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Cycling is truly an international sport. Many of the terms in racing are of French derivation (peleton, derailleur). The Italians are widely considered to be the builders of some of the finest stage racing bikes and gruppos in the world. And, while cycling fanatics can be found in nearly any country, the Belgians are considered to be some of the most crazed cycling fans anywhere (I do feel that the Basque fans can give them a run for their euros, however).

Today, we’ll put on the brakes (literally and figuratively). I’ve previously mounted the shifter/brake levers on the handlebars (they just bolt on), and the brake calipers install in much the same way with a single bolt that runs through the frame and fork.

Most of the parts that I’ve chosen to provide stop and go for the bike (which are known collectively as a gruppo) are Campagnolo (often referred to as “Campy”, and not to be confused with biased descriptions of Monty Python movies…) I could go on at great length about the storied history and passion associated with the Italian Campagnolo brand, but a recent 75-year anniversary retrospective actually does this much better than I could.

There are various levels of quality and function for bike parts from all manufacturers, and Campy is similar. These brakes are Mirage, which is a low-end line (I’m a light-weight rider, so I’m not as concerned with the sheer power of the “stoppers”. The pads are a single piece and are not adjustable for toe; they can, however, be moved up and down and turned to align them with the braking surface of the wheel (never apply brakes to a tire!)  The cables run through casings and are bolted to the brake calipers. Measure and cut the casings carefully, as there will soon be two more casings at the front of the bike for the shifters, and it can get a bit crowded up there! There are small nuts just above the cable attachments for fine-tuning the distance of the pads from the wheels. And, with that, we are at a good “stopping place” (pun intended) for now…