Marcootsee's self-indulgence odissey (aka this bike will be the last one)

Looks great, big frames tend to have such good proportions. Fenderline is fine in the grand scheme of things but if you decide to lower the front then you could lower the canti yoke at the same time -- every little helps with those Dia Compes!

Thanks @Browndonneur! I set up those brakes following the guidelines I've found in the packaging, but i reckon every little tip can help! I've added this one on the to-do list 🙏

Had a spare half hour after work and i did some Zen-TLC to the Fairlight. Cleaned up and regreased all the bolts on the fork and all over the frame, relocating the cages inside the front triangle for the time being.

Didn't take any other photo because i did this job in the living room and it's a tight space, but i'm gonna snap some in the coming days. The bike is running fine but it needs a proper brake bleed and some other little stuff.

1 Attachment

After three weeks of useless faffing with the FSA headset, i decided to give it back to the seller (a friend of mine, luckily) and put the Chris King from the Cinelli. Since this bike is the one that will see the most riding time and the one i'll probably keep for longer between the two, it made sense. The Cinelli is back on his original one.

As a friend of mine said "if these King headsets are really immortal, what better place than the commuter?" and i couldn't agree more. If you're not a bike nerd, it looks like any other black headset around! Also @Browndonneur, i managed to lower the canti yoke as you advised, let's see if there's an improvement!

2 Attachments

Looking good! If you don’t notice a difference with the cantis then I’ll pull the “UsE kOoLsToPs” card lol. This is probably the best guide I’ve read on setting them up though:

https://blackmtncycles.com/get-the-most-out-of-your-canti-brake/

Cool headset too, will look even better once weathered and beausaged on the commuter.

+1 for better pads, but with a head tube that masssively tall I would suggest a sturdy (ie Tektro) fork crown mount cable hanger and fuck off the headset cable hanger. The effects of fork, frame + hanger flex will be magnified over that distance; judder, squishiness, squeel / noise, etc

Ah don't worry about the beusage! I scored this headset for cheap because it's missing the top cap and the cups are discolored from a previous lifetime of use (and abuse)!

Thanks for the guide, everything that Mike says is as good as it gets.

1 Attachment

I've thought about it, but for now i'll just squeeze them enough to be safe! I can't be bothered to unwrap and re-do everything for marginal gains, at least until i swap these pads out for Kool Stops

If i can stop with one week worth of groceries i guess i'm not in a hurry

1 Attachment

Motivation to post and do mechanical stuff faded quite a bit, after all the really awful events these last days.

These shots are just a spare selection of stuff i did in the last weeks. It's always important to remember that, before everything else, bikes are meant to be ridden and to be used as a tool to connect people and share experiences.

5 Attachments