Berretto Track

Hey.

I'm a real shocker when it comes to documenting builds and I *always *regret it later. I figure might I share progress on the latest and probably last build for my Berretto track and force myself to document. :)
I think it's pretty unique piece and worth sharing before I have to hang it up permanently. The frame is a delicate princess and has a few problems which means I'll probably need find a replacement eventually.
I've had it built it up tarck before and rode it on the street and it was a great ride. Though, the rear triangle was out alignment and progressively worsened with street riding so I parted it out to fund another build and shelved the frame. There is also some internal rusting (from chroming) that was worrying me.

Anyway, I sent it off for an alignment and checkup and just got it back all clear (for now) so I'll see how long it lasts with gentle treatment on the boards before I decide which frame next!

Berretto are built in Brisbane Australia by Brett Richardson. It was common in the 80's for builders to adopt Italian sounding branding as Italian bikes were so popular at the time.

The frame is crazy cool, modern geo, slight sloping top tube.. but also a little strange. OS tubing of some description, 29.4 seat post? Plenty of small dents along the top tube. Far from perfect but still an awesome piece of craftmanship. Also: chromovelato!
Word is Brett built it for himself and given it's quirkiness I guess he built it as a bit of an experiment maybe from shop scraps.
Brett would probably be pissed that this frame is getting so much exposure... :)

Geo approx:

another angle. You can see some denting along the TT in the gloss. Strengthened around the seat tube junction by the looks.

10mm carbon spacer stuck there, need to cut it off and will probably chop the steerer a little and use a 5mm alu spacer instead.
Headbadge is copper or something with Brett's name and the frame's birthdate engraved.

Rear stays. Seat binder is a sloppy mess but it functions perfectly.

Some of the rust problems at rear triangle. They don't look like much of a problem but they also run up the stay ever so slightly. The stay is quite narrow diameter rolled tubing which chroming has not been kind to. It's been treated but I keep treating it regularly.

I have a mix of new parts and some from the old build lined up but they still need a bit of work. Will post details and pics shortly.

Also just got in contact with Brett about some replacement decals, fingers crossed. The current ones are bubbling about at the paint seams (they weren't sanded smooth before application) and don't quite reach around the OS diameter. Will replace he has some spares. It doesn't really matter but I'm OCD like that hehe!

Cheers. :)

Class. And my stays are waaaaay more rusted than that on my new build. Should I be worried?

porn!!!!

love the name on this frame

Class. And my stays are waaaaay more rusted than that on my new build. Should I be worried?

Sand the rust down and inspect, a lot of it can sometimes just be removable surface rust (if not stupidly corroded, with holes crumbling open etc etc...), which cleans up pretty well and only really leaves small pitting in the surface. In this state you'll be able to inspect for cracking/structural damage. Clear coat if need be and keep a constant check.

^^seconded re. porn. Very nice frame and will look amazing fully built.

Try using crunched up aluminium foil before you try sanding. If it is surface rust this will remove it without damaging the chrome at all. I used this and a bit of elbow grease to take a pair of half chromed forks on an old raleigh up to a near perfect finish from what looked like a no hoper condition.

*Subscribes

Looks lovely! Pics of previous build?

Sure do, excuse NDS fail... >>>> :(

Rear wheel was C-rec 24h laced by me. HHSB points, looked great, ran great but honestly I never really liked carbon on this bike and was searching for years for a rear rim to match the front shamal with no luck. I sold it when I parted it (needed cash). Aero post was shimmed and too close to max extension for my liking.

This time, more campy, more 90s. I like the late 80s/90s stuff if I don't go custom next I'll be looking at a 90s frame so these parts will see me though. Plus, Campy discs are a favorite long time :)

Apologies, It's not the most buildy build thread ever as others as I am already decided/bought up!

Saddle I don't like for this build but undecided. Flite? Laser? Cinelli Volare? :D

Shamal I have stripped and polished the first time around and looks incredible.. perfect condition. Bit worn now but I'll bring it back to bling. I was hoping to find some decals but no one makes them. Will look into organizing some myself.
Both wheels have QR skewers only, I have some EAI track axles I will attempt to convert them both. Should be a challenge! Disc is caked with ancient glue and has brake marks so I'm gonna clean that right up and polish it back to new.

oh yeah, front fork takes 20c only.. just. Veloflex make nice 20c skin wall clincher so I stuck with Veloflex for the tub too :)

NOS Shamal front with track axle in the mail for me. Now for that shamal backwheel...

Proper knockout. Would be interested to hear exactly how you went about stripping and polishing the Shamals to a pristine finish like that, and how long it took.

Proper knockout. Would be interested to hear exactly how you went about stripping and polishing the Shamals to a pristine finish like that, and how long it took.

This.

If I ever come across shoddy looking shamals that would be good to know.

The parts look great, NOS or just very well cleaned/maintained?

Flite saddles are very nice, had one myself until last year, would look great on this and work well for the type of styling you're after.

I reckon a Concor with the rainbow bits on the back would go very nicely with frame details.

This really is going to be a stunning build!

Concor is a safe choice for sure, great saddle, but I think I need something a little more special.
Definately something with covered rails because this post has an ugly clamp I'd prefer to keep hidden. :)
Ultimately I'd like a chorus titanium post with the nice clamp then I'll try a Flite but that's money I don't need to spend just yet!

Anyway, I picked up one of these with good plastics but bad leather:

and I've got my eyes on another one with good leather but bad plastics. Ideally I will swap bits and make 1 good one!

Most of the parts here you can still buy new, just the wheelset/post/stem are old stuff and in great condition.
I got lucky on the Khamsin, very lightly used, track threads haven't been used at all and no major dents. A lot of these discs had a hard life.

Now for the tl:dr disclamer: Shamal stuff:

I've polished stacks of alu parts but after the Shamal I swore I would never polish another piece of aluminium again!
It is a pain because the anno is very thick and hard. The aluminum also (read: good quality).
I kept the wheel laced through the whole process. I started with 250 wet/dry on the brake surface to cut smooth back any major brake marks.
I also roughed up the entire surface with the same.
Next, I caked the rim in gel type oven cleaner. Anything with high % Sodium Hydroxide will do the trick. Coat it thick, you should see the anno start to lift off and remove with a scotch pad or even sandpaper. Don't leave it too long, it can eat at the aluminium.
Usually one or two treatments will remove anno but the Shamal took 5-6. Hardy. Wash it with a high pressure hose to get out chemicals may have fell inside.
Next, move through to finer grades of paper, 250->400->600->1000->1500.. takes many, many hours. I usually polish front of the TV and spread the work over a couple days.
Then, when my fingers are blistered and raw, I move to drill bit polishing pads and Josco polishing compounds; cloth pad then cotton to shine.
Finally, finish the bling with Autosol Aluminium polish.

It was hard work but the result is pretty special.
You could always finish it with steel wool instead of Autosol to get a more milky anodized finish though after all the manual sanding and smoothing these rims look excellent in mirror finish if you can be bothered to maintain it.

A boring update. Busy with work, not much spare time.

Got in contact again with Brett, he says he should have stripe decals in the shed so I hope to get my hands on some replacements.

Started on the Shamal.
There is a special tool to remove the dustcaps (typical Campy) but I couldn't source one or find anyone with one. In the end I CBF going to the extend of building one so I saturated them in RP70 till the caps spun freely and used some bits of plastic and a screwdriver to pop them off. One was VERY stubburn. The cap is soft as butter so small damage was unavoidable even from the plastic. Can deal.

You can see there is a small circular wire clip that holds the cap in place.

Moving on to the axles.
The EAI cones are different and have a larger race cone and a smaller hex bolt locking cone.
The shamal dust-caps sit snug around the lock cone so the EAI hex type can't be used; I have to use the original ones. A bit disappointing but not really a problem.

Every spare moment I have been hacking at the tub glue peeling it off with a screwdriver and sanding smooth underneath.
Usually I'd use chemicals for this but I don't want solvents anywhere near this disc.
This is going to take a long time.

Hell:

Also, the two saddles arrived.
The one in the background really good plastics without yellowing but non-original leather.
The other has original leather with no rips but plastics are trash, yellowed and cracked.
Going to get some leather dye and nourishment stuff tomorrow to bring the original leather back to health and do a swap.

Perfect saddle for this build I think!

:)

I am happy with your choice of saddle. :-) :-)

Good luck with those wheels!

The Turbo is nice, but even better in the lumo yellow version.

hard to find but they look sensational and worht the dorrah

^ with perf leather? Yeah I've seen a pic but nothing more than that.. very nice.
Thx phil :)

Pulled apart both saddles today. Leather was dry and faded, sun damage my guess. You can see the protected leather is black as it should be.

It was sketchy removing the plastic and decals. Interestingly the two saddles have differently manufactured rear insert one more durable than the other.
Scanned them in for reproduction purposes if necessary.

Treated it with some oil dye and leather nourisher.
Just like a new one!

..Interesting experiment anyway. :)

awesome work on the turbo, shaping up to be a cracking build. that frame is really something.

Wouldn't the dye rub off after use?