Colnago Build: Cornholio

[Ginger]

First: Don't ask.

Second: this kind of "started" over in this thread:

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Third: lets build!

This frame was a little less assembled than the Fondriest was when I got it. I had to install the headset cups. Normally you'd take a new headset to a shop with your frame and they'd use their $150 headset press to charge you to press in the cups.

Being selectively cheap, I hammered the old headset cups out of the my old road frame and made a homemade press from nuts, washers, and threaded rods. I froze the cups for a few hours and went to town:



The finished product:



Then on went the bearings, split preload washer, spacers, and fork:



Next, put wheels on so it can hold itself up and let your visiting Dad take a blurry picture of you:



I've got the front and rear derailleurs on it now, but I've got to pick up a seat post and some more headset spacers before I can really make it ridable.

Ginger is excited.

[Sijray21]

i have no idea what i'm looking at, but i'm sure it's pretty cool

you'll have to help me later get my first road bike

[Ginger]

I was pulling the Ultegra (6500) crankset off my Sertotta when a problem that I had manged to purge my memory reared it's head: the removal threads were failing.

Crankset's toast. So I've ordered up a modern crank and bottom bracket, which I'm excited to see. The update got me in gear to switch over my heavy stuff to the Fondriest, which happens to make it period correct, and move my light stuff to the lighter aluminum framed Colnago.

Easton EC90 fork, Easton EC90 bars, EC70, new cassette, and Reynolds wheels are on. I also picked up some bottle cages at Performance Bike today when RJ and I were running around playing bicycle mechanic. They have the Performance house brand label on them, which I thought I'd be bothered by but they actually go nicely with the frame's color scheme.

So, blah blah blah, pictures:







More to come over the next week or two... a lot more.

[Mike]

wow, in all my time working at performance, i never actually saw somebody buy one of the cf cages that cost $40/ea. you're also likely going to hate them. bottles don't stay in 'em and if you're too rough they'll break.

you're officially ridiculous and out of control.

[Ginger]

I didn't spend nearly $40, for the record. If they suck, oh well.... but I've never ejected a bottle, like, ever. A lot of people complain about cages I've never had any problems with, so we'll see.

Ridiculous and out of control is in the mail, though.

[Mike]

was they on clearance? their website says they're $40. if they're cheap i might be enticed to pick one up. i too have never lost a bottle on the road, but i've never used a fufu CF one... and i don't ride on the road much

[Ginger]

PM sent.

I'd definitely never use one of thse things off road

[Ginger]

I pulled shifters off to make way for, uh, something else [evil plan]. I also pulled the light seatpost off the Fondriest and stuck it in this thing. I also stopped by the LBS to pick up a seat collar. A buddy of mine had one off a, I don't know, something that didn't need it any more. Yay free! It's Bontrager. I hate Bontrager.... but it's free. And it's gold.



Isn't the carbon paste residue nice looking?

[.paul]

only complaint i had w/ the forte is the tab on the bottom isn't very strong, and maybe it was me.. i had no idea that I slowly bent it after replacing the bottle in the cage.

i got some aluminum ones from performance for 4 bucks each.. granted i could give two shits about weight diff.

[Ginger]

Bartape, saddle, cables on:

[Ginger]

It's been a while since I've updated this. The batteries in my camera died, so I don't have pictures of the last few build steps. They weren't very interesting, anyway.

Since the last update, I got a setback seatpost so that the bike could fit proper, got a new crankset with an external bottom bracket, ordered some test-fit stems and ran through them, and put a few miles of training under my belt on it. First impressions?

Wow.

It's been a while since I've been aboard an aluminum rig and, to be honest, I had my reservations. I put together my last aluminum bike circa 2000/2001; a "compact" special edition Raleigh with about 300mm of seatpost showing and a 140mm stem (it wasn't actually compact, it was just several sizes too small ). I was, surprisingly, actually able to get a half decent fit on it. Unfortunately, I couldn't bear to ride it for longer than two or three hours. It was absurdly stiff and didn't offer much in the way vibration damping. I relpaced it with a lugged steel Serotta Atlanta frame and never looked back. I read a rich-in-tech article while I was assembling this Colnago, by a guy who was also a bit apprehensive about his aluminum build, referencing the same model. The article claimed that the tubing design really did help fend off the notorious aluminum road buzz. I pretty much wrote it off a check book rationalization.

I was wrong.

In the miles I've put it on it so far, I've forgotten the frame was beneath me. It's as stiff as a bicycle needs to be, which translates into snappy accelerations and efficient miles... and it's smooth. The ride may be partially a result of the carbon hoops that are on it now, so I plan to swap out to traditional aluminum training rims and keep testing. But right now, I'm pleased. Pleased enough that I'm entertaining tentaive plans of selling the Fondriest.

I've settled on a 130mm 3T Forgie stem (aside: I never realized how wimpy the Easton EA70 stems were... there was noticably less front end flex as soon as I installed the Forgie) with -10 degree rise. It sits on a 50mm spacer stack, which I'll try and lower the more I come into form. The stem is rather long, and there's a decent amount of seatpost showing to complement it, however I've read that Colnago geometry is designed to complement a fit that hangs the riders' weight over the wheel axles, as opposed to closer in... my anecdotal evidence doesn't seem to contradict this.

Oh, and I haven't ejected any water bottles yet.

[Evan]

'Colagno' is only written on the frame 10 times. I bet they could have fit in a couple more.

its like riding an Abercrombie & Fitch bicycle

[Ginger]

Since I've sold the Fondriest, and I wanted to keep my shifters, I moved them over to this bike. I also got the seat post that I wanted. As it sits now, there really isn't much I'd change about it.





Miche Supertype seat post:





Cranks:





This is probably what I'll ride for the rest of the year, as it is.

[Ginger]

(Just as a side note, I think it's pretty neat that I managed to use major components from all three manufacturers, andboth 9 and 10 speed gruppos... and they all work really well together.)

[Mike]

mikey has a bike project starting tomorrow get excited!

[.RJ]

bike builds for everyone!

what is it?

[Mike]

you'll have to wait until tomorrow when i pick it up... i can't start my own thread without pics.