Thursday, May 20, 2010

My First Custom (Part II)



So close, but not quite yet . . .


(Oh, come on dad!  When can I go out and play with the neighborhood bikes?)

So maybe I'm just a little slow, but building up my first bike from scratch has really enlightened me as how many little parts there are on a bicycle that you (or at least I) completely ignore.  Ferrules, cable stops and shift-lever covers, for example. And it was only when I actually went to install the brakes that I realized that a traditional front cantilever requires a cable hanger (which I had not purchased).  Then - and this is really evidence that I might not be the brightest tool in the box - I go ahead and order two different hangers, because I can't decide on a style, and they are both the wrong size and too small to fit my stem.  D'oh!!  After unsuccessfully trying to locate an in-stock 1 1/8ths hanger from my local bike shops, I now have another couple of hangers on order - two different styles again and both, hopefully, the correct size this time.

(Ready to roll, except for front brakes . . . and fenders, lights and a rack.  But mostly brakes.  Dig those custom wheels!!)

  
(Apparently, you can now count me as a member of the cult of Brooks.  Does this make me a hipster?  Do I have to grow an ironic beard and start wearing skinny jeans?)

 
(Rack by Portland Design Works.  They really make some great looking accessories.)

I am very proud of myself for getting the shifter set up and adjusted correctly.  There is probably a trick to easily attaching and detaching the shift cable to and from the hub, and I probably just need to practice taking the wheel off and putting it back on several times, but it seems a lot more involved than getting the wheel on and off on the standard external gear setups that I am used to.  Having to remove this wheel in the rain on the side of the road to fix a flat does not sound fun at all (not that fixing a flat is ever fun).  Glad I did not skimp on the tires as I think it is going to be awhile before I feel comfortable with this setup.

Friday, May 14, 2010

My First Custom (Part I)



I've owned eight bicycles in my life so far: the first two were hand-me-downs, the third was the greatest Christmas gift of all time, the fourth was the only mountain bike that I have ever owned, the fifth was a great tourer that I wish I never sold, the sixth was my first "serious" bike and the first (and hopefully only) bike that I ever got stolen, the seventh is my current every-day commuter and the eighth is the fastest little rocket that I have ever ridden.  All pretty different, but equally great, bikes in their own way.  All bought pretty much off the shelf.


Which, of course, brings us to number nine.


Number nine is going to be my first custom build - all components carefully chosen and then brought together by my own fumbling hands.  For a long time, this bike has just been an idea, but the idea is actually getting pretty close to being a reality.


I wanted a touring/cyclocross-style bike that allowed running wider tires, including winter studs, with fenders, but that stayed with 700cc wheels rather than the smaller mountain bike wheels. I looked at the Long Haul Trucker and Cross-Check from Surly, but ended up going with the Devil frame from Handsome Cycles.




Here is the frame without the fork.  I had my local awesome bike shop (Roscoe Village Bikes) install the crank for my Alfine hub drivetrain since I don't have the tools to chase and face the bottom bracket.  The Devil frame really is quite handsome - great lines with a very nice powdercoat paint job.  The frame also comes in a mixte, the She Devil.


I started buying parts for this bike at the beginning of last winter, including having a set of wheels built with an Alfine 8spd hub and a Shimano generator hub for the front.  Alex Tweedie, who owns and operates RVB along with his wife Lesley, had previously built up a rear wheel for my current commuter after having lost the valiant fight to keep my crappy stock wheel true.  That was my first hand-built, custom wheel and I am completely hooked.  That wheel has stayed true and ran smooth through the worst I have thrown at it.  So it was a no-brainer to have Alex build up the wheels for my new ride.  The new gorgeous wheels have been sitting in my home office along with a growing box of parts.  I sort of worked backward, with the frame being bought after a lot of the other major parts were purchased.


I have never tried to build up a bike before, and my experience with actual bicycle maintenance has been limited to changing tires, fixing flats and installing and swapping out accessories.  A bicycle isn't that complicated of a machine, but if you have never put one together from scratch before it is a little intimidating.  Also, the bike repair/maintenance books out there seem to assume a certain base level of knowledge - they probably make great reference books for mechanics or people who already have a general idea of a bike's mechanisms, but are a little bewildering for a complete newbie like me.




Luckily, Google is our friend.  A little web surfing came up with a bunch of great tips and tricks.  For example, for cutting the stem you often hear people talking about doing it with a hack saw, which carries all the worries of getting the cut straight and cleaning up the edges when you are done.  However, turns out that if you just bop on over to Home Depot and buy yourself a $10 pipe cutter from the plumbing supply section, it works like a charm - straight cut, clean edges.  The picture above is the headset stack assembled on the uncut fork stem, and the picture below is after I cut down the stem and slipped on the handlebars, shifter and brake levers.



All of this is taking me far more time that it probably should.  And certainly more aggravation that is strictly necessary. (Seating the headset cups to the frame involved copious amounts of banging, foul language and despair, and in the end only came together with the help of one seriously gerry-rigged setup that had no reason to work, but somehow managed to anyway.) But, I'm still enjoying the process, and am learning a lot about my bike's mechanics' that I never knew before.  I will probably always be the guy who takes his bikes in to the local shop to get everything tuned up professionally a couple times a year, but I already feel a lot more confident about undertaking maintenance tasks that go beyond the basics.

Next up is wheels, installing the brakes, routing the brake lines and seeing if I can get the shifter mechanism hooked up and adjusted correctly.


Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Tales of a Random Randonneur

"random" --  proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason,or pattern

"randonneuring" -- a type of organised long distance bicycle riding, with rides typically covering between 60 to 750 miles. A participant is known as a randonneur, and an event is a randonnĂ©e.  Randonneuring is not a competitive sport. It is a test of endurance, self-sufficiency and bicycle touring skills. All riders who complete the task are congratulated, and no prizes are given to those with the fastest times


I am going to start posting about bicycles and bike riding.  I am a big bicycle geek, but not a racer or even more than a semi-regular participant in club rides and other organized bicycle events.  While I don't object to riding with others, all my best rides have been just the bike, the road and me.


My ideal day of bicycling is a long, rambling ride - equal parts effort and exploration; with extended bursts of speed; punctuated by stops to take photographs or sip good, strong coffee at a small cafe; and a large portion of semi-aimless wandering, where I am able to take the next side road just to see what's there.  I rarely get to indulge in such rides.  The demands of work schedules, domestic obligations and my own deep laziness intrude.  Yet I continue to aspire.  I am going to begin to use this blog to explore those aspirations and, hopefully, record at least a few instances where the aspiration is realized.


I currently own two and one half bikes (the half being an almost completed work in progress), and have been hooked on bicycles from the very first time I swung a leg over and pushed off when I was eight-years old.  I have mostly been a recreation and fitness rider, but in the last couple of years have become a (mostly) daily commuter as well.  I have done a handful of organized century rides, with the longest being the Seattle to Portland (STP) ride, and have done countless extended rides allure libre.

My current (constant?) goals are to lose back a chunk of the weight I have gained in recent years and to be better about taking a camera with me (and using it) when I am out on the bike.  My new aspiration is to do some multi-day touring and perhaps a little bike-camping.

When I am out on an extended ride, I like to have a general route in mind, but then take any alternative route or side road that might look interesting.  I like to get purposefully lost.

I imagine my bicycling posts will be much like my bike trips - long, rambling, without any particular destination or purpose outside the act itself and likely much less frequent than would be the ideal.