Anyone here a cyclist?

[backmarkerducati]

7 to 9 or 10 makes sense to me as that is a big change. 10 to 11 didn't seem worth the time and money but it was a lot cheaper than I expected so there's no real downside.

On a related note, wife was harassing me for a bike again yesterday. She is competent but doesn't have a ton of miles under her belt. To start, I think flat pedals and either a hybrid or softish road bike (roubaix?). Obviously the road bike will be much faster and lighter but I'm not sure if she'd still find it stiffer than she wanted. I contemplated giving her the Fiori but it has shifters on the downtube so I don't think she would appreciate that and it rides really high so you have to tip it over when you stop to get your foot down which again she would not appreciate.

Used market is still crazy high and from what I have seen new inventories are still down.

I have to get my youngest a new to her bike this year. Looking for a decent non-supercycle entry level 26er in small (GT, Kona, Trek, Jamis...but not too fancy....), anything for a reasonable price goes immediately, lots of price dreamers otherwise. I don't mind one I have to completely rebuild including paint but I am not paying $300 to start there!

 

[daught]

See what are the biggest less harsh tires you can fit. It can make a big difference. I have the gp500 32. Not only are they noticably faster than my cx tires, they are also super comfy.

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[GreyGhost]

See what are the biggest less harsh tires you can fit. It can make a big difference. I have the gp500 32. Not only are they noticably faster than my cx tires, they are also super comfy.

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Good point. I have some 28 mm gatorskins that used to be on my 29er that should fit. I may try and get her going on the Fiori while the search happens. Stick her in a reasonable gear and let her ride it like a single speed if she really hates the downtube shifters.

 

[daught]

Stand by. Next project will be to convert my 80s 10spd to modern 2x10. The biggest challenge is that the smallest cog doesn't clear the chainstay. I am thinking I will end up grinding off the teeth on the 11 cog.

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[Dufflite]

11 SPD cassette machined for 10 SPD hub. 10 SPD derailleurs working well for 11 SPD. Also the tektro 926 vbrake amaizing with the 11 SPD 105 brifters.

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Trying to figure this one out. You’ve got and 11 spd brifter, special 11 spd cassette for a 10 spd hub (I get that), but running a 10 spd derailleur? Why not stick an 11 speed derailleur on there?? Pretty cheap upgrade isn’t it? Isn’t the spacing tighter on 11 speed so does the derailleur even stay indexed up and down with and 11sp brifter?

 

[GreyGhost]

Trying to figure this one out. You’ve got and 11 spd brifter, special 11 spd cassette for a 10 spd hub (I get that), but running a 10 spd derailleur? Why not stick an 11 speed derailleur on there?? Pretty cheap upgrade isn’t it? Isn’t the spacing tighter on 11 speed so does the derailleur even stay indexed up and down with and 11sp brifter?

No indexing in derailleur. That's all in the brifters.

 

[Dufflite]

7 to 9 or 10 makes sense to me as that is a big change. 10 to 11 didn't seem worth the time and money but it was a lot cheaper than I expected so there's no real downside.

10 to 11 just for the tighter spacing not really worth it IMO, but if on 105 10 spd, the upgrade to 11 spd 105 is just so worth it for the shift feel alone. 105 11 spd is just so good.
I wrecked my 105 brifter in a pile up, replaced it with Ultegra for vanity and honestly could never tell a remote difference.

 

[daught]

The shifting feel on my 11spd 105 is considerably worse than the 10 SPD. The 10 SPD required less travel to upshift compared to the 11 SPD. I stuck a spacer in the mechanism and it's better but I still liked my 10 SPD more. 11 SPD is worth it on climbs.

There's a bunch of misinformation on the internet that the derailleurs are not compatible because pull is different. It's wrong. They are 100% compatible.

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[backmarkerducati]

Stand by. Next project will be to convert my 80s 10spd to modern 2x10. The biggest challenge is that the smallest cog doesn't clear the chainstay. I am thinking I will end up grinding off the teeth on the 11 cog.

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Some other options to keep all the cogs:

If you are cold setting the frame (80s 10 or 12 speed I assume it is steel and likely 126 mm?) you may have some wiggle room to get this to work maybe even spacing out the rear a little wider than 130mm or to 135mm if it can safely be done. Or it can be whatever xxx mm you want, it is your bike...

Or do a similar mod as your 11 speed and space (DIY spacer) out the cassette on the frame side to shift it just enough to the inside.

Or finally--respace the axle shifting the hub to the left (towards NDS) by moving spacers from one side to the other. Then re-dish the rim to centre it. There is usually lots of open space on the NDS (rim brake wheels) but there will be a limit to how much the rim can be redished and still be structurally sound (or use the same spokes...). In a pinch I have used steel washers for spacers.

Usually you only have to gain a couple to a few mm to get the 11 cog to clear. Maybe even use a combo of the above, I regularly do the first and last one.

****

I have two in flight like that right now (both personal use so they also get put to the back burner)....

A 60s Jeunet (French bike) that is going 2X8 indexed (brifters) but keeping a retro look. Cold setted the frame. I am re-using the original steel cottered cranks (but retapped for "modern" SPD pedals) and even keeping the 27 inch tires. Original Mafac Racer brakes (can be noisy but they still work very well). Brazeon cable stops have been discretely added to the frame (silver solder). I thought about higher rear capacity but the 8 speed chain works better with the old steel front sprockets which have wider teeth (and I have a bunch of 8 speed stuff in the parts bin). Why? Well people keep saying don't bother upgrading French threaded frames AND this frame rides really nice but I no longer ride it due to the non-indexed shifting. This is a bike that was given to me many years ago and kind of got me back into restoring bikes (I originally restored the Simplex DT but kept the patina....). Just waiting for it to warm up to paint the frame and then assemble, I will post up some pics once done.

Last year I was building a beater commuter/errand bike but the immediate need went away with COVID so it stalled. A nasty CCM Targa gas pipe frame, really ugly. Added the needed brazeons. This is going 1X9 on the cottered cranks, using pursuit bars and MTB shifter (parts bin stuff). I just need something I can ride to the store etc. lock up and not worry about, thief will cut the frame and take the lock sort of thing.

 

[FullMotoJacket]

I just need something I can ride to the store etc. lock up and not worry about, thief will cut the frame and take the lock sort of thing.

I tried to make a SS pub bike out of a Brodie Bikes (not R&T) Catalyst I found on Kijiji. Didn’t work out as planned.

 

[backmarkerducati]

I tried to make a SS pub bike out of a Brodie Bikes (not R&T) Catalyst I found on Kijiji. Didn’t work out as planned.

Still got stolen?

I figure in my case even if it does it was a pile of parts I had collecting dust but still also much less likely to walk away than one of my nice bikes.

 

[FullMotoJacket]

No, not stolen. Cheap enough on Kijiji ($350 IIRC). Tange Prestige frame was a good starting point. XT parts can go on something else.

Ended up with a murdered out, black on black with black accents money pit. Ceramic Mavic 117s on Syncros/Shimano DX BMX hubs, Avid Ultimate Black Ops brakes, Thomson post+stem, Pro Tapers, WTB headset, vintage Shimano DX BMX pedals, WTB Thickslicks. Too much into it to leave it locked up anywhere.

Had a Flite Evolution on it, but snapped it in half on a rooted trail. Expensive ride that day.

 

[GreyGhost]

No, not stolen. Cheap enough on Kijiji ($350 IIRC). Tange Prestige frame was a good starting point. XT parts can go on something else.

Ended up with a murdered out, black on black with black accents money pit. Ceramic Mavic 117s on Syncros/Shimano DX BMX hubs, Avid Ultimate Black Ops brakes, Thomson post+stem, Pro Tapers, WTB headset, vintage Shimano DX BMX pedals, WTB Thickslicks. Too much into it to leave it locked up anywhere.

Had a Flite Evolution on it, but snapped it in half on a rooted trail. Expensive ride that day.

I've had more than one friend with a similar plan with similar results. In the past, it was "I'll build up a cheap cross bike to save my good road bike" and by the time he was done he ended up with a full campy record beautiful toy. Latest one has a friend building a gravel bike with semi-deep dish carbon wheels. Yikes.

 

[backmarkerducati]

Scope creep.

One of the reasons I need to do a beater build is other builds ended up with exactly the same type of scope creep and are now too nice!

Sooner or later I will need to paint all my new "for me" builds the same colour so my wife does not notice another bike... until she walks into the bike workshop and sees multiple bikes the same colour!

 

[GreyGhost]

Scope creep.

One of the reasons I need to do a beater build is other builds ended up with exactly the same type of scope creep and are now too nice!

Sooner or later I will need to paint all my new "for me" builds the same colour so my wife does not notice another bike... until she walks into the bike workshop and sees multiple bikes the same colour!

I just moved far enough out that there is not really any reason to ride to anywhere. If I am on a bike, that is because I am going for a ride and don't stop until I get home. Picked up a poverty razor scooter to keep up with the kids if we go to the local farm.

 

[backmarkerducati]

Couple new bike tools, not really needed as I had other methods to do these things but new tools are a guilty pleasure (and they will make things easier and faster).



I looked around at other options and making one for both of these but....

The Park Wag-4 (wheel dishing tool in blue) was cheap enough I just pulled the trigger, any other option was just about the same price to the door anyways (maybe saving $10 or $20). For wheel building I previously did a lot of flipping the wheel over in the truing stand to get it perfectly centred, this will speed things up and I can use it with the wheel in the stand.

The ZTTO derailleur alignment gage is an aliexpress special (and dirt cheap to the door), it is a copy of the Park DAG-2.2 with some very minor changes. It has a bit of slop in the "slider" (they added a set screw for this), four pieces of electrical tape on the slider fixed the slop and now it works perfect, no need to use the extra set screw. Before I used to mount a spare wheel the the hanger and use a ruler, rotate, measure, rotate, measure, repeat, repeat.... this is a lot easier.



I would have posted up some action pictures but the shop is a disaster at the moment.

 

[FullMotoJacket]

Park Tools:

Con - The quality has been in a downward spiral for 10 years. Howard Hawkins dying accelerated it. Some of their stuff is still the same (headset press, shop rated truing stands, shop rated bike stands, etc.). Their hand tools now are all junk. So much so that their competitors are offering better quality at a better price point.

Pro- There's no C tax.

 

[GreyGhost]

Park Tools:

Con - The quality has been in a downward spiral for 10 years. Howard Hawkins dying accelerated it. Some of their stuff is still the same (headset press, shop rated truing stands, shop rated bike stands, etc.). Their hand tools now are all junk. So much so that their competitors are offering better quality at a better price point.

Pro- There's no C tax.

So has anyone here sprung for the Campy corkscrew? A friend was considering it, but afaik, he couldn't bring himself to do it and bought bike parts instead.

 

[backmarkerducati]

Park Tools:

Con - The quality has been in a downward spiral for 10 years. Howard Hawkins dying accelerated it. Some of their stuff is still the same (headset press, shop rated truing stands, shop rated bike stands, etc.). Their hand tools now are all junk. So much so that their competitors are offering better quality at a better price point.

Pro- There's no C tax.

Agree on Park quality, that is one of the reasons why I went with the ZTTO for the derailleur hanger tool. Basically near 1/4 price to the door (including the four pieces of tape), likely same quality.

For the dishing tool, it was cheap enough that the other lesser options were not all that much cheaper to the door and anything "better" was significantly more money and will not actually do the job any better. I even looked on aliexpress and nothing really popped up as a low cost similar quality alternative (tons and tons of hanger tools though). Tools the same style as the campy above (there are a few options here) would be much more difficult to use while the wheel is in a truing stand (without modification) and if I have to pull the wheel out of the stand to measure I might as well just flip it like before.... The WAG-4 and some of the alternatives can also be used with the tire (even MTB ones) still on the wheel which is nice for quickly checking wheels, used with the wheel in the stand and even used with a skewer still in the wheel.

 

[backmarkerducati]

With COVID the used bike market is tough with very high prices. Anything reasonable (or even unreasonable) gets snapped up right away. It took a while to find the first one below (couple of months of looking).... here are some new projects acquired over the last couple of days:

For my daughter, XS Gary Fisher Tarpon:


She really wants a blue bike, I found a Thin Blue Line in chrome with purple graphics, RockShox Deore equipped but she did not like the colour and graphics (and I did not want to paint it). Anything else went right away before I could even offer or were just way too high. I found this one, really all it needs is a wash, new chain and a tune-up but I will do a full teardown service. She does not know I got one yet. Paid about $60 more than pre-COVID prices, I guess I have to live with that. She has outgrown her 24 (I bought a long seat post last year to get to now)...

Next one is for me.... I stumbled across the listing while "looking" for a bike for my daughter (that is my story and I am sticking to it...). Bianchi Project-3. These are one of the first 29er MTBs, Sky Yaeger era. Going to be a gravel bike when I am done. Some rust on parts, nothing seized. Frame can just be polished up with a few touch-ups (I already painted my Bianchi fixie celeste, debating do I paint or not, if so what colours....).

Bianchi Project-3:


Vintage Deore drive train. Picked it up for a reasonable price. Good facebook marketplace story, the guy had posted it up early morning, "give me an offer". I tossed a pre-COVID price at him for frame value around 8 AM and he said it is yours! Held it until I could pick it up at 7 PM. He had higher offers all day long but he honoured the deal.

I need to clear out the back log of other bike projects and get some suggestions on decent gravel tires (reasonable price) that are also good on road (all around), the frame should fit at least 42s....