New Reco track bike ready to ride

The new track bike is ready now and I already raced it.
Yesterday night, I did some minor races on the track in Apeldoorn.
I didn't ride the bike before, so I wasn't sure how it felt and performed. Luckily I did measure everything well, so there were no re-adjustments necessary. One thing I wasn't used to was the short crank length. I never rode 165 mm cranks before and I must admit that it felt very different from my regular 170 mm track cranks, especially in a race.
About the bike: the decals I used are the home made water slides. Doesn't look very nice, so, I may have to take these off and try another set. Or my mate in U.K. will finally deliver the vinyl ones...

Colours and artwork Reco

The "new" Reco track frame is in the paintshop for powdercoating and will become glossy black with a layer of clearcoat.
Meanwhile, I've tried to come up with a suitable "skin design".
It's rather complicated to produce, also because my contact for printing and cutting vinyl decals has less possibilities than I thought.
Now I've found someone else who is trying to make the white decals (outlined letters and full white letters) in vinyl. I hope that it's all done automatically and that it comes out nicely.
For the printed part of the decals I'm going to try something new.
I've ordered decal paper that can be printed on a laserjet and inkjet (colour) printer. The negative aspect is, that I have to cut the decals by hand. This makes it hard to do difficult cutouts. When everything works out well, I have water slide decals in full colour that can easily be applied on the freshly coated frame. A light layer of clear coat has to be enough to protect the decals.

Planned components new Reco track bike

Frame: Reco (Regter Construction), mixture of Columbus SL and Reynolds steel
Front fork: Reco (Regter Construction), mixture of Columbus SL and Reynolds steel
Head set: Shimano Dura Ace HP-7410 cartridge type
Bottom Bracket set: Shimano Dura Ace BB-7600 English threading NJS
Crank set: Shimano Dura Ace FC-7600 165 mm, NJS, 52T and 50T 3/32" chain ring
Pedals: Shimano Dura Ace PD-7700 SPD-R
Sprocket: Shimano Dura Ace SS-7600, 3/32", 14T, 15T, 16T
Seat post: Shimano Dura Ace SP-7410, 27.2 mm
Saddle: Selle San Marco Concor Light
Handlebar stem: Cinelli 1A, 14 cm => changed to 3ttt Record 14 cm
Handlebars: Cinelli 65-42 => changed to 3ttt Super Competizione Gimondi 44 o-o bars
Handlebar tape: ??? black or white => Bike Ribbon Eleganza black
Chain: SRAM PC870 3/32"
Wheels: Miche Pistard WR Clincher, Navigator Pista tubular
Tyres: Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp black with Michelin Aircomp latex tubes or Continental Tempo 22 tubulars
Alternative wheels:
Mavic Comete disc wheel rear with Shimano CS-MX66 sprocket 15T or 16T.
Front wheel Shimano HB-7700 hub, FIR Antara rim, 28 spokes.
Tubulars Continental Tempo 22.

30 years back in time

Just the hard shell helmet, the heart rate monitor, gloves and the hairy legs are not period correct. But with these shoes, acryllic jersey and bike, I look like a stranger on this super track in Apeldoorn.

SOLD: Track parts for sale

SOLD: SUGINO TRACK CRANKS WITH 5 CAMPAGNOLO RECORD CHAIN RINGS
Set Sugino track cranks, 165 mm
BCD 151 mm
With 5 pcs Campagnolo Record chain rings
- 2 narrow rings, for 3/32" and 1/8" chain: 50, 54T
- 3 wide rings, for 1/8" chain only: 49, 51, 52T
Normal wear.





SOLD: TRACK WHEELS, CLINCHER
Great set of track wheels. Only used on velodromes.
Famous Mavic 520 hubs with replaceable industrial bearings,
Rigida SX 100 dark grey rims for clincher (no brake wear),
36 spokes, tied and soldered,
Pariba 20X622 tyres




See other blogs for more parts for sale.
- FSA Pro Track chain ring 52T BCD 144mm for 1/8" chain - NEW
- Several items
- Campagnolo aluminium toeclips size L - NEW

New project Reco

For very little money I've just bought another complete track bike. It's exactly my size and almost the same as the ALAN. I bought it from a former track & road racer who I know pretty well and lives nearby. He stopped racing some years ago and now he sold all his stuff. For a reasonable "frame only" price, I got the complete bike. By selling the redundant parts, I can pay the additions costs for this project and maybe even earn something. Almost for sure is that this bike isn't gonna cost me anything extra.
I'm still not 100% sure how I will equip this bike, but it will be difficult to call it "vintage". It's going to be a nice and good everyday track bike. Not necessarily good old Campagnolo and similar stuff from the 1970's and 1980's. The frame is pretty old, but for the rest it's going to be more modern.
The frame is from steel Columbus tubing. This "Reco" frame was originally built by Ben Regter (Apeldoorn) for Aart van de Kruisweg. He won several national championships on it. Later it was sold to someone else and repainted in the actual (ugly) colours.
The bike will be completely stripped. After that, I'll have frame and fork shot blasted and powder coated in plain glossy black. Hopefully porter7474 from London can help me with new vinyl stickers.
The parts of the "old" bike?
The wheels are lovely. I hope that I can get enough money for these beauties. Especially the Mavic 520 hubs with industrial bearings are great. Perhaps I'm going to sell my Miche clincher wheels and keep these Mavics with Rigida rims.
The crank set is a bit odd (Sugino with 151mm BCD), but it's 165 mm and it came with 5 Campagnolo Record rings. I'm trying to sell it, but if I don't get enough, I'll keep them. I'll never gonna get a cheaper pair of 165 mm track cranks. Good on smaller, steeper tracks and good for the kids in future. Unfortunately not compatible with the Campagnolo chain sets I already have.
The Seat post is a 27.2 mm Campagnolo Record, so, that will stay in this bike.
The handlebars are nice Cinelli 65-42 without grooves, so that's also ideal for this track bike.
The nice Cinelli 1R stem is 13 cm, so, just a bit too short for me. Hope that I can sell it.
The saddle is a very nice, black Selle San Marco Rolls, but I think that I will sell it and put a Concor saddle in its place.
Any new parts? Probably yes.
Perhaps the Campagnolo C-Record cranks that I've bought earlier this year, otherwise a set of almost new 165 mm Dura Ace cranks that are up for sale.
Black tyres like Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp, of which I already have one and seem to be quite well on the track. Otherwise I can use my black Navigator wheels with black Continental tubulars.
I can still choose between a 14 cm Cinelli 1A or a 3ttt stem of the same length. Both are in my garage.
Dura Ace SPD-R pedals don't match well with Campagnolo cranks, but that's just an emotional thing. So, easy to get over it. 2 pairs in my garage.
Topped with new black or white (cork or plastic?) bar tape, the new track bike will be ready later this track season.

The ride

Till today I've been on the track (indoor, Omnisportcentrum Apeldoorn) 3 times. The first riding impressions of the new ALAN track bike are very good and I get a lot of nice response. Everybody really likes the bike.
The position on the bike is just as I wanted and it makes a big difference with the Giant, that was really too small.

A few things could be better. The combination pedals, toe clips, straps and cleats is not ideal. The feet keep sliding inwards, towards the cranks and I have to readjust my foot position frequently to make sure that I don't rub the crank arms all the time. Next to that, the shoes feel really weak. They don't offer a lot of support. When I tighten the toe straps, it really hurts. And when the straps are not very tight, I keep slipping towards the crank arms and there's even the possibility to pull the feet out of the pedals. Conclusion: it looks fine, but it doesn't feel good. So, either I have to find top quality vintage shoes or I have to switch to clipless pedals.
The bar tape with shellac looked really well when the bike was unused, but after the first evening, I saw the spots where my hands rested. It looked like the shellac was worn. Perhaps it didn't have the time to cure. I will try to do some "spot repair" and let it rest for some weeks. Perhaps that is okay.

The first evening was pursuit training. I was not fit and I felt bad, but it was a good occasion to test the bike.
2 weeks later I joined a free training. Still not fit, but fine to get used to the bike and to do some serious exercises.
Last Saturday, there was a Madison training. I did a bit of Madison 1 or 2 times over 20 years ago, so it was good to get some more tips and experience. The riding was already a lot better than the 2 times before and I had far less problems with the pedals, shoes and feet. Sorry for the crappy picture, but that's all I have at the moment.

Applying shellac on handlebar tape

It took some time, but finally I've shellacked the black cloth handlebar tape. I've looked for blond shellac flakes on auction site "Marktplaats" and I found this web shop: http://www.politoeren.com. An interesting website with good information and a good web shop. Compared with what I've seen at other sites, this is really affordable. The only negative point is the shipping costs, especially for the ethanol. Finally, I bought 100 g blond shellac flakes at an art shop in Kampen: "Kreatief Bezig Zijn". Cost me EUR 10.-. Shellac products from this stuff are purchased here: http://www.verfmolendekat.com. A Dutch dealer list is available on this web page. The stuff at this shop is far more expensive than politoeren.com, but I could buy a small quantity and I didn't have to pay for postage.
Denatured ethanol of at least 95% was harder to find. Drugstores sell it in small bottles of 100 ml or so, but that's very expensive. The people of our local pharmacy were very helpful and ordered a 1 l bottle at a very fair price of EUR 9.95.
I dissolved 50 g in 1/6 l ethanol. The ethanol was heated indirectly. First, I boiled water and put this in a container. Placed a clear glass jar with ethanol/shellac mix in this hot water to heat it up. From time to time I took new hot water and every 30 min or hour I shook the jar with shellac. Dissolving shellac in ethanol takes approx. 24 to 48 hours.
I applied the shellac with a paint brush in 10 or 12 layers. One layer was not completely cured before the next one was applied. Between each layer, I waited at least 1 hour, and in this way I did 2 or 3 layers per evening.

More about shellac: here.

Before:

After:

Tying and soldering spokes

The rear wheel has new spokes, tensioned, centred and trued.
As a finishing touch, I've tied and soldered the spokes.
The opinions about this piece of craftsmanship are divers. Especially on track bikes, it's an old habit to tie and solder the spokes, but also on road bikes (Paris - Roubaix). Possible reasons are: increased strength, increased rigidity, no problems with loose spokes once they're broken. Various tests have shown that there is no measurable difference.
But, since my new bike is full of tradition and emotion (more than quality and technology), it's clear that the spokes have to be tied and soldered.'
I've done it only once and it's already a long time ago.
First, I had to find silver wire. I was not sure if this had to be silver plated copper or steel wire or massive silver. Since silver plated copper wire made most sense, is affordable, easy to get and possibly much stronger than pure silver, I decided to buy this. On the internet, there are many sellers of hobby stuff (especially jewellery and beads), that offer silver plated copper wire in various thicknesses. I bought 3 bags with 20m of 0.4mm (26 gauge) wire. Far cheaper than tin plated steel wire from DT Swiss. For 1 wheel (36 spokes) 1 roll or 20m was more than enough. Click here.


First, all 18 farthest spoke crossings had to be wrapped. At each crossing I made around 10 wraps, but maybe I should have done just 7 or 8 to make a less bulky. Each time I cut approx. 10cm of wire from the spool and tried to wrap it neatly. Every time I tried to end with a small knot and tried to feed the end through the coil again. Sometimes I succeeded, sometimes I didn't. I'm not sure if it makes a big difference after the soldering.


Finally, the coils had to be soldered. I used a 100W soldering iron and tin solder. Not sure if I used the right solder, because I used tin older with lead and resin core. Didn't use any flux (S39).
After soldering all the coils, I was done. Perhaps not all joint are so nice, but at least, they are soldered well and will not come loose. Next time I would go for less wraps. Perhaps a better soldering iron would have heated the wraps better and made the soldering nicer, using less solder. Also, lead free and resin free solder probably would have resulted in a neater joint. But that's for the next time. Perhaps I have to redo the front wheel.


http://www.urbanvelo.org
http://wheelfanatyk.blogspot.com

Chain SRAM PC 870

It's hard to find an Italian chain that maches well with this bike. First, I know only two Italian bicycle chain brand that was already making chains during the late 1970's and early 1980's: Regina and Everest. It seems that these companies don't produce bike chains anymore. Most probably due to the introduction of complex indexed shifting systems. And Regina and Everest chains are very rare on Ebay. I've seen nice "gold" plated chains, but the colour doesn't match with the rest of the bike.
The best chain for this bike would be a Sedisport chain. I used "tons" of these chains: cheap (DFL 10.-) and good quality. Or, even better, the silver colour Sedis Pro. I have one, but unfortunately it's too short. Such a shame.
I have to be satisfied with the SRAM PC 870. SRAM took over Sachs, that acquired Sedis. I picked the PC 870 just because of the silver colour (nickel silver outer plates, grey inner plates). The PC 890 would have been better because of the nickel silver inner and outer plates, but the price was too high.
Because the Campagnolo Super Record chain ring is narrow (3/32" or 2mm), I had to select a narrow chain also. So, a 3/32" derailleur chain, but not for 9, 10 or 11 speed. This, in combination with low price and nice finish, doesn't leave much to choose from.

Mavic Pista rims

These rims were in the second hand wheel set I bought via Marktplaats. First, I didn't know exactly which rims I had (the decals just say "Mavic"), but this old catalogue made clear to me that the name is Mavic Pista. How simple can it be?

Piste

A longitudinal groove permits seating of the tubular tire seam. Embossed profile makes the glue hold better.

Denomination: Piste
Dimensions: 700 c
Drilling: 24-28-32-36-40
Weight: 370
Eyelet: single

Status 20. August 2009

Frame: ALAN Super Record Pista 57x57cm, from Pordenone, Italy

Fork: ALAN Super Record Pista, from Pordenone, Italy

Wheels: Campagnolo Record Pista 36H hubs, Mavic Pista silver 36H rims for tubular tyres, corked, tied and soldered spokes, from Amsterdam via Marktplaats

Headset: Campagnolo Record Strada, came with frame

Crankset: Campagnolo Record Pista 170mm BCD 144mm, chain ring Campagnolo Super Record Pista 53T BCD 144mm 3/32"

BB set: Campagnolo, Italian thread, 110mm axle (70-SS), from Berlin via Ebay

Handlebars: Cinelli 66-44, was already in my garage

Handlebar stem: Cinelli 1A 14cm, an old one that I've used on my road bike in the past

Pedals: Campagnolo Record Pista from Northern Ireland via www.londonfgss.com

Toeclips: Campagnolo Record Medium (steel) from my own NOS

Toestraps: Alfredo Binda, leather, white, from Neerkant via Marktplaats

Saddle: San Marco Rolls, black. From my own stock

Seat post: Campagnolo Super Record 25.0mm, came with frame, from Pordenone, Italy

Sprocket: Shimano Dura Ace 16T 3/32", new, from my own stock

Chain: SRAM PC870 3/32", from www.rose.de

Handlebar tape: Cloth, black, from www.rose.de

Spokes: DT Swiss Competition silver, from www.rose.de OTHERS:

Shoes: Vittoria, size 43, from Berlin, Germany via forum Tour magazine

Shoe cleats: T.A. Criterium, bought from Mr. H. Stone, Bristol STILL SPACE FOR IMPROVEMENTS/CHANGES

Seat post: Campagnolo (Super), 25.0mm. The current seat post is shortened, so another one would be perfect

Saddle: San Marco Concor

Handlebars: Cinelli 65-42 or 65-44

Headset: Campagnolo Record Strada, came with frame

Crankset: Campagnolo Record Pista 165mm BCD 144mm

Chain ring: Campagnolo Super Record Pista 52T BCD 144mm 1/8"

Chain: Regina or another Italian, 1/8"

Sprocket: Campagnolo, 16T 1/8"

Jersey: Acrylic, wool

Shorts: Acrylic, wool

Mitts: Full leather or crotchet back with leather palm

Not completely ready. Currently I'm replacing the rusty spokes of the rear wheel (DT Swiss Competition) and I will have to tie and solder them again (not a must but I will do it). Tubulars have to be glued. Perhaps I will apply some layers of shellac (blond) to the bar tape. I will ride it on the track in 2 weeks. 

Vittoria Corsa CX tubular tire - II

During our holidays in France, we had some bad luck with a defect car tyre, but we found a garage where it was repaired immediately. By "co-incidence" it was a garage/bike shop and guess what? Finally I had the opportunity to browse through a French bike shop to look for some nice vintage bike goodies.
Somewhere in the shop, there was a brand new Vittoria Corsa CX hanging below the stairs. Just what I was looking for! The right size, colour, etc. When I asked the shop owner, how much I had to pay for the tubular, he replied that he didn't know that he had it. When I showed him the tyre, he pointed at the cheap training tubulars (Vittoria Rally?) and he said that the CX would be the same price. So, I got it for EUR 20.- and I had problems not to laugh loudly. Thanks Mr. Bouchonneau (Aubres, France). It was not the only nice object in the (for the rest small and messy as you could expect in the French countryside) bike shop. Pretty well hidden on the loft, I found 3 bikes.
The first one was a special edition Colnago that I do remember from the early 1980's. Gold/copper plated steel Columbus frame with Campagnolo parts. Is it called a Colnago 2000? Not so nice was that this bike was equipped with cheap flat handlebars and even cheaper brake levers for touring purposes.
The second bike looked like a Gitane pro time trial bike, like the one used by Thierry Marie in the 1986 Tour de France prologue, including the weird Selle Italia shark tail saddle.
The 3rd bike was most interesting: a Gitane track bike, probably also a former team bike. Fully equipped with Dura Ace 10 (10mm pitch chain) and other nice stuff. A bit small, but maybe it was just large enough for me to ride on. I asked Mr. Bouchonneau if this track bike was for sale, but he denied. No, this bike was not for sale. He called it some kind of souvenir and wanted to keep it. I thought he was still riding it at the velodrome. Such a shame. Later I realised that I should have offered him EUR 500 or 600. In that case, perhaps he would have changed his mind. A missed opportunity...

More about the tyre, click here.

Now it looks like a bike

I've just returned from my holidays, the chain and bar tape has arrived and put on the bike. Perhaps I will cover the tape with some layers of blond shellac to make it more durable. But first I have to find out where I can get it and the alcohol. Then I will try to put the shellac on. It will be my first time to use this stuff.

I will replace the spokes of the rear wheel (new DT Swiss Competition) and tie and solder them.
After I've glued the tubulars (I bought the second one during our holidays in France, see here), the ALAN is ready to ride.

Finishing touch

I'm pretty far now and it looks like a track bike already.
Some small bits are still missing: the Sedis Pro chain I planned to use (I have a 3/32" Super Record front chainring and until I have a good 1/8" ring, it's the best to use a narrow 3/32" chain) is too short. I've ordered a SRAM PC 870.
The handlebar tape I have doesn't belong to this bike. Cork tape is not age correct and besides that I only have white Cateye cotton tape. Other bar tape options are black Bike Ribbon or Benotto Cello Tape. I have decided to use black cloth tape, that I've ordered from Rose, Bocholt. Maybe later I will switch to Benotto or Bike Ribbon, but I'm also thinking about the possibility to cover the cloth tape with "blond" shellac. Not that I've ever used this stuff or seen that someone did it, but it seems to be a technique that was often used.
I also ordered new spokes for the rear wheel, because these are badly corroded and look poor. It will give me the possibility to polish the rear rim nicely, but it also means that I have to tie and solder the spokes. I did this only once and that's a long time ago.

Assembly bottom bracket and head set.

The assembly has started!
First, I assembled the bottom bracket set. Since this is not the 70-P-120 set that I wanted, but a 70-SS-120, I had to try and see how the chain line came out and how the clearance between crank arms, chain ring and chain stays is. All parts were installed without any grease, but with sufficient torque. The clearance between chain stays and crank arms was tight, but about the same at both sides. The chain line was quite okay, but approx. 1 mm off. To be perfect, there should be a 1 mm spacer behind the RH bottom bracket cup, but in that case, the LH crank would come very close to the chain stay. I guess that a 1 mm mismatch is not that bad, so I decided to leave it as it is.
All stuff had to come off again and re-installed with grease. To adjust the bottom bracket set, I need a proper moment arm, so, the RH crank arm had to be fixed. Unfortunately I don't have original Campagnolo crank bolts, but Shimano Dura Ace titanium hex socket head screws will do a perfect job. The chain ring bolts and the cranks bolts are not model and age correct, but for the time being I don't care. Of course, whenever I get the opportunity to replace them for a fair price, I will do so. Even Campagnolo crank caps are an option, despite the fact that these were the first parts to remove from a bike. The had and still have absolutely no function (except aesthetics), checking toque of the crank bolts became more difficult and time consuming and, not unimportant, unscrewing and re-installing the caps could ruin the treads.
Once the BB-set and the cranks were in place, the forks and the Campagnolo Record Strada headset could be assembled. Final adjustment of the bearings is done when the bike has been assembled completely, with the wheels installed and tyres inflated to 8 bar.

Polishing lugs and filling with Revell paint

After cleaning and buffing the lugs, dropouts, bottom bracket shell and fork crown with Belgom Alu, these parts are nice and shiny. Perhaps I could have mirror polished them with # 4000 sandpaper, buffing wheel and elbow grease, but I'm satisfied with the current state.
I filled the "cut-outs" of the lugs and the "ALAN" logo's in the fork crown with glos black enamel paint. You'll get a perfect result if you use Revell Email color and a small brush. The triangle cut-outs can be filled easily. Pantographed parts seem to be a bit harder, but that's even simpler. Just paint the part roughly, with enough paint in the letters/figures and don't worry if paint is spilled on the surfaces that have to remain unpainted. When the painting is done, whipe the excess paint off with a thin cloth. It's an option to let the paint dry for approx. 15 min, but then you have to whipe the excess paint off with some white-spirit.

Campagnolo Record Pista pedals

After having sold 2 pairs of Strada pedals and buying a set of poor looking Pista's (?), I finally got the pedals I was looking for. These have cost quite a bit and had to be posted from Northern Ireland, but these are 100% okay.
On my vintage track bike don't belong clipless pedals, but traditional cage models with toeclips and straps.
Choosing a set of Campagnolo cage pedals is not completely emotional, it's also very reasonable. No need to talk about bearing quality, because that's always superb if you choose Record. But Campagnolo Record pedals with steel cages are the only option, because the cages simply don't wear. All cheap pedals have aluminium cages and they wear out that quickly, that you need 1 or 2 pairs per season. Campagnolo steel pedals last for ages and longer.
The difference between Pista and Strada? That's pretty easy. They are the same, except for the part of the cage on the outside, near the dust cap. Strada pedals (for road use) have a continuous cage that goes around the dust cap. In criteriums, the cage may touch the pavement in sharp turns. The fact that the cage hits the streets prevents the dust cap from wearing or coming off. For some specialists, however, this is a reason to use Pista pedals in road races. They like fast turns and have enough guts to keep pedalling.
Pista pedals don't have this cage at the sides. In banked corners, these sides may hit against the track surface. I cannot confirm if this is really true, but it's a good explanation. Maybe only a good story and purely hypothetical, but for sure it makes Pista pedals more exclusive, thus increasing the price on Ebay. Of course, you can also take a pair of Strada pedals and cut & grind the sides (as many people did), but that's cheating.

T.A. Criterium nail-on shoe cleats

Not that difficult to get, but I've just received a new pair of nail-on shoe cleats. I absolutely need these, because I want to ride with my Vittoria shoes and Campagnolo Pista pedals. Although my shoes have threads for newer type cleats, I will nail these T.A. cleats under my soles. These are age-appropriate and I've used similar ones for years and years. Not exactly these T.A. Criterium Réf: 36, but mostly the T.A. "J. Anquetil" Piste Réf: 59. I also used the Calrouge, but I couldn't find a pair for a reasonable price. I think the Criterium has a bit more play/freedom than the more fixed Piste. Because I'm used to floating cleats now, I think I prefer these. A nice gallery of pedals, toeclips, straps and cleats can be found on Speedplay's website.
The Cyclo Cross Ref:41 cleats are similar to the Criterium cleats, but have threaded holes to screw in spikes for walking/climbing on frozen ground and snow.

Before hammering the cleats on my shoes, I first have to find the proper position. This is how I used to do it (and with me many others. Ride the bike with the cycling shoes, but without any cleats. Try to ride with a nice and smooth pedalling stroke and make sure that the position of the feet feels good and natural. After some ridding, there will be markings of the pedal cages on the new soles. This is where the cleats have to be positioned. Of course, it's recommended to compare this position with your other shoes and see if there is a match. Once the shoes have been used for a while, the markings become more and more visible. When the cleats are worn (due to walking and riding), it's easy to find the correct place for the replacement cleats.

Front wheel before and after

I've spent some hours on the front wheel. Disassembled the hub, cleaned it, regreased, assembled, adjusted the bearings and polished the hub shell and rim. Several cycles with Belgom Alu have improved the appearance.
The wheel still has to be checked, trued and the new tubular glued. Then it can be ridden.

Before:

After:

Campagnolo catalogue Nr. 17, 1973

From the Campagnolo catalogue nr. 17, 1973, just the track parts.
Record Pista
Super Record Pista

SOLD: Cinelli 1A handlebar stem 12 cm

SOLD: Cinelli 1A handlebar stem, quill type, 12 cm, 26.4mm bar bore.
Like new, never assembled, not used, etc.
I bought it recently, but decided to use a 14 cm stem.

SOLD: FSA Pro Track chain ring 52T 144mm 1/8"

I bought this brand new aluminium chain ring FSA Pro Track. 52 teeth, BCD 144 mm, for 1/8" chain only. It's beautiful, but I think I'm not going to use it. So, if someone is interested and wants to pay a reasonable price, I'm willing to sell it. Regular price in bike shops is around EUR 75.-

Frame arrived!

The ALAN frame arrived finally! It felt a little bit like Christmas Eve. A huge box had been delivered and I was a bit nervous how everything would look like.
Frame, fork and parts were all cleaned up very well, the shiny parts all polished, and the frame had the original decals. The overall appearance was splendid. Although new decals have already been ordered, these decals look so good, that I will seriously consider to leave these on and to keep the new (later version) decals for future purposes.
The Super Record seat post was shortened, so it is questionable if it really will be used. It's also not pantographed, but that's no big deal.
The Pista headset looks more like a Strada headset. It looks still okay, but somehow the cups overlap the cones too much. Too small ball retainers or something else? This has to be inspected.
The chain is a simple Sachs, so I can use it for a touring bike with an internally geared hub. Definitely not nice enough for this track bike.
In the evening I couldn't resist to assemble the bike with some random parts, just to feel the riding position, to check the seat post length and the handle stem size. And of course, I wanted to see the Alan as a complete bike. Very, very nice! The stem is going to be a 14cm, so I can sell the 12cm NOS Cinelli 1A again. The seat post could be just long enough, but by chance I may buy a new one.

Rolls saddle painted and polished

The Selle San Marco Rolls saddle was black once, but due to UV radiation and friction with my butt, the leather deck has turned brown.
I decided that it had to become black again, so instead of buying a new saddle I took the risk to paint the leather. First, the saddle was cleaned and degreased with acetone from the drugstore. After that I treated the saddle with 2 layers of black coloured "VG indringverf", some kind of penetrating dye from the local "Mr. Minit".
One layer didn't seem enough to me, so after one day waiting, I applied another layer. Then I polished the saddle with regular black shoe cream.
Now, I think I have the original black colour back. I hope that it will stay like this for a while and that it doens't become brownish again too soon. Some leather paints give an ugly crack or wrinkle effect, so let's hope that that is not the case here. Don't know what happens if I wear white shorts, but that's also not my intention.

Before:

After: