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| The Mk3 Gryphon has some nice hardware on the frame. |
As I progressed on the build I was anxious to find my flat mount brake calipers. I was pretty sure I had a set. But as things go with me, I squirreled them away for safe keeping, somewhere. You know, when you put something away that, at the time seemed obvious, but weeks later you can't remember what was once obvious.
Well, that's me, and if you ever knew the rambling mess that is my workspace, you'd understand. I have waaaaay too much stuff here in a small space. So I regularly find myself looking for stuff. No big deal. But these calipers are not a 4mm bolt. They should be fairly easily found, but I could not find them!
I ended up searching on two different occasions and finally found them in the third box of brake stuff I have. (Told ya I have way too much stuff!) Anyway, I knew I had them because they were take-offs from the Twin Six Standard Rando when I swapped out the single speed set up for the hydraulic GRX Limited group last Summer.
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| The lost has been found |
This leads me to a mini-rant about flat mount brakes. Now, I don't mind how they work, and they are not really all that hard to work on, but as a mechanic when you see how many different frames and forks there are, you realize that the "one size fits all" brake bolt hardware doesn't always work.
Let's compare brake caliper mounting bolts with through axle wheel bolts. The through axle wheel bolts are not sold with the wheels. Why? Because frames differ enough that there is a need for different through axle bolts in length and thread pitch. So, the brilliant (and I mean this sincerely) call was made to sell the axles with the frames, not with the wheels. Why don't we do this with flat mount brake caliper mounting bolts?
I have three bikes now where I have had to either shim the bolts or outright find replacements for them because the stock bolts are not the right length. See? Sell the brake caliper mounting bolts with the frames! Oh! And by the way, this was never an issue with the IS standard disc caliper mounts from the 2000's. And yes- this Singular frame needed different bolts to mount the calipers on both ends.
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| The semi-floating replaceable rear drop out. Singular actually sent two. Nice! |
The Gryphon Mk3 also came with this through axle compatible breakaway rear derailleur mount that is "semi-floating". This means that the hangar doesn't become rigid with the frame when you bolt it on with the single 3mm hex head bolt. That bolt, (it is a special shouldered bolt), has a stop built into it that keeps you from tightening up the hangar until it cannot move. The theory being here that the through axle will thread into the hangar and automatically align the wheel with the derailleur you bolt to the hangar, assuming, of course, that your derailleur is not bent. This eliminates having to tweak the hangar because the frame is slightly out of spec. Nice.
But what is nicer is that Singular sent two hangars! So, I have one in hand just in case, which is a nice touch. I've always thought all bicycles with these breakaway hangars should come with a spare. It just makes sense.
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| An older Velo Orange "Grand Cru" head set. |
Part of the plan was to utilize as much silver/polished aluminum stuff that I could on this build to bring a bit of "class" to the overall look. Singular Cycles' Sam Alison has always had an eye for more classic lines (Peregrine, Kite) and classic or understated paint schemes which lend themselves to classic build aesthetics. I wanted to honor Sam's sensibilities with this build and honestly, I like that look as well.
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| Teravail 29" X 2.8 Coronado skin wall tires will complete the look. |
The wheels were a question mark coming into this build as well, but because everything pointed toward the 3X9 set up I am pursuing now, I chose the Project Wide Gravel Wheels v2 for this build.
These wheels have black rims and hubs with half the spokes being black and the other half silver. I use that pattern as a way to designate the wheels as something I built. Kind of "my signature wheel build", if you will.
Those wheel also have an XD driver on the rear for a free hub. I just ordered a Shimano HG free hub to swap that out on the DT Swiss 350 hub.
When that shows up I will get things on the final track to the finish line on this build and I will be able to show it all off. But before that, I'll have one more post showing the cockpit choices and the shifters I am using for the build.
Stay tuned for that post coming soon!
8 comments:
Oh man… That bike is turning out SWEET! I’m so stoked for you.
@MG - Thanks Brother!
Glad to see that triple crank is working out. So what front derailleur will you be pairing it with and do you ever see a time when we will ever see the return of a sturdier, simpler wide ratio 3 X whatever with less cogs, cross chaining and weight be damned than 14, 13, 12, 11 or is this just a pipe dream ??....
@baric - Front derailleur is revealed in the next post ;>)
3X come back? Yeah..... I think that what will happen is that your "retro-inspired" companies will keep that idea alive while the "Big Guys" pursue weird electronica solutions because everyone wants "device based tech" and anything that makes them have to think is for cavemen.
Yeah, that's a bit of a cynical take, but I tend to believe that way.
Greets GT, the health risks involved with workers (often young) polishing aluminum parts all day long was the reason(ing) I was given for the change to black components. So I tried to suppress my preference for classic polished which, of course, is proper.
@Skidmark - Well, I would counter that by saying that those factories must have had poor technology for dealing with that issue. It can be overcome.
Parts coming out of a forge or CNC mill have a lot of dull marks, ridges, or a dull finish on them that would not look as we know our parts do look. So, yes- those black parts? They are polished up before anodizing.
So, sorry. Not buying that one. I'd need some better explanation than that to believe that story.
OK, regarding the mini-rant. This is true, flat mount brake mounting bolt lengths are largely defined by the frame, so it would make sense to supply some with the frame, I'll look into this. That said, most brakes (which I've seen) come with a variety of mounting bolt lengths - or, failing that, you can just cut down the long ones which are supplied.
On 3x (or even 2x) yes, I joined the chorus of bike designers' delight in hearing the news of the demise of that ugly, over engineered, impossible to adjust hunk of metal known as the front derailler. That said, I recognise it has some utility, future versions of the Gryphon may have the same available front derailleur cable stop as the Peregrine - tucked under the BB shell.
@Sam - Yes, one could cut down a longer bolt, but..... That in itself requires some skill and know-how that, I am afraid, not all mechanics or laypeople have these days. I'd much prefer to pay a few cents more and have the correct bolts come with the frame, as it should be.
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