Monday, March 30, 2009

Dusting off the cobwebs...My Coppi

Howdy!

I recently went through my Bike room and dug everything out, organized it, labeled and boxed up spares and pulled out some of the bikes for a wipe down and shake down. Sitting way back in the corner was my lovely Coppi. It's a bit to big for me but it's so damn pretty I just can't bring myself to part with it. Every once in a while I like to dust it off, air up the tubulars and hit the local MUP just 'cause you gotta ride these things...

I received this bike from a friend of mine just as it sits but with a longer stem. I swapped the 120mm Cinelli for one of the same flavor in 100mm, wrapped the bars and called it good. It still needs a bit of tinkering but since I rarely ride it I just seem to pass it over.

Enough blabbin'! The parts list:
)Galli cranks with SR Royal drilled rings.
)Campagnolo NR bottom bracket.
)Galli front derailleur.
)Campagnolo "drillium" NR shifters and NR rear derailleur.
)Campagnolo hubs laced to Campagnolo Victory Strada tubular rims.
)Campagnolo alloy headset (SR?).
)Campagnolo Record pedals w/Christophe Special toes clips.
)Cinelli bars and stem.
)Modolo Race brakeset
)Gippieme seatpost with a Ti rail Brooks Swift perched on top (I call it the "ass hatchet")
)And a Silca frame pump with a Campy head to polish it off.

I think that's just about all of it. I've got the parts to make it all Campagnolo NR but those cranks are sooooo lovely I see no real reason to remove them. I think they are much nicer then NR. I also recently scored a Galli rear derailleur to match the front but I think I'll stick it in my collection because it's kinda on the rare side and I don't mind the NR derailleur on there now. I need to replace the straps and get the rust off of the clips before I put it away so it will stay out in my view for awhile.

So ya! Here it is!

Coppi

Coppi

Galli

I hope you like it! Cheers!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

More Hi-E goodness

Well I finally scored some Hi-E rims. They are extremely light at about 220 grams. They were advertised as 240 grams but my scale says otherwise...What is interesting to me about these rims is the way they are made. They are made from a single sheet of aluminum that has been run through a machine to fold them over and create the shape. They are then riveted at the seam. The spoke eyelets are pretty chunky and I wonder how they were made and attached to the rim.
I'm debating about actually building them up and riding them because they feel extremely flimsy. If I do build them up I'll have to find some more Hi-E hubs with 36 holes. I've got two of them but they don't match and one is already laced into a rim.
Either way....I'm excited to have them! I leave y'all with some pics.

Cheers!



Oh! I almost forgot about another folding bike I got recently. I'm really excited about it and as I gather up more info it will get a post of it's own....I'd call it the Hi-E of folding bikes because it is very light in comparison to every folder I've had the pleasure to handle. It's made of aluminum and does not seem to have a single weld on it....Enough blabbing. I give you....

The Bickerton