Lockdown project

[jim haseltine]

Having started riding more when I retired, at the end of the first lockdown my mind started turning over ideas of a bike for winter and short local journeys on which I'd not want to use my Colnago, so I decided on a project with the idea being to see if I could build such a bike to a decent standard using modern equipment but at a low cost. There were some constraints like being able to easily swap wheels between my bikes if required and similarly to be able to ride it without having to chop and change shoes, so it'd have to be be Campag 9-speed and have Campag pedals in addition to being set up so the two bikes felt as near identical as possible. Another rule I tried to impose was that unless unavoidable as much as possible would be 'pre-owned'.
Started with a frame. A Kinesis Racelight RC2 which I picked up locally for £45.
Didn't go a bundle on the decals so decided on a quick rattle-can respray from a can I had in the garage which unfortunately reacted with the existing finish meaning that it had to be stripped back to the base alloy.
Then etch primed - again with paint I already had
followed by a blue fade over white finish with a couple of coats of clear after I had applied some vinyl decals sourced from Ebay. The blue paint I had to buy, the white and clear I already had.
By this time we were rapidly heading for the second lockdown so I set to finding stuff to mount on the frame - remembering how I wanted it to be set up and that anodised kit would be more suitable for the rigours of winter use - especially as I'm lazy so don't really like cleaning a bike after every ride.
How long I spent browsing Ebay, Facebook and Gumtree I can't say but I quickly ended up with a no-name seat pin, a set of Xenon brakes, gear mechs & brifters and a pair of Chorus pedals. Chainset could have been a problem but in the end wasn't when I lucked across a heavily discounted new Veloce 53/39 set with the correct 175mm length - it meant having to shell out for a new set of BB cups though.
On to wheels. No matter what I couldn't find any for sale with a Campag freehub - well, not suitable for the intended use and certainly not within my preferred budget of not a lot so I looked into building my own. Front hub, 32h, black anodised, £10. What caught my eye about it was that it had been stripped out of an unused wheel from a Hase recumbent and bore the first 4 letters of my surname (little things please little minds as my dear mother says). Hot on it's heels I found that Novatec make a classic design rear hub to take a Campag cassette, available in 32h and black anodised so that was another new item. Rims - there seemed to be a shortage of 32h anodised rims at the time so sourced a couple of black Omega rims individually from different places - although supposedly the same model they weren't but they were cheap and what did it matter - after all the hubs were going to be different too. Ah, but - when the rear hub arrived it was immediately obvious that the front hub was actually a Novatec too, just with Hase branding.
I thought spokes would be a problem but I'd been toying with the idea of changing the spoke styling in my other wheels and as luck had it combining the discarded spokes and some from in my garage together with some thread rolling meant I didn't end up having to buy a lot.
Tyres/tubes/rim tapes and chain were hand-me-downs from my other bike which just left me having to buy a cassette (new), stem (used), handlebars & tape (new) and a saddle (new).
The result:


So how does it ride? Surprisingly well. It rapidly highlighted that the over 20 year old brake blocks on my Colnago weren't up to snuff any more - they seemed ok but compared to the much newer pads their stopping performance was woeful so they got changed.
Set up for winter. I've been able to fit a set of narrow guards albeit with some cutting of them and a bit of modification to brackets as clearances are tight - especially under the fork crown. The Campag pedals have been swapped out for a set of HTI spds so I can wear boots during the cold weather, they'll be changed back when it's warmed enough for me to take riding with overboots again. The HTI/boot combination has turned out to be suitable for utility rides too.
What was wrong?
The handlebar tape - awful stuff, far too thin and reflected it's cost, now discarded in favour of far more comfortable Cinelli cork tape.
The saddle. A cheap (and I mean really cheap) plastic item which seemed to be a bargain considering it's price, style and comfort. Buy cheap buy twice - nearing the end of my second ride there was a hell of a crack from it and something rattled through the spokes of the rear wheel. Dismounted when I got home and the saddle fell off the frame.
Replaced by a sturdier item - 3 times the price but still not over expensive.

 

[pigman]

Your respray colour scheme looks a million times better than the original white

 

[Peachy!]

Again another cracking build finds a home, I think this sub-forum might have some legs after all!

 

[pigman]

Again another cracking build finds a home, I think this sub-forum might have some legs after all!

Be some feather spitting if this sub forum ends up dominating

 

[jim haseltine]

As mentioned, the frame is a Kinesis Racelight RC2. The only original decals remaining are Kinesis branding on the fork blades and RC2 badging on the seat stays - still there because I didn't want to risk damaging the composites with whatever random chemicals were in the paint I was using.
When I was searching for handle bars I came across a pair of Promax 3038 bars - never heard of the make and at 13 quid I was a bit wary considering as they're a safety critical part but they were alloy, seemed fairly sturdy and were much the same shape and dimensions as the bars that I'd recently fitted to my Colango in an attempt to combat aches in my shoulders. Even better to my childish mind they were badged 'RC' using a very similar font to that of the RC2.
Finally, a slightly out of focus shot of the bike in its current winter set-up.

 

[Jonny69]

New paint job looks great!

 

[Nabeaquam]

I built a spring salt/sand bike to ride when the breakup starts and there are patches of clear pavement and the rest is mush salt slush. I used $100 big box single speed frame and put 1.75 x 29 cheap tires on the rims. A single speed freewheel and junk from a cheap junk 1970s road bike are on it and other hunk parts. The idea is that after 3 years this thing will be too frozen up to ride so it will be tossed with very few funds lost. About 6 weeks of riding each year but the salt on the streets is brutal on bikes. It’s a who cares bicycle. Yours is almost too nice for the summer, such a beaut. The chain on my spring bicycles end out being a solid piece, but a soaking in penetrant and ride grind until it fits makes it good for another spring. I had one of these bikes rust through and break where the down tube meets the bottom bracket. Instant suspension, but the pedals kept hitting the ground. I now throw them away before they get that bad.

 

[Nob]

As mentioned, the frame is a Kinesis Racelight RC2. The only original decals remaining are Kinesis branding on the fork blades and RC2 badging on the seat stays - still there because I didn't want to risk damaging the composites with whatever random chemicals were in the paint I was using.
When I was searching for handle bars I came across a pair of Promax 3038 bars - never heard of the make and at 13 quid I was a bit wary considering as they're a safety critical part but they were alloy, seemed fairly sturdy and were much the same shape and dimensions as the bars that I'd recently fitted to my Colango in an attempt to combat aches in my shoulders. Even better to my childish mind they were badged 'RC' using a very similar font to that of the RC2.
Finally, a slightly out of focus shot of the bike in its current winter set-up.
View attachment 610429

Very nice build during the lockdown