lacing

Too many thing at once, but when I ordered the CDX belt I found the right spokes and nipples to lace the carbon wheels.
It is the first time that I lace, and I'm a bit scared to do any injuries to the high profile rims, but I've followed one of the several tutorial on the web and I'm satisfied about the result. I've underrated the numbers of the beers, but I'm pretty happy also to the roundness of the wheels.
Initially I would lace the rear in 3rd and the front one radial, but I hadn't found the right lenght for the front wheel, so I decided to keep the 3rd even to the front. I used sapim cx ray with 14mm's aluminium nipples, the polyax, all in black. I've decided to use the Tufo tape with Tufo tubular, that is cleaner than the glue, and quite fast to apply. 
The next step for the belted bike is to prepare the frame: I like the semi integrated seatpost, so I lathed a spacer, with OD of 31,8 and ID of 27,2mm to accomodate a short seatpost with a full carbon saddle. Now I want to grind the original welds, eliminate the reinforcement on the down tube (it's not connected to the head tube, so I hope it isn't a structural part...) and do something to the rear bridge, that's really ugly!  let's do it!

 

a pole bike

I've found an old steel frame, lugged, of a city bike. It has a "Falk" tubes but the geometry is really bad, the opposite of narrow tolerances!  Anyway I allready had some parts to convert it as a bike pole: a bike that you don't mind if you scratch  when it's tied to a pole in daily driving. 
Despite everything the frame has something fascinating to me, so I decided to make a custom wood knobs. It wasn't so easy because I'm not able to lathe the wood, and I started from a piece of walnut of my garden. 
A good coating will protect from sweat and sun!
But first of all I've checked the chain alignment both with laser and by measuring the distance of crown and cog to the center of the frame. I used a rear wheel with a Novatec hub. The alignment was good with the original crank, so I decided to keep the "olympia" marked crank. Then I cut and weld the rear dropouts in the reverse side.
I had a new wheelset for another project that  I've used, even if I don't like so much for that kind of frame...

shit happens!

the first check

It's not a track style dropouts that change the geometry of a frame...!

old memories

when I was young I raced in road bike, from 14 to 19 years old.
My first bike was an Edoardo Bianchi: a traditional steel frame with lugs, with the original "celeste Bianchi". It was a special series, the X4, with Columbus tubes and Campy Record group.
It was and old bike, and all my competitors used the shift levers, but I won the first race, so it was special for me! Unluckily I crashed the frame in a winter training, so it went to the junkyard.

The first year of "allievo" category I had a brand new Amelio Bianchi with a Shimano 600 group, an incredible improvement for me!

Second year of Allievo: new team, new bike. This time an aluminium frame, made for a local dealer with his own label, with Easton aero tubes and Ultegra group. I added an AdvancedPro carbon fork and a Look carbon seatpost. That was a good bike, not so heavy, rigid and reactive. I won a lot with her, and at the end of the season I bought, as a mule bike. This is the frame of the "zero", the fixed that I use almost everyday! 

The year after I changed category and team, so I had a new bike. Aluminium frame for the yellow Detto Pietro. Oria tubes, Ultegra group and Ambrosio wheels because it was the technical sponsor.

The second year of Juniores I had a very light aluminium frame, with Easton tubes marked as "Milani". Maybe it was too much light, and I broke two frame in a season, in the same area (the rear stay, near a small bridge close to the bottom bracket)

new frame, same addiction

I bought a far east frame for a few money, with his own carbon fork.
It comes with a soft gold anodizing and with many rough welds.
anyway it seems strong, with a quite tight geometry and not so heavy.
I'm cooperating with a guy, Christian, that builds amazing motorcycles: Plan B Motorcycle, and he use a chemical way to engrave aluminium. The aspect is really particular and we think to use that method even for my new frame, but before I have to prepare for the belt!
Yes, I'm yet addicted to the belt drive, so, after lathing a little the seat of the lower bush, I cut the oblique tube of the rear stay and I put an aluminium hanger with two M5 screws.

Now it's time to weld, then I would like to grind off a little bit the "oriental" welds and engrave.
I'm looking also for spokes, but with high flanges hubs and 88mm's deep rim I need shorts spokes.

The fork had the anti-slippery tips, no good for a fixed bike!

inglourious bastard

I'm looking for a magnesium wheel, maybe broken or to throw away (otherwise it costs much more than a used dogma...!) to redo the left dropout, and now the frame is in my office as a "post war sculpture"...

by the way I have noticed that Continental is making a good belt drive for bicycle!

 they haven't yet enough cogs and pinions, not yet many lenghts for the belt, but this means that there isn't only the Gates CDC System.

who filled with glue the crack? 

eeh, maybe a not properly honest reseller... 

the closeup of the welded dropout. while I removed the screw I heard a noise like of broken biscuits...

Magnesium couldn't be welded to aluminium, a good lesson to me!

say hello to the Hyper

I'm preparing the Hyper for another owner, maybe someone who will love and use more than me...

I really don't like so much the cyclistic specs of the Hypermotard, it's too high, too soft in the front-end (due to the huge Marzocchi RAC 50, a very bad fork compared to the cheap showa 41 or 43mm... ) but with a very good braking system and, thanks to the 2 valves-air cooled engine, it's really funny.
I'm also working on a cafè racer, based on a ducati 999. I went in a circuit with the 999, and I found it intuitive, comfortable and with a good dose of hp.