prolix.21

steamroller – back from the shop

dan — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:21:00 +0000

Got my frame back from Reser Bicycles today and they did a nice job with the prep. Cleaned out the seat tube, installed the headset and prepped the bottom bracket. I did some test fits of the seatpost and stem and figured I’d share some pics. Probably going to be short on updates until my wheels get here, which will be a couple weeks.

steamroller – parts decisions

dan — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:29:52 +0000

Second guessing some parts choices I made early on.

First is my choice of cranks and whether these things are going to clash. I think the Paul Components “Royal Flush” is cool, but I also am wondering if it will just look goofy. The alternative is to find some other type of vintage Campy cranks. I also really dig these cranks from IRD, but I’ve got the wrong taper on my BB for them (mine is ISO, requires JIS). Might have to search on eBay for another option.

Another thing I’m researching is brake selection. The steamroller frameset is made to accomodate tires up to 32mm, which is great, however it means I probably can’t run short reach calipers. I’m trying to find some good quality standard/long reach ones, but the selection and quality of options seems limited. Once my wheels get here I should be able to make a more accurate measurement and perhaps get away with some short pulls (52mm reach).

I should have my frame back today and then I am pretty much in limbo until the wheels get here and I can start making some final measurements.

Update: here is the IRD crank, which I think might be the way to go. I am going to try and exchange my Phil Wood BB for a JIS taper. Will involve a minor restocking fee, but that’s far less then trying to find some reasonably priced ISO taper alternatives.

letterpress revisited

dan — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:13:00 +0000

This was a project I had intended to start a WHILE ago, but never really got beyond cleaning the press. Figured I’d post some pics of it after a good scrub. Having a hard time locating the parts I need. Probably need to enlist some help from Briar Press.

Missing parts include:

chase
rollers
??

Paul Components e-levers & Chris King

dan — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:44:56 +0000

The parts keep arriving, however for as many parts as I’ve already ordered, there are still a lot of others that I need and I’ve not even began assembly. I hope to get the frame into the LBS this week for some prep, and then I’m probably in limbo until the wheels arrive early September.

Update: dropped the frame, fork and headset off at Reser Bicycles for frame prep and headset install. Should have it back in a day or two

phil wood BB

dan — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:08:27 +0000

Bottom bracket kit from Phil Wood arrived today. It’s a shame most of it will stay hidden inside the BB shell.

steamroller – wheels

dan — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:51:54 +0000

Wheels are important, decided to go out all out on these. I feel like some of this build is going high-end, but I figure I’m also purchasing parts that will last forever and can be transferred from frame to frame.

So here is the wheel setup:

Front

Phil Wood polished low flange HUB, 32 spoke, 100mm
Mavic Open Pro 700c silver rim, 32 spoke
Lacing: two cross
Nipples/Spokes: DT Swiss Brass Silver/DT Swiss Competition 14/15/14 silver

Rear

Phil Wood polished low flange HUB, 32 spoke, fixed/free, 120mm
Mavic Open Pro 700c silver rim, 32 spoke
Lacing: three cross
Nipples/Spokes: DT Swiss Brass Silver/DT Swiss Competition 14/15/14 silver

Currently having these built – should have them in a few weeks from prowheelbuilder.com

Still waiting on various other parts, then the frame goes into the shop for frame prep, BB and headset installs.

streamroller – parts update

dan — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:19:07 +0000

First round of parts orders are in

From Velo Orange
- Nitto Noodle Bar
- VO Stem, 17-degree
from Phil Wood
- BRS10S Stainless Steel Bottom Bracket (68/73mm Campagnolo 110.5)
- BMRBI British Stainless Cups
- BMRTC0 installation tool
from Aspire VeloTech
- Chris King NoThreadSet 1-1/8 silver
- Paul Components E-Lever right-side, polish finish

The above lets me get the frame into the shop for prep and the BB and headset/forks installed. Once that is done the rest of the work I can do.

Not sure the on stem I ordered, but I wanted to get something and start figuring out fit. The E-Levers are a bit of an experiment too. I figure there will be some trial and error on some of this.

I’m also debating a change to my wheel setup and going with the Mavic Open Pro’s with Phil Wood hubs. Would be a more expensive route, but it would be better to invest in some bullet proof wheels up-front vs replacing/upgrading later. Decisions…

New Project – Surly Steamroller

dan — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:24:51 +0000

My new Surly Steamroller frameset arrived yesterday, and thus begins what will no doubt be an interesting project. Here’s a quick rundown of what I’m thinking component wise for this build. Nothing is set in stone and I’m still obsessing over every detail of it.

Parts purchased
- Surly Steamroller, lack, 53cm, black
Parts to purchase
- Wheelset – thinking a flip-flop setup, Formula hubs, Mavic Open Pro rims
- BB – Phill Wood BRS10S stainless
- Cranks – Paul Components Road Crank, 165mm, 46t (?)
- front and/or rear brakes -no idea, perhaps something from Paul Components or even Campy
- brake lever(s) – Paul Components E-levers
- stem – tbd
- headset – Cane Creek, maybe even Crank Brothers
- handlebars – tbd (drop, flat, eh?)
- seatpost – Miche Primato Pista Supertype
- saddle – Brooks, I have one on my Scott Sub 10 and I love it
- various other things – pedals, brake cables, freewheel, sprocket, lockring, tires, various tools, etc, etc

There are a number of details that I am still figuring out, such as exact gear-ratios, crank length and whatnot (thinking 165mm). Really the gear-ratio is what I’m most researching right now and I’m thinking 46/17, but I’m still up in the air about that one which may also change my crank selection. Worst case I can always change it I suppose.

I’m also wondering if I’ll have to take it into a shop for certain installs and some frame prep – such as facing the head tube, fork crown facing and chasing and facing the bb shell. You’d think a brand new frame would come prepped for all that, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I may check with Surly and see if that’s needed. There are some indications on the frame that this stuff was done, but there’s also some overspray in areas that makes me think it should be done again or at least cleaned up a bit.

To be honest the more I dig into all this the more insane I think I am for even attempting this build. If anyone has any suggestions on components, whatever I’m all ears.

Here are some pics of the frame. More updates soon…

EMC Replication Manager & vSphere 4 snap restores

dan — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:17:19 +0000

This is something I’ve run into a number of times in our production environment, as well as in conversations with some of our partners so I thought I’d post this information.

In ESX 3.5 VMware had a checkbox option in the GUI that automatically handled the re-signature on a volume, which made the mounting of a snap pretty easy and painless. In vSphere 4.x they removed this GUI option and moved it into the CLI and made it a manual process. Not a big deal, but if you’re not familiar with this it can be a pain if you’re in a rush to restore something.

I’ve written up the following steps that cover the process required to mount a restore and pull an image out of a snap through EMC Replication Manager. I believe this functionality requires the VMware proxy license for RM, so make a note of that.

Accessing replication manager
1. Open EMC Replication Manager console and login
2. Browse to application sets in question
3. Select the replica you want
4. right click – MOUNT
5. Mount host – enter the IP of one of your ESX hosts here
6. Hit Finish
  1. mount will take some time to do and will give you a status update
Once mount is successful
1. SSH to the ESX host you set as your mount host
2. SU to root
3. execute /usr/sbin/esxcfg-volume -l
4. find the snap you want, they are listed by UUID/label
5. execute /usr/sbin/esxcfg-volume -r UUID (of the snap you want to mount)
  1. this will re-signature the SNAP and allow the ESX hosts to see it
6. return to vcenter, refresh the storage on your ESX host selected as the mount host
7. your snapshot LUN will show up on that ESX host
8. browse filesystem, copy folder/files you need to an active datastore
return to RM once done and un-mount the replica set & refresh the storage on your ESX host

Overall a pretty straight forward process, but if you’re in a rush this info might help out and save you some time.

continued blog neglect

admin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 03:47:38 +0000

I’m working on some new ideas for this site as its become pretty obvious I don’t keep up with it in any significant way.

My project with Erica, Cincinnati Re-Adventure is my main blogging focus, but I’d like to do something with this site still.

I’m considering a more Daring Fireball approach with more frequent smaller posts. Seeing if I can somehow pull my google reader shared items/comments and have them publish as posts on here.