.

Mavic 862 Derailleur

Just picked up a Mavic 862 front derailleur. The 862 is the braze on, and the 860 the clamp-on. These were made in the late 80's, until some time in the early-to-mid nineties.


Click for a larger picture

The Mavic stuff is really very very cool. The derailleur is held together entirely with allen head screws with bolts, and hinge pins with small split retaining rings. You can take it down to every one of its constituent parts, without having to drill or grind anything out. Which would have been very nice, if one could actually get replacement parts for any of it. At least you can take 2 (differently) broken ones and assemble a working one thats every bit as good as it originally was.

Evolution of Shimano RD-740x

The Shimano 7400 series derailleur went through, as far as I know, 3 revisions. The original was the 7400, 6 speeds.



Next was the 7401. Labeled for 6 or 7 speeds (in fact, the whole series will work up through 8 just fine). The cage has changed where the tension pulley attaches -- it has straightened.



Finally, the 7402. This was the 8 speed model. Similar cage to the 7401. The cage pivot, however, has changed, and is no longer exposed when the derailleur is mounted. It instead is accessed from the backside of the derailleur. The return spring is also more easily tuned, and a block to prevent the chain from jumping out of the derailleur has been added near the tension wheel. Prior models only had them near the jockey wheel. The marble hued name plate is also pretty snazzy.



Interesting note -- the cable anchor bolt on every one of the above pictures is not installed the way Shimano intended (or, at least, not on the 7402 and 7401. Its just an assumption with the 7400). The bolt portion should, in fact, be on the inside of the parallelogram, and the outside should instead merely have a flat, circular plate to hold the cable on. This is a little "cleaner" and perhaps more visually appealing -- it is, however, a pain in the neck to adjust when the derailleur is mounted, as the allen key must be maneuvered inside, while holding the cable tight. They work just as well as seen in the pictures, and are a whole lot easier to adjust IMO.

Saavedra Headset

Recently acquired a Saavedra headset. Saavedra was (is?) an Argentinian company that was probably best known for its Turbo rim -- extremely lightweight, and apparently not the longest lifespan. They also made components that were Campagnolo knockoffs. This headset is one of them -- albeit with an interesting twist.

As usual, click any picture for a larger version.



The headset looks like what would happen if a C-Record headset mated with a Stronglight Delta. The lock nut and part of the adjustable race look C-Record, but the entire bottom assembly, and the upper race look like a Delta.




And like a Delta, its a roller bearing design, with steel races. Quite nice, and cheap to boot. 43mm (give or take a mm) stack height. 115 grams -- so while its a tall headset, its also quite light compared to other comparable headsets.

Campagnolo Syncro II shifters

In 1987, Campagnolo came out with an indexed shifting system they called 'Syncro'. It didn't work very well, and was generally tempermental. In 1989, they came out with an updated 'Syncro 2' that changed the spring arrangement, and updated to a higher capacity -- a large rear shifter "drum" diameter meant more cable could be taken up, to shift 7 speeds -- and possibly 8 as well.

I recently acquired more than a reasonable number of sets of Syncro 2 shifters. For a couple of reasons. First, I find them mechanically interesting -- and I'll discuss how they work shortly, with pics. Second, they're attractive -- same lines and design as the C-Record/Chorus/Croce d'Aune shifter bodies. Third, they pull enough cable to run with 8 or 9 speed in friction. Which brings us to number 4: they can be run in friction mode, but can also be easily modified to be a pure friction shifter. At which point, they're just as good as any other friction shifter.

Click any of the pictures for an larger version.



The left/front shifter is a standard friction shifter. I tried to get all fancy with something that looked like a parts explosion diagram.



The right/back shifter is entirely different, but easy to understand if you have pics.



The above is the inside of the lever. Note there are 2 small holes. 2 springs go in these holes, and create tension against....



the toothed boss collar, show above. Yellow is for 6 speeds. Count the indentations on each side, and you'll see 6. Other colors exist for 7 speed, and apparently there are 8 speed collars from the indexed barend shifters. I can't confirm that.



In the notches around the center of the collar, there are 2 cutouts. The large round metal piece above, to the left, has 2 cutouts matching the positioning of these notches. It also has the shaft around which the lever pivots. You'll see this in later pics. The other piece contains the retaining screw, and a spring loaded, knurled collar. It also has 2 teeth that go through the cutouts of the other piece, and engage the indentations in the collar.



The boss collar, with springs, inside of the lever.



The round metal piece, over the collar and springs, inside the lever.



Ok, so here's how the whole thing works. In the above picture, imagine the whole thing screwed together, with the notches, cutouts and teeth aligned as in the picture. The metal piece mates to the shift boss, and is held in a single position. The teeth of the knurled retention device are held in to place by this metal piece. The teeth hold the boss collar in one place as well. The shifter lever, and the 2 springs inside, are free to move. The springs have a shape that creates a sort of "pin" that rides in the grooves of the boss collar. Moving the lever moves the spring pins from one notch to the next.



By pulling the knurled portion of the retention thingy out, and aligning the teeth the way show above, the boss collar is released. Its spring loaded, so you can easily pull outward, and rotate it 90 degrees. The spring pins hold the collar in one place, and they pivot freely, as the teeth from the knurled part no longer keep it in place.

Sounds complex, but its pretty simple. Now, you can pull the knurled portion and use it as a combo index/friction system. That'd work, though indexing is tempermental. To convert them to pure friction, you can actually just remove the springs and optionally the boss collar -- the springs are all that is required to move. Removing the boss collar may create a little slop in the levers -- something I'd just as soon avoid. They're light enough that anyone who would consider running them would be hard pressed to justify caring. Anyhow, after conversion, they make nice large capacity friction shifters that don't need to be pulled obscenely far to take up 8 and more rear freewheel/cassette speeds.

Latter day Super Record

Just picked up a Campagnolo Super Record rear derailleur. Fantastic condition, its hard to believe this was used much. Bits of caked on grime, but it should clean up nicely. Then I'll get it all dirty myself.



The Super Record rear was redesigned in 1979, with a new parallelogram design, titanium upper and cage pivot bolts, and some other things that were probably deemed necessary if they wanted to even attempt to compete with the cheaper, better performing Japanese components coming out. This is a PAT. 84 (1984) so it's towards the end of days for the whole Super Record gruppo.

Eddy Merckx frame dating ephemera

At least, things of passing interest for some.

The gold name box for Merckx frames wasn't present originally. As far as I've been able to determine, they first appear in the 1987 catalog. Advertising materials first show it in 1989. So I think we can assume that while it appeared in '87, it was inconsistently applied. The center spread of the 1987 catalog shows most of the frames are carrying it, except for the unnamed Grand Prix, and one of the Corsa Extra's, which sports an older name label in red.

The top tube may have a decal with a model name on it. Possibly only on the drive side. Gold label, around 1987. Red label, pre-87, and the earliest probably don't have a name at all on them.

The crown and seat stay caps also might be helpful here. The earlier frames have seat stays capped with a signature cap. The (I think) 1985 catalog shows seat stays capped with the current logo. The sloping fork also has the current logo caps, and the flat capped fork has a block-style Eddy Merckx name on them. Fastback seat stays don't seem to appear in the first catalog, but its hard to say if they were introduced later, or just not seen in the catalog.

I'll work on expanding this and narrowing it down. But I think with this info, its possible to narrow frames down to early, mid and late 80's.
Seat and head tube logos are pretty consistent through the 80's. Bikes with seat tube "points" may lack the upper Italy/France band. Frames with a panel on the seat tube may also lack the traditional upper band, and instead have a 'Made In Belgium' band. The pointed livery seems to have appears in the mid 80's.

The downtube decals are a little tougher. The first frames consistently had the right leaning, block Eddy Merckx, with underlining. Mid 80's sees that logo, along with the introduction of a thin and a thick bubble font. Without a comparison subject, the easiest way to tell them apart is the thin font has an open bottom D.