All my bikes and pointless upgrades: Fairlight, Stooge mk5,

Gimped my leg on my mountain bike a couple of weeks ago, 4-6 week recovery time with no cycling until then 🙁

Bike builds went on the back burner for a while but I'm now at the point I can stand on two feet in the garage for extended periods of time.

Finally got a set of Aerofly bars at a reasonable price to complete the tarmac so will start putting the final touches to it tonight. Then I get to just look at for another 4 weeks.

The desire to finish the on-one has diminished dramatically though and I think I might just sell the bits I have.

living vicariously via this thread. looking forward to pics

Pictures incoming!
It seems to be colder standing inside the garage than what it is outside.
Moving Lidl bike work stand into the house...

So many set backs with this. Had to order new hoses as the old ones were just a smidge too short.
I installed the bb bearings and the inner sleeve that stops the internal cable rubbing on the crank axle. But I done this before I had tried to thread the rear brake hose through the frame.
The brake hose hits the sleeve and it's near impossible to get it round past it and up the down tube. Really didn't want to knock the bearings back out so spent over an hour with picks trying to tease the hose around the sleeve.
Got there in the end but then realised the hose was too short. I realised if I took it back out I'd have to go through the nightmare of trying to get the hose past the sleeve again.
Ended up screwing a little red thingy, that's from a rockshox reverb hose kit, onto the hose then tying thread onto it. Pulled it out through the frame then put the red thing into the new hose and pulled on the thread to help guide it back around the sleeve. Worked a treat but fuck me it was stressful.

Should be able to take it out on its maiden voyage tomorrow.

Should be able to take it out on its maiden voyage tomorrow.

are you OK. is there an adult nearby who can help you

Rain? Back in the box until next June then.

It's been over 4 weeks since I've done any cycling due to an injury. Not quite back to one hundred percent yet but I have to get out for a gentle spin no matter what the weather is. I cant remember the last time I even went more than a week without any cycling.
I live next to the Campsies so a slow burn up the Crow and down the Tak is surely the best option after 4 weeks off..

Had a plan to finish one of my mountain bikes off with raw alu or polished components. Couldn't get the race face atlas cranks I wanted in raw so got a black set with the intention of removing the anodising and polishing them.
Finally started it tonight.

Done one so far and it's turned out OK. Few small nooks I'll need to use the dremel for tomorrow.
Ran out of the secret sauce for removing the anodising so will get a picture or two of them in situ on the bike later.

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Looks great!

Secret sauce you say ?

I want to do this to some rotor cranks.

Secret sauce you say ?

Ketchup, mustard, mayo diced pickles and a wee bit of vinegar. It's delicious.

If that doesn't work then try caustic soda instead!

I used the brand Amway oven cleaner. It's pours out in a pretty thick gel.
Any oven cleaner that has a high sodium hydroxide content should do the job.

Its nasty stuff though and could damage alloy parts if left on for too long.

Had an absolutely wild nye party in my garage last night.

My nomad was set up single speed but made a few changes last night.
Going back to a geared set up with a 7 speed cassette while my other bike is out of action.

Changed rear shock to an ext arma coil and finally fitted the cranks that I polished up a while back.

Cranks looks awesome. How does the polish hold up? I remember doing an entire frame years back. It took one ride in bad weather to complete ruin all the polish effort.

It took one ride in bad weather to complete ruin all the polish effort

haha unfortunately this is completely true. Years ago I had an Intense downhill bike that was raw alu. I spent an absurd amount of time polishing it up to a mirror finish. One ride in the scottish summer here and it was ruined. Didn't polish it again after that.

The cranks only just went on the bike and haven't been ridden yet. I'm not hopeful for them staying shiny but a rag and some Autosol once a month should keep them looking ok

Or pay ~£30 to have them clear-anodised and they’ll stay shiny forever.

I've wondered about this.
Have you ever actually had anything thats been polished then clear anodised? How did it turn out?

The interwebz has led me to believe that clear anodising its self dulls the finish slightly. But I dont know if thats really true.

Theres some one on instagram called Acorn plating who does some pretty nice anodising. He quoted only £20 for a different set of cranks to be done in a single colour. Didn't ask about clear ano tho

Was going to suggest Steve at Acorn.

Final result depends mainly on prep; teh-shineh in = teh-shineh out.

Ha! Yeah I feel compelled to get something anodised by him just for the sake of it.
The paint splat effect on hydro brake calipers would be good. I'd enquired about this but the calipers have to be cnc'd aluminium for the anodising to work. My sram calipers are forged alloy and for whatever reason can't be anodised :(

That's also what I thought. Isn't that why Dura Ace 25th ani was painted instead of anodized?

I'd sort of forgot to update this thread.
Have a long list of more pointless upgrades that I've bought over the past few months so will post up retroactively here.

First up is this Kona Sutra frame set I bought off the forum a few months ago.
It's got massive tyre clearance so going to build up some sort of gravel thing. I live quite close to the start of the West Highland Way and other gravely routes so obviously I need a purpose built bike for that.

Not sure if I'll go 1x or not

Keen to hear from any other Sutra owners

Next on the list is a coil conversion for my lyrik forks and then mixing some shimano and sram axs parts for a supposed best of both worlds

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Full sram axs wanker bike wasn't enough.
Needs shimano to function properly.

Eagle cassette has always seemed pretty shit under load.
So have a 12 speed shimano cassette and chain.
Replacing the sram cranks was a step too far but I've managed to source a chainring from North shore billet that has the shimano hg12 tooth profile but uses the sram mount.

Will it be better?

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Will it be better?

The internet appears to think so :-)

Yeah I've based this exercise largely on what the Internet has told me me!
Wouldn't be the first time the Internet has misled me though :(

I'm sizing the chain according to the 12 speed shimano method, Internet hasn't be able to say which way is preferable.

Update: seems like it doesn't quite match up as well as I'd like.
The sram and shimano cassettes are slightly different widths, I can have it shifting perfectly at one end of the cassette or the other. This is what I found other people reporting but some said shifting was perfect. Liars.
I think if I align it in the middle of the cassette I'll be able to get something acceptable. I'm rarely in the smallest or largest cog so should be able to get something that gives good shifting in the middle and better-than-sram-shifting-underload.

Love a sutra. All your other bikes are awesome as well.

That's possibly the last time I'll ever believe the internet

Thanks, wanted a sutra for an age. I was happy to get one in this colour, it has nice glittery effect in the sun that doesn't photograph well.
Only niggle is no thru-axle but I can live with that.

Just need some flared bars and tyres and it should be near a complete bike