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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…

I picked up the frame yesterday from the shop.  The grey crankset had been installed and the shop guys also cut down the seat post (the bike building process always considers weight, so you lose it where you can).

Today’s work involved installing the stem and spacers. The stem connects the handlebars to the rest of the bike by clamping onto the steerer tube. In this particular case, the stem was from another bike and was an 1/8th inch wider than the steerer, so I had to cut a shim to fit and install that beneath the stem. A 5mm Allen wrench is one of the most frequently picked-up tools in this job and was used to install the stem and handlebars. 

This bike is going to be used for time-trialing, so I’ll be installing aero bars onto the handlebars…that’s a step for another day, however! 

Right now, the frame is at the shop. I don’t own the tools to face a bottom bracket shell and install the bottom bracket (bearings) and crankset (the arms that hold the pedals). Once I have it back, we’ll move on to the installation of the handlebars, seat, shifters, brakes, etc. Stay tuned…

Welcome to the “build-a-bike” blog. I’m a web content editor for Messiah College and I’ve been requested to chronicle the building up of a road racing bike. The frame pictured below is assembled in Italy, and then shipped to the U.S. to be painted and finished. It’s about 4 pounds of Columbus Nivachrome steel and the fork (to hold the front wheel) is made from carbon fiber (very light and just a bit flexible). To the best of my limited Italian, the name ”Corsa Strada” translates to “road racer”. 

Carbon fiber frame are all the rage these days, and steel is considered by some to be a bit of a dinosaur. This project is partially an experiment to see if steel can still hold its own against the advance of technology and marketing hype. More on that as we proceed.