Steamroller - rural doitall - my first wide tyre build

Moved rurally so this is my first dig at anything that fits above a 25c tyre. With working from home these days I only get the ferry to town once a week to be in the office so lunchtime and after work that day is grabbing everything I can from supermarkets before heading back for the ferry. Work at a fuel poverty charity as well so sometimes have to deliver wee oil radiators and things to folk who are struggling. As such I wanted this to be good for trails and road riding but also useful for shopping runs and delivering these bits as well.

Originally bought from @vequatrenligne and looked like this (wish I could take credit for the big block fork but that was all them!)

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First couple changes have been the saddle and bars and switched to some 32c panaracer gravelking sk and a different chainring

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After that I found a 55t zen chainring from an old build in my parts box so switched out the cranks and bb for some 75s to accommodate this. The ring fits with the tiniest of clearances!

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Next step was to make it a bit more useful so dug out an old blb takeaway tray and chrome duffle for the shopping runs

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Then I decided fuck it I’m going to treat this one nice. It’s currently in my lbs here (cycle Orkney if you’re ever here, great wee shop with some fantastic staff)

Because of all the salt up here I figured sealed bearings were probably the way to go (well apart from the 75bb but quite happy to pull that out and scrub it every few months)

Todestrieb rims are being rebuilt on Phil wood slr/pro track hubs and also fitting a black Chris king nothreadset (pinks were either hard to find or crazy money!)

Got a zero degree Thomson X4 stem for switching out and a Thomson masterpiece 240mm setback seatpost to get everything all matchy matchy. (If anyone has a spare Thomson seatclamp in black for a 27.2 post please let me know!)

Found the takeaway tray kind of limiting with the high rails so just picked up a black basil Portland rack for fitting when the bike is back, almost half the weight of the other and a heavier max load.

Wearing boots a lot more than trainers now so throwing an old pair of dmr v8s on them and have picked up some restrap horizontal straps as well. The toe clips were just a bit fiddly for getting in and out of.

Pictures to follow as soon as the wheel builds are finished

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steaming hot! subbed

Wicked, love where this is going. Always had a real soft spot for those, sounds like it's a proper workhorse too. Ace.

Are they old bars coming back?

Thanks very much, can’t wait to see it when it comes back from the shop

Cheers bud! Yeah I wouldn’t say any of my other builds have been overly practical so looking forward to this one

Nah, never really got on with wide bars so moved them on, they were just the truvativ ones if I remember right

bit more useful

Brakeless with a 55t Zen?! Looking good so far, those rims are beefy, what rim diameter/tyre combo are you going for.

EDIT: Ignore me, just spotted they're the rims you're already using!

Sorry to be the one to say it; I think it looked best when you bought it and every new modification is making slightly worse

Haha when I found it in the parts bin I couldn’t not.. putting a 21t eai cog on the back so should be pretty good for the hills around here while not being too spinny on the flats. Keeping these rims and really enjoying the tyres so it’s a 32mm rim width and 32c tyre

That’s fair, it was a pretty great set up when I got it! Felt like someone else’s bike though so started changing a couple bits and then just got excited because it’s been like 18 months since I put something together

Got it back from the lbs and loving the wheels! Phil wood pro/slr to the todestriebs and they spin forever. Went silver hub to black rim to kind of mirror the same combo on the cranks/chainring.

Not a huge fan aesthetically of the layback on the masterpiece but that and the zero degrees on the x4 make it a really comfy riding position.

Chris king headset is buttery smooth and liking the feel of this new rack. Much lighter and with a larger loading area.

Got the straps through but some of the stitching was loose so returning them and just ordered a set of ynots as they’re my first choice. Found a ratty set of v8s but they’re in a terrible state so picked up some v12s which are on the way.

Feels pretty bombproof and reckon it should last even with the weather up here given some regular regreasing and the like.

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very cool. glad to see my BB helped build such a tasty build ( posh rat ?)

It’s spinning beautifully, thank you! Haha yeah that’s what I was thinking, nice parts but not overly flashy?

All finished I reckon, got the v12s and ynot straps through and got a 35c on the rear now thanks to @LWZ

Realise it is a bit matchy matchy but I got into fixed gear in Toronto in 2008 so you should just be glad it isn’t double aerospokz or something..

Final spec:
Steamroller 59cm frame
All city big block fork
Phil wood pro hubs laced to hplusson todestrieb with gravelking sk
Sugino 75s and zen
Izumi super toughness
Chris king nothreadset
Deda crononero tt base bar 420m
Thomson x4 zero degree stem
Thomson masterpiece 240mm layback seatpost
max flite saddle
Dmr v12 and ynot straps
Basil Portland rack

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Looks good! What a view too... unreal

Thanks very much bud, I know right?! Can’t believe that’s the end of our street! Building a wee off grid house this year in the field on the right in the picture, can’t wait!

Since the previous photo I’ve made a few changes to this. Sold those wheels and just waiting on some Paul to mavics from @Wadi2

Replaced the longer stem with a shorter x4 and an inline post rather than the bendy one and got a long haul trucker fork for the front rather than the big block to increase tyre clearance there.

Going to be a little less silly and pop a 47t chainring or something on it and get rid of that 55t zen, always loved the look of it, just not quite what’s needed up here.

Main project for the summer will be a complete strip down, sand and paint again. Going to go with a pink to purple fade and try the black crackle over the top of it. Quite excited to try it all out.

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Think the cream really suits this but keen to see how this will turn out

Ooooh! Really excited to see how the paint job turns out. I was thinking of doing something similar like this with my steamroller.

Me too, I liked the cream but just fancied a change. Haha, it’s as if I didn’t have any other projects to keep me busy.. figure this is the way to at least make something look different for cheap as can’t afford a new full project just now..

@Oddo yeah I love that bike, was considering copying it but think a fade under the crackle would be quite nice, will keep you updated with my failures haha.. going to find a throwaway bit of something to test it out on first.