frankenbike's frankenbikes

I still need to figure out how I'm going to attach those bloody Pradaflaps as well. My dremel has died so bit more difficult to do now

New groupset and brakes are on. Still need to sort cranks because it grinds like some sort of grindy thing in the 51 sprocket. 30×51 is pretty funny but think I'm at or past the lowest useful ratio.

New flat also. Can now access air in lockdown. Nice.

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That's good. Sprightly colour as well.

Whoa, this is good!
How do you like riding with this handlebar on this bike?

It's the first time I've ridden with those bars and I only did <1 hr of local hilly stuff. They're pretty weird but felt okay. Quite upright even with that 50mm stem which is pretty long by MTB standards. I think for proper MTB trails they're a little suboptimal, but for lockdown bumbling they are just fine. Think they would probably work best for singletrack bikepacking stuff. I've got normal 760mm bars if/when I get back out to the local trail centres.

@Tijs thanks. Quite like the orange but it doesn't seem to be a very durable paint. Think it was the right choice over the raw steel

For my Kona I've got two new sets of tyres ordered. Hutchinson Override in 700c×38mm and WTB Sendero in 650b×47mm. Resent paying the gravel tax for the Senderos but there's just not enough clearance for anything above 2".

Edit: Senderos were about 5 times the price of my Vittoria Peyotes. Ah well.

Girlfriend's little town cruiser finally finished. Think I might swap it for a small rim brake CX bike as I have a few spare road wheels at the moment. She's already complained that it's slow compared to her CdF with 650b×42mm semi-knobblies. Must be truly slow indeed!

(Don't look at the guards or the unpacking mess in the flat. Need to add rear light somehow too.)

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WTB Sendero in 650b×47mm

Keen to hear what you think of these and see them on. I'm eyeing them and resolutes to replace my racekings when they wear out - similar clearance reasons.

Lovely bike overall, and hey, town cruisers don't need to be fast!

The Senderos have finally arrived. The old Peyotes were coming up at 52-53mm on a 20mm internal Hope rim. A Sendero looks to be 46.5mm on the same rim. Got plenty of clearance now. My other wheel has a KOM i21 so I'll put that one on too and see how wide it comes up.

They look a bit funny actually. Just like an old school 26×1.9" tyre. Very knobbly, more like a trail tyre than a XC tyre which is what I had in mind.

I'll get the other one on and take a picture later tonight

Thanks

Very knobbly, more like a trail tyre than a XC tyre

Having done a little more reading, this is putting me off I think, would be worried about just how draggy they might be

Likewise, I'm a bit perturbed as they're much more aggressive than I expected. Unfortunately I've ran out of sealant so can't ride them to say how draggy they are. Or get them to stay up

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Drivetrain on my Kona is wearing away. I think I'm going to have to replace a good chunk of it next pay day.

It is kind of close to what I wanted to achieve, but not quite right. What I am after is:

• 1× most of the time, on a ~40 ring with 11-40 or 42
  
• 2× for touring with a 46/30 (happy to potentially switch back to 11-36 here - though with careful shifting I shouldn't have to)
  
  

The problems with the current setup are:

• I only have the one crankset, so I have to remove the lot and undo all the chainring bolts to swap over
  
• Removing and installing GXP cranks is shit
  
• I've only got an 11-36 cassette and a 42t chainring, so I have to choose between 42/36 being my lowest gear or using the downtube shifter. Neither is optimal for off-road/gravel type stuff.
  
  

I think what would be preferable is one crankset that has a removable spider. So I'd be looking at something like 11-speed Rival (is also GXP, so less inclined to go for this), Rotor, Race Face, Easton, or something. 1× is fine with all of these but the problem is the 46/30 - I think I'd most likely have to bodge something with an MTB spider.

I am quite happy with the downtube front shifter and bar end rear, and with 10 speed (but could be persuaded swap to SRAM 1×10/11 brifters I guess)

Square taper - not for me, 4-bolt asymmetric pattern - fuck you Shimano, spending £200 on cranks - no, Q-factor - don't give a shit

Is it possible?

Edit to add: guess I'd be fine with something in the more traditional vein of 50/34 or 46/36 or something for touring if it was paired with an 11-40/42 - so maybe that's my solution

Thinking I might get rid of my Giant and re-roadify my Kona, thereby willingly lowering myself onto the bear trap that is the do-it-all bike. So have got the following ordered:

• 38t Rival 1 cranks (chainring probably a bit small but whatever)
  
• cheapo 11 speed 11-42 SunRace
  
• 4 × 11 speed chains (they were cheap)
  
  

I will need some shifters and probably a derailleur at some point. Might go to hydraulic although my experience is that it's really not worth the price difference...

Probably will keep my current bodgy drivetrain for a touring backup, in reality I don't go very often and know well in advance so it's hardly a big deal to swap it.

If I do get rid of my Giant I'll probably also get the following:

• carbon fork (maybe Fyxation?)
  
• dedicated road wheels
  
• bars with less flair
  
  

We'll see how it goes.

Why am I doing this? Fuck knows.

2× for touring with a 46/30 (happy to potentially switch back to 11-36 here - though with careful shifting I shouldn't have to)

Get an XT RD; it can handle 46/30 x 11-40 without careful shifting.

With a Shiftmate/TanPan thing? Hmm... guess I'll see what shifters I end up with

I think my current GX 2×10 should be able to do it as the capacity is 47T as far as I can tell. But I've not tried it. Maybe I can set it up with a friction shifter and a spare 9 speed 11-40 cassette

With a Shiftmate/TanPan thing?

I'm running microSHIFT MTB Shimano 11-speed bar end shifters personally. Works like a charm.

willingly lowering myself onto the bear trap that is the do-it-all bike

Bad idea but I'm in for the ride. Post a pic of your giant? I went back and found nil

willingly lowering myself onto the bear trap that is the do-it-all bike

Oh you sweet summer child

Featuring the rear of my new half-built wheelset, crap pic., poorly angled bars, etc.

As "road" bikes go I think I've got the two ends of the spectrum with a Kona Sutra and this thing. Which is why do-it-all Kona is destined to fail

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sums up my bike building life

bar angle is more fucked up than your bike history

Its tape is the worst bit

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