Saturday 8 September 2012

Berretto converted to Shimagnolo

Or Shimergo if you prefer

Vintage Berretto

  Several months ago I added another vintage bike to my stable (skipped my meds that day). I saw it on ebay, advertised as "Mens racing bike". No brand or information about age or components. The pic was pretty ordinary as well. I could just make out the name "Berretto" on the downtube. 

  I had heard the name but was not familiar with it.
A quick Google revealed to me that they were made right here in Brisbane, Australia during the 80's by frame builder and bicycle store owner Brett Richardson. The Store was  located in the suburb of Chermside and still exists under new management. Brett is now teaching his skills at TAFE College. I just had to have that bike.

 It is a beautifully made steel frame with hand shaped and cutout lugs. It is fairly light and weighs just over 9kg ready to ride. by dating the components, which consisted of a mix of Suntour Superbe and Dura Ace, I estimate that it was built in 1984.  Being this vintage, it had downtube friction shifters. I like downtube shiftters, they look classic and are very reliable but as this was going to be my main ride I wanted to bring it up to date.  Ergonomically at least.


Dura ace downtube shifters
 In researching the options, I stumbled across  http://beta.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/components/transmission-gears/derailleur-gears/shimergo  and several other sites that explain the possibility of using Campagnolo Ergo brifters with Shimano cassettes. You cannot just mix and match any combination but it just so happens that the cable pull of the Campy 10 speed ergo shifter is close enough to the sprocket spacing of a Shimano 8 speed cassette to work synchronously. In fact with a simple re-route of the cable terminal at                                the rear derailleur, a Shimano 9 speed cassette can be used

    "Worth a try" I thought. The Beretto had it's 
Campagnolo Veloce  brake/shifters fitted to original Cosmos bars
original Mavic wheels with Shimano 6 speed UniGlide freewheel and I found that, combined with the 52 and 42 tooth chain rings on the front, the 12-23 on the back was geared a bit high for the hills  where I live. So I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and get some new wheels with a modern Shimano HyperGlide hub.
  Now I could fit a new 12-25 tooth, 8 speed cassette and a NOS Dura Ace crank with 52-39 chain rings and nail those hills, as well as fit some up to date Ergo 10-speed brifters.

  And the verdict? 
Wow,  it works.... not only that, it works splendidly. Precise, rapid and quiet shifts. 
  Using genuine Campy cables it took me less than an hour to fit the brakes and shifters and then 15 minutes to tension the cables. 
  I have read that a Shimano (not Dura Ace) rear derailleur is recommended but I am using my Suntour Superbe RD with no issues. Should my creation therefore be called Sunergo or perhaps Supergo.   
  I feel that perhaps the tension of spring in The Dura Ace front deraileur is a little strong for the campy shifters. I will try an older campy fd and see how that goes.

Suntour Superbe rear derailleur 
Campy cable stop adjusters replace original downtube shifters
  


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