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I was about to get the cantis dropped on the original forks + the midfork rando rack mounts. Would have been fine with 650b x 42 slicks but luckily I found brand new 650b forks on ebay for just slightly more money than the alterations would be.
The seller was https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/stanny5 and he had some more but they all seem to be sold now. -
I am trying to make up my mind about the crankset. The main difference between the VO and the SunXCD seem to be the chainrings. VO claims theirs have less flex and feature shifting pins and ramps. The VO crank only comes in 46/30 though.
So the big question:
Do I need shiffting pins and ramps?
The internet seems to be split about this topic.P.S.: The SunXCD clover leaf / Rene Herse Style chainrings have pins too and theoreatically come in 44/28 (seemn to be sold out everywhere) but raise the price by another £30.
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So I've read some more and it seems like I don't neccessarily need them but if I can have them I should go for it. So the Velo Orange Chainset it is. That will give me a
low gear of 30 -32 / 0.94 / 24.72 gear inches
and a high gear of 46 -11 / 4.18 / 109.93 gear inches.
Quite a decent range and if I ever feel the need for a lower gear I can still try to convince my derraileur of a 11-34 cassette. We all know Shimanos max teeth specs are quite conservative.
I also have one or two goat links lying around so that should be fine. -
Cranks and BB are ordered. Turns out the good old Shimano BB-UN55 has been discontinued and it wasn't that easy to find somebody who stocks the size I need.
While I am waiting for the cranks to arrive I tried something again.
In the very beginning of this project I tied to squeeze in these massive 650bx48 wheels. There was no chance they would fit. I actually haven't tried that again with the new forks and chainstays. There is quite some space left at the moment.Et Voila, turns out the chonky boys fit in well in the front and are tight but not unrideable in the back. I measured some real world widths and these black Kenda tyres actually come out at about 52mm rather than 48mm. So I assume some 47.99mm tyres should be okay ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Looks really badass in my opinion.
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This will be fabulous.
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Time for an update.
Last week I tried the big Kenda tyres on the actual wheelset. I didn't want to do this at first because changing tubeless tyres is a mess but it was the only way to figure out whether they would really fit. Turns out they don't... They ever so slightly rub on one of the chainstays. So everything back to zero and 42 mm resolutes back on. One takeway though was that I realized I prefer big black rubber on this bike rather than tan walls.
The Kendas with 52mm come in a bit bigger than they are supposed to be.
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In the meantime the BB and cranks arrived and I installed them on the weekend. Took them for a quick spin yesterday and really love them. So bling. The build is really coming together now.
Another thing I am experimenting with is an alternative set of seatpost and stem. I like the look and fit of the inline seatpost and the "simpler" quill stem. It makes it look more sporty in my opinion and it's overall shorter which fits me better.
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Practically my test ride yesterday took me past a friends studio who had an old Teravail Canonball 650b x 47mm lying around.
I got up early this morning and quickly installed it in the rear.
With slighly under 47mm this tyre fits very comfortably within save boundaries so I am really confident I can fit some true to size 47mm tyres. Just need to decide which ones.
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There some tyres I am considering. I want this bike to be reasonably fast and comfortable on the road but also able to take on some gravel (forrest and tow paths) so I guess a semi slick / low profile tyre is the way to go. I am currently looking at these:
Teravail Canonball Light & Supple
Teravail Washburn Light & Supple
Ultradynamico Cava JFF
WTB Byway
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After wrestling with this decision up to a point where my girlfriend would just sigh and go watch NetFlix because I am looking at / reading about / watching tyre reviews again I went with a pair of Teravail Cannonball 650b x 47 Black Light and Supple. I know the inspiration of the project almost dictated going for the Ultradynamicos but I really like the look of the borrowed Cannonball and I want the knobbier shoulders. As I said I will take this bike to mixed surfaces and if I have the choice I usually pick the off-road route. Having a bit of extra tread seems reasonable. I also read that while the Ultradynamico Cava is great on dry high-quality USA gravel it bogs up quickly in UK #NoGravel and doesn't shed the dirt easily.
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A few small updates. The tyres arrived and I love the look of them. Thick all-black rubber looks so much better on this bike than tan walls. Unfortunately of them has a weird wobble. At first, I thought it was me not seating them properly but I tried every trick now and the wobble is always in the same place. So that tyre is going back and I have to wait for a replacement. I might install the old Cannonball from my buddy in the meantime.
Another cool thing that arrived the other day is the Blue Lug Koma rear light. I spotted it on a few cool builds recently and I figured it's going to be a while until I'll actually wire a proper rear light to the hub dynamo. A good excuse to buy some bling.
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Tyres look great, the BlueLug light is cool too! What’s your IG?
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appreciate you uploading it here.
edscoble
russmeyer
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cheekysnaker
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Oddos Raleigh Ronniewagon, Brexit Crust Wanker Hybrid, Gravel Bieks and anodized aluminum
Posted by
@Oddo
I rarely grind and if I do is on the other end of the cassette.
Just giving the OP a different angle on gearing anyways, everyone focus a bit too much on having super easy low gears but if you spend most time in certain gears makes sense to have them in a straight line.