Colnago Conversion part 2

Part one of the series here.

I got a call from Tony of Pereira Cycles saying that the process went smoothly and that it’s ready to be picked up.

The dimpling looks like it’s going to work really well. Tony was able to give me six more millimeters (totaling a rear width of 39mm) so now my 700x30’s have a healthy amount of clearance. Yeah, it’s not as much as a dedicated cross bike, my Specialized M4 measures 45 mm, but it’ll be enough I think.



The dropout spacing changed after the dimpling process though. It was spaced at 130mm before and now its 121mm. Not a big deal, re-spacing a steel frame isn’t too hard, so I’ve read. I’ve never actually done it, but Sheldon Brown has a pretty informative tutorial on how to do it on his site here that I am going to do. I just need to make the decision, is this bike going to be singlespeed or geared?



My singlespeed Nishiki (which is also a converted road bike) has 126 spacing and thus my burgeoning collection of SS wheels are spaced at 126mm. But if I make this geared, then all my cassette type rear wheels are the now standard 130mm.

I really like the simplicity of a singlespeed bike. One gear = few problems. But I already have one of those----do I want two singlespeeds? Currently, my geared Specialized cross bike is in pieces (mainly because I’m lazy and unmotivated to build it up as I’ve been having enough fun with the Nishiki). But in the end, I think I am going to make this bike my geared cyclocross ride.

Doing some more research on the frame by looking over the catalogs at bulgier.net, and it looks most like a Super Sprint from the 1988 catalog.



But from what I’ve read all the late 80’s bikes had “Colnago” stamped into the drive side chain stay, and mine doesn’t have that, so it’s a probably an earlier version.

After doing some more powdercoat stripping of the frame and fork, I’ve found what I expected, that the fork was chrome before they brazed the canti’s onto it. But, the crown is still chrome and in good condition, and I will probably leave the crown chrome with the legs of the fork white. The combination of white and chrome on this bike should look pretty cool, and I already have a cool retro white saddle to go her.



more to come....

A New Cross video on Youtube

Some cool cx video action from Europe on Youtube.

Converting a road bike: the Colnago Conversion

This is the first installment of a series documenting the conversion of a Colnago road bike into a Colnago cyclocross bike.

Your first thought might be don’t wreck a perfectly good Colnago frame. But I didn’t, I’m just continuing where someone else left off. I got the frame and fork (which also included a Dura Ace threaded headset and a Shimano BB) from the same source of most of my bike junk---the Ebay. It was being sold as a “cyclocross” bike that was actually just a Colnago road bike with cantilever braze-ons already attached. I was concerned with rear tire clearance, and the seller assured me that he had run 700x35’s in the rear without issue. That news gave me the green light to bid, and I “won” it for $173 plus shipping.

The seller didn’t know the year or model of the frame, but I’ve narrowed it down to an 80’s Colnago Super or Mexico. It has cool clover pantographs on the top of the BB shell, “Colnago” etched into the bottom of the BB shell as well as the Colnago clover cut out of the bottom of the BB shell. There is also “Colnago” etched into the top of the seat stays, a clover in the head tube lug, and the clover with a C around it on the fork crowns.





When I received the frame, I was disappointed to find that there was no way 35mm tires were going to fit as my 700x30 Michelin’s rubbed. I got out my calipers and measured the width of the chain stays and it was 33mm. How could 35mm tires fit into a frame that was only 33mm wide? I emailed the seller, and he stuck by his guns saying that he ran 35’s without issue, and that some tires don’t actually measure what they’re supposed to. True, most tires don’t end up at the stated width (those 700x30 Michelins I have actually measure 31mm) but there’s no way his tires could be that mis-measured.

Now, I was at a crossroads. My options as I saw them were to A) run narrower tires like 700x28’s, B) sell the frame as is C) remove the cantilever braze-ons, repaint the frame and sell it as a Colnago road bike (which it is) or D) see if a local frame builder could widen the chain stays so as to allow a wider tire to fit in there.

I’ve always wanted a Colnago, and I love riding cyclocross, so I wanted to try and make this frame work, but I didn’t want to use 28mm tires, so I looked into option D.

What I found is that local frame builder Tony Pereira of pereiracycles.com was able and willing to do the job of dimpling the bike, and he’d charge me a reasonable $30 to do it. The catch was that, in so doing, the chain stays may crack and I’d have to not hold him liable for that unfortunate consequence. I was willing to give it a try.

Before I took the frame to him though, I used some industrial epoxy/paint remover to get off the old and crap yellow powdercoat (PC) that graced this frame. This was not an easy process…the stuff was ugly and on there good. A few days worth of labor and I got the rear triangle fairly PC free. What I found was pretty cool, the dropouts and the right chain stay are chrome.





So that’s where it stands now.

Installment two: "the frame returns" coming soon…

Update: Thom's DeSalvo

Thom sent me an email the other day giving some more information about the DeSalvo in the +1lap Customs Gallery:

I wanted to send you a better breakdown of the bike and it's parts spec.

Frame: It's a custom TI DeSalvo that would be about a 60cm, depending on how you are measuring it. It has a 60c-c top tube. It's made from straight gauge ti and totally bomber. Mike made it completely to my specs and it fits and rides like a dream. I could have went with a longer headtube, but I wanted to have a bit more space under my stem for the cable to be routed.

Fork: Reynolds Ouzo Pro Cross. I just got this about a month ago and I'm really digging it. It's lighter thanthe Wound-Up I had on before and rides a bit smoother. The brake pads also clear the fork legs a bit better.

Wheels: I have a set of tubbies and a set of clincers. They both use Chris King hubs, are 32 hole and 3 cross front and rear. I'm a bigger guy and while light wheels are nice, stiff and durable are a bit more important to me. The tubbies are laced to a set of CXP 30's and the tires are either Challenge 30's for the grassier, muddier stuff or Vittoria 34's for the drier, rockier courses. The clinchers are CXP 33's and I run the WTB Interwol's or the IRD Crossfires.

FSA is all over the bike with the headset, stem, bars (the new K-Force Shallow model), seatpost, cranks, rings and BB. Come race season, I pull the SLK compact double crank and run a single ring on a set of 130 bcd SLK's with the FSA gucci guards. A 12-27 stays on the back year round, but race time calls for the Dura-Ace version, whereas the rest of the year is Ultegra.

I'm on my last set of original Dura-Ace 9sp STI's, the ones without the Flight Deck nubs. They run a bit narrower and are easire to descend in the hoods. I have gutted a dead left one and use it when I'm in 1x9 mode so the hood shape is the same. When these die, I'll cry big crocodile tears and probably have to pony up for the new 10sp stuff.

Oh yeah, the pedals are Shimano M959's not Times. Good enough for guys like Tonkin, then it's good enough for me. Any hoo, the bike weighs 19lbs. on the dot and is ultra reliable and most importantly to me, quiet. I hate noisy bikes or ones that creak, shudder and groan. I do enough of that on my own without my bike needing to chime in. Feel free to edit my long winded blah, blah blah if you want. See you at the Crank Bros Grand Prix in Hillsboro.

Thom

Custom Cross Bike #15: Thom's DeSalvo

The first titanium cyclocross bike to hit the +1lap Custom cyclocross gallery is Thom's DeSalvo.







Build List:
DeSalvo Frame
Reynolds CX fork
FSA Cranks
Mavic CXP 30 wheels
FSA Seatpost
time pedals
Paul Neo retro brakes

edit:
I wanted to send you a better breakdown of the bike and it's parts spec.

Frame: It's a custom TI DeSalvo that would be about a 60cm, depending on how you are measuring it. It has a 60c-c top tube. It's made from straight gauge ti and totally bomber. Mike made it completely to my specs and it fits and rides like a dream. I could have went with a longer headtube, but I wanted to have a bit more space under my stem for the cable to be routed.

Fork: Reynolds Ouzo Pro Cross. I just got this about a month ago and I'm really digging it. It's lighter thanthe Wound-Up I had on before and rides a bit smoother. The brake pads also clear the fork legs a bit better.

Wheels: I have a set of tubbies and a set of clincers. They both use Chris King hubs, are 32 hole and 3 cross front and rear. I'm a bigger guy and while light wheels are nice, stiff and durable are a bit more important to me. The tubbies are laced to a set of CXP 30's and the tires are either Challenge 30's for the grassier, muddier stuff or Vittoria 34's for the drier, rockier courses. The clinchers are CXP 33's and I run the WTB Interwol's or the IRD Crossfires.

FSA is all over the bike with the headset, stem, bars (the new K-Force Shallow model), seatpost, cranks, rings and BB. Come race season, I pull the SLK compact double crank and run a single ring on a set of 130 bcd SLK's with the FSA gucci guards. A 12-27 stays on the back year round, but race time calls for the Dura-Ace version, whereas the rest of the year is Ultegra.

I'm on my last set of original Dura-Ace 9sp STI's, the ones without the Flight Deck nubs. They run a bit narrower and are easire to descend in the hoods. I have gutted a dead left one and use it when I'm in 1x9 mode so the hood shape is the same. When these die, I'll cry big crocodile tears and probably have to pony up for the new 10sp stuff.

Oh yeah, the pedals are Shimano M959's not Times. Good enough for guys like Tonkin, then it's good enough for me. Any hoo, the bike weighs 19lbs. on the dot and is ultra reliable and most importantly to me, quiet. I hate noisy bikes or ones that creak, shudder and groan. I do enough of that on my own without my bike needing to chime in. Feel free to edit my long winded blah, blah blah if you want. See you at the Crank Bros Grand Prix in Hillsboro.

Thom

If you have a custom made cyclocross bike, email it to me at plusonelap@gmail.com

Jonathan Page's Surgery completed

Cori, Jonathan Page's wife wrote on www.thejonathanpage.com that JP had the surgery today.

Excerpt: "It was stressful trying to explain that we just wanted to make sure someone that could speak English would be there to greet him and that I would be notified when he was out of surgery. They took Jonathan. I was very scared. Jonathan was very scared too."

Link.

Hopefully, JP gets back to 100% and as soon as superhumanly possible as well. He was just starting to make waves in the Euro-peloton of CX racing and we all hope he can make it back to that state. Heck, maybe he'll have a Lance moment and win the World Champs in a few years because of this experience? I hope so.

Custom Cross #14: Mike's Vanilla

Finally some Vanilla (made here in PDX) for the +1lap Gallery.







-Vanilla custom steel frame and fork (Dedaccai zero uno tubing with True
Temper fork blades)
-Wheels are Open Pro/King with Michelin Muds
-Ultegra rear, D/A front
-Ultegra BB and 12-27 cassette
-Ritchey WCS cranks
-Eggbeaters
-Ultegra shifters
-Froggleggs
-Thomson Elite post
-Terry saddle
-Ritchey Pro stem
-Salsa Bell Lap bars

Love your website. I'll get you some photos in the next week. Happy
trails,
Mike

Thanks Mike for the words, if anyone else has a handmade cyclocross rig send it to me at plusonelap@gmail.com

Portland Cyclocross: Hillsboro Stadium

Today was the 2nd Cross Crusade race here in Portland, and starting before I woke up the rain came down pretty good. I was excited about this, cause I havent raced in mud before. The rain kept pouring when I arrived at the race I was able to pre-ride some sections of the course before my race in the SS division began.

The race went okay for me, I was able to stay competitive and catch some guys in the latter half of the race. And unlike last week where I was dead after a few laps, today, I was surprised to see the 1 lap to go card so "soon" even though it came at the right time.

The mud was very slippery and people were sliding all over the course which was pretty cool. No idea how I finished, but the race "felt" a lot stronger than last week.

Custom Cross #13: Jacob's Indy Fab

This is Jacob's 2006 red and black Independent Fabrications cyclocross bike. The red and black colors look really cool and the bike looks set up really nicely as well.





2006 Independent Fabrication Steel Planet Cross
Alpha Q CX Fork
Cane Creek S2 Headset
Shimano Ultegra Crankset
Shimano Ultegra Bottom Bracket
Shimano Ultegra Rear Derailleur
Shimano Ultegra Front Derailleur
Shimano Ultegra Cassette 12-27
Shimano Ultegra Chain
Shimano Ultegra STI Shifters
Paul Neo-Retro Brakes
DT Swiss 240s Hubs
Velocity Escape Rims
Tufo Elite Cross Tires
Full Speed Ahead OS-140 Stem
Full Speed Ahead Wing Pro Bar
Thomson Elite Seatpost
Bontrager Race Lite Saddle


Thanks Jacob, if any reader's have a custom made cyclocross bicycle, email it to me at plusonelap@gmail.com, because everyone likes bike pRon.

Light Cross #26: John-Christian's Redline

A Redline for the light cyclocross gallery! This is the new Redline model 2006, and is John-Christian's back up rig, sweet.

John-Christian said:
"Here's my pit bike for the <18#>

Jonathan Page out for season now?

It seems JP has torn his rotator cuff and wont be "full gas" til 2-3 months. This is pretty bad, if everything goes well he might be able to race at World Champs? Lets hope so.

Link.

Custom Cross #12: Paul's Vicious Cycle

Paul is the guy with the reader question about single rings and dropped chains, which I posted last week. He also sent me a pic of his Vicious Cycles cyclocross bike.
Build list:
Vicious Cycles Slider w/ rasta flame paint
Indy Fab fork
King headset rasta also
Salsa cockpit, and seatpost
Xtr rear del.
Xt brakes
Mavic ksyrium equip. wheelset
Shimano cranks
Shimano 105 sti shifters; nine speeds in the back

"i'm not sure of the weight, i've never really checked
or cared, but here you go anyway.

thanks again, Paul"

Thank you Paul, looks like a sweet ride, let us know how you stop your chain from dropping.

If you have a custom/handmade cyclocross bike or a sub18 lb cross bike email it to me at plusonelap@gmail.com

Update: Jonathan Page's condition

JP posted the details of what happened to him on his website, www.thejonathanpage.com

Link

In it he said,"My front wheel slipped out and I landed smack on my forearms. I immediately knew what had happened and couldn't help but scream bloody murder. I passed out and then came to as people were making their way to help me. I pulled my arm up and slammed my shoulder back into place."

It goes on to say that he will only miss the next 2 races, if everything goes as expected, so thats truly very good news.

Custom Cross #11: Tony's Pereira

Local framebuilder Tony Pereira sent a photo of his custom Pereira cyclocross bike. Tony not only builds 'em, but catch him racing this singlespeed rig in the local Portland races too.







Build list:

Frame: Pereira cycles
Fork: Pereira cycles
stem: Pereira cycles
bars: Salsa Bell laps
Brake levers: Record Carbon
post: Thomson with setback
saddle: flite
Cranks: Campagnolo

Pereira cycles can be found at http://www.pereiracycles.com/

If you have a custom/handmade cyclocross bike or a sub 18 lb cyclocross email it to me at plusonelap@gmail.com

Portland Cyclocross: Battle at Barlow

Okay, well yesterday was a break in the Crusade schedule, but a cross race at an old Crusade location----dubbed the Battle at Barlow. The highlight of my day was watching a teammate come back from 3rd place and 10 seconds back with one lap to go up to first place to take the win. My race wasnt so exciting. Basically it involved me getting dropped by the pack in like the first 2 minutes of racing and then slogging away for the next 43 minutes trying to decide if it would be possible to hide in a bush for about the next 40 minutes and then hop back out and "finish" the race and whether anyone would notice. (un)Fortunately, my team was ultra supportive and scattered around the course, and I didnt want to explain my DNF to them, so I slogged on. Despite being lapped by my own race leaders--ouch.

Well, I did hang out and had some fun after the race, met Brian from race.cx and took some photos of the Womens and Men's A race. Then hopped in my car just as the real rain began.

Next week the Crusade is back, and I'll be back on the line in the SS group, Im persistent and hard headed---at least I got that going for me.

The photos I took of the race here. The photo above is of the runup----you got your choice as to which side you wanted to go up---arent they nice?

Light Cross Bike #25: Tristan's Trek

The first Trek to the gallery, is Tristan's sub 18 lb X01.

Frame: Trek X01
Fork: Alpha Q
Brakes: Cane Creek w/ Swisstop pads
FSA carbon chainring guards
Dura Ace drivetrain
Bontrager XXXlite everything

If you have a sub 18 lb cyclocross bike, email it to me at plusonelap@gmail.com

Cross Talk Videos

This guy's got some sweet cross videos up on his site, Cross Talk.

Dual Gallery Bike #10 and #24: Josh's RockLobster

Josh previously had a Rocklobster that was in both galleries as well, #1 in the Handmade Gallery and #4 in the Lightweight Cross Gallery. A new season and a new bike! This one is equally as sweet in Sea Foam green.





Frame: Alu RockLobster
Fork: Easton
Bars: Easton
Stem: Easton
Drivetrain: Shimano Dura Ace
Pedals: Eggbeaters
Saddle: Arione
Brakes: Paul's Neo Retro front and Touring rear (in gold)
Wheels: Ksyrium tubulars
Tires: Dugasts

Read about Josh's march across the USA as he travels from cyclocross race to race on his blog at Quick n Dirty

If your ride is handmade or under 18 pounds email me photos and the build list to plusonelap@gmail.com

Medium +1lap Shirts in stock

Yeah, so I underestimated how many mediums to order last time. Now I got medium, large and extra large Cyclocross Tshirts. You can buy them here.

Link.

Question from the readers to the readers..Singlering advice

I get a lot of emails about cyclocross (I love it dont get me wrong) but I thought, Id pose this reader question to the World Wide Web of Plus One Lap readers. As well as posting my response.

"I've recently re-set up my c-cross bike, and i have a single chain ring up front, but when i ride it hard, over logs or curbs
(as it is used for commuting too), my chain pops off. a friend of mine recommended
just putting on a front dérailleur to keep the chain on, but i am having a hard time 'adjusting' the dérailleur to deal with the nine speeds in the back. is there anything i am able to put on in place of a dérailleur to keep the chain on that is not some freaking down hill thing?

thanks for your help
Paul"


This is very common. There are several options to hold the chain on in the front (Chain ring guard with a Deda Dog Fang or NGear Jumpstop; an old Front Derailleur or 2 chainguards that go on each side of the chainring, and maybe others?)

I have used, the Dog Fang, NGear, and a Rohloff Chainguide that looks basically like an old front derailleur but it costs like $50. I have never used double chainguards. What I have used didnt work. Not well enough at least.

With the fake front derailleur option, the chain will rub on the derailleur no matter what on one of the extremes, and if you space out the derailleur by bending it, there will be enough space for the chain to slip past it. With the Dog Fang or Jumpstop I still had a problem with the chain bouncing off, even after I shortened my chain to the right length.

Maybe the dual chainguard is the solution that works? The funny thing is, the single chainring has a myth that its the chaindrop solution, but I've known more people to drop chain with a single ring than with a double.

You could always, rig up the front derailleur and have a shifter going to it, but only having one chainring. That way, you could adjust the rub, but still have just the one ring. But if you're going to do that, why not toss on another chainring and double the amount of gears you have?

So my answer? Try double chainring guards, shorten the chain, perhaps running a chain tensioner in addition to the derailleur might help (like the Kore tensioner or the Dimension tensioner posted above) or do like I did and go either double ring or Singlespeed.

Does anyone have a better idea?

Erik Tonkin Speaks

Bikeportland.com now has 2 articles written by Erik Tonkin. The first is on training in general and the second is on training with an otherwise tight schedule.

Light Cross Bike #23: Ross' Alan

The first Alan to hit the lightweight gallery is Ross' Alan X-40 which weighs 17.3 pounds.

Build is: X-40 Frame
IRD full carbon Fork
Thomson stem and post
Full Dura Ace
Frogleg Brakes
Deda Supernatural Bars
Deda tape
San Marco Era Saddle (could use lighter, but this babies gotta go the distance)
Race wheels Ksyrium SL with Grifo Challenge tires 32 mm
Training wheels DA hubs, Open Pro rims and Michelin Jet tires
Racing wt. 17.3 lbs.

Ross said: "Hey, here's my ALAN X-40. This set up is after a day of dirt road riding, hence the computer and bottle cage. Super cool bike that's smooth yet stiff.

Like I said, it could be lighter, but why take the risk of a DNF using super light parts, you see it every race, some guy pushing the envelope and he ends up pushing the bike.

Best cross bike I've ever owned and I've been through a few!"

Looks good Ross, congrats on being the 23rd lightweight cross bike to hit the +1lap gallery. If any of you have a sub 18lb cyclocross bike or a handmade bike (regardless of weight), email it to me with pictures and a build list at plusonelap@gmail.com

Cyclocross races added to the Race listings

Some more races to add to the list of races goings on across the USA.

SoCal Cyclocross and
Montana State Champs Cyclocross

photo courtesy of the SoCal cyclocross homepage

Cross Crusade #1: Alpenrose

My first singlespeed race PacNW race happened yesterday at the Alpenrose Dairy. The word is that there were like almost 800 racers throughout the day. 72 folks were in my SS race, of which I finished 56th, but I had fun and actually caught some dudes in the latter laps. The next goal is to not get caught by the Mens B's whom had a 3 minute lead on us.

My Forerunner took data of the race, which is kinda cool. Some nice heart rate functions and the above graphics can be made as well from software from gpsvisualizer.com.

It was definetly a day for tubulars as the course was super bumpy in a lot of sections. Unfortunately, I didnt get mine glued up in time.

Race report: Well, I had no goal accept to not get last or die. So mission accomplished, its tough to be competitive I think when you seat yourself on the back row. I'll move a little closer to the front next time. The race went off without a hitch, Sacha White, Erik Tonkin and some other notable guys were on their SS, some, including Tonkin on a fixed gear. Basically, after the start, the race was just me on my bike going around the course 5 times over 2 sets of two barriers, one hill runup and one stair runup. My hands are bruised from the bumpy-ness (and Im not running cork tape but plastic Benotto-like tape)

After the race, I talked with some guys that I "know" through the internet, so it was cool to put the name or screenname to the face.

Thats pretty much it, the next Crusade race is 2 weeks from now, but there is another Portland race this coming weekend.

Jonathan Page dislocates shoulder

Just read that Jonathan Page dislocated his shoulder in a warm up lap in Switzerland.

Pic and story via Cyclocrossworld.com

At least its not a broken arm, that would really take him out of the game. Get well soon JP, you're our only hope.

Lots of cyclocross bike pRon

As the season is starting around the country, you can tell the mechanics have been busy, more bikes are hitting my email on a daily basis to be added to the +1lap Galleries. I like looking at all the awesome rigs and based on the site statistics lately, most of you guys do too.

If you havent sent in your bike yet and you own a cyclocross bike that weighs less than 18 pounds, or one that has been handmade, send it to me with some pictures and the build list, and I will add it to the largest Lightweight Cyclocross bike gallery. My email is plusonelap@gmail.com

September was a big month for +1lap

So September 2006 is behind us, and I just wanted to thank all my readers for tuning in as often as you guys do. The numbers are in and Plus One Lap had over 5300 unique visitors and 16,500 page views during the month! Thats very sweet.

I will continue to add original content to Plus One Lap frequently. And maybe October will be even bigger!

btw, in the graphic above, I started the software late in the month of May 2006, thus why the number are so low for that month. June was the first full month using that particular software program.