Getting back into cycling

[GeorgeK]

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

Here is the 27" wheel from my sister's bike. You can see its a little bigger diameter.

FWIW, brake pad turned 180° /and maybe left to right. Not important on one piece pads, VERY important with holders/slide in pads.

[otto_kretschmer]

I'm looking for a fork now. There are lots of forks on ebay but I havn't found one that is a perfect fit yet.

I'm tempted to buy one with a long enough steering tube but its for a 700c rim. I have a mill and it would be easy to machine away the 1/8" of material at the bottom of the crown to allow a 27" wheel to clear.

I washed my Cannondale last night. I don't remember the last time I cleaned it. The caked on grime on the hubs needed extra attention to get off. A tooth brush and simple green was the trick. I took apart the headset and repacked the grease. The bearings and races looked perfect. The Cannondale came with Shimano 105. The old grease was chunky but still lubricated. This was the first time I had the headset apart. Shimano makes good stuff.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

I'm looking for a fork now. There are lots of forks on ebay but I havn't found one that is a perfect fit yet.

I'm tempted to buy one with a long enough steering tube but its for a 700c rim. I have a mill and it would be easy to machine away the 1/8" of material at the bottom of the crown to allow a 27" wheel to clear.

I washed my Cannondale last night. I don't remember the last time I cleaned it. The caked on grime on the hubs needed extra attention to get off. A tooth brush and simple green was the trick. I took apart the headset and repacked the grease. The bearings and races looked perfect. The Cannondale came with Shimano 105. The old grease was chunky but still lubricated. This was the first time I had the headset apart. Shimano makes good stuff.

Issues with milling the dropout will limit yourself to smaller tires, like a 23 unless you know there's lots of room there. May I ask why are you so caught up on 27" wheels? That's old tech and has been obsolete for a long, long time. 700c wheels opens up to lots of options in terms of tires and wheels.

[otto_kretschmer]

Originally Posted by look 171

Issues with milling the dropout will limit yourself to smaller tires, like a 23 unless you know there's lots of room there. May I ask why are you so caught up on 27" wheels? That's old tech and has been obsolete for a long, long time. 700c wheels opens up to lots of options in terms of tires and wheels.

I changed my mind this afternoon and ordered a set of mavic open elite rims. I'll use the drop bolt like you suggested. There is a bigger selection of tires and I can upgrade to an aero rim in the future if I want. I'll build the rims on the Campy hubs I have. Now I don't have to fool with the fork I ordered. It was made to fit a 700c wheel. All I have to do is paint it. I may have to trim the steering tube a little bit. I can do that on the mill.

[look 171]

Save yourself a lot of headache so you can concentrate on the training for the 100 mile ride. Aerorims are amazingly fast but that's the drawback from lack of speed. They are a deficit due to weight only because there's a bit more mass but if you go ultra light carbon wheels, weight is cut down a bit. If your plan is to go out and do this 100 mile ride within reasonable amount of time, then carbon deep dish wheel maybe a consideration if not, those Mavic rims laced to the Campy hubs will more then enough to enjoy that ride. They are light and their box shape is durable.

[otto_kretschmer]

So I started cleaning the Cannondale yesterday. I have to wait another week for the new stem to arrive. Yesterday I repacked the headset and today I did the same for the Cannondale's front wheel. One of the cones had some pitting so those wheels should be retired. I put the axel back in with the knowledge that there is an issue with that front wheel.

I decided to repack the Campy hubs on those BMX wheels I have. Upon inspection I saw some pitting and roughness on the small end of the cone. The races in the hub looked OK. I cleaned up the old grease and repacked with fresh and placed 10 balls in one side and put the cone in without the axel to see how it rotated and it felt wrong. I suspect someone a long time ago replaced the balls with a larger diameter. I put the axel together and it felt terrible, like there is sand in the bearings.

dum dee dumm....another mystery. I'm glad I caught this now before I laced up the new rims that are coming in next week.

I have two other front wheels to compare ball bearings with. I have the Shimano 105 on my Cannondale and I have the Campagnolo Record on my sister's race bike. I'll make a prediction right now that the balls on the BMX wheels are .020 larger than what they should be.

[MFAFF]

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

So I started cleaning the Cannondale yesterday. I have to wait another week for the new stem to arrive. Yesterday I repacked the headset and today I did the same for the Cannondale's front wheel. One of the cones had some pitting so those wheels should be retired. I put the axel back in with the knowledge that there is an issue with that front wheel.

I decided to repack the Campy hubs on those BMX wheels I have. Upon inspection I saw some pitting and roughness on the small end of the cone. The races in the hub looked OK. I cleaned up the old grease and repacked with fresh and placed 10 balls in one side and put the cone in without the axel to see how it rotated and it felt wrong. I suspect someone a long time ago replaced the balls with a larger diameter. I put the axel together and it felt terrible, like there is sand in the bearings.

dum dee dumm....another mystery. I'm glad I caught this now before I laced up the new rims that are coming in next week.

I have two other front wheels to compare ball bearings with. I have the Shimano 105 on my Cannondale and I have the Campagnolo Record on my sister's race bike. I'll make a prediction right now that the balls on the BMX wheels are .020 larger than what they should be.

IIRC The older hubs Campy used different size bearings front and rear... not sure what model you have so be worth checking. Did they get mixed up at some point?

The Mavic rims come in both traditional and modern UST (tubeless ready) models. Both look the part, the profile of the UST one supports tubeless if desired the traditional doesn't.

[otto_kretschmer]

Originally Posted by MFAFF

IIRC The older hubs Campy used different size bearings front and rear... not sure what model you have so be worth checking. Did they get mixed up at some point?

The Mavic rims come in both traditional and modern UST (tubeless ready) models. Both look the part, the profile of the UST one supports tubeless if desired the traditional doesn't.

That may be the problem. The rear BMX wheel feels fine. I didn't get to repacking it. There are some decals on the wheels "BARTS" like maybe Barts Bicycle Shop, or maybe the kid who raced back in the 80s was named Bart.

I can see someone using the same bearings front and rear and not noticing the different bearing size between front and rear.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

So I started cleaning the Cannondale yesterday. I have to wait another week for the new stem to arrive. Yesterday I repacked the headset and today I did the same for the Cannondale's front wheel. One of the cones had some pitting so those wheels should be retired. I put the axel back in with the knowledge that there is an issue with that front wheel.

I decided to repack the Campy hubs on those BMX wheels I have. Upon inspection I saw some pitting and roughness on the small end of the cone. The races in the hub looked OK. I cleaned up the old grease and repacked with fresh and placed 10 balls in one side and put the cone in without the axel to see how it rotated and it felt wrong. I suspect someone a long time ago replaced the balls with a larger diameter. I put the axel together and it felt terrible, like there is sand in the bearings.

dum dee dumm....another mystery. I'm glad I caught this now before I laced up the new rims that are coming in next week.

I have two other front wheels to compare ball bearings with. I have the Shimano 105 on my Cannondale and I have the Campagnolo Record on my sister's race bike. I'll make a prediction right now that the balls on the BMX wheels are .020 larger than what they should be.

sourcing the correct size and quality bearings will difficult locally. Quality is the key to those bearings for that hub. The typical bearings sold in the local bike shops are not polished well at all.

If you can use those Campy hubs, you are golden. They are good hubs. Oil holes in the center of the hub? If not, any modern Shimano (Ultegra) hubs will close to being as good as those old Campys, that's only IMO. It takes a lot to kill them. I have tried to kill off a set of Dura-Ace wheels I built for over 7-8 years. Over hauled the a couple times. Gone through some broken spokes and a set of rims over those years. I think I still have them. Bought factory build wheels after that and never looked back. I bought Mavic wheels usually.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

That may be the problem. The rear BMX wheel feels fine. I didn't get to repacking it. There are some decals on the wheels "BARTS" like maybe Barts Bicycle Shop, or maybe the kid who raced back in the 80s was named Bart.

I can see someone using the same bearings front and rear and not noticing the different bearing size between front and rear.

Most times, the guys working in bike shops don't care to get the correct size bearings sadly. If they look close enough, it goes right in during a hub rebuilt.

[look 171]

32 or 36 hold hubs? What are your plans? 3 cross, 4 cross for durability or you will go fancy and go 3 cross on drive side and 2 cross on none drive side? Front?

[sc_rufctr]

(From Darrell Llewellyn McCulloch... Llewellyn Custom Bicycles Home)

[MFAFF]

Originally Posted by look 171

sourcing the correct size and quality bearings will difficult locally. Quality is the key to those bearings for that hub. The typical bearings sold in the local bike shops are not polished well at all.

If you can use those Campy hubs, you are golden. They are good hubs. Oil holes in the center of the hub? If not, any modern Shimano (Ultegra) hubs will close to being as good as those old Campys, that's only IMO. It takes a lot to kill them. I have tried to kill off a set of Dura-Ace wheels I built for over 7-8 years. Over hauled the a couple times. Gone through some broken spokes and a set of rims over those years. I think I still have them. Bought factory build wheels after that and never looked back. I bought Mavic wheels usually.

These guys would be my go-to for new steel bearings…
https://wheelsmfg.com/ball-532-25.html

Have a BB from them which is very good… easy to service and durable. Better than the equivalent Shimano one: albeit more expensive.

They do answer tech questions so perhaps worth a chat.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

(From Darrell Llewellyn McCulloch... Llewellyn Custom Bicycles Home)

Trackie trick.

[otto_kretschmer]

Originally Posted by look 171

32 or 36 hold hubs? What are your plans? 3 cross, 4 cross for durability or you will go fancy and go 3 cross on drive side and 2 cross on none drive side? Front?

plan on going three cross on all

I want the wheels to be strong and it should simplify what spokes I need

36 holes (....I better count the holes on the campy hub, I ordered 36 on the rims)

[otto_kretschmer]

I've used McMaster-Carr at work a lot

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/bearings/hard-wear-resistant-52100-alloy-steel-balls-7/

Campagnolo and Shimano don't manufacture the balls, they source them from another vendor.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

plan on going three cross on all

I want the wheels to be strong and it should simplify what spokes I need

36 holes (....I better count the holes on the campy hub, I ordered 36 on the rims)

I can't wait to see this bike build.

3x is the typical bullet proof spoke wheel. Light but strong. It will be fun

[otto_kretschmer]

I tried 5/32 balls---too small. 3/16 is too big. I'm going to order 11/64 and 4.5 mm from McMaster Carr and see if one of those sizes works.

I'm really tempted to have Gilmour do the paint, maybe in a champaign white or pearl white. Just give him the frame and fork and write a check. I think the wheels I ordered are anodized black so that would give a good contrast.

[otto_kretschmer]

[otto_kretschmer]

March is almost done and I still don't have a bike to even train on. The new stem should be here next week so at least I can start riding the Cannondale.