I have finally resumed working on the Ritchey Road bike and got it waxed so I could move on with the rebuild.
I got the shifters back on although if you look closely you will see I didn't get the right one mounted properly which contributed to some front derailleur set up issues, more on that later.
I also worked on the brakes -one thing about this era of Campy brakes is they didn't use a great finish on the mounting bolt and cable pinch bolt, this shot if after I used the dremel brass wire brush.
I got the front brake mounted.
I took some sand paper to the pads for a better braking surface.
I also noticed on the alloy surface of the brake levers there was black "veining" that mothers alloy polish didn't have any effect on.
And with the seat-post and saddle and the bars and stem back on its starting to look like a bike again. Both stem and seat post got a healthy coating of grease of course.
As you may recall from an early post on the Ritchey I had an issue getting the shift cable out of the rear derailleur shifter because someone had used a Shimano cable instead of the campy cable with a slightly smaller head. I didn't have any campy cables but I have lots of Shimano ones, so with the help of my dremel with a sander head I got to work.
And kept testing the fit until the head could go in and out smoothly.
And just to be extra sure I gave the cable hole a shot of grease before threading the cable.
I had thought I might breeze through to the end with the Ritchey but both derailleurs fought me today. I am not sure if the RD never had an adjusting bolt or if it broke off but as I was threading cable I noticed the lack of one. The derailleur had shifted fine in index mode before I replaced the cables so I plowed ahead.
I had a heck of a time getting the cable threaded at the end until I realized it need to be above as in the shot above rather than threaded to the through the rusty nut and washer. Once I got that sorted it went through all the gears in index mode.
Then the FD got into the act. I threaded it and tightened it down but every time I shifted it it would slip and come loose. I also noticed that the FD was "sticky" it would shift from inner ring to outer but when I shifted back it would stay in the outer ring. I doused the spring in WD-40. I didn't quite get to the point of wanting to grab a hammer but it was close.
Things were kind of working for the drive train but I decided it was time to walk away so I could come back later with a clear head.
After fighting with derailleurs it was time for some farmers market fresh raspberries and a rose'.
I sat out on the porch swing and was even joined by my daughters cat Midnight. I plan on going back for the brakes and the bar tape tomorrow.
Today there was a sale at my favorite bike Co-op Bike Works. I went to a similar sale in 2015, where I got the Raleigh Rapide mixte, which is still in the queue. I don't need another project but I thought I would go look in case there was something really special.
I spotted a scruffy Centurion Dave Scott Ironman which intrigued me....
..until I spotted the twin rust spots that are usually indicative of a front end collision. It had no price on it and bikes were going for $35/$50/$75, I might have pointed out the frame issues to lower the price in order to buy the bike to harvest the full Shimano 600 group, but my heart wasn't in it.
I was intrigued by the Bridgestone XO-3 frame, they were only $15, but I kept on walking.
I did stop for this Specilized Sirrus, I picked it up and looked closely at it. I have long thought an Allez or Sirrus would be nice to have but I think this frame was a bit small and it was made in Taiwan rather than Japan so I put it back.
In the end not even a cool Raleigh Sports could tempt me. I walked away empty handed, back to my large queue of projects. I hope to write more about them soon if I can get the Ritchey finished.
Ride.Smile.Repeat.
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