Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Project White: Build Update

Calm down! It's certified.
I had no intentions of working on Project White last night. However; the Internet raised it's ugly fist and smote TNI down for a few hours. Meh!

I was planning on doing a bunch of writing, but that wasn't going to happen. So I poured the final two fingers of Woodford Reserve into a coffee cup, (since I have no proper glassware for such a drink), and headed down to the lab to wrench.

There was a lot of wrenching to be done too. I had a special little difficulty last night: I had to swap lowers on a suspension fork. The little wiper seals almost made me come undone at one point, but I managed to overcome. Once the fork was done, the rest started coming together well.

Of course, it is a single speed, so there isn't a whole lot that can go wrong, or that needs to be done. TruVativ 180mm crank, GXP bottom bracket- Check! Chris King headset pressed in- Check! Popped the fork on, then set the bars and stem onto the bike. Brakes.....yeah. Wait a minute. 

Close- but not quite ready yet.
 The rear brake needed a different adapter than I had been using. Found that, then realized why I don't like chain stay mounted calipers all that much. The caliper bolt closest to the wheel axle is always in an awkward spot. Fiddle, fiddle, fiddle.....

Then I found out that the Center Lock rotor is interfering with the brake pad tab which hangs down toward the rotor's thicker aluminum center spider. (groan!)

Well, what do ya expect? Avid Ultimate brakes and Shimano rotors? Right then. Okay, so I set up my tires, (tubeless Michelin Wild Race'R 2.25's on XT 29"er wheels), and that went swimmingly. Gotta love a true system for tubeless. Popped on with a floor pump nicely.

Then it got late, the Woodford Reserve was gone, and I needed to fall back for awhile to consider where I want to go with regard to the brakes. Modify pad? New brakes? Different brakes I already have? These questions will be answered and more on the next Project White Update!

3 comments:

Miran said...

Nice project.
Have an old ss inbred that i really like.
What gear ratio do you plan on using?

Guitar Ted said...

@Miran: This will have a 32 X 18 gear combination.

Tyler Loewens said...

I find a nice porter goes well with bike work.