Before my dad bought his C-Record Merckx in the late 80's, the family stable consisted of mostly Shimano bits, with a light smattering of Suntour. All these components were things of beauty – after all, there is something of fundemental beauty in any bike part – but none of these trascended time. In a sense, I could imagine how each piece was conceived, and how it might be made.
During the procurement of that Merckx, we made several visits to De Grimpeur, the shop where he bought it. First to admire the frame after it had been picked up by the shop owner over dinner with Merckx himself; again after the gruppo arrived, and finally as the little bits such as the one-off Campagnolo saddle found it's way to the shop and the bike was built. I was wild with anticipation over the fact that this bike was going to have Campagnolo parts; the closest I'd been to a Campy component was reaching out to touch the television screen as Fignon attacked LeMond on Alpe d'Huez.
Seeing the bike built for the first time, the delta brakes changed the way I thought about components. They seemed otherworldly and I couldn't take my eyes off them. They looked as though they might have been crafted in the fires of Mount Velomis itself. But the gruppo's beauty ran way beyond just the brakes; each and every part had a quality that was missing from anything else I'd ever seen. Indeed, the shape and curve of each component seemed to be defined as much by its purpose as by its beauty, and that beauty was punctuated by the luster of the finish given to each component.
It's this finish, more than anything else, that sets Campagnolo appart from other component manufacturers. In fact, it's this finish that makes me feel a little bit dirty labeling Campagnolo as a “manufacturer.” It's this finish that causes me to bemoan the current trend of producing black components.
The delta brakes were prominent, but there was a more subtle component on the Merckx that I didn't discover until later: the rear hub. This was a thing of unequalled beauty; the way it flared out to the drive side in a luxurious curve of elemental sexiness is a sight to behold. Sunlight twinkled off the hub in that devine way which it can only do off a highly polished, perfectly curved, spinning surface. That twinkle occupied countless hours of my imagination as my dad and I trained together day after day.
As I set about building up my TSX, my attention turned to a set of wheels to match the rest of the bike. Box rims and a 3-cross laced spoke pattern obviously, but the hubs were a question. I have been spoiled by the ease of sealed cartridge bearings and crave their convenience, but modern hubs lack the beauty of the Old Glory Days; even the current Record hubs look to be made on a lathe rather than by magic, which is a bit sad. Phil Wood, American classic, Royce – they all have amazing hubs – in particular Royce – but they don't capture the imagination the way the old silver Record hubs do.
The truth was unavoidable: I needed a set of old 9/10 speed silver Record hubs. Since the new ones are black and too angular, the search was on. eBay has a healthy flow of these hubs, and although it took some discovery to learn to recognize the 9/10 speed hubs versus the older 8 speed hubs, my watch list was soon brimming with hub candidates. I let several auctions run out as I tried to get a feeling for the prices the hubs were fetching. I bid on a few and lost out. Then I found a mislabeled set built up with Mavic Open Pros. Because they were labeled only as Open Pros and the auction neglected to refer to the Record hubs, there was very little activity, and they were mine for a bargain.
The amazing thing about eBay is that the patient bidder can come across a dream product for a palatable price. The problem with eBay is you never really know what you're going to get until its in your hands. Mine arrived in absolutely perfect order. Aside from a thorough cleaning (they were rather dirty), they needed nothing aside from a set of tires. I turned to my old friends the Gommitalia Calypso, and have myself a stunning wheelset.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Record Hubs/”/]
This Fall, I will tear these wheels down, service the hubs, and build them back up with the Mavic MP4 Tubs that Gianni sent me last year. The Open Pros will go to another wheelset that is in need of some fresh rims and the cycle will continue. In the meantime, I'm rather satisfied with the end result, though I have to admit that the Salsa Ti skewers seem a bit out of place at this point; they will eventually be replaced by some good ol' fashioned Campy ones. Everything in it's time.
As I close this chapter, I find myself moving on to the next question: when I rebuild the wheels, which tires will go with them? Vittoria, FMB? Thankfully, the possibilities are endless; it will take me at least a summer to make up my mind.
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25's for sure. Riding box rims with anything less than a 25 is worthy of a new rule discussion, unless you have a bunch of X's in your name, wear an orange kit, weigh less than a buck ten and never have a hope of reaching the podium when cobbles are involved, in which case you can ride 23's because it won't matter anyway.
Another worthy mention in this build is the wipperman connex. Since building Il Gruppo Progetto with one last year I've become a fan. Looking forward to a write up on the chain.
I'm sure this is just me, but there seem to be a lot of spokes on these wheels. Can a velominatus give the brief explantion why more spokes are better than less spokes? I run 16 on the front and 24 on the back, and I'm a Big Guy (90kg). Never had a tacoed wheel, or any real problems. I've been lucky?
@eightzero
I think part of the reason is the rims have become stronger and better engineered thus requiring less spokes support the weight. In the old days, only a track bike (used for actually riding on a track) would have a radially spoked front wheel. Both wheels would be 36 maybe 32 spokes, 3x, maybe 2x if you were a madman. But the box rims were pretty light so I guess the pendulum has swung the other way to stronger rims and less spokes. That is part of it at least.
Fewer spokes equals higher spoke tension per spoke, usually built into a stiffer rim. If you drink the Mavic cool aid, their Zircal bladed spokes are for aerodynamics, but that's an argument for another forum. The stiffer the wheel the more responsive it feels to acceleration, but they can feel less comfortable to ride on as they transmit everything. If you have a modern frame with a layup that has some comfort tuned into it, super stiff wheels are fine, but frames without that like an older aluminium frame can ride really harshly with those types of wheels. Higher spoke count wheels have some flex built into the system, without compromising performance given that they are usually in a crossed pattern, and with lower spoke tension per spoke they can feel relatively stiff (again can be dependent on rim) while adding a bit of comfort. And bike shops can usually replace a broken spoke from a standard, whereas with proprietary spokes they can be pricey and hard to get.
Think that's covered it, AFAIK. If I've left anything out or am grossly misinformed flame me mercilessly.
I'd like to try some 25s on a few of my wheelsets. I don't even know if they make the Veloflex Masters in that size though. The Vittoria Evo Corsa CXs are not cheap, but they do ride very well. I don't use them on my high-mileage bike anyway.
I'd also like to try some of these new wider rims. A friend was telling me about them this weekend, just read about them on here last week. Sounds interesting. Then again, I don't weigh very much so not sure how much I'd notice. Maybe I would though.
I have a variety of wheelsets with varying spoke counts but on completely different bikes - carbon, various steel tubesets, so hard to say how they differ in ride quality. I like to ride all my bikes, but for different applications.
Off topic - anyone using the LG Quartz helmet? Seems to look pretty sharp, think that's the model Voekler is using (maybe all of Europcar?). Kind of cool looking, but you gotta try helmets on to tell. I typically go for Specialized, think their front channel looks the best. But, the Quartz looks pretty cool.
@Ron
I also run the Vittoria Evo Corsa CXs on one of the bikes and a set of challenge criteriums on my race bike - all pretty damn sweet tires. I ran a set of 25mm vittoria open paves on my commuter pig for a year and a half through winter and they are bombproof - I'm just not entirely sure how they would roll on the roadbike and once you've ridden the Corsas, Veloflexs or Challenge tires you get completely spoilt. Chuck a pair of vittoria rubino pros on to compare and they just feel too damn slow and clunky.
@Frank
On the topic of tubulars, at least here in Melbourne there is an old guy who still repairs them at a pretty competitive price and can turn them around in a couple of days- the cost is similar to the (full retail) price of a clincher inner tube. So (although I don't train on tubs) theoretically it wouldn't be too much of an issue to run them if you could get comfortable with the need to carry a pre-glued tired to get you home. Maybe you could investigate if there is a similar crusty old fella in your town who could do the same?
@Ron, @Kiwicyclist
I run the Corsas in summer and the Paves in winter (such as it is here -- mostly rain). @Kiwi, the Paves are nearly as supple as the Corsas, yet tough as nails. There is a bit of a weight penalty but worth it in the right conditions.
Also, just got a set of the Corsa Servizio Corses for this summer, which I believe are new this year and feature an old school gum rubber sidewall. Haven't mounted them yet as the roads are still in crap shape.
@Ron, Also run HED Bastognes, with 23 mm width rims rather than the standard 19-20mm. It's a superlative clincher setup -- rolls fast, rides smooth and corners great.
Michelin Pro Race 3s (23mm) with Michelin aircomp latex tubes feel like they roll great. I keep coming back to the ProRace. I've tried Veloflex clinchers - which I found wooden, although I am probably guilty of overinflation - and Continental Attack/Force, and Open Corsa CXs, which I liked about as much as the Contis, but the Michelins just feel nicer for mine and roll better than my tubs. (Although that's probably an unfair comparison given the clinchers are on higher quality hubs - with ceramic bearings - while the tubs are Vitt Pave's (27mm F/24mm R) on box section Ambrosios.)
ProRace 3s are great tyres, no doubt.