cycling – the yeti

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I apparently have little to no self control anymore. While I’ve been considering a new mountain bike for a while now, the fact that I walked into Reser the other day and rode one out is a bit extreme. I’ve been saying I wasn’t going to buy another bike off the showroom again, but I wouldn’t really consider this one a showroom bike, and the components on it are pretty much spot-on what I would have built anyway.

What I ended up with was a Yeti Big Top. It’s a hard-tail 29er, aluminum tubing up front with a carbon fiber rear triangle. Right now it’s setup as a 2×10 drivetrain, but the fun part about a Yeti is that their dropouts are easily changed so I could lift the entire drivetrain out and run singlespeed fairly easily.

The bike isn’t really setup quite right at the moment, I have an appointment for a fitting on monday, where a lot of stuff needs to be setup and adjusted. The riding position right now sucks, its too upright, so the seat needs to come up and the front bars need the spacers taken out. Until then, here are some so-so photos of it.

cycling – aesthetics

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Independent Fabrication Grasstrack Racer

With another frame sitting around that of course means I have another bike build looming. There’s no timeline and no rush, and little to no plan for the components and parts that will make up this bike. The basic goal is a geared road/touring bike, something that could take on RAGBRAI or other longer rides if I eventually grow a pair. Rides that I find uncomfortable sounding on my Scott, and unrealistic on my Surly.

I spend a rather large number of hours reading bike blogs; mainly checking out new components and the work of other custom builders. As with everything else, bike’s too have their current styles and they change as quickly as any other thing. While I admire some of the crazy ass bikes out there, my tastes are a bit more traditional. I love the vintage randonneur look, and that is what I shot for on my Steamroller in both color, style and component choices, and as I work through components and options on the Traitor I find myself leaning the same direction.

Top of the list on a build should be function, however you can achieve that in so many ways it’s sometimes hard coming to a decision on it. I’m also learning that your initial component decisions really play a major role in everything that comes after and it can be difficult and expensive to change your mind later.

traitor exile – build update

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One of these will be showing up at my door sometime this week.

I have no specific plans for the build right now, and no real timeline for it. The primary goal is that I want a road bike that is capable enough, and comfortable enough, to take on some long rides. Might sit on the frame for a while until I really figure it out. I was really wanting a nice lugged steel frame that didn’t break the bank, and the Exile got some good reviews.

Also considering some modifications on my Scott Sub 10 – a few changes to make it more of a trail capable CX bike than the oddball commuter setup that it is now.

cycling – building

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I finished my first bike build a few months back and I’m already itching to build another. There’s a lot of satisfaction in the process and being able to pick and choose every component and have a say in how it is setup and installed.

I’ve had a lot of bicycles over the years and any bike I’ve purchased from a shop rarely stays ‘stock’ for very long. I pull parts off, I put new parts on and still it never feels quite right. I’ve had some very nice bikes but until I built my own from the frame up I was never really happy with one before or have been sure it was the right bike for me.

As I said before I’d like to build a second, this time I’m thinking a road bike. I have a pseudo-road bike right now, a Scott Sub 10 and even though I researched the hell out of that purchase, I’ve never loved that bike. I like it, it’s a nice bike, it’s got nice components and it handles nice, but I’ve never really connected with it.

Building a bike is a creative outlet. I went to school for graphic design and after college I ended up doing web development and design, which slowly turned into a full on IT gig. It’s a good job and it affords me a lot of flexibility and comfort in life, but it’s not a very creative job anymore and I think that is the void I’m struggling with. I’ve lost the bug for graphic design a bit and enjoy the more mechanical nature of bicycle building.

I’ve built guitars too, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, in fact I am still in the process of re-building a guitar I already had. With a bike though it feels more interesting, perhaps because I’m a better cyclist than guitar player.

I’d love to have a shop where I could explore bike building even more, even get into frame building. Perhaps someday I’ll get that chance, but for now I’m pretty content building them in my living room.

Now I just need to sell my Scott so I can justify a second build.

steamroller – el fin.

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I would like to get outside and do a better photo shoot, but with temps in the single digits that will have to wait a few months, or a lot of months.

The bike rides great and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. For a first build it’s pretty awesome and now I’m completely addicted and will probably never buy a showroom bicycle again. What should the next build be? Thinking a road bike or something along those lines, something that would survive RAGBRAI should I muster up the nerve.

For a full of specs, parts, etc see this post. Read through previous project posts to see some history of how it happened.

steamroller – update 3

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My bike build has been a bit stalled the last couple weeks due to part orders and because we’ve just been rather busy with Midpoint Music fest and various other things. The good news is that parts are mostly all in and I’ve been getting some critical pieces installed. My new Phil Wood BB came along with the tools I needed so I was able to install that. I also installed the cranks, freewheel and fixed cog/lockring. What’s left are pretty straight forward. Brakes, brake cables, some final fit and tweaking. I also received the headset spacers I needed so I can finally cut the steerer tube to length.

Once that’s done it’s all test fits, test rides then buttoning up a few things and polishing it up. Here are some pics of the latest parts installs.

One project I am going to take on this weekend is waxing my chain, as an alternative to oiling it. It’s a much cleaner option and I’m a sucker for anything old school.

steamroller – update 2

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The majority of my parts have now arrived and are sitting in a box in the living room. I mounted the tires over the weekend and began taking some measurements for cutting the steerer tube (going to add some spacers first). My exchanged Phil Wood BB should arrive this week and I can really get to work then.  While progress has been slow due to parts orders and indecisiveness, that’s also been a bit of a blessing as it has given me time to plan things out and make smart choices. Can’t wait to get it all together over the next few weeks and will probably document in more detail some of the parts installs and assembly work.

steamroller – back from the shop

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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

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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.