Three Nearly Identical Fixed Dolans

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  • Is there a project thread for that Garmin mount?

  • Pretty happy with that. IMO looks better than it did a few years ago with an all grey frame, fork and no graphic detail (will feature in chronodredge soon!).
    I initially fitted a silver (deanodised and polished) @mdcc_tester headset cover (45x3mm), but decided the black one looks better. Everything else was a straight swap from the black build.
    Only (aesthetic) problem for me is, as alluded to earlier, the front end is gloss carbon, but everything else is matte paint or matte carbon, which doesn't quite look right.
    The base bar and extensions will gloss up with use and look tatty more quickly if they're rubbed down to a matte finish, but the fork, IMO, would definitely look better in matte carbon.
    Planning to rub it down tomorrow night, then apply a few dusty coats of matte lacquer on a less humid evening later this week.

  • I'll cover it soon in this one :-)
    Nothing clever going on, just nutserts, printed shims and 1.5mm carbon sheet.

    EDIT: could do with using slightly thicker sheet, as you can see from the flex induced by the screws.

  • One slight cause for alarm: on dismantling the front end of #03 during the swap, I noticed a compression-induced crack to one of the fork ends. Not sure what the white stuff is... Presumably some kind of stiff plastic insert/filler/adhesive/resin used under the carbon, instead of aluminium (for lightness?). Fairly sure the white stuff isn't supposed to be visible on the outside (although I did notice this when first acquired, before painting; see below the broken area), so likely a manufacturing defect, but I guess that's the risk you take with unbranded Chinese carbon. Maybe my fault in part, for overtightening the hub bolts, or for installing a hub capable of such clamping force to a fork designed for use with skewers.
    Will certainly be going easier with the same wheel on the black (same) fork!
    Not sure if this would deteriorate further under normal use, but just to be safe (and because I now prefer the look of a nude carbon fork on the grey frame and CBA stripping it), it's going in the bin.


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  • I sectioned a cheap carbon seatpost at work a while back and the end of that was full of a white resin filler. We couldn’t really work out why it was there but our best guess was it was some kind of consolidator to make the moulding cheaper/easier/faster or they simply hadn’t been able to work out what sort of insert to use in the mould.


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  • Ah, thank you, I remember, excellent thread!
    Guessing having it visible on the outside was really only going to end one way.
    Professional opinion checkbox checked!

  • Changing the fork on #02 to something that suits the build better is now a little more than just an aesthetic concern.
    As a replacement, I’m planning to use this Giant Omnium fork, that was conveniently sitting in the parts bin, having recently been used with a Kuota Ksano road frame that I’m now getting rid of. The tapered legs are more elegant and tick the 'must look lighter and more agile' boxes. In general it looks a bit more ‘mid-to-late ‘00s’ than the BXT one, and the OD at the crown matches the head tube (45mm), so should be a good match.
    Obviously it needs stripping. Will apply a matte clear coat once it’s been rubbed down, but the 3k twill weave of the legs doesn’t match the plain weave used elsewhere on the bike (oh no!), so will decide later on whether or not to paint it black.
    N.B. For consistency across builds, it should remain ‘nude’, as forks used on the other builds show their weave, and this would suit potential future installation on #03.


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  • Weenie alert!
    Time to bust out the scales.
    As if any further justification was needed, the Giant fork is 22g lighter than the (damaged grey) BXT fork (bungs installed, and both steerers at 173mm).
    Yes, the grey one might be slightly heavier than the (currently fitted) black one because it's been painted, but I'll be stripping the Giant one, so still looking at around 20g net saving. Oh joy.


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  • Yeah, having re-read your post, the clamping has almost certainly crumbled that white stuff. A skewer probably would have done the same eventually. Once it’s crumbled enough of it out, it’ll be left with no structure to clamp onto and it’ll just fall to bits, so probs best to scrap it like you’ve decided to!

  • Moderately good post day today; serrated chainring bolts, and fresh bar tape for #01 because it got all ripped and bloodied the other weekend.
    DA 7710 bolts should lessen the need to carry a chainring bolt tool to races aboard one of the Miche Pistard Air-equipped bikes, and also match the pair of DA 7800 ones use on the seat clamp of each frame.


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  • Few shots from Ebor Alleycats Elimination Crit, York, 2018-07-14.
    I lost rear grip in the hairpin on the third last lap while third wheel of the final five, crashed, remounted and finished third. Looking forward to replacing that tape tonight.
    Many thanks @GideonPARANOID for the best shots during the race.


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  • Ouch!

  • Last update before I sort my laptop out this weekend and the begin chronodredging.
    Fancied trying out the remainder of the HC-spec parts I'd use (on my lovely flat 13.5km commute).
    Dura-Ace 7800 crank was an eBay bargain. Except for the few marks on the DS, it's mint, and it arrived fitted with the previously shown USE track chainring (53t), which bid up to £53 (£60ish posted), presumably because nobody wants to pay for a weird BCD130mm track ring or buy a 7800 crank without proper rings. I have some OG 7800 rings in my parts box so super happy to find a crank in this condition for so little (esp. when value of USE chainring is considered).


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  • The crank is 175mm, whereas my saddle position on the Adamos, identical across the three bikes, is set up for 165mm cranks. The chinacarbon saddle is great here, because it's about 12mm shallower in stack (measured from the centre of the rails), than the Adamo. It's obviously a completely different shape, and the surface is quite slippery, so this morning I was finding myself sliding back and adopting a more horizontal torso than usual (not a bad thing, just different to what I'm used to). Whereas I'd normally lower the saddle by a couple of mm to accommodate sitting further back, there's no need to adjust seatpost height at all after fitting this saddle, and it felt spot-on earlier, with no other adjustment.

    Chainring is a 42t FSA/Vision 10-11sp inner originally sourced to match a Vision carbon faced aero tri ring bought from @PhilDAS. I sanded through original horrible decals and matte clearcoated this, but it wasn't getting much use so sold it to @Borek 's better half, leaving the 42t unused until today. Definitely could go lighter but I like the way it looks, and the extra stiffness of a meaty ring should be beneficial when grinding. Might try to find a matching 40t as well, for a bit more choice.

    DT R460 wheels are originally (I believe) from a Specialized Tarmac, and belonged to @Kompute. The rear axle had snapped and he needed rid of stuff before moving to Copenhagen, so they were acquired in exchange for a Sugino Messenger crankset to be used on his city bike out there. I rebuilt the rear with a used Zenith track hub from the guys who now run Hubjub. These wheels aren't particularly light, and I don't have any shallow carbon tubs knocking around, but I do have a lighter clincher front wheel (using a Kinlin XR-19W rim), so might build a matching rear a if a well priced rear hub can be found, which would save about around 60g per wheel.


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  • N.B., the chain isn't some fancy Ceramicspeed one; just a KMCZ50HX treated with a wax formula I've been experimenting with over the past year or so. The white stuff is PTFE, which makes an imperceptible difference to the amount of drivetrain friction, but does prevent water and dirt from sticking, and acts as a kind of treatment 'wear indicator' as it slowly falls/washes off. Each of the three bikes use identical chains treated in this way, so looking back at previous pics, the whiter the chain, the fewer kms have been covered since its last treatment. After trying and failing to develop a decent 'top-up' lube to keep the chain smooth between full or partial re-waxes, I just copied Ceramicspeed and use Squirt (whom they recommended before, at great expense, developing their own top-up lube that's only slightly better), which is great.

    Final notes: the appearance of the fork is growing on me. Will have to wait until it can be directly compared with the Giant one after that's been stripped and painted.
    Also, I attempted to weigh the bike at work earlier, but I don't have access to an accurate digital hanging scale. On a floor scale accurate to three decimal places, however, the weight didn't increase above 6.3kg (with the bike partially leaning against a cupboard door), so reckon it weighs more than 6.5kg, but less than 7, as it is.

  • I will shortly be listing one of these for sale in matt black if there;s any interest with some FSA carbon cranks

  • Yum, GLWS!
    Glad to find another owner on here :-)

  • I would seriously like one more (ideally there'd be one for TT, one for track & crits, one for HC, and one for skids and messing about) but we just moved to a smaller flat...
    Plan is to strip and 'retire' the grey one to keep for spares, maybe repainting while it's bare, build the shiny one back up for TT (and turbo) use, and use the black one for everything else, all while using a Boardman TK Pro as the sensible, comfortable winter bike.

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Three Nearly Identical Fixed Dolans

Posted by Avatar for Lukas @Lukas

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