Dr Dave's bike prescription

A quick update on my old Klein MTB. Switched to some very wide, swept bars which has unsurprisingly transformed the bike. Much more comfortable and really relaxed and cruisy now, the steering has changed from bicycle to wheelbarrow but it’s a fun contrast with my other bikes. Also added a rack for local shopping / trundling functionality.

In other news, I’m trying to find the time to put bar tape on the Max Hill custom steel all-road bike and finish tuning it - will post pictures as soon as I can!

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Finally my dad’s all-road / gravel type thing is ready to ride. Huge thanks to Max @Biggles567 for building the frame, it is really, really lovely. He has taken some more pictures to post on his frame building CP thread.

A couple of thoughts / points to note on the build:

• I would have preferred less lairy branding on the fork, but the shape is nice, it was very good value and fits the frame geo / spec nicely. One day I might get it painted or upgrade to something a bit snazzy like Whisky, Enve etc.
  
• We will cut the steerer a bit shorter when the fit is dialled in!
  
• 35mm tyres currently but room for quite a lot bigger (a second wheelset in 650 with really fat tyres has been mentioned).
  
• Shimano SPD pedals on Campagnolo cranks doesn’t sit right with the bike snob in me but they are Dad’s old pedals and the old man DGAF…
  
• 12 speed Chorus is very pretty but the gears were quite fiddly to set up and disc brakes are new to me - I needed help from Max and eventually Lunar Cycles in Kentish Town to get them working properly. 165mm cranks as per his bike fit and very spinny gears, the chainset is 48/32t - my dad is 68 and in pretty good shape but this bike will eventually see some very steep hills in Wales!
  
  

I think the frame and build are suitably classy for a gentleman of his age but not too flash. He is very pleased with it!

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Nice. Very classy dad bike. I'm in full agreement with your dad, Shimano on Campag, this is the kind of thinking that brings down the system, fuck the purists!

Later this year I will be 40 - what better way to celebrate this milestone than to accept that it marks the start of middle age and to build my very own MAMIL chariot.

I bought this frame new a few years ago, at a very heavy discount, but have been waiting for the time to be right to build it. For some reason I have always had a thing for Wiliers, I have a Ramata steel frame on the wall and an Izoard XP was my first modern carbon road bike. I have loved the Cento Uno Air in particular since it was first released, I think about 10 years ago - I was just getting back into road cycling and as the top of the range at the time, but very much out of my price range it spoke to me somehow! One of the earlier generation of aero road frames, I think it is a nice combination of OTT aerodynamic lairyness with a touch of elegance, and more pleasing (to me anyway) in proportions than eg. Venge, Madone, Aeroad etc.

I fully expect opinions on here to differ - I am sure many will hate it but I am ok with that! I find the ridiculous over-branding of modern Wilier bikes kind of endearing but would really love to get it repainted one day in a plain colour - I can live with the blue bits and excess logos for now. It’s certainly more fun than my boring black TCR…

Parts have been stockpiled over the intervening years so it I am ready to build it - will post some progress pictures.

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These build are stunning. Loving your attention to detail. Keep it up! Looking forward to see what you do with the Wiliers

Thank you!

Finished! Very pleased with this, it is great fun. Definitely a mamil wagon. Feels faster than the TCR (frame is now for sale) although probably new bike effect! Must be a bit heavier but not excessively. Handles really nicely - front end is lower than the Giant and head angle steeper too, so it’s noticeably snappier.

50mm plain black wheels with tan walls for pictures, but I will probably ride it mostly with slightly shallower wheels - I have a pair of 40mm that are lighter and easier to handle in the wind. I am small and quite light so I do struggle a bit with deeper wheels when it’s gusty. Obviously a deep section frame like this might be a handful too, but so far so good!

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Hot 🥵 like the weather 👍

yeah looks excellent nice one

Thanks guys. Foolishly went for a ride this morning - thought I could get back before it got too hot. I was wrong! It was weird, like a bonk but not because I hadn’t eaten enough, I totally overheated and couldn’t make any effort at all…

Maybe that’s just what middle age feels like!

Stunning build! I can almost hear that deep carbon whoosh just looking at it. And you’ve got the rest of the summer to enjoy it!

Yes, it makes a great noise! Although it also amplifies any sound from the drivetrain, which I am still in the process of tuning - I had forgotten how much tweaking Campagnolo front derailleurs need…

Very pleasing build and i really love the colourway with the blue accents!

#would

I haven’t updated here recently, but have been working on a few bike projects, much hindered by my baby daughter (but she is a great excuse for more bikes, of which more later).

I think my old Klein has evolved to its final form as shown here. Chunky tyres, some nice Salsa flared drop bars and v brake drop bar levers from the forum and a Microshift bar end shifter. Finished it just before it snowed a few weeks ago, I had to ride to work that night with a lot of ice and snow on the road and this worked really well - my skinny tyre bikes would not have been safe. So this is now officially my snow bike, and will also be good for leisurely off road adventures - it’s a bit slow but comfortable and very sure footed.

Other recent projects include aluminium fixie for winter, to avoid completely ruining my Samson, and steel MTB dad bike with child seat - pictures coming soon!

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Excellent! Always enjoyed seeing your builds. Keen to see what the Alu track bike looks like. Did the Panasonic get sold?

Thanks! No i haven’t sold the Panasonic, but I did take it apart and the frame is in storage.

I have been riding the Samson most days, but sometimes my steel road bike too. I found myself wanting a less special bike to ride to work in winter. although I do look after the steel bikes quite well, I would prefer not to ride them when it’s often very wet or the roads are salted. I finished the winter bike a few weeks ago but haven’t taken pictures of it yet - will do soon!

I had forgotten about this bike i built for my wife - she wasn’t riding her road bike much so we sold it and did this for short local rides, shopping etc.

The frame is a very small aluminium Orange from from around 2000 I think - my wife is 5ft0. It’s quite a good one, some nice details and really light. The rest of the build is quite cheap but fun. Sorry about the pictures - I will take better ones but you get the idea. Have put on a front rack more recently, works great.

For old MTB rebuilds I am big fan of very wide, very swept klunker-ish bars without the forward bend of a lot of moustache type ones. I find they make steering very slow but really relaxed and cruisy. The dad bike, which I am just finishing today, has the same bars, as did the previous iteration of the Klein.

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This is the bike I built for commuting this winter, to save my Samson from the worst of the weather.

It’s a Specialized Langster - shown before and after. It was very cheap but a bit of a drive to collect it. I stripped the paint and clear coated the frame - I like how it mirrors the Klein with the bare frame and black fork.

The build is fairly unexciting with a new pair of wheels (Halo hubs / Mavic rims) and boring sensible tyres. The thing under the saddle is a mount for a Tacx clip on mudguard, a bit like a more rigid and durable Ass Saver. The old Sugino 75 chainset is a concession to my inner bike snob, and the snazzy bar tape brightens it up a bit!

I am very pleased with it, it’s really light and pretty fast, but looks quite unassuming - which is the whole point!

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Yeah that's excellent. OG fork graphics and that bartape with the raw frame work really nicely IMO. What product did you use to strip the frame?

Thanks! I used Nitromors again, like I did for the Klein. This time with a brass wire brush drill attachment to get into the awkward spots, which made it much quicker and easier. Still needed a few coats. I am sure there are better paint strippers, but Nitromors is really easy to find, not too horribly toxic, and definitely good enough for a job like this!

Finished the dad bike a few months ago but never got round to taking pictures.

Marin Bear Valley SE 1994. New Deore drivetrain, and I’m very happy with the DX V-brakes - a nod to my teenage self when these were the height of cool. The cranks are probably temporary, I would love to find some nice old ones eg. LX or XT in 170mm. Again the klunker style swept bars, and a charge plug saddle recovered with alcantara suede. For this child seat, a Thule Yepp mini, the mount for a quill stem is much better than the ahead mount. When she is too big for this seat the mount will come off and it will look even better, I might try an ahead adaptor.

It’s great to ride without the child seat, very chilled and cruisey. Even better, my daughter loves it - we started with very short rides around 10 mins in January, just after her first birthday. Now she will happily sit in there for 45 mins. Had a lovely ride in the sun this morning!

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Dadbike looks great, what are those bars?

Thanks. Bars are these:

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/handlebars/humpert-city-cruiser-al5000-handlebars-254mm-clamp-silver-635mm/

The choice for the shape I wanted with sweep but no forward bend that would also work with the quill stem is fairly limited, but these are great. There is another quite similar bar with a slightly nicer, curvier shape also on SJS but they are steel so much heavier.

Thanks. They also look pretty similar to Humpert/Ergotec Climber, although those are a few cm narrower, they are also half the weight

Yes the humpert / ergotec range is huge and very confusing!