- Final shotsWell, the bike was completed almost a month ago. I’ve been so busy using it I haven’t taken final photos to finish off this little part of my site. Not strictly true, I’ve also been lazy but here they are anyway – with added rainy mud that comes with cycling in our summers.
Monday, September 7th, 2009
- Tweaking the systemSo I’ve been riding the bike for a little over 2 weeks now. From the moment I got on it I knew it was gonna be a great ride but unfortunately there were all sorts of tweaks needed. I’ll go through a bunch of them in no particular order.
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
- Shake that assContact points. There are three on a bike: your hands, your feet & your ass. The first has been completed.
Pedal wise I’ve opted for some old fashioned platform types. Again a few people have asked why no clip-ins or at least toe-clips. Simple really, I’m a bit of a flip-flop man, not a performance man.
Friday, July 24th, 2009
- Headset and stemThe frame uses an integrated headset. Part of the reason for this project was that I didn’t know enough about the bike I was riding. If you’d said to me “integrated headset” last month, I’d have looked blankly at you. I bought the frame more than a month ago.
Friday, July 24th, 2009
- Rapidfire bullhornsOnto the handlebars. I’ve waited a bloody age for these bullhorns to turn up. Completely unavailable in the UK currently even though they’re from a UK company. The Charge Slice Bullhorn. There was a Nitto RB-018 option, but only recently had the 42cm bar become available, I’d already ordered across the Atlantic by then.
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
- The magnificent sevenI had decided right from the off to have as least gears as possible for a comfortable city bike ride. In my head it was eight gears at the back, with a single crank at the front.
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
- Bottom bracket and Mavic wheelsYou’ll note on the previous post the wheels have been added. These are entry level Mavic Aksium 2009’s. Lovely wheels I think, bladed spoke and thankfully with easily removable stickers.
Monday, July 20th, 2009
- Darker than brownThere’s been a bit of a gap since the last post. The frame got dropped off to Mario Vaz in Hither Green for a respray, but that only took a week. The delay then was that I went on holiday for two weeks, and then on my return got my camera stolen.
Monday, July 20th, 2009
- I see a red door and I want toYes I excitedly claimed no respray required after seeing my shiny carbon weave frame arrive. However, as I started buying the parts – more of that later – the minimal or retro stylings really didn’t suit the techno feel of the carbon weave. So I’ve return to the idea of painting it.
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
- It’s a beautyFinally I get the frame I’ve been after. The previous frame was every bit as good as this one, but too modern and flashy for me. This has almost symmetrical tube sizing and all the lines are clean without fuss. Beautiful.
Friday, June 5th, 2009
- The wrong kind of loveSo the frame arrived but unfortunately a certain little something quite crucial got lost in translation and I ended up with the wrong frame. It’s a beautiful frame but very modern looking with accents, curves and pinches flying around which simply don’t suit the minimalist vision of this project.
Monday, June 1st, 2009
- Paint it blackMy frame from Taiwan is due today. It swiftly made its way through China to Coventry customs, sat for a few days then got passed through to Parcel Force.
Friday, May 29th, 2009
- Pulling the carbon triggerSo after spending a week surfing eBay for that elusive cheap full carbon second hand frame, I’ve come to the conclusion it doesn’t exist. Then I found a bunch of dubious Taiwanese frames coming out the back of the factory that builds SCOTT & other considerably good brands.
Friday, May 15th, 2009
- And so it beginsI’ve had my Claude Butler hybrid for something like 12 or 13 years. I love it. Sadly I’m not getting any younger and getting up some hills is becoming quite a slog. Time for a new bike. Somehow though going in bike shops I almost feel like I’m being unfaithful to my dear old bike.
Thursday, May 14th, 2009