mustard's projects...

So it's pretty much done for now, at least until I have a bit more time on my hands, other than a chainring. Been commuting on it for a week now, using the outer ring from the triple chainset, obviously not ideal to be using a geared ring but it's holding the chain fine so far. Once I decide on the hearing I'll order something more appropriate.

Other than that and in no particular order, jobs I want to do:

1. Fit a flat bar cockpit I've got in the spare box
   
2. Improve the brake situation
   
3. Sort the mudguard lines
   
4. Try and refit the chain guard and kickstand
   
5. Mod the rack so it sits flatter and possibly allows a better fold.
   
   

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Looking good!

Cheers dude. It's a fun ride, albeit surprisingly heavy for something so small. A colleague passed me on the way in this morning so, obviously, I had to race her and only lost by seconds which was extremely satisfying even if it did mean I spent most of the morning in a puddle of my own sweat.

So the folder has been in a sorry semi-dismantled state. I got tired or commuting on 20" wheels so I rebuilt the flip/flop hub into an open pro and have been cutting about on this for the last year or so.

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Everything except frame & fork were parts I had lying around. F&F is a Decathlon Elops, at the time I was looking there was nothing I could find 2nd hand at a price I liked.

Ran it fixed for a while, flat bar then drops. Eventually decided I wasn't feeling it, put on a freewheel and lowered the gear a little. Oh and it got mudguards pretty quickly, commuting in Edinburgh sucks without them.

Will get an up to date photo tomorrow.

Was a nice surprise when the decals just peeled off.

This is the last photo I took of the Twenty before the change.

It might have to make a comeback when my next project is on the road...

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So, that next project...

After I sold my Madone I've been a one bike kinda guy but lately been wanting to start riding again and get some semblance of fitness back.

Have been digging around eBay and the classifieds. I thought I wanted a gravel bike but really only because I like a bigger tyre on my road bike. The canti brake Kepler I had was great and if I still had it would have been tempted to get the frame modified.

Eventually I narrowed down what I was after to steel and minimum 28mm tyre clearance. Thought I wanted discs until I fell in love with a rim braked Stelbel on eBay. Annoyingly, eBay crashed on my phone, for the first time ever, and my bid didn't register, it sold for less than I was bidding too.

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So I landed on a Volaire 853 disc. I've been collecting parts for whatever I was going to build for the last couple of years. I've a mish mash of Campag 11 speed: Super Record shifters, Chorus rear mech and Athena front. I had one Campag brake caliper but, as this is disc, I'll use Spyres I kept from the Cotic. There is a carbon chainset in the cupboard too but I forgot about it and got a Praxis carbon chainset so that's going on instead. It even turned up with the right BB cups for this frame which was a bonus.

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Some, kinda ugly, cheap enough to use as daily driver Vittoria carbon clinchers were the last major piece of the puzzle to start building this. 30mm Rubino pros to go on them. I tried my 33mm Jack Browns and they fitted with reasonable clearance but thought I should give myself a little more wiggle room.

Finishing kit mostly came from the parts bin - currently a Thomson inline post, I think that came from the Cotic too, with a Bontrager carbon railed saddle, one of the few parts I kept when i sold the Trek.

An old Genesis 120mm stem I used on the Trek for dialling my fit is a place holder, I need to check fit on this as I was sure this would work but I've flipped it to +6 degrees for now. Not as aesthetically pleasing as the -10 degree I had on there while I was putting it together... I've bought a steel stem from eBay to try, it's advertised as 25.8mm clamp so hoping it's actually 26.0. I've Nitto Noodles I have been wanting to try for ages and that would mean no shims.

Utegra rotors, not sure if these will stay long term bit they're fine with these wheels. Might need something a bit more trad looking.

I eventually got fed up the other night when I went to finish putting it together and still didn't have all the small parts I need so dropped it off at the shop this morning. I'm much less motivated to do my own spannering with a toddler in the house and work being a bit hectic at the moment.

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So, this thread hasn't been updated much but lots has changed...
The Volare is a lovely example of a modern steel bike but maybe not so practical as my daily driver and commuter, particularly on Edinburgh's roads, especially in winter. So that's for sale.

I got impatient and bought a Midnight Special before selling the Genesis. Everything except the cranks swapped straight over. I never got around to getting the Praxis BSA BB.
And it's great but there is something that's just not quite scratching that itch, so it's for sale now too...
I'll wait until the funds have landed in my account before committing to the next one, but I've a pretty good idea what it will be, so I need to throw the SS back together for a bit.

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Been running the Elops fixed for the last couple of months (with a super annoying rubbing mudguard after losing the brake bridge, eventually gave up and took it off tonight). But it's time to build up a geared bike again and hopefully start doing some longer rides as the weather improves.

I swore off discs on the road after the MS and was definitely going to go canti, as I still want to run decent sized tyres and mudguards, but none of the steel frames I came across grabbed me. A Cannondale T600 came up on classifieds the other week and I missed out, but it did reminded me how much I love aluminium 'dales. My Synapse is still one of my favourite bikes even though it's just the entry level models frame (that's hopefully getting bult up again in the summer if I can find the time & space). So, this is a longwinded way of saying I've got @skullandbiscuits Caadx en-route and yes, it is a disc frame.

Amusingly just looked back on this thread and realised I've been searching for the same thing since I started this thread, conclusions:

1. The closest I've come to having it is the Kepler I sold so I probaly shouldn't have sold it...
   
2. ...or I should have just ordered a Waltly in the first place
   
3. and @ldphotoworks effectively told me to buy a Caadx 5 years ago
   

but do you still have the forester?

Sadly no, loved that car, 2L na flat 4. Made the best noise but, with a regular short commute, the justification of poor fuel economy was more challenging than previously. Then it failed it's mot for corrosion and now I drive a very bland Tiguan.

Scrappy I sold it to must have welded it as I got an mot reminder text the other day and looked it up.

However, in happier news, this is progressing at last.

8 speed 105 with Veloce 10speed shifters.
Nitto B115AA from @krj - have wanted to try maes shape bars for ages but not sure how I feel about them.
Stem is from my first "modern" MTB I bought in 2nd year of uni. Just a placeholder while I find some shims.
Spyres for the moment but I wasn't a big fan of them before so a good chance they'll get swapped out.

More pottering tonight but what I really need to do is get to the shop to switch the BB to M30 and figure out what size chainring I can fit.

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Hubs are old Hope Pro 2 have been in a box so long all the O rings have perished...

Built them onto the Superstar rims I picked up when this was going to have cantis. I was worried when lacing them that I'd messed up spoke lengths but they came together really nicely/easily.

Ugh! Made it to my mates shop this morning. Knocked out the old BB30 bearings, took out the circlips, applied grease and and anti-seize as appropriate on the Praxis BB30/M30 bb, slotted the non-drive side in and...it doesn't fit. Cannondale have kindly left a big ridge around the inside of the BB bore.

As far as I can tell, that means I can't fit the Praxis cranks on this frame. So now I'm looking for some alternative BB30 cranks. I could get adapters to fit Shimano cranks I have kicking about but I want something chunkier on this and with the Shimergo gears, modern Shimano doesn't feel right 🤷🏼‍♀️

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Eventually picked up some cranks but was struggling to make it back to the shop to press in the bearings so I grabbed a scrap of threaded bar from work and bodged it myself.

The cranks are 3 bolt Force the previous owner "refinished" with grey paint, I'll sand them back at some point when I'm bored enough.

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After that ^ I discovered I needed a 13mm spacer and preload adjuster which added another week to the build...

But it's pretty much there now. Hastily adjusted brakes and gears on Thursday morning before it's inaugural ride.

So far loving it, feels like the best bits of the last few bikes while being lighter and stiffer. Running really quietly too which is always a bonus.

Couple of the cables are a touch short, shifters & bars need a tweak and bars properly wrapped. Just chucked on old tape until I've dialled in the cockpit.

Not 100% sold on the bars, they're narrower (on the tops) than anything I've used before so it's taking some getting used to.

I've a couple of different angle 120mm stems in the parts box I'll try out to compare with the 130mm that's on there. Steerer will get a chop once I'm happy with the rest of the front end.

Need a chain guide, it's dropping a little too regularly. Will see if I can add a bit of tension to the rear mech spring too.

So far, the waxed chain is a dream. Quiet and clean.

Need to adjust the mudguards so I'll order a new stay and probably add a forward one to the front and maybe a gopro mount for a light at the same time.

Want to try a stubby nose saddle, probably the selle Italia model X.

Last thing will be to strip &/or paint it but we'll see if I ever get around to that. For now I just want to get back out and try to get fit/fast again.

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Could do with painting the braking surface of those rims too...

Latest guise... -17 120mm stem instead of the -6 130mm. Didn't realise how bad the bar angle is until taking this photo - I'm sure I'll sort it in a week or two.

-10 120mm Pro stem en-route from eBay and about to order some Fizik for Snake 400mm bars. No idea how long it will take me to get around to fitting them as it will mean re-cabling too.

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In a shocking turn of events both the stem and now bars have been installed within days of receipt 🤯

Will see how the bars feel on tomorrow's commute, the tops look like ape hangers in comparison to the Nitto.

They'll need re-wrapped if they're staying. I don't like the bulge where it transitions to 31.8.

I've also optimistically put a Garmin mount on in case I actually go for a ride of more than 20mins.

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Still have ridden anything other than the commute but the bars did stay. Added a second stay to the front guard, flaps are next and maybe even a wash. Really enjoying this although I've lost the chain guide so it's started dropping the chain again...

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For the sake of repeating and expanding on what I just put in CP:

We've given our almost 4 yr old his first pedal bike, albeit using it as a balance bike for a little longer while he gets used to gears. This got me thinking about something more cruise for going out on rides with him. Hopefully something I'll not be too attached to too so it can live outside, but we'll see how that goes. It deffo can't live in the flat.

I started out thinking of a retro 26" MTB but worried that would become a money pit. Then I remembered I still have my old Norco hardtail that I could barely give away last time i tried. I also have a steel Genesis Fortitude fork from the GT Peace (which I absolutely regret selling). I'm pretty sure everything else I need to get it built up single speed except for wheels and maybe a long seat post.

The frame can take 26x2.35 if memory serves and I just chucked in 700x35 which fit so I recon there's room for 27.5x2.1-ish. I've got hubs and wtb 650b rims so first this I need to decide on is wheel size and tyres/rims. Leaning towards a pair of cheap 26" rims so I can max out the tyres but any input on cruise urban tyres appreciated. The only booze lights in existence seem to be green or brown and this frame is already a murky green so not sure I can go there.

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It's going to be goofy and kinda ugly but was always a fun frame so should be good if I ever make it over to the pump track too.