Building the Cinelli – Done !

Finally, finished the Cinelli build. A few issues required some last minute ordering and running around.

The front derailleur requires a clamp-on type. The clamp to braze on derailleur adapter that was shipped with the bike was giving me issues with tire clearance, as the clamp was rotated to the rear of the seat tube, a rather odd design. Notice the clamp in the picture below. When the clamp is rotated to properly orient the tab that the derailleur mounts to, the portion where the screw fixes the clamp together ends up only a few mm from the rear tire.

A few phone calls and I managed to source a 35mm Campagnolo adapter from LaBicicletta here in Toronto. I also picked up a Campagnolo Chain Security Device FD-SR103. It’s a brilliant design that allows you to adjust the front derailleur and chain catcher position independently. Unfortunately, it’s not compatible with a clamp-on derailleur (or in my case, a braze on derailleur fixed to a clamp). I’ll save it for the Cervelo re-build coming up.

Fizik Bar Gel. I have been using bar gel under my tape for 5 years now. I can’t live without it as I like the extra thickness it adds to the bar and the gooey comfort it provides. When I unwrapped the bar tape from the Cervelo to scavenge the Chorus shifters, the gel had essentially fused to the bar requiring me to cut/scrape it off. Luckily another trip to LaBicicletta saved me.

The rest of the build went smoothly. Cranks went on without a hitch. I did a deep cleaning of the shifters, pulling off the hoods and cleaning the copious amounts of greasy crud that accumulated inside them, thank you WD-40.

The only stupid thing I did was put a kink in the rear derailleur cable, right where the cable sits in the housing as it enters the derailleur. I ordered a 10 pack of replacement cables and will replace it as soon as they arrive, as downshifting is suffering as a result.

And there we have it, fini. Bottle cages are Elite Ciussi Inox, again scavenged from the Cervelo, as are the Look Keo 2 Max Carbon pedals. I have replacements on order. The Selle SMP Pro I pulled off my CycleOps trainer.

So how does it ride? Well, I did the inaugural 50 km shakedown this morning to the beach and back, a route that offers a little of everything road wise – some relatively smooth pavement but mostly rough as hell pothole filled Toronto roads and a few light climbs.

Here are my impressions. It’s one hell of a stiff bike at the bottom bracket. Right up there with peloton worthy carbon bikes. The front end is INCREDIBLY stiff, more so than the Cervelo R3. And despite clearance for 28mm tires, it’s no “Fondo” bike. It turns fast very instinctively as if controlled by Jedi mind power. A Crowbar crossed with a Ferarri. This is very much a fast group riding or race orientated machine.

It’s not a lightweight, but I never felt I was slogging my city bike up the hills. The all carbon front end probably contributes to the bikes light feeling and handling. The Sirocco wheels roll fast and are equally stiff, and those Conti Grand Prix Classic tires have made me re-think my “320 TPI, no less” tire snob attitude.

Aluminum frames have a horrid reputation for harshness. But, Aluminum tube sets and alloys have improved since Cannondales 1983 ST500. This is not a harsh riding bike, thanks to the triple butted aluminum tube set. There is definitely compliance in the frame, so I didn’t feel like every imperfection in the road was going straight to my ass and hands.

The big difference between the Cinelli and the carbon Cervelo (and the carbon Look I rode previously) is if you should hit (and around here it’s more like WHEN you hit) a nasty bit of pavement – like a deep crack or hole – THEN you feel the absence of Carbons magic damping quality.  I hit a few nasty holes today, and it was a swearing DOUBLE ouch. Ride Paris-Roubaix on this? No thanks. But for most road riding I’ll be doing, it will be just fine.

 

 

Building the Cinelli Part 2

Work on the new ride progresses at a snails pace. A business trip took me to a warmer climate temporarily only to arrive back home in what could only be described as absolutely shitty weather. And wrapping up taxes took up most of any free time I had on Saturday.

Nevertheless, some progress was made. Not a whole lot of technical documentation on the Columbus FEL fork, at least what I managed to find. Here is a photo of it all laid out prior to dry fitting.

Not shown is the Columbus compression steer tube insert. We’ll get to that bad boy in a moment….

Dry fit-up of the Columbus FEL fork ready for cutting. I follow the prescribed advice of cutting the fork slightly shy so that there is 2mm of clearance for the top cap in order to pre-load the bearings properly.
And here we are in the jig/guide ready for cutting. I keep a 32 TPI saw blade just for the sole purpose of cutting carbon steer tubes.

Helpful hit – soap and water is a great cutting lubricant for carbon. A little shot from the foaming dispenser borrowed from the kitchen works perfectly.
Relax and take a deep breath. Work slowly, keep even pressure against the saw guide. Relax you hand and rest your index finger parallel with the saw blade. Don’t think about ruining hundreds of dollars worth of carbon fork if you screw it up…..

Afterwards, take a fine tooth file and break the edge / deburr the cut. Some people use sandpaper, I’m more comfortable with a file.

Ok, reassemble the fork to check…wait a minute…..
Remember that expander?? ….yeah, well, it sits proud of the steer tube by exactly 2mm. Rather than re-cut the steer tube, I dug through my parts bin and found a 2mm spacer.

That did the trick.

Next up was mounting  the new Campagnolo Scirocco (sans decals) wheelset I picked up on Kijiji with the Continental Grand Prix “Classic” 25mm tires I picked up when I was in Texas earlier in the week. New 12-29 cassette picked up for the “cheap” on eBay.

And this is why the whole spring / fall / wet/ gravel bike project started in the first place….clearance. Thinking 28mm will be no issue whatsoever.
Once wheels are mounted it’s time to check the alignment of the rear hanger.

As expected, the hanger was out by an obscene amount. The Park tool rule of thumb / guide within 4mm as you move around the wheel at the various positions A through D. With a little patience you can usually get within less than half that.

Ok, making progress. Still far from rideable, but getting there. I love the look of those Grand Prix Classic tires. No telling how they ride, but they look bad ass.

Building the Cinelli Part 1

The day of days finally arrived as time and weather converged to allow me to FINALLY get started on putting together the Cinelli.

Remember in Meaning of Life where Headmaster John Cleese declares “You don’t have to go leaping straight for the clitoris like a bull at a gate. Give her a kiss, boy”

Yeah, well…first things first, prepping the frame.

I’ve never met a derailleur hanger that didn’t need its threads chasing. Particularly new ones.  10mm x 1 tap with a squirt of foaming cutting oil cleans out the threads – and look at the crap in there.

That’s better, now ready to align the hanger when I finish prepping. On to step two – seat post.

Peer down the hole, what do you see. Crud, oxidation and general nastiness. Just to be safe, I ran a micrometer inside the tube to make sure I had some material to play with. Good to go – time for the flex hone.

Masking the seat tube with some low-tack painters tape. This protects the paint should the flex hone spin out of control.

Always lubricate the flex hone (or any metal cutting tool). Although cooling the tool is not necessary this instance, it does help “float” out the cuttings and leaves a thin film of lubricant to prevent further oxidation.

 

That’s more like it. Crud and oxidation eliminated. The flex hone leaves a cross-hatched finish. A test fit of the post and it slides in Smooooothly…….

And now the water bottle bosses. A quick run of the M5 x 0.8 tap with a squirt of cutting fluid.

Again, always surprising what you get after running the tap through the threads.

Finally, install the bottom bracket cups. I’m running a Campagnolo Chorus Ultra-Torque 50-34 compact.

I always like to check the dimensions of the bottom bracket – particularly with Ultra-Torque, as the design requires a wave washer to take up any difference in the bottom bracket shell width. Specs call for 68mm -/+ 0.2mm, anything outside of that specification results in either the crank bearings moving around in the cups, or excessive tension on the wave washer and excessive drag on the bearings.

Looks ok – right on the edge. If I had a facing and tap tool for 1.370 x 24 TPI shells, I would probably shave a little off the shell – say 0.1mm – while also ensuring the shell faces are perfectly parallel. Alas, I spent the big bucks on a PF30 reamer and facing tool.

 De-greasing the cups with the appropriate Loctite formulation. I spray then give the threads a quick wipe with a clean paper towel then allow the excess to evaporate before applying Loctite 246 to the cups and installing them. Loctite 246 is a medium strength low viscosity thread locker I use on steel, aluminum and titanium frames as a little heat is sometimes necessary to remove the fastener. Not an issue on metal frames. Would not recommend 246 on carbon frames, rather go with 242. Unless you are cool hitting your carbon frame with a heat gun or torch…..

And there we have it. I will mention, those cups were DAMN tight to install. Clearly, the threads could have benefited from being chased out. I’ve always followed the early Campagnolo instructions of using Loctite and nominal torque to install the cups (opposed installing dry and torquing to 35 Nm) and have never had an issue.

So thus ends part 1. Getting a little bit closer to riding this…..