650B cromovelato, from the 80s to today

Hi there, i know it's not something uncommon, but i decided to share the project (now finished) i decided to build.

I'm a MTBer who loves to tour and also likes to restore old road bikes; i own several bikes, from 50s to 80s, and more than needed MTBs, but i miss some kind of hybrid and i decided to aim towards the "famous" 650b road.

Now, the frame:

I'm 1.75cm tall, i opted for a bigger frame not because it was perfect to me, but i fell in love at first sight, i then managed to convince myself the drop of height from the 650B and the geometry would suffice.

It's a biemmezeta (BMZ) sport frame, looks like one from the 80s, italian third party builder near Padova, that made frames for Milanetti, Girini, Mondial, and then Palo alto, has eyelets for mudguards and the carter, the space between rear stays looks decent, so this is it!

I know it's not an high quality frame, but this is the first brand of bike i restored in the past, so it's something i'm bound to, somehow...

The golden chrome and the green with the light of the sun, makes this frame as good looking as it is delicate, but who cares, i'm gonna make this a good ride.

Money spent for the frame shipped: 110€

-update soon-

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Beautiful frame!

Thanks @vp1337 !

Now, first part i needed were the wheels, i wanted the build to be modern and strong, i went for 36H and i found a couple of 36H tiagra hubs at decent price (RS400), after some search i found some BERNARDI mtb-rim-brake 27.5" rims at decent price, even if i wanted them to be silver at first...

...well, the velo-orange were out of my budget.

Now, the tyres!

We all know the struggle of picking the right tyre for this kind of build, had to deal with real width (i have a max of REAL 39mm there), so i needed to cut off some of the top choices for the width or the absurd price they have.

After some research i ended up picking the panaracer gravelking 27.5 x 1.5 (38x584) which have an exact 37.6mm of width, finally something that's exactly, or almost, what they are sold for; they are even reasonably priced and i like the para on the sidewall.

Yes, i will not end up with much room on the chainstays, but i wanted to fix this problem later if needed.

Hubs tiagra 10/11 RS400: 43€ shipped
rims: 56€ both
Tyres: Panaracer Gravel king 38x584: 74€ shipped (including two tubes)

Edit: added a small gif of the clearance

http://imgur.com/508tMd6

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wow, looks osom! what brakes are you planning to use?

Thank you @togas ! I decided to go with Tektro R559, i wanted something new and with a decent stopping power, i've read some positive reviews about those brakes.

Not like i had a lot of choices tho, i was looking at Alhonga, Dia Compe and Action brakes with 70mm reach, but out of these, Tektro ones were the one. I'm just unsure how actually good is the stopping power, time will tell.

Price paid: 61.50€ shipped

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I use the Tektro R539 and they're very good. My pads aren't nearly as low down as yours though. That maybe makes minimal difference though.

@PhilDAS thanks for the feedback, i'll stress them soon enough!

Next move, headset!

With a 1" fork with italian thread, with 38mm~ stack height needed, i decided to go with the stronglight a9 silver (aluminium - cartridge bearing), i want most of the gear to be "silver" and this choice looks like decent, classic, humanly priced and durable at the same time.

Headset: 36€ shipped

That's a really beautiful frame, excited to see where this is going!

Money spent for the frame shipped: 110€

bargain of the year !

Echoing others - awesome frame, interesting project.

Following this! Looks like a fun project.

Woah, that's quite an audience! Thanks everyone for the compliments, hope to make it worth the read (and make it worth the ride for me ;D ).

Next thing in line is obviously the bottom bracket - chainset combo, i had swapped and disassembled loads of these parts, but i'm a rookie when it comes to build from scratch.

All i know is that i want a triple and a square taper!
Yes, i want that bike to climb nearly anything, loaded or not, and with the proper choice i can limit the weight gained... so, why not?

After evenings of catalogue browsing, i picked the Stronglight impact triple 24/34/46 165mm.
I usually use 170mm, but i tought even this little difference won't affect my pedal stroke and it will help a little with the bottom bracket height (decreased since the 650b). They recommended a bb axle of 115mm.

First thing i did was installing a shimano cartridge BB, the thread looks perfect but after some try, both sides threads perfectly smooth, i understood that this bottom bracket needs a face-work, damn it!
Well, not like it can't be done, but since all i wanted since start was to use an "old" bearings bottom bracket (the only exception i wanted, looking at new parts) i managed to get a shimano dura ace 7400 BB, even if it's a 113mm and the axle is not in a perfect shape.

Chainline is ok!

Price for the chainset: 77€ shipped
Price for the BB-7400: 36€ shipped

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• small update -
  
  

I'm now looking after the other parts, obviously have to decide what i wanted this bike to be, major choice between sti levers and bar end shifters, i wanted most the latter, they look more "touringish"... while thinking about, i found a decent priced -used- nitto B135AA rando handlebar! I feel like it's a good mix between tour, race look and comfort. After a good clean, turned out new!

It's 25.4mm clamp sized, i'm so forced to look for some stem on this size, found an unbranded one priced honestly, 60mm.

Seatpost was tricky, i wanted something new and with a size of 26.6mm i had not a good variety to pick from, found on Ebay something that was what i wanted, but when it arrived it was completely different (look at pics). Had to, as planned, cut it smaller from 350mm, and additionally remove the decals with solvent.

Handlebar: 38.50€ shipped
Seatpost: 15€
Stem: 14€ shipped

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I decided to go with STI levers, found a new 4700 Tiagra groupset, here the specs:

STI 4703 triple
Rear derailleur medium cage 4700
Front derailleur triple 4703 (band on)
Cassette HG500 10V (11-34)
Chain Shimano Deore HG54 HG-X

Not sure how it will perform, i was tempted to build a 1x10/1x11, but well...

I'm not sure how this all together will perform, i'm not that expert with gear calculation, but as bad as it can go, i will change cassette/crankset?

Groupset: 251.50 shipped

Hi there! I bought a nice kit on ebay, downtube stoppers with cables, bolts, a cable frame guide for the cables below the bottom braket (this frame had nothing brazed there) and some plastic guide/sleeves for the cables under the bar.

Never seen these "sleeves" used, not sure if i'm gonna use them.

I already own a Brooks Team Pro that will match the cables colour, i decided to go with Zipp CX handlebar tape, looks wonderful.

Saddle: Previous paid 90€ shipped
Kit: 13€ shipped
Tape: 17€ shipped

Ok, here it is the accomplishement!

Honestly i had in mind something less "black" coloured, but this is it.
I'm going to ride it a bit while i need to chose/fix:

• fenders, i like Gilles Berthoud ones, but any help is apreciated

• front derailleur can't push the chain onto large chainring:

Looks like it's a chainline problem? phisically it can't reach the outer ring, i know tiagra has a max teeth "jump" of 20 and i'm over it, but it's not like it can't climb the chainring, but simply can't reach "it" that far outside; cables are thigh

• I like the bikepacking style, i'm thinking of making my own frame bag.

• Perhaps i need some very small DIY dimp on chainstays, feels like i have only 1mm real on each side. I need to sort out the force applied by the QR, because if i start on pedals, putting too much force, the rear wheels slide a bit to the left and it rubs.

The brakes after being set works decently, at least better than the mechanical BB5 i had in the past on another bike. Ok, not hydraulics i'm used to ofcourse, but i'll say the last word after some km and descent, maybe loaded.

Runs smooth and confy on gravel, 130km done at the moment and nothing exploded yet, better pictures soon, these are not very clear, sorry.

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Pictures outside, but in full shade is a good start (like you posted earlier). Dead on side view and chain on the big ring doesn't hurt either.

And you need to adjust the bar angle.

Looking forward to better pics, and congrats with finishing up the build.

@larsenroad thank you for the tips, as said i'm not used to set up road bikes for use, so i had the handlebar in way because it felt more comfortable, but i understand that's not the way!

I'm adding additional pictures, unfortunately i have a problem i need to fix with the bigger chainring and the front derailleur, you can see in the last pic at the maximum extension. I already have set up the outer adjustment bolt in any manner possible, that's why i'm blaming chainline/front derailleur, but i also understand i'm quite a rookie, so, any help is welcome!

edit: the front brake cable is too short, shame on me, some time ago i shortened the cables with another handlebar for a test ride and the current Nitto, being bigger, had this result. Going to fix it as soon as possible.

Weight: 10.60Kg

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Have you checked the length of you BB-axle? It looks like the chainset is too far outwards, so if you can get away with moving it inboard the derailleur problem should go away.

Edit: Bike looks really great though!

re: handlebars, set up as you feel comfortable. Nothing wrong with a bit of roll back, especially on a touring / rando / trad bar shape.

@MisterMikkel the crankset asks for a 115mm JIS square taper, i had that BB-7400 that is 113mm and i tought it just would be right for that 1mm on each side! BUT, i noticed too late that's a JIS low profile... anyway it mounted and it doesn't move, fine but this could be the cause of the problem, even if being "low profile" should mean that the crank goes a little bit closer to the bottom bracket, not outer like it looks now? I'm probably wrong.

Chain line is now 47mm-ish~, tiagra front derailleur asks for 45mm.

@Batt that's what i tought on the first place, anyway i'll try this new position aswell.

I didn't think that little would be a problem.
But I have only really used mountain bike front derailleurs, and they are able to move a lot.
From the looks of this photo, I think you should be able to get away with a smaller BB-axle.

Regarding the handlebar position. The frame looks big for you, which results in too much reach and little drop as you've set it up now (hello, internet bike fitting). Maybe some short and shallow bars would help you achieve a more comfortable position. Ritchey Neoclassic would be perfect, but they are wrong clamp size. I'm sure there are good alternatives.

Then again, like @Batt says, nothing wrong with setting it up how you prefer :)

It's going to be amazing once you've sorted out the small issues.

@larsenroad yep, the frame is big for my size, you are absolutely right, as said in the first post i got lured from the look and then i decided to build it anyway.
I have a smaller, less cool, frame to test, if things gets really uncomfortable! Thanks for the tips, it's apreciated, i'll sort it out!

@MisterMikkel you are probably right, i'm going to test with something i have here or there in the spare parts chest, i'll let you know.

Very cool, I like it. I've often thought about putting 650's on a road bike making that shit much more comfortable but I was never sure about the drop for the brakes.

Right I'm off to the shed and I might be some time.