Dem's da brakes Ritchey Project part VI / Bike blitz 2017

Today was the day I was going to cable up the brakes on the Ritchey and hopefully even get to wrapping the bars to finish the rebuild and move on to trying to sell the bike.  Campy likes to do things differently and the brake cables are no exception, you need to use a different head than Shimano brakes but fortunately I had some cables with both ends I could use.  I also had enough white brake housing to use so I was off to a good start.

I  started with the rear brake and wanted to set up the brakes in the non-aero routing, through the top of the lever body but I ran into an issue when I started testing it.

You can see the channel on the side of the lever, that is where the barrel that the cable runs through moves back and forth on the lever.  When I tested the brake however it did not work smoothly, the brake lever did not fully retract and I couldn't get the rear brake to work right.

I thought perhaps the brake hood was interfering with the movement of the lever.

To make matters worse in testing that theory I managed to tear the hood...drat!

I know better than to use a sharp pointy tool to manipulate the brake hood but stupidly, and impatiently, I used it anyway and not surprisingly it caused the tear in the hood making it useless.

I recalled from taking the bike apart that these levers can be run either non-areo or areo and I figured if I ran them in aero mode the barrel that the cable runs through would be pulled all the back in its channel and perhaps solve the issue of the lever failing to retract all the way.

I wasn't ready to commit to running the brake cables in the non-aero mode so I mocked up the cable rather than cutting it to size.  The brake works better this way but of course I am down a brake hood.

Another option is to use a pair of older Campy levers I have that are drilled and run in non-areo mode only, they also would be a better fit for the Rustine's replacement hoods than the C- Record era levers.

The old levers have their own issues, the barrel that the cable runs through isn't turning and seems frozen in place.  I shot it with WD-40 and we'll see if that frees them up.

And now I need to decide do I/can I use the old school levers and order another set of Rustine's hoods or go with C-Record levers that are on the bike in aero mode and either go with the not quite right but also not crazy expensive Rustine hoods or order something that might fit better -like the ones above.  I found a website that appears to pinpoint the levers on the Ritchey at 1992-93, it also indicates that there were 4 generations of levers and hoods within the C-Record era from 1982-92...four - geez!

So close..

And still a ways to go.

Bike Blitz 2017!

I am house sitting this week and have access to the garage space above.  I figured I could get allot of bike work done during the 9 days I am house and pet sitting.  I had hoped to have everything set up over the weekend but I also wanted to finish the Ritchey project and we know how that is gong.

While looking up some info on my Park bike stand (PCS-9) I rediscovered it could collapse into a very small package - see above wrapped up with a toe-strap.  Much easier to transport that way.

A start with a drop cloth the tool box with most of the bike tools and the still collapsed bike stand.

And ready for business.

First customer, while I wait on parts for the Ritchey, is the Nishiki Cascade.  My plan is to strip it down so I can sell a few parts and make it easier to address the stuck seat-post issue.  If the seat-post defeats me no worries as I will have all the parts off and ready to be used or sold. Hoping to get alot done this week.

Ride. Smile. Repeat.