Saturday, December 22, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Arlington's Car-free Diet
In todays mail...
Arlington seems genuinely interested in promoting, and facilitating, public transportation. This brochure talks about how healthy you'll be, how much greater you'll feel and how much money you'll save by riding your bike. Pretty cool - not to mention the sweet pocket trail map...
Hmmm..I am feeling a little fat.... and broke...
Time to learn some new routes.
Thats my commute. Ballston to DC - Epic. Whats with dudes calling rides epic? You know what's epic...the movie 300...and that song by Faith No More...
Arlington seems genuinely interested in promoting, and facilitating, public transportation. This brochure talks about how healthy you'll be, how much greater you'll feel and how much money you'll save by riding your bike. Pretty cool - not to mention the sweet pocket trail map...
Hmmm..I am feeling a little fat.... and broke...
Time to learn some new routes.
Thats my commute. Ballston to DC - Epic. Whats with dudes calling rides epic? You know what's epic...the movie 300...and that song by Faith No More...
Installing the Rear Cassette
...and my first mistake.
So I ordered the wrong type of wheel. All along I knew I wanted to do a Campagnolo drivetrain and ordered a wheel that was only compatible with a Shimano rear cassette. I somehow missed that there is a difference between the two. Some quick research lead to to find a company called American Classic that remedies this problem with the creation of a Campagnolo spaced (but Shimano freewheel compatible) rear casstte -- nice!
Shimano compatible freewheel (my wheel)
Campagnolo compatible freewheel - note the notches and their spacing (what I should have bought)
American Classic cassette (the remedy)
Installation seemed pretty straight forward. Pop the cassette cogs and spacers off the retaining post while keeping them in order (above) - then place them on the freewheel like so...
...followed by a spacer...
I repeated this process until all the cogs and spacers where in place. This was extremely easy because the cogs and spacers have 9 notches each--and only one is larger than the others. I aligned that with the appropriate notch on the freewheel and they all went on smooth.
All that was left is the treaded lockring...
Now, I don't have have the "proper" tool for this job. Park Tool makes a cheap "Cassette Lockring Tool" that cost a few bucks at the bike shop down the street. But I got uh...inventive...with it and just grabbed my needle-nose pliers. I was careful not to strip the notches...
I turned the lock ring until it "locked" - meaning I didn't think it was going to get any tighter. 8 bucks saved!
She spins...
Awesome.
So I ordered the wrong type of wheel. All along I knew I wanted to do a Campagnolo drivetrain and ordered a wheel that was only compatible with a Shimano rear cassette. I somehow missed that there is a difference between the two. Some quick research lead to to find a company called American Classic that remedies this problem with the creation of a Campagnolo spaced (but Shimano freewheel compatible) rear casstte -- nice!
Shimano compatible freewheel (my wheel)
Campagnolo compatible freewheel - note the notches and their spacing (what I should have bought)
American Classic cassette (the remedy)
Installation seemed pretty straight forward. Pop the cassette cogs and spacers off the retaining post while keeping them in order (above) - then place them on the freewheel like so...
...followed by a spacer...
I repeated this process until all the cogs and spacers where in place. This was extremely easy because the cogs and spacers have 9 notches each--and only one is larger than the others. I aligned that with the appropriate notch on the freewheel and they all went on smooth.
All that was left is the treaded lockring...
Now, I don't have have the "proper" tool for this job. Park Tool makes a cheap "Cassette Lockring Tool" that cost a few bucks at the bike shop down the street. But I got uh...inventive...with it and just grabbed my needle-nose pliers. I was careful not to strip the notches...
I turned the lock ring until it "locked" - meaning I didn't think it was going to get any tighter. 8 bucks saved!
She spins...
Awesome.
Monday, November 5, 2007
The Components!
Just as I did with the frame, I did a ton of research and drooling over parts. In the end, they had to meet three criteria:
1. Be functional for the type of riding I do
2. They had to technically fit the frame (and look good doing it)
3. Not kill my budget
I think I was successful on all accounts except #3. I dont feel I was being extravagant either--its just that getting quality parts is not cheap and even the little things start to add up. The look on friends faces when I tell them how much I have spent on a bike borders somewhere between confused and "are you crazy". The truth is, unless your Money-Bags McDuck, buying a bike of this quality will probably make your palms sweat as you reach for your wallet...
Anyway--enough of that. On with the fun stuff!
Here is a breakdown of what I will be putting on the bike.
Drivetrain
• FSA Gossamer compact crankset with MegaExo bottom bracket
• FSA Energy compact front derailleur
• Campagnolo Centaur Ergo 10sp brakes/shifters
• Campagnolo Centaur medium cage rear derailleur
• Campagnolo cable guides
• American Classic 10sp cassette (MORE ON THIS LATER)
• KMC chain
Everything Else
• FSA SL-280 seatpost
• FSA OS-190 stem
• FSA alloy headset spacers
• FSA Gossamer handlebars
• Campagnolo Mirage brakeset
Wheels and tires
• FSA RD-88 wheelset
• Soma Fabrication Everwear tires
That's everything! I would love to get into the details behind each purchasing decision I made, but I will sum it all up by saying that I really wanted some of the best stuff out there. I was picky about the components following a theme of sorts, the most obvious being black, but I also wanted to stick to a brand theme (Campy and FSA). FSA has some reputable, affordable and great looking parts--and Campagnolo needs no introduction. I chose Campy over Shimano for a whole bunch of reasons which I will get into later. For now I am just excited to have this blog up and I am ready to start building.
1. Be functional for the type of riding I do
2. They had to technically fit the frame (and look good doing it)
3. Not kill my budget
I think I was successful on all accounts except #3. I dont feel I was being extravagant either--its just that getting quality parts is not cheap and even the little things start to add up. The look on friends faces when I tell them how much I have spent on a bike borders somewhere between confused and "are you crazy". The truth is, unless your Money-Bags McDuck, buying a bike of this quality will probably make your palms sweat as you reach for your wallet...
Anyway--enough of that. On with the fun stuff!
Here is a breakdown of what I will be putting on the bike.
Drivetrain
• FSA Gossamer compact crankset with MegaExo bottom bracket
• FSA Energy compact front derailleur
• Campagnolo Centaur Ergo 10sp brakes/shifters
• Campagnolo Centaur medium cage rear derailleur
• Campagnolo cable guides
• American Classic 10sp cassette (MORE ON THIS LATER)
• KMC chain
Everything Else
• FSA SL-280 seatpost
• FSA OS-190 stem
• FSA alloy headset spacers
• FSA Gossamer handlebars
• Campagnolo Mirage brakeset
Wheels and tires
• FSA RD-88 wheelset
• Soma Fabrication Everwear tires
That's everything! I would love to get into the details behind each purchasing decision I made, but I will sum it all up by saying that I really wanted some of the best stuff out there. I was picky about the components following a theme of sorts, the most obvious being black, but I also wanted to stick to a brand theme (Campy and FSA). FSA has some reputable, affordable and great looking parts--and Campagnolo needs no introduction. I chose Campy over Shimano for a whole bunch of reasons which I will get into later. For now I am just excited to have this blog up and I am ready to start building.
The Frame!
I have only been riding for a couple years, and in that time have owned two road bikes (a 1990 Peugeot Triathlon and 1986 Bianchi Brava). A few months ago I decided to abandoned my headache of a commute on the DC metro system for a much more pleasant ride into the District on local paved trails. After a couple months of making the seven mile journey on the Bianchi--I felt I could justify the purchase of a bike more suited for the job. To make a long story short, after a ton of research and drooling over bikes and this is what I chose:
2006 Surly Pacer. There are a lot of reasons I chose this frameset. The biggest being that I wanted a steel frame with a classic geometry. Cycling technology has come a long way in the past 20 or so years with new materials and ergonomics. There are a lot of sweet frames out there that are much lighter and fancier than the Pacer--but I couldn't deny its purist call. I love how UNflashy it is. It has the appeal of a classic frame and Surly has a reputation for making some of the most affordable and well-built frames out there. I also figured it would be easier to find new parts for this bike as opposed to buying a vintage European frame with outdated measurements. Plus it was available in black... I found a nearly mint condition frame on ebay for 300 bucks including a EUROASIA stainless steel headset.
The headset looks amazing. The seller compared its price and quality to a Chris King. I cannot vouch for that though--only riding can tell...
2006 Surly Pacer. There are a lot of reasons I chose this frameset. The biggest being that I wanted a steel frame with a classic geometry. Cycling technology has come a long way in the past 20 or so years with new materials and ergonomics. There are a lot of sweet frames out there that are much lighter and fancier than the Pacer--but I couldn't deny its purist call. I love how UNflashy it is. It has the appeal of a classic frame and Surly has a reputation for making some of the most affordable and well-built frames out there. I also figured it would be easier to find new parts for this bike as opposed to buying a vintage European frame with outdated measurements. Plus it was available in black... I found a nearly mint condition frame on ebay for 300 bucks including a EUROASIA stainless steel headset.
The headset looks amazing. The seller compared its price and quality to a Chris King. I cannot vouch for that though--only riding can tell...
Welcome to Adventures in Bike Building
Let me start this off by saying I have no mechanical skillz when it comes to bikes whatsoever. This is my first complete build. I created this blog as a way for me to document share my experience. I plan on messing up quite a bit and maybe even taking it to a shop as a last-ditch effort to get it on the road. But I am stubborn and determined to get this thing rolling myself. My only hope is that you take something from this--whether you learn something new or just enjoy reading something that I am becoming more and more passionate about each day that I ride....
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