David writes:

Highlights of this bike I spec'd & built myself:


Campagnolo chorus TRIPLE rear derailleur. I built it myself (kind of). I had a Chorus derailleur laying around with a bent cage. This thing came up on EBay and for $18 I decided to take a shot. It turns out to be a Record OR (off-Road) medium length derailleur cage from about 1991, and it fits and works perfectly on a 1999 Chorus body. It is the same length as a Racing-T derailleur cage. I even used both the 9 speed pulleys from the bent chorus. A perfect fit came with a 9 speed pulley bolt on the lower and an 8 speed bolt on the upper becuase the cage is thicker in depth up there than a normal cage. This is a very lucky match because the cage wouldn't fit on lower model derailleurs because of the plastic washer between the derailleur and cage, and although it would probably fit a record derailleur, I don't know if you would want to put the stresses of a triple cage up against a titanium mounting bolt.

Campagnolo Olympus cantilever brakes. The curve of these cantilever arms gives enough mechanical advantage but with a minimum requirement for lever travel, so it turns out they work perfectly with Ergo levers. I even added Campy Road brake pads. with the pads installed, the brake boss spacing happened to be just right so the road brake pads hit parallel to the rim. Remember road pads cannot be set a varying angles, so if you don't get a 90 degree match like I did, you only get the edge of the pad on the rim.  (Note: The Campy Only 'cross bike also features Olympus cantilevers and road levers--yes, they work very well.)

Other Components:

Bike has a complete Black color with white lettering theme including Cramerotti frame, Forma Bar, Olympus Cantilevers, Ambrosio Rims, Zefal Fenders, Blackburn Rack & seat (kind of).

It's my commuter right now, but this fall when we hit our cyclocross season, the fenders & rack come off and the big green michelins go on!