Back to the nineties..

Ample clearance now..

Upon looking for a NOS carbon Campagnolo parts line from the nineties, it turned out that only 10 speed is still available, be it in already decreasing availability. The space margin for the 10 speed chain running aside the dropout however already had been a concern with Tecnos 2, being a 9 speed from 1994. So I decided that once having found a frame, measuring the rear fork width above the dropouts would be a wise thing to do. While Tecnos 2 had a 132mm clearance near the outside of the smallest gear wheel, this 1993 Master proved to have only a 130mm allowance. On itself, 130mm is a perfect fit for the rear axle, but it's the shape of the support which joins the frame and dropout that is critical. Although dropouts are naturally 100% straight vertical, the connecting supports are bent inward in order to correctly connect to the slanting fork tubes.

So with 2 mm less, I knew that a possible downgrade to 9 speed lay ahead. And although almost negligible, the chain indeed seemed to touch the support. So a 9 speed it would be. As the outer smallest Campa gearwheel cannot be removed due to its closing function, and the inner largest gear is also differently shaped with the toothed section pressed aside to the inward, I had to decide which in between gear would have to be sacrificed. I finally choose for the 19, as I frequently use 13 to 18 and 21 and 23 would be needed for climbing. With 1 gear less, the space between most outer smallest gear and the closing nut ring had to be filled up with Campa spacer rings in different thicknesses, fortunately well available on the web. 

So...with nine-speed back to the nineties..