Campagnolo Croix de Fer

ugo.santalucia

My all year round trusty beater... loosely based on a Genesis Croix de Fer, fitted with good ole Campagnolo 9 speed mix of Veloce and Daytona with a Centaur Ultra Torque 53/39 chainset. A Shiftmate guarantees good shifting on a 9 speed Ultegra cassette and 9 speed Dura Ace chain. Campagnolo record headset. Avid BB7 MTB calipers and discs. Chorus steel seat post and Van Nicholas titanium bottle cages.
The wheels are a self build of Open PRO CD laced on Novatec 711/712 disc hubs with Alpina spokes. Brooks leather finish kit (saddle is Team PRO if I remember correctly).
Just under 11 Kg, half of it is the saddle...
It has ticked both Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders boxes

declan1

Very nice!

Yellow Peril

That bar tape is a class act. lovely bike. I have to say all of the Genesis bikes posted on this forum have looked pretty good.

ugo.santalucia

Yellow Peril wrote:

That bar tape is a class act. lovely bike. I have to say all of the Genesis bikes posted on this forum have looked pretty good.

That is Brooks tape, at the time when I bought it 3 years ago it was pretty much the only leather tape you could buy, but now there are several (Gilles Berthoud, Cinelli, San Marco) and they all look softer and nicer than the Brooks... whether they last as long, I don't know.
Leather tape feel great in the hands, but it often needs to be readjusted, I find

napoleond

Looks good, the wheels look brill.

Ben6899

Looks great Ugo.

What bars are those? They look like a nice bend.

And how come you need a shiftmate, is this just because of the Shimano chain on the Campagnolo block?

ugo.santalucia

Ben6899 wrote:

Looks great Ugo.

What bars are those? They look like a nice bend.

And how come you need a shiftmate, is this just because of the Shimano chain on the Campagnolo block?

The cassette is shimano too... at the time there was no campagnolo splined free hub for Novatec 712 hub. I have tried both chains and Shimano works better and is cheaper than Record but you need a shift mate to get the full 9 speed range, using Campagnolo Ergos
The bars are Ritchey, I have had them for ages... probably 6 years... I would actually prefer a deeper bend, like the old Cinelli, but old bars and new stems is a no no... the new stems crack easily bars made for quills

ugo.santalucia

It's getting some rust and there are lots of chips, so I am planning a powder coat next spring... no more white though, I really don't like it... bikes should be red or blue... I have a red, so this could be blue? Was thinking some kind of dark blue

Ben6899

Aah, I see!

And I have the same bars, but they looked different here thanks to the angle.

I would stick with white, for what it's worth.

lostboysaint

Another vote for sticking with white. Very classy.

ugo.santalucia

White is no option... firstly it is very difficult to keep it clean, remember this is a commuter/winter/bad weather bike, not a sunday best... secondly after 3 years I am fed up of white... I didn't like it three years ago, I like it even less now. Unfortunately there was no other option and at the time it was the only available steel frame with disc brakes.

ugo.santalucia

RAL 6005... British Racing Green?

Ben6899

That looks nice.

greasedscotsman

Leave it white. But add a white stem.

ugo.santalucia

greasedscotsman wrote:

Leave it white. But add a white stem.

No more white and certainly no white stems. I think I have done with the upgrades... out of the original bike, I am left with frame and fork... a respray is due and I am keeping the cost down by going powder coat.

If there will be money to spend and there won't be for a while, I will ask Roberts in Croydon to build me something along the lines of the CdF but a wee bit lighter and with a horizontal top tube. I love the concept, but it's massively over-built for my needs

Yellow Peril

ugo.santalucia wrote:

greasedscotsman wrote:

Leave it white. But add a white stem.

No more white and certainly no white stems. I think I have done with the upgrades... out of the original bike, I am left with frame and fork... a respray is due and I am keeping the cost down by going powder coat.

If there will be money to spend and there won't be for a while, I will ask Roberts in Croydon to build me something along the lines of the CdF but a wee bit lighter and with a horizontal top tube. I love the concept, but it's massively over-built for my needs

the blue is a non starter for me purely because I ride a Ribble winter framed bike most days which is royal blue so I see it as a bit work-a -day. The racing green is a possibility but how about a bit of Bianchi celeste?

ugo.santalucia

Yellow Peril wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

greasedscotsman wrote:

Leave it white. But add a white stem.

No more white and certainly no white stems. I think I have done with the upgrades... out of the original bike, I am left with frame and fork... a respray is due and I am keeping the cost down by going powder coat.

If there will be money to spend and there won't be for a while, I will ask Roberts in Croydon to build me something along the lines of the CdF but a wee bit lighter and with a horizontal top tube. I love the concept, but it's massively over-built for my needs

the blue is a non starter for me purely because I ride a Ribble winter framed bike most days which is royal blue so I see it as a bit work-a -day. The racing green is a possibility but how about a bit of Bianchi celeste?

I thought about it and it is a possibility... it was actually my first plan... the closest thing is RAL 6027

ugo.santalucia

Here it is 6027

chip42

Nice bike, how do find the MTB BB7 calipers with road levers?

ugo.santalucia

chip42 wrote:

Nice bike, how do find the MTB BB7 calipers with road levers?

They are more powerful, but the piston has less travel per pull, hence the pads need to be very close to the disc. This is actually not so bad, as it minimises disc warping. It took me a while to find the correct setup, but now they have been on for one year and I find them extremely good.
Not sure how they would perform with shimano STI, as these have even less pull than ERGOs

ETreeson

+1 for racing green. Add a silver stem though, it would look mint.

petemadoc

As expected from Ugo, a "proper" bike. I've always liked the CdF, looks fantastic. shame about the weight though, not that it really matters on a winter hack.

I'd love to see what else you have in the stable...

ugo.santalucia

PeteMadoc wrote:

As expected from Ugo, a "proper" bike. I've always liked the CdF, looks fantastic. shame about the weight though, not that it really matters on a winter hack.

I'd love to see what else you have in the stable...

I used to have this, but I had to sell it, no space in London...


But I still have this...

Yellow Peril

ugo.santalucia wrote:

PeteMadoc wrote:

As expected from Ugo, a "proper" bike. I've always liked the CdF, looks fantastic. shame about the weight though, not that it really matters on a winter hack.

I'd love to see what else you have in the stable...

I used to have this, but I had to sell it, no space in London...


But I still have this...

That Sannino is special! like the idea of celeste for the CdF. A classy brace of bikes you have sir

Ber Nard

No mudguards?

Personally, only Bianchis should be Celeste. Racing green would look very nice and stand out in a subtle way. I'd be tempted to look at a darker shade than RAL 6005, though; it can look bright green in bright sunshine.

Rob

ugo.santalucia

ETreeson wrote:

+1 for racing green. Add a silver stem though, it would look mint.

It came with a silver stem, but the wrong angle... so I bought this for 12 pounds and it is brilliant. I suppose I could splash a lot of money in a piece of history of cycling, a titanium Cinelli Grammo, but it is a waste of money, let's face it...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NOS-Cinelli-T ... 19d765b96b

EKIMIKE

Or, assuming it's aluminium, get the sand-paper and polish out?

On the colour, you could do that blue in a Gios style. A few 'Tricolore' decals and what not. Well, unless that's a complete desecration of a classic!

ugo.santalucia

EKIMIKE wrote:

Or, assuming it's aluminium, get the sand-paper and polish out?

On the colour, you could do that blue in a Gios style. A few 'Tricolore' decals and what not. Well, unless that's a complete desecration of a classic!

I guess that would be...
I know the Gios family... could have a frame made, but now it's not Alfredo who builds them, but his brother, the man with the cigar... I am sure he's just as good, but he's not Alfredo, is he?