Arkose by any other frame

Yeah like I said it's just a short ride tomorrow so don't really need both bottles, and there is one under the downtube as well if I need two. Ideally I'd like three matching cages that fit without interfering with the FD. Will have a look soon

https://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/accessories-c11/bottles-cages-c139/water-bottle-spaceout-kit-p6378/s13612?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=problem-solvers-water-bottle-spaceout-kit-size-6mm-colour-silver-size-6mm-colour-silver-wcpsso6s&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&cid=GBP&gclid=CjwKCAiAt8TUBRAKEiwAOI9pAH9wTkodPJcG5aYuk8xfClDApGGPl5kRQiVd-3tqXBP2r_H0IPmjoBoCfcEQAvD_BwE

or similar

Washers.

Pretty nice, I like it! The wheels definitely feel a little bit sluggish to accelerate but not that bad overall. Really need those compressionless outers although it's also possible that maybe the brakes just weren't bedded in properly.

Also not sure how but the saddle clamp bolts weren't tight and the saddle slipped all the way back without me noticing somehow.

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Could be bedding in. I live in a really flat area and my BB7's took ages to bed in.
Bike looks good though.

Yeah, I tried jamming them on and off on any downhills and they did feel a bit better by the end of the ride. Would be nice if I could get along with these ones and not have to buy new calipers. I'll see how they go with the new outers

I normally go to a hill and do hard stops until they bed.

Sort of what I tried to do except I didn't want to hold everyone up! Might do this after work on my commute tomorrow though.

I run my BB7s with regular cheap shimano cables and outers - and they work well enough for me. #savethecablediscbrake

It's got compressionless outers and brifters now. Phone is broken so can't easily get a picture though. I've also ordered hubs for the new wheels.

Might go for a ride on it in the snow today - both my other bikes (both with MTB tyres) are out of action

Fun in the snow

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First glimpse of me on the forum...

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This thread has been a bit underwhelming. Waiting for hubs in the post from China for the new wheels but other than that nothing is happening with it as I haven't really identified anything that is in desperate need of an upgrade. I could do with mudguards and a front rack but I'm already 97% sure I want a Blackburn Outpost and I'm okay to wait until I go touring before I buy those two things.

So who wants to talk about bottle cages? I need three matching ones that clear the band-on derailleur. Currently got 2 × Tacx and one random metal thing.

Edit: actually there is one bit of news - I weighed my new rims and they're 846g/pair which is less than the 870g stated on the PlanetX website. A pleasant surprise.

Nothing exciting going on with this bike but I've (pretty much) built a new wheelset for it. Need to get rim tape; might go tubeless?

Heavy wheel is the old front, lighter wheel is my new one. Rear is 896g so total is just under 1700g. Not bad for a few hours work. Total spend:

• £30 on the rims (Pacenti CL25)
  
• £12.60 on spokes and nipples (ACI Alpina)
  
• £62.56 on the hubs (Novatec D791/792SB)
  
• £9.95 on posting things. The spokes and rims were from the UK, the hubs from China. Guess which one was free postage.
  

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Desticker my rims or not?

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yes. and put on a casette :D
Bike looks good though!

Cassette, you think so? Hmm...

I'm going on a trip around the West coast of Scotland soon, excited to give it a proper loaded-up ride!

That sounds good too!

destic-

Always

This weekend I did Newcastle ⇨ Kielder (wild camping) ⇨ Edinburgh on this with the full bikepacking setup. Ballpark 250km. Put the Brooks back on, perhaps not the best decision... but it felt okay by the end of the trip so hopefully I'm through the worst of the breaking in. Not sure what I'm going to do with the saddles; maybe keep the Brooks for touring so it doesn't get destroyed by rain, mud and muck and use the Fabric one for the rest of the time.

The wheels that I built held up well aside from some spokes coming totally loose on the first ride (before the Newcastle trip). Put the tension up by a full turn on each spoke and they've been fine since.

I did take some better pictures as a little experiment with a film camera but obviously I have to finish off the roll before I can get the film developed. So I'll put them up one day. Excuse the terrible picture and mess.

List of parts I'd like to get:

1. New derailleur - I'm going to switch to a GX 2×10 clutch mech next time I see one for sale for a reasonable price.
   
2. Some sort of subcompact chainset - 46/30 with 11-32 seems like it'd be better than what I've got here. I'm constantly cross-chained on 50/34 and 11-36. I counted the number of times I used my 50/11 on that 250km ride - it was only 6 times! I really don't need the top end. I'll probably try to do this with a triple chainset and put the 46 in the middle ring position, so it's essentially 1× with granny ring.
   
3. If I can get a 650b wheelset for under £50 (there have been a few on eBay) I'd like to give that a go.
   
4. Will get a Blackburn Outpost front rack one day
   

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Good stuff! +1 on smaller big ring up front. I've got 46/34 (I think) + 12-32 cassette, works fine for commuting and pootling around with a few bags attached.

Cheap 650b experimentation. £20 eBay wheelset and cheapie tyres from PlanetX. Wanted to do tubeless but the rims aren't up to it... clearance for 42mm is adequate at the rear, at the front I could probably squeeze in 2"! Think Kona repurposed a 26" MTB for this frameset. On 700c it's the crown that limits the clearance - width is massive. BB drop concerns me a little bit I need to take it on a proper ride to know.

Also derailleur doesn't actually clear that 42 sprocket, I need to figure out a solution to that. Also I lost a chainring bolt on a ride somehow?!

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PS. Clearly I forgot to update this thread. I went on a gravel ride from Dalwhinnie to Culra Bothy a couple of weeks ago and did a last minute 1× bodge in order to solve my bent derailleur problems. 42 + 11-36. Had to use these crap flat pedals as I was wearing hiking boots the whole time. Have some photos sat on a roll of film somewhere...

Ideally I'm going to have 11-36 on 700c wheels and 11-42 on these 650bs. I will still be using the double crankset for touring. Front brifter has been gutted and I'll be using a Dura Ace downtube shifter for the front mech.

Hopefully... it should only take me ten to twenty minutes to clamp on the derailleur, route the cable, bolt on the shifter and swap the crankset over.

Right, so I've been riding this a fair bit but it's finally "finished" with the installation of this 46/30 crankset.

So my options are

1. 650b×42mm knobbies with 11-42. Tyres are XPlor MSO I think.
   
2. 700c×30-32mm file tread with 11-36. Currently these are Gravel Kings in a 32mm.
   
   

The latter will be for anything that's more on road than off and vice versa. I will build myself a much nicer 650b wheel set sooner or later - probably the exact same hubs and spokes for simplicity - these were cheapies off a Voodoo mountain bike. When I do that I'll get tubeless rims and switch both wheelsets over to tubeless - have some of the SJS £3 G Ones waiting for that.

For cranksets I have:

1. 42t NW with SPD trail pedals
   
2. 46/30 with Dura Ace DT shifter and Rival derailleur and currently SPD-SLs though I might change those.
   
   

I will hopefully get pretty good at swapping these over and installing the derailleur. I just eyeballed it this time as it's a friction shifter so a precision install is absolutely not a concern. We'll see though.

The only remaining upgrades that I'd like are some slightly flared drop bars, a nice Blackburn Outpost front rack for proper touring, and some sort of mudguard solution. Frankly I have ridden for so long without them that I kind of just manage with being wet. A dynamo hub would be great too but I think I'd need two identical ones if was to continue with this wheel swapping business.

Do your front brake bosses not unscrew? Would clean up the look of the bike a bit.

Can't see the flat sides in your pic.