Having realized I had the bulk of a 9 speed Campagnolo Mirage groupset, AND an old set of Mavic Cosmic Elite wheels, neither of which were doing me any good sitting in the shed, I began searching for a new project build.
Using “columbus steel” as my search term on a popular worldwide auction site, this frame (and fork, handlebars, stem, and seatpost) came up. The seller had misspelled “Fondriest” as “Fondreist”, but it may have been the really poor photos that discouraged anyone from bettering my really low bid. In any case, I won.
It arrived badly packaged, with the stem blown through at one end, and the rear dropout & derailleur hanger poking out the other. The rear triangle had been squished, as had the dropout. Both were easy fixes (the nice thing about an old steel frame), but this is really not acceptable. If you ship a bike, take a little care to not do a shitty job.
There was another surprise: the threaded fork had a threadless stem adapter and a modern handlebar, both of which had to go – but not without a fight. The stem adapter did not want to come out; fortunately I was able to tap it out with a long screwdriver from below. When I tried to insert the 3TTT Evol 2002 stem I had as a replacement, yet another surprise surfaced: the fork ID is 22.0mm, not the “standard” 22.2mm. No problem, a bit of sanding and all fits, well-greased, headset adjusted, and ready to go.
The final “issue”: the Mavic Cosmic Elites were sitting idle because they’ve got a Shimano cassette. If I set the Campagnolo rear derailleur aligned in with the center gear of the cassette, and the limits are set correctly (which fixes the outer two gears), then the cumulative error of the Campagnolo shifter cable pull and incorrect cassette spacing – for the three gears either side of the middle gear, which was lined up perfectly – shouldn’t be so bad that it won’t work well.
Alternatively, I could just use these Mavics on my “old heavy” Bianchi Sprint 76, which has friction shifters that don’t care about cassette spacing; and then take the Campagnolo Khamsin wheels – with the correct Campagnolo 9 speed cassette – and use them here with the Campagnolo shifters.
All issues out of the way, new bottom bracket installed (Italian, of course), new cables, housings, handlebars, saddle, seatpost binder bolt, repainted seatpost, fresh bar tape, new chainrings, chain, cassette… and we have a lovely steel frame ready to go.
UPDATE 12 AUG 2019: the 25.4mm seatpost that came with this frame was *not* the correct size! After having it slip after getting a new binder bolt and cleaning and greasing and re-tightening, then making a 0.2mm shim (from a Coke can) to have it slip again, then making *another* 0.2mm shim and then it works… 25.4mm + 0.2mm + 0.2mm = 25.8mm, and I went out and got another seatpost. Now it tightens correctly and does not slip.
Also, those old Mavics weren’t being used for a reason, I ran them on “old heavy” and WOW the noises that came out of them! And apparently you need some crazy proprietary tools to replace the bearings on them, so I think they’re destined for the skip.
Everything “in order” again, and this is one smooth ride. I just might hold onto this one for a while.
Full bike spec:
- frame and fork: Columbus Gara
- headset: Campagnolo
- stem: 3TTT Evol 2002, 110mm
- handlebars (new): aluminum alloy, 42cm
- bar tape (new): Deda Elementi carbon effect, black
- cables and housing (new): Campagnolo Ultra-Shift
- bottom bracket (new): Campagnolo Centaur, Italian, 111mm
- crankset: Campagnolo Daytona (same as Centaur)
- ergo shifters and brake levers: Campagnolo Mirage, 9 speed
- brake calipers: Campagnolo Mirage
- front derailleur: Shimano (unknown)
- rear derailleur: Campagnolo Mirage
- chain (new): KMC X9
- cassette (new): Campagnolo Veloce 13-28t
- chainrings (new): Campagnolo Centaur 53-39t, 135BCD
- wheelset: Campagnolo Khamsin
- tyres: Mavic Yksion 23mm
- saddle (new): Selle San Marco Concor Open
- pedals: Shimano 105 SL