Having lived through the "swiss cheese bike" era as a rather impressionable teenager, I was an active participant in the "my bike is holier than your bike" mania. To make matters worse, I had access to a milling machine with such attachments as dividing heads and rotary tables at my highschool. This equipment gave me the ability to do quite a few things that cannot be done well by hand (like equally spaced flutes / grooves in seatposts, diametral and radial slotting instead of just "plain" holes in chainrings, etc.). So on weeknights when I wasn't working in the bike shop, I'd stay after school and modify bike components - resulting in a lot of bartering with my fellow area bike nuts after they had seen some examples on my bike.
The part I'd break most often? Downtube shift levers.... because I didn't drill them, I would totally remove all the Campagnolo lettering leaving only the outer perimeter. I would have this "hoop" with walls only about 3/32" (2.25mm) thick. Score a full "10" for "coolness", but only rate about a "2" (or possibly less!) for reliability. But it was a relatively inexpensive part back then, so I kept perpetuating the folly. On the other hand, it only took me breaking one brake lever to realize that "more air than metal" was a bad concept when applied here! It was not a Campy lever, it was either a Weinmann or Mafac.... can't remember which. I didn't have enough engineering smarts at that age.
The real turning point for me was going to Bloor Cycle in Toronto in 1973 and seeing a Colnago hanging in the window. It was the wildest thing I had ever seen. It was a time-trial built special, with absolutely every component lightened in some way. The frame had no paint, the tubing had a delicate "brushed" look to it, decalwork was blue and the frame had a light clearcoat. I talked to the salesman and he peeled back an unglued tubular to show me how the inside of the rim had "holes" dimple-drilled part way into the alloy. The bike was not for sale, it was on loan from Colnago to them. The salesman said it was around 18 pounds.
I promptly went home and built a set of 28 hole Record hubs and the Mavic gold Record du Monde rims, the lightest thing I could find at that time. Like I had seen on the Colnago, I drilled into the rims. Actually I drilled through the rims, further demonstrating my lack of engineering prowess. Then, like the Colnago, I built a radially laced front wheel. No one I rode with had done this yet, there was still not a mainstream consensus on these wheels yet. One night, leaving work after dark, I was riding my bike across a large parking lot at a fair clip.... and didn't see the curb I was approaching. I was launched over the front, and the rim was in three pieces. I've always thought it might have only been heavily dented or two pieces if I hadn't drilled those holes.... NOT recommended.
Sorry for the length.
Brad Orr Alberta, Canada
At 09:54 PM 12/3/02 -0500, David B. wrote:
>So having read the articles, looked at the photos and pondered the idea, I'm
>considering turning my '73 Bevilacqua project bike into a showcase for
>drilled/profiled and lightened parts. I have a few light parts kicking
>around (Alloy Maillard Course FW, Ti BB parts, and other bits) and some
>parts that are right for the '73 bike that are no longer cosmetically
>perfect and might actually benefit from some creative drilling and filing!
>:-)
>
>Now my question to the group concerns things like longevity/durability,
>flexing, breakage. I'm pretty light (145 lbs, 5'10") and I'd say I've been
>pretty easy on components so far, so I'm fairly certain that I could have
>some fun with a drill and file without too much concern, but does anyone
>have any insights they'd like to share about parts like those shown below
>from personal experience? Things that whistled madly in the breeze, or other
>problems? Those Mafac levers look awesome (and I have lots of old ones in
>the shop) has anyone used anything so radically drilled? How'd they feel?
>Did they bend? Did they crack?
>
>Given that there are 20+ bikes in my collection at the moment it's doubtful
>that this project if/when completed would get tonnes of miles logged on it,
>so I'm thinking that lifespan will likely not be much of an issue....
>
>Anything that you wouldn't drill? Any other thoughts?
>
>David Bilenkey
>Ottawa, Ontario, Canada