Another Vanni Losa (80's Krapf bike) to be brought to life

[jamesdak]

I'd been watching this frameset since at least 2018. Came out of a collection and was never built. Spotted it as a Losa built bike was hesitant to pull the trigger due to the asking price and what had to be a really tight rear end. The roads I ride are not the best and having a comfortable ride helps. Finally pulled the trigger a couple of weeks ago as the bike lingered a long time and the price kept coming down. Turned out to be one beautiful frame, nicer than I expected.

Just got it back from The Bike Shoppe yesterday. Had then install the headset, face things, etc. Right now I'm thinking of a full Suntour Superbe since I have pretty much everything on hand and the silver parts will look great. Sure do wish I had the old Campagnolo part though.

Mocking it up to check for stem size don't freak over the seatpost inserted to high:



How it arrived:

[jamesdak]

Needed clearance for the rear tire:





Krapf is a bike shop in Switzerland that used to sponsor back in the day from best I can tell.

[gbcoupe]

That's another beauty you have there! Suntour Superbe will be a perfect match.

[jamesdak]

Threw on some Superbe/arc en ceil wheels. I do like the look of this the best.



But unfortunately there is something tweaked, out of alignment in the rear. When I put a wheel in with the axle all the seated in the dropouts the front of the tire is almost against the non-drive side chainstay. If I push the one side of the axle forward in the dropout a bit to center the wheel between the chainstays it's then canted off center up top. So... beyond my crude skills to figure out or fix. May be time to see if there's a frame guy somewhere in the northern Utah area that can sort this out. I know the drive-side rear dropout is pinched a bit in the opening because I can't slide the axle in, I have to go in from the side if that makes sense. Don't know if that's what's causing all the issues or not.


Oh, and I did manage to find the perfect jersey to wear with this once I do get the bike on the road.

[jamesdak]

The jersey made it in and yep, it's a great match.

[JSC]

Those are some rolling paper tire clearances! Amazing where their priorities were back in the day. Going to be a beautiful build, love the paint

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by JSC

Those are some rolling paper tire clearances! Amazing where their priorities were back in the day. Going to be a beautiful build, love the paint

Thanks!

With the adjusting screws all the way out of the rear dropouts there's a more reasonable amount of clearance.

[choke]

Very cool. I'm a big fan of Losa's work.

[jamesdak]

Got back onto this project today. Still trying to sort out the proper wheel/tire solution based on the tight rear end.

Mounted up some new Vittoria Corsa G 2.0 in 700 x 23 size today. Was a bit of challenge finding good 23c skinwall tires this time.

As expected mounting was a bear even after I warmed up the tires. These rims are a bit difficult to mount anything on and the flat, tight Corsa tires where a challange. Had to break out the VAR tire tool for these.



Now there's a reasonable amount of room between the rear tire and the crimped seat tube.





Otherwise these tires clear quite well.

[ntn007us]

Beautiful frame and colors! I never heard of this vintage brand, but definitely like the craftsmanship. Regarding rear wheel alignment, it may be just a slight bent rear dropout, and an easy fix. That’s the beauty of a steel frame, you can sometimes just bend it back

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by ntn007us

Beautiful frame and colors! I never heard of this vintage brand, but definitely like the craftsmanship. Regarding rear wheel alignment, it may be just a slight bent rear dropout, and an easy fix. That’s the beauty of a steel frame, you can sometimes just bend it back

Drop outs are aligned. It seems the tubular wheel I was trying to use and thought was 126mm hub was 120mm and I think that was causing the issue.

Still going to double check the alignment on this rear triangle though before I build it in case it does need some adjustment.

[jamesdak]

Ran into a lot of little issues on this one. Seems the FD braze on was designed for a really old style Dura Ace FD. None of the FD's I tried on it would clear the chain ring. Doug Fattic spotted the issue and responded on another forum about it. Found the right FD and it did solve that problem.

I also used a ball hone on the seat tube to clean it up a bit so that a 27.2 seatpost would move freely in it.

Also got in the new BB for it today so I mounted that and the crankset. Swapped on the bars I wanted to use and then a temporary seatpost and saddle. Pretty much ready for the final alignment of all parts and then to cable it up.

Quick snapshot of it before I get back to what I'm supposed to be doing, cleaning up the house.

[bicycletricycle]

Saddle too high / frame too small.

[DavoMac]

Looking forward to the final build pics jamesdak. Frame is killer.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by bicycletricycle

Saddle too high / frame too small.

LOL, saddle isn't even setup in the pics. As to "too small" I'll ride bikes from 53-56 comfortably.

This is my smallest frame right now and was a great rider last year.



I think this might be even smaller, haven't been out on it yet.



I honestly couldn't care less about what's proper, it's all about enjoying the bikes and having fun. I'm a rebel, LOL!