The View From Here - a blog

Long distance love affair - 20/10/2024

I’ve been visiting my family in Oregon for 20 years now, where there is some amazing cycling to be had. Well, all kinds of outdoor fun, in truth. Taking a bike with me for these trips has become second nature. I can pack everything need in a Bike Box Alan case with my bike, riding gear and normal clothes. But about 7 years ago, airlines decided to charge $50-60 for bikes and be strict about it. That is each way. Consequently, I resolved to pick up a reasonably decent second-hand bike and store it at my father-in-law’s.

eBay and various online channels proved fruitless, but a friend of my brother had a Cinelli Experience to sell. My brother it tried out for himself, but didn’t get on with the road bike positioning. Checking it out, it's a decent entry level road bike in my size, 52cm, and was fitted with a Campagnolo groupset. I love Campy. The paint was a bit rough - clearly is had been used a commuter and parked on the street - but it rode well, it fitted well and with a little TLC it could serve as my US ride partner. I parted with £300 and shipped it out to Salem, Oregon for another 100 quid.

The thought of climbing in this 53/39 chainset was making me cranky

And for several US visits now it has been so handy exploring the farmlands, coast routes, foothills of the Cascades and on local group rides. The only thing is that I have changed. The Cinelli had old school big gears. A 53/39 chainset, which I toned down a little by pairing it with a 12-29 cassette. At home I am now riding 50/34 with an 11-32 cassette on one bike and a 38 ring with 9-42 or 10-44 on my gravel bike. At 60 years of age the thought of climbing on the Cinelli’s gearing no longer seemed like fun.

So, lower the gearing, right? I scoured eBay for a second-hand compact Campag Veloce chain set. 50/34 rings would solve this easily, I figured, but it took a long time for the right item to come up. Eventually I found a good-looking set for about £30 and felt smug and wise to have had the patience for find this low-cost solution.

My in-laws (and the Cinelli) live in Salem , Oregon. It’s a town of about 175,000 people and boasts four decent bike shops. One, South Salem Cycleworks, is a little different, because they sell (and rent) second-hand bikes, alongside new ones. They import Italian steel frames and are a Campagnolo approved centre. Yes! It was the obvious place to redo my set up with the Campy chain set. I emailed the owner, Michael Wolfe, and he tells me he’s semi-retired. He’s shut the shop, but he still runs a repair workshop.

Michael turned out to be an information mine, as well as an expert bike mechanic

“You’ll need a front mech that works with compact, David,” Michael advises.
I find one for another £30 and still consider this worthwhile. Checking out my spares in my bike shed, I have a few other items that will make this an even better upgrade – a set of Campagnolo Zonda wheels, a Fizik saddle and GP5000 tyres. At this point, my next US trip is 7 or 8 months away, but I’m all set, right?

When my father-in-law visits London in spring, I send him home with the chainset and front mech. No shipping needed. How much cheaper can I make this?

Apart from discussing and making choices about all the technical minutiae of the upgrade, Michael and I got chatting about a few other cycling-related things. Tandems, for instance. He’s set up several and ridden with a few different partners over the years. We chatted about how Campagnolo’s tech has evolved and why the 10sp might just be the last great Campag groupsets. And of course, what are the great to ride around Salem.

A month before our visit I ask my father-in-law to drop off the bike with Michael. Slowly and surely the scale and cost of the upgrade progress. Michael doesn’t repair a bike overnight. Little and often seems to be his approach.
“You’ll need new bar tape.”
I pick the white Supercaz. $45.
“You need new bottom bracket cups.”
$40.
“The chain is worn out and needs replacing.”
$40.
“You need a new rear mech.”
I ask why this is, as the current one works well with the 12-29 cassette.
“It’s to do with the capacity of the mech,” he explains.
Michael educates me about the kind of capacity a rear mech needs and how to calculate it. I am now wiser, but a new rear mech will cost me.
It’s another $100.

Michael kept me updated at every step

It’s days before I fly out and the bike is still not ready. The chain is sometimes hanging (ie not shifting) when changing between the big and small rings. Dang. Michael has several possible explanations. Maybe fit a new chainset. He has one for $130. Or it could be the chain. He had recommended and fitted a non-Campag chain, but the Campag chain could make a difference. I say try that. He tried it, and it worked.
Another $30, though.

Factoring everything in - not forgetting new cables - the final repair bill was $470. I say final, but we then had to add the $30 for the chain upgrade making the final, final bill $500! Plus there was the £60 for the chain set and front mech. Gosh. I could have bought a bike for that. The idea of having a rim brake bike with a mechanical, mid-level group was to have something with longevity that easy and is relatively cheap to repair. So much for that. But when it’s all set up with the now completely new drive chain, plus upgrades to the saddle and wheel and tyre upgrade, it looks and rides great.

The finished bike has a complete new drive chain, plus bar tape, saddle, wheels and tyres

Upgrading this bike remotely, I seemed to lose control of the cost. But it was a labour of love. Love over a long distance, if you like. I think about why I don’t really mind. It’s a bit like my allotment. We spend far more on tools, seeds and plants, soil, planks for raised beds and so on. Then there’s all the time you spend to grow your produce. The money value of your fruit and veg can never match your investment. But it’s fun and incredibly satisfying, not to mention very tasty. I feel pretty much the same way about this bike project.

So, was it any good? Was it worth it? Find out in my next instalment.