Mark:
All points noted and truly appreciated. I never really thought to challenge the strength of the guides as stops. Thanks for pointing to that one.
RE: "open end of the front derailleur housing facing up"
Do you really see this as all that different from a chrome plated bronze armed Record FD with integral cable stop? Aren't you dealing with the same cable up / stop up / vertical bare cable scenario? My general thoughts had always been to remove the clip all together by changing to an integral stop FD. Am I missing something obvious here .. or are you suggesting that generation Campy FD had the same vulnerability?
Thanks / RSVP Tory Werne Woodstock, Georgia USA
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Tory Werne wrote:
> http://www.flickr.com/
> Please, no flaming.
I promise not to flame (and I really like the bike overall), but I worry
a little about the downtube housing guides being used as housing stops
as in this picture: http://tinyurl.com/
Housing stops can see fairly large forces, and that guide ring is pretty flimsy and not attached by much braze. Why not run housing all the way up? Would require finding the older style Campy DT shifter clamp with the housing stops, but those aren't too rare. It would be a shame to bend the braze-on or even snap it off. I don't know how likely that is, but I used to be a framebuilder and that picture makes my Spidey sense tingle.
Another nit that those of us in wet climates are more likely to pick: I notice the lack of fenders, combined with the open end of the front derailleur housing facing up, right where the spray off the rear tire will be concentrated. You might want to cover that somehow if the bike will ever see rain (or puddles for that matter), lest the housing become clogged with road grit. And/or rust, if you're using period-correct non-stainless wire. The vinyl-covered housing was generally not stainless either, and not plastic-lined like modern stuff, so the housing can rust inside too. The rain water collects at the bottom of the curve in the housing and dries only very slowly.
Mark Bulgier
Seattle, WA USA