A custom built, 1981 Zunow. You can tell it's custom by the lack of crazy neon 80's paint job Zunow frames are (in)famous for.
Josh Carroll, the manager of the SF Caltrain Bike Station, is the best kept secret of San Francisco bike mechanics. The guy has serious chops. Just as importantly when dealing with me, he also has serious patience and a sense of humor!
The attention to detail on a Zunow is breathe taking. Even the bottom bracket shell got some super sexy custom cutouts and paint.
Campagnolo Nuovo Record everywhere!
Eroica California – When building a bike is an adventure in and of itself.
After picking up the Zunow from George, it sat up at American Cyclery for a few weeks as life did what life does…continue on regardless of my well laid plans. Or lack thereof, if I am to be honest about it. A mere two weeks prior to the Eroica California, I woke up in a panic at 3am, realizing that I was leaving the following Saturday with my son for a week in Wisconsin for his spring break. If the Zunow was going to be get built, the arrangements had to be made in the next 2 days.
In a word (or two): Oh CRAP!
At a slightly more suitable hour of 9am, I dropped a line to my long suffering favorite mechanic, Josh Carroll, down at the San Francisco Caltrain Bike Station. Josh is my secret weapon for goofy bicycle projects. Most people view the San Francisco Caltrain Bike Station (SFCBS) as a mere parking garage for their commuter bikes. What they don’t realize is that the building may house their rides, but it also houses one of the most kick ass bike mechanics in San Francisco. Namely Josh. And because not many people know the super nice bearded dude parking their bikes can also hot rod them, Josh sometimes has some spare time for my bike shenanigans. Which are almost always at the last minute.
That says alot about the guy’s sense of humor and patience. I’m just sayin’.
Josh was amenable to seeing what he could do, so I dropped the Zunow off with him Thursday afternoon. I also dropped off my Chris Kelly road bike, which was acting as a brake donor and sizing mule. For the next week, while I tried to get in my only block of training before the Eroica, Josh got to work assembling the parts needed for the build.
All seemed to be going to plan when I got an email from Josh with the following image attached to it:
The silver Zunow, Campagnolo Nuovo Record drivetrain, Mavic Open Pro wheelset, Soma pedals, Diacompe brake levers, Shimano Ultegra brakes, white Soma Ta-Bo saddle, white handlebar tape and white cable housings all came together into a one really sexy package. In my googley eyed lust, however, I completely missed one major detail: No front chain rings, no chain.
It turns out that George had 2 crank arms, each with a different Campagnolo bolt pattern, available for the Zunow. He and Josh were trying to coordinate to get the chainrings handed off, but the timing wasn’t quite working. Life is what happens while we’re making other plans!
The Tuesday before Eroica California comes around…no chain ring, and therefore no Zunow. In order to facilitate things, I drive to George’s house after he is done with work, grab the missing chain ring, make a side trip to REI for some supplies, and then make the equipment drop with Josh in Oakland. I have to leave Wednesday night after work for a side trip to LA. It’s down to the wire. The Zunow has to be ready Wednesday, by 4:00, so I can grab the 4:30 ferry home, finish packing, eat dinner and drive to LA.
If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done right?
When I arrive at the SFCBS, the Zunow is stunning, all ready to go. There is, however, one stumbling block: The gearing. The front two chainrings are a 46 inner and a 52 outer. The rear cassette looks terrifyingly tiny as well. Knowing that the Medium and Long courses have a solid amount of climbing in them and that I am totally out of shape, there is no way I will get anywhere pushing a 46:AnythingAtAll. No way! Josh and I talk over the options. The other crank arm has a 135 BCD bolt pattern and only one chainring on it. Luckily for me it’s a 41. A 41:SomethingToSmall is WAY better than a 46:AnythingAtAll!
While Josh swaps out the crank arm, I make some calls to see if I can find a chainring that’ll fit. Low and behold, Evan at American Cyclery has “a stack of them, what size do you want?”. He’ll bring a 52 tooth down to Paso Robles for me. I just have to remember to not use the front derailleur. Josh looks at me knowingly, grabs a roll of electrical tape, and quintuple wraps the front downtube shifter in place to make sure I don’t do anything stupid in the meantime.
A good bike mechanic is like a shrink, always saving us from ourselves. You know what I mean?
After mad sciencing a vintage Swiss Army medical bag to the front handlebars as a camera bag, I take a first ride on my Eroica California rig. During the short trip from SFCBS to the Ferry building, several things become apparent:
- Running shoes completely suck with bike pedal cages.
- Non-indexed downtube shifting is weird, but one can get used to it.
- 7 speeds are…a very small number of gears.
- Modern Shimano Ultegra brakes paired with vintage brake levers work insanely well.
- Vintage brake levers wreak havoc on non-gloved hands.
- This 1981 Zunow rolls smooth as butter! DAMN!
On arrival home, my partner Heather promptly dubs it “The Tin Man” for it’s all silver finish. The Tin Man and I pile into my car. With a scant 2 miles under our belts, it’s time to go to the Eroica California.