Retro Coppi – Complete!

What started out as a cheap little project turned into a bit of a pricy effort, but I’m quite pleased with how it all turned out. A good bit of time spent on google and ebay finding workable parts and at least a half-dozen stops by my LBS. Thankfully, Bothell Ski & Bike has a resident Single Speed Expert in their head mechanic Donny Love. He was nearly as jazzed about some of the parts as I was. Highlights of the build after the jump.

I started with the frame and that’s about it. The 26.2 seatpost was hard to find a solve for, but luckily Origin 8 has some nice parts for tough to find sizes. Much of the other trim was found at Velo Orange. A cool little operation in Annapolis, MD with tons of retro gear. I have gotten a ton of attention for their Stainless Steel Wingnuts (Donny’s favorite for sure).

From there I went with the Ritchey Logic Classic Bar/Stem combo.

For the brake calipers I ended up going with the Dia Compe 610’s that I’d been obsessing over. The wheels are pretty bare-bones fixed gear high-flange wheels setup with an ACS freewheel. The other hard part was Italian threaded BB, but a need for JIS square taper to work with most all current cranks, and again it was Velo Orange with the fix. I looked at a number of cranks, and looked at quite a few setups, but since I was going with a single-speed build, the FSA Gimondi was a great solve. KMC Chain, an old Campy Headset that I had, and of course the Fizik Arione and I’m ready to roll. Oh, except the cool 28mm Challenge Roubaix tires that a friend gave me.

More pics on Flickr.

So – apart from a 20mm silver headset spacer the bike’s a done deal. Ready for some more sunny winter rides. A special thanks to my Dad for giving me this bike when I was 16 and starting me into this crazy life sport, and to my childhood neighbor Billy for helping me out and teaching me the ropes.

We're riding townies, adventure, and mountain bikes. Find recommendations on our store page. As Amazon Associates we earn from qualifying purchases.