Building From Scratch

Chase And Face

It isn't every day that you get to build up a bike from the "frame up", but I was given that opportunity at the shop the other day by a local rider. He was keen on doing a gravel/touring/any road bike and since he is also a Minnesota Vikings fan, the obvious choice was Surly's Straggler model. He got the frame, fork, and a box-o-parts and brought the whole shootin' match down to the shop where I began the long process of making it all a bicycle.

Now if you are an older bicycle mechanic like myself, you get all excited when the frame you get to build up is a steel one. Why? Because you get to "chase and face", that's why. It all involves a nearly antiquated tool that is made of machined steel cutting bits and a heavy, steel shaft and handle apparatus. This hand run thread chaser and bottom bracket facing tool was made to clean up the threads in a metal bottom bracket and "face" the outer shell so that both "edges" of the bottom bracket are perfectly flat and perfectly parallel to one another. This makes for a nicer, smoother, aligned bottom bracket. Is it all really necessary? Probably not as much as it used to be when serviceable bottom brackets were still being used, but I'll tell ya what- those cups threaded in so smoothly it was uncanny after the machining operation. So, yeah.....it makes a difference.

After that was accomplished I always move on to what I consider the next essential step in building up a bicycle. That's installing the head set and fork. To my mind, it isn't a bicycle to build until the head set and fork are joined to the rest of the frame.

Chris King, Gevenalle, Old Edge wheels, and Cowbell bars.

The owner chose a gold anodized Chris King headset for this project and so that was carefully pressed in and then it was on to the matching Straggler fork. This is where things can get touchy since you never know how much steer tube is too little. So, after I consulted with the owner, I chose to err to the "too long" side and added three 10mm spacers in addition to the spacers provided by the owner for the build. That should be enough, right? The thing is, Surly Cross Checks and Stragglers have notoriously short head tubes for their size. It's a good thing I added those three spacers!

Well, now I had a bicycle. The rest went pretty well until I ran into a missing couple of bits that were essential to getting this build completed. The old style shifter bosses that Surly uses needed cable stop adjusters. Bah! The owner hadn't thought of those, which is completely understandable. Those little gubbins are easy to forget about until you need them! Fortunately, I am something of a pack rat when it comes to the essential gubbins, and after a half an hour search, I came across a pair of old Profile cable stop adjusters in black ano. Perfect for this build. Now it was on to stringing up cables in some blingy gold Jagwire housings.

Finished build- (Image by Andy)

Fortunately, Jagwire sent its brake housing in one, giant length because I needed a full run housing to the back of the bike. The rest was easy-peasy, and then it came time to mount a Brooks Cambium c-17 saddle on a vintage Dean titanium post, wrap the bars with some synthetic Cinelli tape, and dial in the Gevenalle GX shifters. The chain is a blingy gold KMC ten speed chain and that wraps around a 11-36T cassette and a Shimano 105 triple crankset for a big, wide range of gear ratios.

The owner was pretty stoked when he saw images of the bike on the shop's Facecrack page, and was only a bit ambivalent about the tires, but those may be swapped out soon. Otherwise the build was dubbed a success.

Anyway, building a bike up like this with quality parts is always a fun thing and definitely a good respite from the typical "MalWart" bike tune ups and neglected road bike refreshes that normally populate my work stand.Thanks to Mr. Z for the opportunity and I hope the rig brings you joy for many years to come.

Building From Scratch

Chase And Face

It isn't every day that you get to build up a bike from the "frame up", but I was given that opportunity at the shop the other day by a local rider. He was keen on doing a gravel/touring/any road bike and since he is also a Minnesota Vikings fan, the obvious choice was Surly's Straggler model. He got the frame, fork, and a box-o-parts and brought the whole shootin' match down to the shop where I began the long process of making it all a bicycle.

Now if you are an older bicycle mechanic like myself, you get all excited when the frame you get to build up is a steel one. Why? Because you get to "chase and face", that's why. It all involves a nearly antiquated tool that is made of machined steel cutting bits and a heavy, steel shaft and handle apparatus. This hand run thread chaser and bottom bracket facing tool was made to clean up the threads in a metal bottom bracket and "face" the outer shell so that both "edges" of the bottom bracket are perfectly flat and perfectly parallel to one another. This makes for a nicer, smoother, aligned bottom bracket. Is it all really necessary? Probably not as much as it used to be when serviceable bottom brackets were still being used, but I'll tell ya what- those cups threaded in so smoothly it was uncanny after the machining operation. So, yeah.....it makes a difference.

After that was accomplished I always move on to what I consider the next essential step in building up a bicycle. That's installing the head set and fork. To my mind, it isn't a bicycle to build until the head set and fork are joined to the rest of the frame.

Chris King, Gevenalle, Old Edge wheels, and Cowbell bars.

The owner chose a gold anodized Chris King headset for this project and so that was carefully pressed in and then it was on to the matching Straggler fork. This is where things can get touchy since you never know how much steer tube is too little. So, after I consulted with the owner, I chose to err to the "too long" side and added three 10mm spacers in addition to the spacers provided by the owner for the build. That should be enough, right? The thing is, Surly Cross Checks and Stragglers have notoriously short head tubes for their size. It's a good thing I added those three spacers!

Well, now I had a bicycle. The rest went pretty well until I ran into a missing couple of bits that were essential to getting this build completed. The old style shifter bosses that Surly uses needed cable stop adjusters. Bah! The owner hadn't thought of those, which is completely understandable. Those little gubbins are easy to forget about until you need them! Fortunately, I am something of a pack rat when it comes to the essential gubbins, and after a half an hour search, I came across a pair of old Profile cable stop adjusters in black ano. Perfect for this build. Now it was on to stringing up cables in some blingy gold Jagwire housings.

Finished build- (Image by Andy)

Fortunately, Jagwire sent its brake housing in one, giant length because I needed a full run housing to the back of the bike. The rest was easy-peasy, and then it came time to mount a Brooks Cambium c-17 saddle on a vintage Dean titanium post, wrap the bars with some synthetic Cinelli tape, and dial in the Gevenalle GX shifters. The chain is a blingy gold KMC ten speed chain and that wraps around a 11-36T cassette and a Shimano 105 triple crankset for a big, wide range of gear ratios.

The owner was pretty stoked when he saw images of the bike on the shop's Facecrack page, and was only a bit ambivalent about the tires, but those may be swapped out soon. Otherwise the build was dubbed a success.

Anyway, building a bike up like this with quality parts is always a fun thing and definitely a good respite from the typical "MalWart" bike tune ups and neglected road bike refreshes that normally populate my work stand.Thanks to Mr. Z for the opportunity and I hope the rig brings you joy for many years to come.

Randomonium

Another disjointed blog post with the only real thread  holding this together being cycling.......

Not now.....but soon.

 Surly 650B Straggler:

Smaller statured folk rejoice! (Well.....if you've always wanted a steel bike for bombing around on that looks like this) Surly has let it be known that a smaller wheeled version of the Straggler is on the way. This may be good news to you or someone you know.

It will also be good news to tinkerers and those who want more 650B tires that aren't all "frenchy". It looks as though this bike will have 650B Knard 41's. I don't think "knard" is a French word, so this is why I find that it is different from most of the fare for this wheel size which seem to try to evoke some sort of higher brow, continental flair with their monikers. I don't think anyone will accuse Surly of being "refined" in that manner!

Lions, Tigers, and.......Bears? 

The Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational may be traveling through  black bear territory. A recent news story circulated around this week indicates that near one of the pass through towns on the route a black bear and possibly two cubs are roaming freely around the countryside.

While I think the likelihood of our small band of riders coming across such critters is small, it is a possibility since we will be riding in some of the more remote areas in Clayton County. I find this development incredible since during my time living here in Iowa we have gone from almost no wildlife beyond rabbits, racoons, birds, and muskrats to having abundant amounts of critters that were the furthest thing from my mind when I was a child. Bobcats, mountain lions, turkeys, and Bald Eagles are just a few of these that simply didn't exist, or were so rare as to be legendary when I was a younginz. Now we're talking about black bears? The DNR says that if this bear does have cubs it would be the first such instance on record in 140 years. Amazing!

Mumbo Jumbo- Fat bikes are mainstream now.

Fat Avalanche Of Rubber:

Back in late 2010 the fat bike riders were stoked to the gills because there was going to be one other fat bike tire available. There was the recently discontinued Endomorph, (a moment of silence, please), and the new "Larry". It was party time for fat biking as we knew it then. 

Now, not five years down the trail, there are so many tire announcements and models coming online to purchase that it is almost easier to say which companies don't make a fat bike tire than to name those who do. It used to be something of an inside joke to talk about when Schwalbe might make a fat bike tire. You know, if they did, fat biking would be done and gone mainstream. That would never happen, right?

Right. Well........apparently fat biking is "over" then. It looks as though Schwalbe is actually going to be producing a fat bike tire, or at least have one branded. In typical Schwalbe fashion, it bears a ridiculous name.

All this seems so much like "cashing in" and manufacturers basically admitted to as much when the 27.5" bandwagon was cranked up a couple of years ago. No one wanted to "miss the party" like many did due to dragging their feet on entering the 29 inch mountain bike game in the late 00's. Certainly, by the looks of it, no one could be blamed for doing such with regard to tires for fat bikes! All I know is that in my simple mind the power of economics should sway prices to the lower end of the spectrum. I just do not see how the fat bike market can sustain the growth and with so much new product coming online, it would seem that supply will be bigger than demand. Good for fat bikers, hopefully, that want new treads.

Randomonium

Another disjointed blog post with the only real thread  holding this together being cycling.......

Not now.....but soon.

 Surly 650B Straggler:

Smaller statured folk rejoice! (Well.....if you've always wanted a steel bike for bombing around on that looks like this) Surly has let it be known that a smaller wheeled version of the Straggler is on the way. This may be good news to you or someone you know.

It will also be good news to tinkerers and those who want more 650B tires that aren't all "frenchy". It looks as though this bike will have 650B Knard 41's. I don't think "knard" is a French word, so this is why I find that it is different from most of the fare for this wheel size which seem to try to evoke some sort of higher brow, continental flair with their monikers. I don't think anyone will accuse Surly of being "refined" in that manner!

Lions, Tigers, and.......Bears? 

The Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational may be traveling through  black bear territory. A recent news story circulated around this week indicates that near one of the pass through towns on the route a black bear and possibly two cubs are roaming freely around the countryside.

While I think the likelihood of our small band of riders coming across such critters is small, it is a possibility since we will be riding in some of the more remote areas in Clayton County. I find this development incredible since during my time living here in Iowa we have gone from almost no wildlife beyond rabbits, racoons, birds, and muskrats to having abundant amounts of critters that were the furthest thing from my mind when I was a child. Bobcats, mountain lions, turkeys, and Bald Eagles are just a few of these that simply didn't exist, or were so rare as to be legendary when I was a younginz. Now we're talking about black bears? The DNR says that if this bear does have cubs it would be the first such instance on record in 140 years. Amazing!

Mumbo Jumbo- Fat bikes are mainstream now.

Fat Avalanche Of Rubber:

Back in late 2010 the fat bike riders were stoked to the gills because there was going to be one other fat bike tire available. There was the recently discontinued Endomorph, (a moment of silence, please), and the new "Larry". It was party time for fat biking as we knew it then. 

Now, not five years down the trail, there are so many tire announcements and models coming online to purchase that it is almost easier to say which companies don't make a fat bike tire than to name those who do. It used to be something of an inside joke to talk about when Schwalbe might make a fat bike tire. You know, if they did, fat biking would be done and gone mainstream. That would never happen, right?

Right. Well........apparently fat biking is "over" then. It looks as though Schwalbe is actually going to be producing a fat bike tire, or at least have one branded. In typical Schwalbe fashion, it bears a ridiculous name.

All this seems so much like "cashing in" and manufacturers basically admitted to as much when the 27.5" bandwagon was cranked up a couple of years ago. No one wanted to "miss the party" like many did due to dragging their feet on entering the 29 inch mountain bike game in the late 00's. Certainly, by the looks of it, no one could be blamed for doing such with regard to tires for fat bikes! All I know is that in my simple mind the power of economics should sway prices to the lower end of the spectrum. I just do not see how the fat bike market can sustain the growth and with so much new product coming online, it would seem that supply will be bigger than demand. Good for fat bikers, hopefully, that want new treads.

Withered

Fatback Carbon

The crazy Sunday that turned into an overnighter at the airport in Minneapolis turned into a fry pan hot day at Bootleg Canyon and then a wilted Guitar Ted wobbled off to a seedy dive in Las Vegas with visions of food and bed in his addled brain.

Yeah.......so what's cool at the show? Fat bikes, 27.5"ers, and .....and...blah! It's funny this year, but there seems to be a distinct lack of enthusiasm for much of anything. Maybe it was the seeming lower attendance. (I wasn't the only one mentioning this, by the way.) Maybe it was the fact, as I have said on many previous occasions, that we've already seen all this stuff, (for the most part), already.

But you know what? When it is cloudless, 100ºF outdoors, and the wind starts blowing, it is not fun to be out there at Bootleg Canyon. Not fun at all.

But yeah....the fat bike thing is getting ridiculous. Carbon rims, carbon frames, carbon forks. It's crazy expensive, and obviously lighter than metal. I did see the new Fatback tire, Industry 9 fat bike hubs, and a double walled, drilled carbon fat bike rim on a Felt fat bike with a Bosch electric motor. Wait......wouldn't that make it a fat-motorcycle? Yes it would- with pedals!

There was also the Giant Revolt gravel rig. I like it, but the down tube guard they put on wasn't very well thought out. Let's just call it a "mud collector" and leave it at that. The Surly Straggler is a lilac, sparkly beauty, (not really purple at all), and heavy. Maybe it should be renamed the "Tankler". 

Oh yes, there were a few good things floating about. 36"ers, and adult sized "big wheelers". And $370.00 Shimano mtb shoes you can mold to yer tootsies. I'll have more on the shoes here later. And I'll have more on other gizmos and bicycle shaped objects coming your way soon.......

Withered

Fatback Carbon

The crazy Sunday that turned into an overnighter at the airport in Minneapolis turned into a fry pan hot day at Bootleg Canyon and then a wilted Guitar Ted wobbled off to a seedy dive in Las Vegas with visions of food and bed in his addled brain.

Yeah.......so what's cool at the show? Fat bikes, 27.5"ers, and .....and...blah! It's funny this year, but there seems to be a distinct lack of enthusiasm for much of anything. Maybe it was the seeming lower attendance. (I wasn't the only one mentioning this, by the way.) Maybe it was the fact, as I have said on many previous occasions, that we've already seen all this stuff, (for the most part), already.

But you know what? When it is cloudless, 100ºF outdoors, and the wind starts blowing, it is not fun to be out there at Bootleg Canyon. Not fun at all.

But yeah....the fat bike thing is getting ridiculous. Carbon rims, carbon frames, carbon forks. It's crazy expensive, and obviously lighter than metal. I did see the new Fatback tire, Industry 9 fat bike hubs, and a double walled, drilled carbon fat bike rim on a Felt fat bike with a Bosch electric motor. Wait......wouldn't that make it a fat-motorcycle? Yes it would- with pedals!

There was also the Giant Revolt gravel rig. I like it, but the down tube guard they put on wasn't very well thought out. Let's just call it a "mud collector" and leave it at that. The Surly Straggler is a lilac, sparkly beauty, (not really purple at all), and heavy. Maybe it should be renamed the "Tankler". 

Oh yes, there were a few good things floating about. 36"ers, and adult sized "big wheelers". And $370.00 Shimano mtb shoes you can mold to yer tootsies. I'll have more on the shoes here later. And I'll have more on other gizmos and bicycle shaped objects coming your way soon.......

News Season: Part 4- Saddledrive

Image via "The Bicycle Hub" from Saddledrive

Saddledrive: The dealer only event that Quality Bicycle Products puts on at their Ogden, Utah facility, is kicking off today. No doubt all the big news fro Salsa, Surly, and the other sundry QBP brands will be spreading wide and far across the web today.

Much of the Salsa doings I have known about for months, and it will be a relief to be able to talk about it all openly here soon. But for now, here is a tidbit from Surly that I find quite interesting.

There have been very well planted "spy photos" leaked over the past two months of this bike dubbed the "Straggler". No doubt, Surly will have some crazy story behind the name.    What for Surly has to be a "no brainer" bike to finally put out, the name is maybe the biggest news after all here.

Obviously, the profile of this bike calls out Surly's long running and very popular model, the Cross Check. The obvious name for this bike in people's minds will be "Disc Cross Check", but less obviously, Surly doesn't quite see it that way. Or maybe it is obvious that Surly wouldn't see things the way "we do"? Hmm........well anyway.

I'm also sure there will be a Surly blog post explaining this in the typical Surly manner. Stay tuned for that, or not....... For me, none of that matters as much as what Surly shod the Straggler with. I've seen an earlier image that looks like the tires are a form of Knard, only skinnier yet. If so, this might be a pretty cool tire. I'm sure later today this will be confirmed or we'll find out it is something else.

 Stay tuned for more commentary from me here on the Saddledrive news......

News Season: Part 4- Saddledrive

Image via "The Bicycle Hub" from Saddledrive

Saddledrive: The dealer only event that Quality Bicycle Products puts on at their Ogden, Utah facility, is kicking off today. No doubt all the big news fro Salsa, Surly, and the other sundry QBP brands will be spreading wide and far across the web today.

Much of the Salsa doings I have known about for months, and it will be a relief to be able to talk about it all openly here soon. But for now, here is a tidbit from Surly that I find quite interesting.

There have been very well planted "spy photos" leaked over the past two months of this bike dubbed the "Straggler". No doubt, Surly will have some crazy story behind the name.    What for Surly has to be a "no brainer" bike to finally put out, the name is maybe the biggest news after all here.

Obviously, the profile of this bike calls out Surly's long running and very popular model, the Cross Check. The obvious name for this bike in people's minds will be "Disc Cross Check", but less obviously, Surly doesn't quite see it that way. Or maybe it is obvious that Surly wouldn't see things the way "we do"? Hmm........well anyway.

I'm also sure there will be a Surly blog post explaining this in the typical Surly manner. Stay tuned for that, or not....... For me, none of that matters as much as what Surly shod the Straggler with. I've seen an earlier image that looks like the tires are a form of Knard, only skinnier yet. If so, this might be a pretty cool tire. I'm sure later today this will be confirmed or we'll find out it is something else.

 Stay tuned for more commentary from me here on the Saddledrive news......