Dental Insurance (warning: low quality photo images only)

Its a tiagra derailleur yeah. I guess I'll just go looking for any 9 speed shifter then! Thanks. I've got new wheels, new brakes and new tyres but I'm away from the bike for a while so won't be able to work on it so will be anxiously ebaying in the mean time.

Not sure what to do with the rack. Might throw it at an enemy.

Amazing.

I've been budgeting and accruing parts so not been working on the bike much. Until now! I have 26 inch disc wheels (they've come with comically large rotors) some hydro brakes, cheap, big tyres from planet X and hopefully to come a 9 speed shifter because the new wheels came with a 9 speed cassette.

I nearly made a start last week but realised I needed some IS to post mount adaptors. I ordered the cheapest ones possible from China and waited for them to arrive whilst British industry withered and died all around me.

Then I had to work out which went where and which way round. Both front and rear rotors are 180mm so that didn't help me work it out. In the end I did it the old fashioned way: I tried every possible permutation, found none of them worked then tried the first one again and it was fine. Re attached the mudguards, pumped the brakes a couple of times and we're half way there:

FAQ
Why aren't your photos shit anymore?
Sadly I bought a new phone. The photos are no longer shit but rest assured everything else is.

Why did you get ugly brown tires with ugly reflective strips?
They were the cheapest, biggest tyres I could find. I'm hoping I can remove the reflective with a hairdryer.

Don't worry about the strips.

Have you considered a rubber flap at the front, to keep your feet dry?

There already is one! It's just not very long (came with the mudguard)

I might get a larger one at some point but it seems a faff.

A worthwhile and satisfying (and not too large) faff though.

Excellent thread. Bike is cool too.

You can remove the short one and replace it with something like a Bibia. They're cheap and pretty big, although ultimately any rubber sheet would do.

Is it much bigger than this one? Can't tell from the pics. (Dunno if you can tell from this pic)

Went for a lunchtime ride out to the chalk pits. They're full of chalk. I asked if they had any dry wipe markers but they looked at me weird.

You should level your saddle a bit....

Anyway. Work continues apace but the rear I.S to post mount adaptor is not the right size for a 180mm rotor so I better get a new one. Also shout out to my cheap work stand. The head gradually works it's way lose and falls off the stand if I touch the bike too many times giving all operations a sort of Crystal Maze automatic lock in vibe.

Who makes Good cheap but not this cheap work stand@

It is (175mm x 130mm). You could bol or rivet it at the bottom of yours.

Welp as per Frankenbikes recommendations I got a 9 speed shifter off 'bay and fitted it, as well as the disc brake rear wheel, tyre, disc brake etc. Also got a new work stand which has made things a bit easier.

I absolutely hate running cabling. Is there some secret to doing it without the cable fraying all over the place?

I also found that the top tube cable guides were too tight to fit the hydro hose in. I stretched them out with some leverage from my screwdriver but now I can't bend them back in. I might have to consult with Professor Mallet again.

Overall results are...OK. The shifting is probably the most successful, though I think the chain definitely needs shortening, but I'm going to wait because I might want to fit a larger chainring to the front. The front brake seems OK, but there's something grinding on the rear brake. I feel like it's actually the calliper itself rubbing against the rotor? It's not so serious that I cant ride through it and it only seems to happen on certain points in the rotation. I also feel like my liberal application of washers might be doing me dirty. Who puts a 180mm rotor on their rear wheel? Absolute madness.

Also since I fitted the rear wheel there's an ominous ticking that I can feel when I pedal. I wanna say its something to do with the bottom bracket, but that was one of the things that I got the bike shop to do.

So the current to do is:

Sort the grinding rear wheel. (probs urgent tbh)
Get the rear wheel trued
Either squash the cable guide back in or apply more cable ties
Remove the canti studs (need a higher quality spanner than the one i have)
Ticking sound (???)

Bonus content:

Surely this can't be right?

Also I just realised I should probably swap the 8 speed chain on there for a 9 speed one.

If you take the caliper off again, you should be able to see if the rotor is eating it by any worn-away metal.

Looks like you've installed it properly to me though.

Also I'm glad the shifter works!

Well, there could be an ignominious end to the Dental Insurance saga. As we know, I built this bike hoping to leave it at my mother's house. However, I forgot to get permission for this project before going ahead with it and it has sadly been vetoed at the 11th hour, citing concerns about a "lack of space in the garage" and "not wanting [my] rubbish around when [I] never come home anyway"

So, I've decided the only option remaining for me is to get a Velo Orange Minivelo, but that leaves the question of what to do with the project in its current form? My options seem to largely be:

Sell the whole thing as a complete, guess I would get. max, 250?

or

Keep it and try and swap as many of the parts as possible to the Minivelo, (bottom bracket + headset are brand new, guess they would transfer, cranks would probably transfer but might have issues with the gearing being way to low in its current set up, rear derailleur, brakes, cockpit etc should be fine, the seatpost is the groovy dahon pump one that probably isn't long enough, hubs are Deore and I guess could be used to build new 20 inch wheels? I am not an expert) The fork on its own is probably worth something given its a Surly. The frame itself is basically worthless and I could give away.

Anyone have any thoughts on which course of action would be best, moneywise? Feels a shame to dismantle this just after building it but I really have no use for it day to day, and building bikes is more fun than owning them anyway.

I would just sell it as a complete and get a second hand Brompton or so instead. Those VO mini velos are pretty expensive and that seems a bit of a waste if you barely use it anyways..

Swapped to an old fork I had lying around and added a battery powered light on the fork. Think I'll probably try and sell it in this format once I get around to it.

Allow spacer stack it's to provide options for whoever buys it from me.

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Aha, an ex Neilson bike. I used to work for them out in Greece and was a stand in bike guide/mechanic. Great to see one still going. That will have done many a mile of dusty rocky Greek fire road and farm track back in the early 2000s.

My mate is in the market (and also ex Neilson) but I think it will be too small for him. What size frame is it?

59cm top tube I think? 52cm seat tube? Cool to hear that's what the bike was used for! I had no idea what that sticker meant..