The über_grüber Concorde Colombo Pursuit build

Been in Holland and it is very flat. which is ace for powering along their wonderful bike paths. But also very windy. Which is not ace. And it also seems to be a pretty characteristic thing here that the Dutch like to stick Tri bars on just about anything-prams, wheelchairs, sit-up-and-beg bikes, unicorns-it doesn't matter, someone somewhere is riding one at 3mph with some tri bars. It's as funny as it is slightly horrendous.

But when in Rome...

I thought a TT build could be fun and will give me something to tinker with as well as hopefully give me a bike that will be good for getting as aero as possible on these flat windy roads... Slightly ridiculous but fuckit-I'm still young enough that my back will take it and may as well embrace the TT posturing along with the frites and mayonnaise ;)

Originally i was looking for something bendy, but this didn't present itself at a doable price, so instead I found a rather sexy looking Concorde lo-pro in awesome condition, and jumped at it.

Built for Concorde by Ciocc from Columbus Aelle tubing, it's probably late 80's/early 90's and got a rather nice Ofmega headset and BB which i will be servicing and keeping, 650c chromed front fork, and nice aero internal routing for the gear cables on the downtube so I will be making use of them and staying away from bar-end shifters or sti's.

I've not got a huge budget but over the last month I have been scraping some parts together.... won't be pimp-du-luxe but hopefully interesting and functional and without bankrupting me also.

So far i have sourced some nice Mavic bullhorns, Cinelli Laser saddle (banned by UCI for providing too much ass propping I think but won't be an issue for me as i am not even a hairy legged 4th cat and don't race), Shimano Dura-Ace AX aero 'Delta' style brakes, and also swooped on a fairly minty 650c Corima carbon front wheel...

and, of course, some grey and yellow cloth bar tape for attempting a double harlequin pattern having been inspired by the bar tape pron thread.

Not sure if i'll go for aero TT brake levers or just normal clamp on's... I quite like the old school look of them but will need to see how they function too. Other parts I'm thinking will be Shimano in keeping with brakes. Prob 600 biopace cranks, and 7 speed indexed shifters. Rear wheel is going to be tricky... don't want a disc as it will be like a sail in the wind here, but needs to be fairly deep dish and retro to match the rest... TriSpok? Will be keeping me eyes peeled...

it's all about concordes today isn't it ?

well, for me it is ;)

Look forward to seeing this take shape. I was tempted to buy that frame myself if I'm not mistaken.

Unfortunately I'd be an embarrassment on an out and out tt bike much better to fit my tri-bars to an old Raleigh shopper.

Yes! Goood stuff. Got it from the guy who was selling 2 of those on Marktplaats right?
Parts look good to.
BTW i always thought the CIOCC frames for Concorde had the italian flag on the TT which yours hasn't, could be wrong though. I might have this frame in a catalogue somewhere...

here it is:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8612/concordebrochure1989.pdf
page 8

(moar Concordes overhere)

Yeah bought them from a guy called Ramon who has a shop somewhere east.

Not heard about the flag thing before-I thought Concorde didn't manufacture their own frames and just imported frames from Italy and sprayed them with their own logos-the BB shell, stays and brake bridge are exactly the same as a Concorde PDM bike i had 3 years ago, though I think that was in SLX and not Aelle. Be really interested to see the catalogue if you have it!

Either way, it's a nice solid frame and only about 200g heavier than the SLX model.

wicked! thanks-will check that out now ;)

aww man. looking at the pics of Theunisse and Rooks... so cool. Also makes me wish I had the bendy Squadra Delta model too!

this snapshot of a newer catalogue shows the italian flag:

it says: "This nice detail on the top tube shows the frame is italian made"
Doesn't say anything about frames without the flag though...

That frame is beautiful, I look forward to seeing the finished bike.

first current projects thread I have subscribed to.
Looks awesome.

What i heard was that most of the Concorde bikes were Dutch designed bikes produced by Torpado in Italy.
All hand made (though in big numbers with an equal production line) But real italian craftsmanship. Later the higher end Concordes were produced by Ciocc.

It's going to be a long way down to those bars...

it's been an incredibly hungover, windy, biblical rain-drenched day here so what better way to escape an alcohol sponsored dread feeling of pain and self-loathing pass your time than watching the cycling and attempting to wrap one's handlebars in a pretty pattern?

after much head scratching and false starts I gave up trying to work the harlequin around clamp on levers a la old skool and will for now be opting for tt aero ones as a result. it's neater, innit and I am not keeping this period correct anyway.

side one... not perfect but fucking hell, working from end of bar backwards i had to re-do it so many times because of the bend in the bar fucking everything up. only advice i can give in doing this is to make sure the first few wraps are absolutely perfect, if not it won't get better. i think i should get bonus points as well as courtesy of last night's belgian beers and whisky today I feel like a pig has shat in my head.

side 2 done, with nice ITM stem added... i had the choice of this or a cinelli 1A but I think it looks good on the build because of the taper from bar to head tube and doesn't have too severe a drop on it. Forgive the elecrtical tape... I don't trust just having a fold over so tagged it down with a small spot of glue then taped it to keep it in place whilst drying.

so, not perfect and may get re-done when I feel more pro-active but still looks ok for a first attempt. will need to find some tt levers and will be spending an hour later servicing the headset and BB I think.

Have also purchased some Concorde panto'd chrome forks which will be getting swapped out with the plain crowned ones on here, which will in turn be getting put on the other Concorde frame I'm selling as its are a bit ratty and 700c which is probably incorrect...

Awesome to have the catalogue this was originally in so thanks again FLRN HSSL, will try and get a screen grab up in this thread soon.

in it's spangly original glory... pretty tight!

http://i.imgur.com/CBI6o.jpg

right! New forks have arrived, but the steerer is mahoosive so need to get that chopped and re-threaded somewhere... bugger. They look really nice though and pantographing adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the whole affair... plus I get to put the plain ones on the smaller frame I'm flogging so it's practical.

also took some readers wife style shots of the bars

/softpron

Still swithering over rear wheel choice and also really need some cash to come in so happy waiting a bit-don't think this will be a quick build at any rate but i'm enjoying it so far.

Quick n' lazy update...

Now haz rear wheel... after much waiting and bidding I procured a lovely Mavic 3G crabon rear, some near new Corsa Evo CX tubs, some Crabon Dura Ace TT levers (stripped bolt needs fixing though : / ) and not pictured, a Campagnolo biodynamica aero bottle that happily came with a tourer I just bought.

Put it together quickly for some rough pics of how it is taking shape but really need to get the forks cut and threaded so I can put it together. Still looking for cranks, rear mech and shifters, but cash is as ever elusive and I'm so fucking busy with work finishing it isn't a priority for the moment so can afford the time to find bargainous bits.

Really like the wheel combo for looks and also weight and also the brakes-need to cut some carbon friendly pads to size for them which will be lots and lots of fun I'm sure!

Awesome brakes! What's the model of the front wheel?

Ah man, this will be really bike porn!

^ front wheel is an older model Corima Aero-late 90's? Not sure exactly but it has barely seen any use and the hub feels silky smooth.

a bit nervous about running on tubs but will be an education trying them out to see what the practical differences are at least.

Any ideas for the cranks etc appreciated-I had a cast around to see if i could actually find a Miche Halley group like in the catalogue but no joy. Think biopace rings would be appropriate for the quirkiness and I actually like riding on them having had them on my beater the last few months, but actual cranks I would like to be a bit odd too..

Bloody love this build so far!

Mavic Starfish cranks might look spanking and tie in with rear wheel, bars..

Mavic Starfish cranks .

Words right out of my mouth!

^ this

The wheel combo is going to look great. Maybe some more black parts would be nice to match the wheels. Love the white(ish) laser saddle you've got though...