vp's Cogworks: The Marin and Beyond

how does the disc rotor adaptor work?

"just bolt that sucker right on" I guess
I'm gonna use it the standard way though as on the top pic.

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Lovely, look forward too seeing more of this Raleigh

Cheers, it's been sold (un)fortunately. Was a tad too small anyways.

If all goes well I will have some more skinny wheel content sometime during the autumn though.

As much as I love its looks, unfortunately the C15 is not compatible with my arse. Yesterday I had a ride of ~35 km and I can barely sit lol - the hunt continues. Just ordered a Bontrager Verse Elite for very cheaps, no high hopes, but it might work.
Gearing: the 36T single chainring is really not enough for tailwind-boosted flats and descents, so the 2x conversion is definitely happening to the Marin, hopefully I can finish it over the weekend.

In early 2010 I bought my first road bike from Decathlon, for which I have saved up for a looong time. Had I known about this (or any other) forum back then I would have definitely gone with another bike, but ignorance is bliss. Back then I did not give much thought about tinkering, it was all about going fast.
My love for road cycling quickly died though after realizing that the roads were so utterly shit in my region, that it's a literal pain to ride on them. Once again, my ignorant ass could have just squeezed in some 28C tyres and part of the problem would've been solved.

I then took a deep dive into the tinkering business, done some fixieskidder projects, retro MTBs, ghetto gravelbeiks etc. The B'twin linked above was scarcely used by me ever since, but my mom would sometimes ​take it for a spin during summers. However, not so long ago she surprised herself with a new bike, which actually fits her.

Now I live in a place where nice roads (and proper bike lanes/paths) are a thing.
After some brainstorming I've come to the conclusion that I absolutely do not need another bike, I barely have space for the current ones, funds are limited and so on.
But this is happening anyways.

The current setup is:
B'twin Road Sport 2 2009
Shimano WH-R560 wheels
Sora 3400 triple groupset
105 5700 rear derailleur
B'twin finishing kit

Plan:
re-cable everything
Litepro 46T NW chainring
SwissStop Race Pro BXP brake pads
longer stem, compact drops
proper tyres
proper saddle

I want to keep it as cheap as possible, will try to source most of the stuff second-hand. Shouldn't cost more than 150-200 euros.

This thing's really fun, but I need a shorter stem for proper comfort. Cheap ZTTO tensioner+single speed adapter works like a charm.

This looks extremely rad

Cheers! Probably the most baller bike I've ever had. Thinking about a pink/purple bottle cage, maybe pedals too...

I think it needs purple brake noodles

Checked over Ali and eBay, couldn't see any, good call though. I'll keep my eyes open.
I did however find some pink chainring bolts and cable ferrules that look promising.

So, pink/purple cable ferrules, chainring bolts, bar end plugs, bottle cage bolts and most importantly valve caps have been ordered. I'm getting a new stem tomorrow, which is much less rad unfortunately, but it should solve the comfort issues.

Meanwhile a Pompino popped up locally that's just my size. Really hope I can get my hands on it, I've always wanted a Pomp.

Thinking about wrapping the bar with some cloth tape on the Minerva, but which colour should I go with? Black is the safe option I guess, but I kinda dig the idea of pink.
Yesterday I changed the stem to this, the bike went from wanky to wonky right away, but it's much more comfortable.

For the Marin:
I would love to get a Velo Orange quill stem with the 31.8 clamp, but I cannot justify spending over 100 Euros for a stem.
Instead I ordered this fishy looking fella:

As far as I remember TVH used this on his sick flame tourer build, which is one of my favourite bikes of all time, so I'm confident it will work.

I would love to get a Velo Orange quill stem with the 31.8 clamp, but I cannot justify spending over 100 Euros for a stem.

I feel seen.

Shiny purple single speed is looking great too!

I have one of these on my round town lock up bike. Equal parts ugly and functional. Think it works on the tourer cause the rack hides it lol

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Ta!

My bikes are generally ugly, so stems are a negligible aspect hah! Yours is rad though

As ugly as it gets, but hell it's comfy.

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And then there's this monstrosity.

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Both look incredibly rad

Way too generous, cheers!

Some more pics of the cockpit. Had to put that ugly ass spacer beneath, this stem has a real short clamp.

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If you put a random colour anodised spacer and tie some string on the handlebar like a friendship bracelet, people will just assume it’s very expensive and or hesh

Can't seem to find any harsh/rainbow coloured ones over Ali. :( Only dull colours and of course carbon. Good tip though, will keep my eyes open.

And I've just ordered a black B17. Never had a proper leather saddle before, really curious how comfy will it be.

Should I just take one step further towards the Radavist path and install downtube shifters? I reckon my dt is 28.6mm, clamp-on shifters should work, and they are cheap too... Need to measure my downtube to be sure but if it's the correct size I might just go for it.