1990 Campagnolo on a Pultney Street Cycles frame

[darkpromenade]

Hi,
My first post on the forum and my first "retro" project. I don't really know if 1990 qualifies as "retro" but this seems to be the most suitable place to ask these questions.

In 1990 I bought a "custom built" bike from Pultney Street cycles in Adelaide for the grand price of $1100.. I rode it for about 5 years before moving away from cycling. The frame never had decals on it and came with rx100 brakes, cranks (biopace) and hubs (with generic rims), Campagnolo front deraileur and levers (not sure of the model or how to identify them), and a rear deraileur that I have never been able to identify (It has a mark of two flying wings....is this campag?). About 5 years ago I did pull it out, took it to the LBS for a service and had one ride on it before it went back to the shed.

Recently, due to an injury that stopped me running, I have started cycling again, at first with a MTB, and this week I pulled the old bike (is it an Abeni, Europa, or Elan??) out of my Dads shed again.

It all looks to be fairly good condition (needs a new chain), except the rear deraileur that has one seized bearing.

I am keen to fix the bike up and keep it original. What are my chances of getting a 1990 Campagnolo rear deraileur? Apart from ebay, where would I look for such an item? And what is the general approach to wheels? The rear rim has a decent sized flat spot in it and will probably need replacing. What are the options here?

Many Thanks for your help.
Cheers
DP

[LuckyPierre]

I've just finished building up a similar aged frame with Campagnolo components - you can read about it in the Enzo thread.
You should be able to pick up a suitable rear derailleur on eBay pretty easily.[/url]

[darkpromenade]

Thanks LuckyPierre. I just checked your thread..... that is one beautiful bike you've built there! Congratulations!

[europa]

G'day DP,

Welcome to the nuthouse

I bought my Europa from Pultney Cycles. They were part of the Europa chain. Custom built? They were sourcing their frames from a few places. My Europa which is few years older than yours is probably a Nishiki frame. However, Albeni did build frames himself and in those days, the Pultney St shop was run by Brian Hayes (now of the AIS) who was also a frame builder, so you may indeed have a genuine, custom frame. In any case, head out to the SuperDrome one day and look for Brian Haye's office - he's the Technical Director of the AIS (his office is at the northern end of the corridor) and a hell of a nice bloke. Take the bike with you and he may be able to answer a few of your questions.

Sure it's the wheel that's got the flat spot? Not just the tyre? Seems a strange thing to happen just sitting in the shed.

Richard

[darkpromenade]

Hi Richard,

I remember they sat me on an adjustable bike frame in the shop, got me to peddle, then adjusted the length of the various tubes before declaring the job done! I had to wait some weeks to get the frame ( I was 17, was new to cycling and had no idea what I was getting, to be honest!). The frame has a mono seat stay (if that helps anyone identify it), and I remember seeing several other similar bikes around Adelaide in the early '90s.

When I've got the bike sorted out I will go and pay Brian Hayes a visit. Thanks for the tip.

And it is definitely the rim that has the flat-spot, I remember hitting a big pot-hole on one of my last ever rides!

Cheers,
DP

[europa]

And it is definitely the rim that has the flat-spot, I remember hitting a big pot-hole on one of my last ever rides!

Cheers,
DP

I wonder how hard it'd be to get the flat spot out. Sure, new rims would be 'the go', but keeping the old girl together is also important sometimes (I'm keeping all the bits I've taken off my Europa during her coversion to fixed).

Richard

[darkpromenade]

I was going to post some pics tonight, but that will have to wait for a week!

The RD is campagnolo after all, but I'm not sure of the model.

The rims are alesa 913-622 700c. Both need to be trued (along with the flat spot in the rear).

I need a new chain and everything needs to be cleaned and lubed but I think that might be about it! I'm looking forward to my first ride!

Cheers
DP

[aerohydro]

I managed to considerably improve a steel rim with a pretty nasty flat spot. I took out the spokes from the flat section, and sat the rim upright, with the ends of the flat spot resting on two pieces of wood. I then used a wooden mallet to knock out the flat spot. I did this a little at a time, testing in between. I'm not very experienced with the finer details of bicycle mechanics, but I'm willing to have a go at rough stuff like this. If the rim is badly bent, you have nothing to lose as far as I can see.

I have another idea for doing this in a more controlled manner, using a bending jig and a jack or clamp. That would probably be a better way, and less risky.

Leon.

[mikesbytes]

I managed to considerably improve a steel rim with a pretty nasty flat spot. I took out the spokes from the flat section, and sat the rim upright, with the ends of the flat spot resting on two pieces of wood. I then used a wooden mallet to knock out the flat spot. I did this a little at a time, testing in between. I'm not very experienced with the finer details of bicycle mechanics, but I'm willing to have a go at rough stuff like this. If the rim is badly bent, you have nothing to lose as far as I can see.

I have another idea for doing this in a more controlled manner, using a bending jig and a jack or clamp. That would probably be a better way, and less risky.

Leon.

Bashing a steel rim straight, now that brings back memories of my youth

[darkpromenade]

Thanks for the tip.

I dropped the wheels off at my LBS today to be trued, and to let him have a go at the flat spot. He seemed to think he could get it to a point where I wouldn't notice it.

Last night I pulled the cranks, RD, FD, cassette and chain off. The 7-speed cassette needs replacing (i'm checking out ebay at the moment). Everything else seems ok.

[europa]

And here she is







Sweet old girl. Interesting the way the rear stays have been done - very solid.

Richard

[darkpromenade]

Thanks for posting the pictures Richard!

The shopping list so far includes:

Shimano 52T Biopace Chainring (edit: just bought a new one and a new 42T on ebay!)
Campagnolo Victory Pedals (with toe-clips, to be used with old style cleats!)
7-speed Shimano cassette (are these still manufactured, or do I need to find NOS?)
Campagnolo seatpost (from the late '80s/ early 90's, just for some bling-factor)
Replacement Derailleur pulley (unless I can free up the one that is stuck)

I'm not really doing anything special with this bike, but I'm having a whole lot of fun!

[LuckyPierre]

You can still still get 7 speed cassettes - Shimano has several in their HG50 series - as well as jockey wheels for your rear derailleur. Dismantling your derailleur to get the jockey wheels out is simple, but a bit fiddly. The actual wheels are very basic, so a clean out and grease usually gets them going again.

[Minority]

That's a unique bike you have there and it should be great fun doing it up!

I think your rear derailleur is either a Campagnolo Triomphe or Victory. Apparently they were entry level Group sets from the late 80s so it would tie-in with your 1990 bike.

Try this for some additional info:
http://www.cyclingutah.com/april/april97/april97.htm

This is a great site for visually identifying components http://velobase.com/SearchVisual_Category.aspx

[darkpromenade]

Hey, thanks! Two great links there. I've been looking for something like the velobase visual search to confirm exactly what derailleur I have. I'll pull it out of the shed tonight and take a closer look.

Thanks again!

[darkpromenade]

OK, it's a 1985 Campagnolo Triomphe RD!

I remember when I bought the bike in 1990 I could only afford the base componentry, so this unit must have been the best my money would get. It is still in good condition, so it's going back on the bike. I'm soaking one of the pulleys in degreaser to try and free up the inner sleeve from the brass surround. Hopefully it comes loose without me having to resort to brute strength.

Thanks again Minority for your input!

[Minority]

If the degreaser doesn't work you could try soaking in diesel.

I have never tried it myself but I'm told its great for free-ing siezed metal components!

[europa]

If the degreaser doesn't work you could try soaking in diesel.

I have never tried it myself but I'm told its great for free-ing siezed metal components!

Makes sense. A penetrating oil is just a very thin oil, and that's all diesel is. We tend to forget that life is a lot simpler than the marketing men would like us to believe. Diesel is a great lubricant, a great cleaner (though kero is better) and a good penetrating oil.

Which raises a very interesting question - is kero or diesel better for cleaning your chain? Kero is the better solvent but while both leave and oily film (which is why they are better than degreasers), diesel would leave a better oily film. Has anyone tried diesel? Or is that another option that's been bypassed.

Richard

[stryker84]

On that line of thought, would petrol be an option?

[darkpromenade]

I'm using a home-made blend of odourless kerosene and xylene, about 5:1.

[europa]

On that line of thought, would petrol be an option?

No. Apart from evaporating to quickly there's something else to do with the fact that it evaporates without leaving an oily film but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Of course, there's the safety issue too. My shed's a real beaut. The flamables in there at the moment include petrol (two stroke for the mower), kero, metho, methanol, nitromethane, epoxy thinners, epoxy and a dirty great big wooden boat

Richard

[Kalgrm]

I'm using a home-made blend of odourless kerosene and xylene, about 5:1.

I'd stay away from the xylene, given the choice. Here's some infoon its effects.

Cheers,
Graeme

[darkpromenade]

I'm an industrial chemist by trade, so I know how nasty it is. I wear full gloves and respirator and I use sealed containers.

[Kid_Carbine]

Of course, there's the safety issue too. My shed's a real beaut. The flamables in there at the moment include .............., methanol, nitromethane
Richard

Methanol & Nitromethane? Methanol is just alcohol, but NITROMETHANE? Are you a closet top fuel drag racer?
A friend used to buy it in 44 gallon drums for his funny car back in the mid 80's & it was about $1,200 to $1,300 back then from memory.
Didn't last long either with the way he drove.
He used methanol in a blown hemi powered street car too for a while. Spectacular but costly.

What do you use these things for?

[europa]

Model aeroplanes. I used to fly control line stunt and used 10% nitro to help the burn and improve the way the engine controlled itself in the air (no throttles, just a spray bar and venturi).

Richard