C.O.G. 40 Gear Review

The Honeman Flyer by King Fabrications

 This post will conclude my C.O.G. 40 musings for the week. Here I will go over the specifics of my bicycle and what I wore for this ride. I then will go over what I would change if this ride were t happen again. 

The course was mostly rolling hills with a few monster grades thrown in for good measure. As a single speed rider, gearing is always of the utmost concern, so I will go over this first. 

The Bike: 

I used a 42T chain ring with a 20T rear freewheel. This results in a low 60's gear inch, which isn't all that 'fast' in terms of what people use for gravel racing, but I do not set up my single speed gravel bikes for racing. I set them up for adventure. 

The 42T/20T gearing leaves me spinning madly on the flats but it is an easy enough gear that I can manage most gradual grades or shorter hills. Consecutive steeps can grind my legs to paste, but one here or there is okay. 

One thing I tell anyone asking for advice on single speed gravel gearing is that you have to know you will never have a perfect gear. Never. If you are the type that is driven crazy by the mere thought of not having the right gear, I would suggest single speed is not for you.  

So, I really like where I am at with gearing and my crank set length also, which is 172.5mm. The big thing these days is to go shorter on cranks, but with single speed it has always been the move to put on a longer crank set than usual. 

There are a TON of theories and opinions as to why one would want to do this. I did it partially out of convenience. The cranks I was using for single speed gravel just so happened to be 172.5mm in length for each arm. I chose these partially out of the desire to go shorter on crank arm length but still give a nod to longer than normal crank arms for single speed usage. 

Because the crank set had a 42T chain ring already the Shimano 20T free wheel was a perfect match to get me into a gear inch range I wanted. So, it all sort of fell into place. It has all worked out very well also, so I do not see any major changes to sizes and types for my drive train. I would like upgrades though. 

My crank arms are chipped and beaten up by gravel. They are carbon, so I feel as though it is getting time to switch cranks. Then the Shimano freewheel, while being reliable and quiet, has been popping randomly now and again. I think a White Industries freewheel is in the cards soon. But all the specifics stay the same if and when those upgrades happen. 

I could get lighter wheels, but I don't need them. And besides, I cannot be more happy with what I have on the bike now. Blunt SS rims are perfectly durable, lightweight, and the specs are dead-on for modern gravel usage. The Paul hubs? I cannot say enough good things about these. They are so smooth and roll like crazy. So, I will be sticking with these wheels for a long time. 

I ran Ritchey SpeedMax tires and they are also highly recommended. I see no reasons to switch those out at any time until they wear out. 

The zero offset Thomson seat post is spot on, but I wonder if I couldn't find a bit more compliance in a carbon post, or a titanium one. I may look into this as well in the future.  

The Clothing:

Image courtesy of Twin Six

Last year about this time I wrote up a review on the Twin Six Thermal Cargo Bib Knickers. I wore these on the C.O.G. 40 ride where the temperatures were in the 50's with a pretty hefty wind for most of the day. 

These bib knickers worked great from the standpoints of comfort and warmth all day long. The chamois pad is perfect for me and there was no binding or pinching in the undercarriage area. The legs stay where you put them, but are not too tight or too loose. The grippers are nice, but they do not tear out hair or grab skin. I just find these to be great in cooler weather. 

I wore a Twin Six base layer under an old Bontrager Classic long sleeved wool jersey. Twin Six hasn't had a wool long sleeved jersey in a while, but they did announce a new piece this week which may bear looking into. (Note: It is only available for women at the moment)

Over the jersey I wore a Twin Six wind vest. I wore Hand-Up gloves for my hands. For socks I had a pair of 12" Sock Guy wool socks I have had for years now. Shoes were Shimano mid-range gravel shoes with plastic shopping bag vapor barriers to keep the toes warm. 

On my head I wore a red bandana and my Bontrager Circuit helmet. All this stuff worked to perfection and I had zero issues with any of it on the cool, brisk day out in the country. Had it been a touch colder or wet, or both, I would have went with warmer stuff. 

That's a wrap on my gear. I was pretty happy with everything. Overall, the bike was fantastic and the gear I wore is mostly tried and true stuff I know works for myself. I hope you all enjoyed the gear review, but if you have any questions about what I used and need to know something I did not cover, let me know in the comments. 

Country Views: One Good Day

Escape Route: Bike paths through Evansdale

Last week was not good riding weather from a wind standpoint. We had major gusty winds up over 40mph and I was not about to do battle with winds like that for a country ride. Then it got cold AND windy, feeling more like March on Saturday than just past mid-May.

Saturday the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective held a Safety Check at the local farmers market and I about froze to death standing there. You know it is getting bad when your joints feel cold. It took me until mid-afternoon to warm back up from that exposure!

Plus I was feeling down about the single person who came to the bike check who had a bicycle which hadn't been maintained for probably a decade, maybe more. When I discovered the STI shifter was hung up, (a common Shimano issue mechanics have seen for 20-plus years) the person who owned the bike claimed it was my fault and the bike "worked before I brought it here!".  

Another example of a bike "I wish I never Touched". Mechanics know what I mean. The "You touched it so it is YOUR FAULT" thing. Never mind the fact the bike hadn't had a new part on it since who knows when, and the person admitted to leaving it in a single gear when they rode it, but never said why. Curious that..... Anyway.... 

New road and bike path construction happening on Lafayette Road all the way to Elk Run Heights.

First gravel: Young Road

Sunday was a beautiful day, if a touch cool for this late into May. The temperature was around the mid-60's with a moderate Northeasterly breeze. I decided at the last minute to divert from my original plan to ride my "Tour Of Southern Black Hawk County" loop and go East on Young Road. This would put all the headwind stuff on the front end and I haven't been out this way much for a while. 

I ran across a new-to-me development in Evansdale. They are remodeling Lafayette Road from Evansdale to Elk Run Heights and putting in a proper bicycle path. This is a great addition to the bicycle trail network, but it needs to go somewhere after getting to Elk Run Heights. Currently it will be a path ending at the park there at Elk Run. At least, this is how it appears to be now. 

The crops are emerging now all across the county.

A brief stop where McStay Road is barricaded. Further up the road it terminates at HWY 20.

I made great time getting out of town but once I reached gravel on Young Road the fresh dump of rock slowed my roll quite a bit! Being on a single speed, I had to meter out the effort accordingly or risk blowing up before I got my route done. Fortunately the wind wasn't much of a factor. 

The next mile after reaching the opening salvo of freshies turned out to be less of an issue and then the fresh gravel and older surfaces alternated so it became a game of hunting for a good line, then rolling easy for the rest of the route. 

Headed North on Garling Road here.

I'm doing a drawing study of these crosses on Holgate Road from different seasons of the year.

After doing a bit of "cheater road" (pavement) headed toward Jesup on Dubuque Road, I headed up Holgate Road and finially up to Newell and a mile from the Black Hawk County line on the East side. 

So, I decided to stop at the New Barclay Cemetery for a brief visit. Then I turned West and headed down toward Waterloo again on roads which were mostly older gravel, very dusty, and fast. 

This was the furthest East I went on the day. It also was nearly the highest elevation point.

It was nice to see the crops poking out. Soon these will be 8ft high corn plants (Or higher!)

A couple of miles from the cemetery I heard the familiar barking of a dog and an owner yelling at it. Of course, the dog in these scenarios never listens to the owner. So, knowing this I stop and start talking to this, what appeared to be, overweight, older Labrador. The dog seemed genuinely happy to find me, and was waging its tail furiously side to side, holding it high, which is a good sign, but you never know. 

Meanwhile, the owner, a tall, athletic looking man of maybe around 40 years of age, comes sauntering out onto the road with two little girls, both probably around five years old, in tow. The man tells "Bucko", (I think I got that right) to sit, and he does, right next to me! It was as if the dog was saying, "Look what I found!". 

The owner apologized for this scene and literally drug the dog away by the collar. I'll tell ya what - I've seen this scene play out several times enough to know that most country dogs are not trained to heel when called upon by their owners. If you have to literally drag a dog off the road, this is a bad sign. This time it was no big deal, and I smiled as I rode away because the look on those little girl's faces was priceless. Plus the dog was no big threat. However; I've had it the other way too, where a dog was threatening me and even resisting its owner. It didn't help that it was a Great Pyrenees and it was so strong it nearly overcame its owner's tugging. 

But this wasn't how this encounter ended, thankfully. It was just one more good day on the bike instead of a tragic story.

Brown Season: Chance Meeting

Escape Route: Waterloo alleys

The last week plus was pretty rough for me. I caught a nasty head cold, which was mainly in my left sinus cavity, and the resulting week of living on the couch or bed, using copious amounts of tissues, and gulping down Hall's cough drops like candy was not a lot of fun. 

Towards the end of last week I began to make gains towards health and every day was much better until Friday came and I felt almost normal. Good enough that an 80+ degree day was not going to get away from me without seeing some gravel.

Now, I was cognizant of my health and I knew I hadn't been out on a longer ride for quite a while. So I did not plan anything "big", or at least I didn't think I had. Besides the Summer-like heat, there was also going to be a really strong Southerly wind blowing. In fact, we had Red Flag Warnings out for fire danger. Turns out I rode in temperatures which hit a new record high for the day at something in the mid-80's and the winds were constant at 25mph gusting to near 50mph at times.

Fun..... I think.

I used the system of bike paths to get out of Evansdale. Here you can see white caps on the Cedar River.

There was a gap to the right I could sneak through!

My plan was to ride the paved trails network through to Evansdale, hop on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, and then hit up a tiny bit of gravel and Level B Roads outside of Washburn, Iowa. This would keep me sheltered from the wind in many places, and it was relatively flat, so hills wouldn't add to the misery of pushing a single speed into a heavy wind. 

I wore a complete Summer kit for the first time in 2025. I was wondering how my legs got so white..... Oh well! Time to work on getting some color into that skin! And you read tha6t right. I was on a single speed. The Honeman Flyer, to be exact.

The CVNT trail was supposedly under construction and when I arrived at the trail head there was a big "Road Closed" sign and some orange netting. But I spied a gap to the right and that was my "invitation" to come on through. Which is exactly what I did, of course.

Weiden Road.

Rottinghaus Road leading to Gollinvaux Road

I crossed the Cedar River and immediately spied two men walking down the bike trail toward me. A momentary thought crossed my mind which was along the lines of hoping these guys wouldn't give me grief for passing the barricade. One of them did speak up just as I passed them.

"Mark?!"

I turned the bike around and the two men were smiling, so this wasn't a bad confrontation, which I was relieved about, but who were these guys? It turns out they were brothers, and one of them knew me via Ben Witt because he lives in Northfield, Minnesota now. He was down visiting his brother, and they just happened to be revisiting their old childhood haunts which were related to the railway that was once through here and was now the CVNT.

What a wild chance meeting! I chatted with them for several minutes, one of them got my picture to prove to Ben they had met me, and off I went on my adventure again.

Weiden Road going by the "Washburn International Airfield". (That is not the real name oi this grass field aeroport!)

Weiden Road's Level B Section.

 

Heading South on Gollinveaux Road was brootal. That wind had to have been gusting more than not, and my legs were getting fried. It was downright hot as well, which I was definitely not acclimated to either. This all reminded me of Kansas. I rode the DK once with a head cold and suffered mightily. This reminded me of that hot, windy day.

I stopped in the shade of some roadside trees near some grain bins which kept me out of the constant blast of wind. I needed to rest and reset. After some water and about five minutes I pushed off again, but my legs were really worked from that effort into the wind.

McKellar Road and then back to a tailwind!

The ride was about two and half hours out and back. I sure was not ready for all that Sun and wind! It really knocked the stuffings out of me and I paid for it with a couple of sharp cramps when I got home. An electrolyte drink fixed me up so I had no further issues there, but yeah.... That may have been a little too much coming off an illness!

But I was stoked to have gotten back on it again and to have met the guys on the CVNT on this day. What a treat! That doesn't happen everyday! 

Country Views: Green Creeps In

Escape Route: Alleys.

After a nasty weather stretch which lasted for several days we finally had a day that was "tranquil" in comparison. It was Sunny, the temperatures were in the low to mid-50's, and the wind was just under 20mph with gusts to 25mph. Mere gentle breezes compared to what had been going on before this. 

I had a hankering to ride the King Fab Honeman Flyer, so I saddled up and headed down the Sergeant Road Bike Path Southward. This won't be possible to do soon since there are plans to replace some ancient, small rail road bridges which cross drainages at a few points along the trail. The construction should start soon. Then I'll have to find another way out of town Southwards if that's where I want to go for a ride. 

On my previous ride out in the country to this one, things were barely turning green, but on this ride it was quite evident that Spring is here. The grass is green, the leaves are starting to come out on the smaller trees and brush, and the farmers have been busy.

The hint of leaves coming out could be seen here and there along the bike path.

It sure looks as though the farmers have been in the fields.

I'm still kind of in my "getting to know you" phase with regard to the Honeman Flyer. So, no big ride mileage today, and for testing, I rode my regular loop down Aker Road, over to Quarry Road, back on Beck Road to Petrie, then over to Ansborough and back toward Waterloo. 

There are some good grades out on that loop which would test the climbing and the descending traits of the bike and my legs, of course! But along the course of this ride, I learned something remarkable about this bike, which I will get to in a bit. 

What the heck is this? Hero gravel South of town? Crazy!

We've had some decent amounts of precipitation lately on several occasions, but we are still no where near being out of the woods when it comes to this drought. The roads were bone dry, dusty, and while there was plenty of places where water was standing in the ditches, the streams are still very low. 

Rural garbage truck. The amount of dust being kicked up is a sign we're still in drought mode.

Is this field planted already?

I saw a lot of fields that looked like the image above where you could discern rows of.....something. Is this corn? In every instance that I saw this it was a field that had soybeans in it last year, so I surmised that it was corn. I'm probably wrong, but if not, this feels pretty early for corn planting. 

Beck Road

So, while I was lost in thought, which isn't uncommon while I am riding, I suddenly felt a tugging on the handle bar. I had found myself in a rut created by a large wheel and tire which had made an impression into the road when things were wet, but was now solid as concrete. My front tire had caught the left side of the ridge in the rut, causing my front tire to scrub and be pulled hard to the left. 

I was clipping along at probably 12mph - 14mph at the time, which is the window for my normal pace. So, on any other bike, this situation would have jerked the handlebar out of my hands or caused the front wheel to flop to the left . In either case, I would have been going down. 

Somehow, and I credit the geometry of the bike for this, I was able to hold the bars steady and steer out of the rut. The force pulling the wheel to the left was so great I could actually feel the carbon steer tube wind up a bit! That was crazy! But I kept the rubber side down, as they say, and rode on amazed by what had happened.

Look closely and you'll find the three deer in this image.

So, the rest of the ride went pretty well. I did run across a fellow on his road bike who said he was down this way from Rochester, Minnesota to ride our trail system. This was when I got back into town and was riding home on the paved trails. He looked at me funny, and I guess I can understand since I was riding the Honeman Flyer with its wild paint job, riding single speed (!), and riding with a flower covered vest and pink wool socks (!!!). He peeled off at a trail intersection and I did not see him again. But it was cool to know that people are already coming down to ride our trails here. 

Two and a half hours later I got home and was pretty tired. That wind made me work! But what a great day on the bike. 

Brown Season: Honeman Flyer Maiden Gravel Voyage

Escape Route: North Side alleys

 After a couple of test rides and a commute back and forth to work, the Honeman Flyer had gained enough of my trust to go for a brief ride out in the country. The goal was simple: Go to the Big Rock and back home again. 

I chose this route because that is where I rode my Black Mountain Cycles MCD on its maiden gravel voyage in 2018. It is also where I first rode on gravel with my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 in 2020. So, keeping the them alive with another test ride two years later to the Big Rock just seemed appropriate. 

It was a nice day, a little hazy with high clouds creeping in which heralded a rain event we experienced Friday. It was warm, about 57°F and hardly any wind, but what there was seemed to be out of the Southeast. I wore 3/4's pants, a bib short for a liner, a base layer, and my long sleeved wool jersey with the Twin Six wind vest. I stuck some plastic shopping bags on my feet and wore my Shimano gravel shoes. Wool socks.....but of course!

Hitting first gravel here. This was about as Sunny as it ever was during the ride.

That's Big Rock Road in the distance.

I wound my way through town casually. The road out to Moline Road wasn't too busy, which was nice. People drive 55 mph on that section which is signed at 45mph, so it can get a little hairy if the traffic is bad. There are no shoulders to speak of either. That lasts about a mile, but it really sucks to ride that stretch. 

I hit first gravel and thought to myself, "Well, it rides like a bike!" Which is a good thing. The Honeman design isn't all that far off from modern day gravel machines, so things like the front end geometry and the bottom bracket drop are not all that weird at all. In fact, a lot of gravel bikes are where this geometry is at. The outlier here is the rear of the bike which features a very different set of numbers. It all starts with that slack, 70° seat tube, which in reality measured out for me at a half a degree slacker than that! 

It's a keeper!

I'll likely have a deeper dive into the historical aspects of this idea, but as for now, I'll just say that the entire design seems to be a very relevant one to gravel riding. As I said, the front end is, for all intents and purposes, "standard gravel geometry fare". The rear is the old married back to what was old, and the entire package just really shines for me on gravel. I'll also say that the fact that the bike is a steel bike makes this even hit home more precisely. 

The slack seat tube angle "works" that seat post more, and perhaps the angles of the rear triangle help here as well. All I can say is that this is a very, very smooth riding bike. The thin gauge steel tubing helps a lot too, but whenever a builder chooses thin gauged steel, you have to start riding more calmly and smoothly. This would not be the bike for a person that pedaled in squares, but not because of the geometry, but because of the frame tubing. 

I had a Tomassini road bike built out of Columbus SL tubing and you HAD to ride that bike with excellent form or it would hate you. This bike is not that bad, but I can tell it rewards a smoother, more efficient pedaler. I'm fine with that. If you wrassle your bike, you should err on the side of heavier gauge steel, in my opinion. 

The rural beer drinkers must have been kickin' it old school recently.

That little grouping of trees off to the left here on Big Rock Road held some new arrivals from the South.

As I rode along Big Rock Road I was ruminating on how I had not yet seen, nor heard, any Robins yet this year. And then it dawned on me that the Red Winged Blackbirds should also be back by now. But I had seen no signs of either. I looked across a field and then a small group of trees was coming up on my left. I saw movement, I heard sounds. Both Red Winged Blackbirds and Robins in the same trees! 

Check and check! 

Well, I suppose the Robins will be heard outside the house any morning now then. Up until now though, they haven't been heard singing their random, warbly song. 

What?! "Normal" gravel conditions? Weird.....

It is still insanely dry and dusty out in the country. At least the roads aren't ditch-to-ditch crushed rock three inches deep. I don't know what sort of rain we got, but we're going to need a whole lot more of that before we are out of the woods with regard to the drought here. 

As for the Honeman Flyer, I have to await the incoming through axle (should be today) and then all will be done with it and then it will be on to more riding. Until then.....

Honeman Flyer Update: Finished & Test Ride Impressions

 Okay, today y'all get to see this thing. I have to say that the build process for this was fraught with difficulties. More so than I thought it might be. While the bike is complete and rideable there will be some adjustments and probably a couple of changes as well. 

The seat collar I borrowed from Carl, my coworker, is one thing. While it works well, the red anodized color sticks out like a sore thumb. The incoming Wolf Tooth collar in black should calm that down a bit.

I also will have a Wolf Tooth through axle coming in so I can return the current through axle to the Standard Rando v2. I am still adjusting the stem/saddle set up also. 

But besides those things I think this bike is a go and I am pretty happy with how it all turned out. ironically that super-slack seat tube angle turned out to be not a big deal, in terms of set-up. I feared that I would be so far out of whack in terms of my relationship to the bottom bracket that it would be a negative, but as you will soon learn, that is not the case at all. First up, let's take a look at this thing, shall we?

A couple more notes first before I get into my impressions of the build and looks. These are Teravail Rutland 700 X 42mm tires on Velocity Blunt SS rims laced to Paul WORD Disc hubs. The inner rim width on these is nearly 27mm at 26.6mm. That's spreading out the Rutlands to look like more than their 42mm width. In fact, the rear tire measures out at 44.1mm at sub-40psi. With that there is adequate rear tire clearance all around, but a larger tire would not be advisable if I were to ride in wet or muddy conditions. That's fine, because I have a single speed with 29"er tires in the Pofahl Signature and I did not want another bike that did what I already have. 

The gear on the bike is exactly the same as I ran on the Twin Six when I had it single speed, so that is very familiar and a perfectly good gear for rolling hill terrain, such as I expect to ride with this bike. At some point I'd like to buy a White Industries 20T freewheel and replace the Shimano one, but for the time being it is good to go. 

Finally, some of you may have noticed that there is a rear derailleur hangar on this bike. I could run an AXS SRAM 1 X set up, since there would not have to be any cables, but that was not the plan going in. It's just a "happy" accident since Paragon Machine Works doesn't offer a single speed only insert. 

The Looks: Overall, I am pleased. This is the best paint job on a bike I've ever had. Runners up include the 1992 Klein Attitude in Sunset Linear Fade and my old orange Badger which was painted by Joe Bell. This Honeman Flyer takes the cake though. I'm not riding this anywhere and going unnoticed, that's for sure! 

 The logos in raw steel are super-rad. It almost looks like a part of the design of the paint since the font is so weird. You can see the tooling marks on the steel which is kind of neat as well. The colors are great. Remember, I let Li King do whatever he wanted as long as it was the signature crackle style paint, and this is what Li chose to do. I am very happy with the outcome. 

Overall the bike looks modern and rakish, not too old or stuffy, even though it is based upon a 1930's era track bike. You do see the super-slack seat tube angle if it is pointed out, but otherwise I think it looks pretty much like a "gravel bike" looks these day, only in steel with a mind-bending paint job. 

Of course, I had to put a Trans Iowa sticker on there!

The Ride: I was a bit afraid of the thin gauged steel tubing and the wispy stays, but strangely enough, this bike is pretty solid and I don't have to baby it when climbing a steep hill in a low, high-torque way. Nor did I notice much, if any, bottom bracket side-to-side motion. So, I think that, while it is definitely not the tankish, solid feeling of a Standard Rando, it will hold up fine to single speed usage. 

The whole set-back to the saddle position in relation to the crank set is fascinating to me. I felt no real big difference in seated pedaling or climbing other than that I knew I was "folded up" on the bike a bit more, which you could tell while pedaling. But getting up out of the saddle is no big deal, and cresting a climb while standing felt totally normal. 

I did notice that in cornering I could set my outside pedal at the six o'clock position and plant the bike in a much more solidly felt way than on any of my other bikes. That was a big surprise and I quite like this new feeling. 

The slack head tube (71°) did not wander on climbs or cause me to have to work harder when turning to resist any sort of wheel flop. The bike turns like a bike at slow speeds, so this was nice to find out. Surprisingly, I clipped my sole of my ginormous Giant mtb shoes in a tight corner. But I do have the cleats set waaaay back on these shoes, and they are bulky. I may not have any issues at all with "normal" gravel shoes, and this was barely a scrape as it was. 

The bottom bracket drop on this is 76mm, which is 1mm deeper than my Twin Six Standard Rando v2, and I like this a lot. It's definitely noticeable and it helps keep the saddle to bar drop a little more in check. This ain't no cyclo cross design! It feels very stable at speed and I can let go of the bars and it feels pretty rock solid. 

Of course, it has a springy ride feel. It definitely scores that "steel feel" in spades, but it doesn't feel like a noodle and it accelerates fine for me. I cannot complain about anything here. One more note: I feel more "draped over the bike" on this Honeman Flyer than I do on most any other bike I own save the Fargo Gen I. So, this is very encouraging.

So Far... I've got to do some country riding on this before I can give it my 100% seal of approval, and of course, there are some tweaks to be made which will affect the outcome overall. But the Honeman Flyer is very, very promising so far. I am planning on a final take on the bike and how it relates to today's gravel rigs in the near future. Updated: That review can be found HERE.

Thank You: I want to kick off this by thanking Erik Mathy up front. Without him this bike would never have happened, and that is not hyperbole. It was he that put the idea together with a story idea, the builder, and a trip plan for me and he was definitely the "glue" behind the scenes. Otherwise this would have been nothing more than another one of my blog postings and I probably would never have had the chance I have now to try this idea out. So, THANKS Erik!

Of course, you need a frame builder and Li King of King Fabrications was that frame builder. The frame and the paint job are all done at a very high level of talent and expertise, and Li translated the geometry idea perfectly, which was key to this being a success. Thanks!

Then I have to thank my friend of many years, Ben Witt of Heath Creek Cycles for his building the front wheel and making a way for me to get the fork and send it direct to King Fabrications, which saved a lot of time. Thank you, Ben!

Honeman Flyer Update: Overcoming Until The End

 A new day. More challenges to meet with the Honeman Flyer build. The first task on this day was to measure once, twice, and three times. Mock up the stem and spacer stack. Measure some more just to confirm. Then..... The Cutting!

You know, whenever you cut a steer tube, that is a great metaphor for commitment. There is no going back once the saw bites that steer tube, so you'd better be damn sure what you want is really what you want. 

Then the carbon factor was there also. I know what to do there, and if I may brag on myself a moment, I think this was the finest cut on a carbon steer tube I've ever made. It looked factory fresh when I was finished, just like you'd want it to.

That fork install went well, and the trick there is to use some carbon paste on the plug for the steer tube so it doesn't pull up when you try to adjust the head set. That and greasing the parts of the plug that slide against each other, which also aids in the smooth operation of the plug. Preparation is 9/10's of the job, ya know? 

That front through axle thing bugged me and I ended up getting the Salsa Dead Bolt to go through the Paul hub with a little coercing. Man! How can two things be off so much from each other that they are nearly incompatible?  At least the correct through axle is being used on the fork now. Warranty recovered!

The next step was to get my new front wheel ready. I knew that I had a stack-o-rotors.......somewhere....but where?! I could not find them in the swirling vortex of parts and boxes and whatnot. Dang it! Another hitch in the process. But I did find a matching rotor on a wheel set I had hanging up that I am not using now. So, off it came, and on it went. Well, after cleaning, it went on. A little isopropyl bath does wonders. 

Then it was on to getting the brakes on the bike. I tell ya! That weird all-the-way through bolt set up on the Waxwing fork is both weird and ugly. But....it's the fork I have. So, since these bolts are really odd-ball, and - of course - Salsa does not provide you with any, the search was on. I was digging through everything I had for bolts and found only one. For the curious out there, the bolts that fit are typical "water bottle" bolt threaded and sized, but longer. A lot longer! 

Fortunately I have run fenders for so long that I have accumulated many longer M-5 bolts in my time as a rider and mechanic. That is why I found one stainless steel one. I had another, but it was way too long. In the end, I had to bust out my Dremel and saw off the longer bolt to fit. After a little careful dressing with a file, it was good to go. Another hurdle overcome.

But it didn't stop there. The rear brake takes extra short bolts, because - why not? So, I had to scrounge those up as well. Fortunately I have tons of shorter M-5 bolts laying about. But the difficulty level in getting these bolts to go into the calipers through the rear axle insert is about as hard as dealing with the rear-most bolt for a caliper on Gen I Fargo. In fact, you are best off removing the rear wheel for access. I'll get to the actual brake set up later where you have to have the rear wheel installed.....

So, on to the handle bar and stem. I measured, as I said before, and determined that I really needed a longer stem. I had a 90mm one that is off a Raleigh, maybe even the OG Tamland one, not sure, but it would do. Then a handle bar.... 

I dove into the pile of ancient flared drop bars I have and found my old Ritchey Venturemax bar. Those are the bars with that weird, bump in the drops, as you might recall. I always kind of liked those, so they went on the bike. 

After that, those gifted TRP levers went on there and I positioned those and tightened up the clamps. I have used a lot of Tektro/TRP stuff over the years so I was pretty sure I'd like these levers despite never having tried them before. 

Then it was on to installing the wheels and setting up the brake housings and cables. I decided on using an inline brake adjuster for the rear brake only. I don't use the rear brake a ton, but having an adjuster on the front end of the bike is nice when you have an adjuster at the caliper for the front brake as well. Just a weird preference I have. 

I then taped and zip-tied the housing for the rear down and taped and routed the front through the fork, as the Waxwing features a through-hole route for the front brake. These are cool and all, but if you run a hydraulic set up, they are a pain in the butt because you then have to bleed the front brake. 

Now it was time to set the brakes up. Man! having to reinvent the wheel, as it were, to set up brakes on this bike was a total pain, and then with the rear caliper bolt placement. gah! I had to check into the Paragon Machine works site to see how the rear caliper was to be mounted and learned that it did not need an adapter for the 160mm rotor. So, after about a half an hour of fiddling around with that I finally started making some forward progress again. 

Since you have to have the rear wheel in to set up the calipers in relation to the rotors, you have to be a very patient and flexible person to manipulate the hex key to get in there to loosen and tighten the bolts until you finally get that caliper where it needs to be. VERY fiddly! Not a fan of that design for that reason, but hopefully I don't have to get in there again any time soon.

After the brakes were all set up I then wrapped the bars. I had thought about using this magenta colored tape I have, but just as I was about to put it on I decided that it clashed with the pink color of the paint job. Too close and not contrasting enough. So, I removed the old (well - not very used) tape I had on that last gravel mutt Schwinn project and used it over. It was in almost-new condition, and I carefully wrapped it in the same direction and on the same sides as it was installed in before. 

Now I was on the home stretch. My thoughts turned to test riding, but..... I did not have the correct through axle for the rear wheel. But hey! I have several bikes. I wondered if one of them might have a through axle I could "borrow" for the time being. 

The Black Mountain Cycles through axle was no good. Different thread pitch. However; the one in the Standard Rando v2 did work. Cool! Now I had a chance to ride yet! I just needed to install bottle cages, set up the chain, and give everything the once-over. 

I ended up going with my tried and true chain choice for single speed - the ubiquitous and lowly SRAM PC-830. Not a "sexy" choice at all, but serviceable and I have a few spares which I could choose from. I selected a near-new one and popped it on. Then I adjusted the Paragon Machine Works sliding rear drop outs. If you have never used these, they are bomber and easy to adjust. But - you need an 8mm box end, a 5mm hex key, and a 4mm hex key to adjust them. So, not very "in-the-field" friendly to adjust, but if you remember a tool kit, make sure you have those three wrenches! 

Final adjustments were made and a recheck of all the fasteners was done. This thing was almost ready to go. Pedals installed, (old, beat to hell Shimano SPD's), and air in the tires. Test ride forthcoming....

Stay tuned for the final reveal tomorrow.....