Hi guys,
We've reached a milestone in the continuing saga of the Italvega Nuovo Sport / Columbus Tretubi frame. This is the 'mystery frame' that I picked up at a thrift shop earlier this year, which Charlie Young and David Feldman helped me identify last March 24th from some pics I posted. Next I posted it on CR for sale, and got no takers. Finally, I posted an inquiry on CR about how to do a clearcoat finish and got a lot of great suggestions - thanks to Phil Brown, Ken Toda, Steve Freides, Sam D., and Anthony Mezzatesta. I'm still trying to decide how to proceed. But in the meantime...
From the beginning, Charlie Young encouraged me to keep the frame and build it up into a fixed gear. I finally got seduced by the fixed gear mystique and did it. With Charlie's and Sheldon Brown's guidance, I settled on a 42/16 drive train. That's 20mph at 98rpm cadence. The bike weighs exactly 20lbs on my local bike shop's scales. Take a look at the pics.
http://members5.clubphoto.com/
Yesterday, I took it out for two shakedown rides - a 29 mile mostly-flat spin with one short but nasty little hill, and a 6 mile loop with some reasonable climbs and a descent where I usually hit at least 40mph on my other bike (I didn't on the fixed gear today, of course). What a blast!
On the first ride I averaged over 15mph, much of it into a headwind in near 100-degree heat. And it felt easier than riding the same route on my other bike. It's a kick! The fixed gear wants to go 17-20mph on the flat, with a top speed today of 23.5mph - I just couldn't spin any faster. I hardly used the brake - I got the hang of resisting with the pedals to slow down. But that caused the left crank and the right bottom bracket cup to work loose miles from home. Luckily, the EX cranks can be removed and installed with only a hex wrench, which I had. And I used needle nose pliers to screw the bottom bracket cup back in. On my second ride, I had to use the brake to keep my speed to about 21mph on the big descent.
This bike rides smooth and quiet - it's really fun! I'm hooked - deep. Sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to this project. Charlie, of course, planted the fixed-gear seed and offered some helpful technical guidance. Sheldon Brown's various write-ups about fixed gear bikes were invaluable, and Sheldon supplied me some of the critical parts - track sprocket, single stack bolts, and bottom bracket. Nelson Miller found me a Campagnolo Record high-flange front hub to replace the one that came with the frame, which was cracked through one of the spoke holes. And Rick Mattioni found me a vintage alloy Avocet seatpost.
You guys are great!
Warm regards to all my CR friends,
Chuck Clark Salt Lake City, UT
P.S. For those of you who want the components run-down, here it is:
(all parts are vintage unless noted 'new') - Italvega Nuovo Sport / Columbus Tretubi frame, 56cm seat tube (center-to-center) - Shimano sealed cartridge bottom bracket (UN52 70-118) - new - Shimano Dura Ace EX cranks with 42t ring - Ofmega pedals with Italian-made toe clips and Alfredo Binda leather straps - Shimano Dura Ace 16t track cog - new - old chain I had laying around - Campagnolo Super Record high-flange hubs - Super Champion 27" allow rims - IRC Triathlon 27X1" 115psi tires, Presta valve tubes - new - DiaCompe alloy center-pull front brake - Mafac alloy brake lever - Pivo alloy stem - old alloy handlebar I had laying around - Cinelli cork tape - new - Sigma Sport BC600 Computer - new - Turbo Triathlon seat - Avocet alloy seatpost