Leader 722TS Heritage Edition

Here's my first fixed gear build - started off as an Opus FX 2011 but I swapped out the frame recently (preferred track geometry to relaxed) so it's literally a whole new bike...

Rear brake because, sadly, a fixed rear wheel does not constitute a brake in Japan and people can be (and have been!) fined about £400 for only having a front lever).

Headset (FSA Orbit DL) and cranks (Lasco) will get switched out when I have the money, but they're fine for now.

The bars are Nitto RB-021 pursuit bars. They're really, really cool but today I picked up a set of Nitto RB-001s (and shims sigh) because I found riding on the 'flats' to be a pain - there's a lot of drop. In heavily congested areas I found it was messing my wrists up a lot. The new bars are almost zero drop (and a little shorter) and so far I like them. I have black keirin rubber grips on the new bars and they should be good as soon as the soap dries and they stop sliding around!

Anyway, any constructive comments or suggestions would be awesome.

(Click all images to enlarge)

Bonus on-location shot!

SIDE NOTE: I have a bunch of extra parts now. The old frame, pursuit bars, a pair of unsprung cross brake levers, a flat bar, a top tube pad (!)... any idea where I might be able to sell them in Japan? Anyone in the UK likely to be interested?!

With a name like that, is that the cafe that sells coffee and tea with breast milk?

With a name like that, is that the cafe that sells coffee and tea with breast milk?

Funnily enough it has nothing to do with breasts at all. Just Japanese weirdness, I guess.

It specializes in tea (available in a variety of cup sizes) but doesn't even have a bike rack...

No shame in having two brakes, matter of fact, they're very underrated.

This is the new bar setup. I might just tape them - I'm not sure yet.

^I would tape them. You'll relish the tops of the bars when cruising, and bare metal bars with gloves is always a bit dodgy grip wise. Also will look better.

Tip for next time - don't use soap with rubber grips! Plain water or pure alcohol if you must, spraymount even better (must get them on quick though...) but plain old HTFU is the best way.

These aren'y my kinda frame but I think you've done a decent job. A tad too much red IMO; black tyres and perhaps a neutral chainring would improve it a lot.

Or even cheap hairspray, the cheaper the better.

Yep have heard that but never tried it. The other methods I have. Funnily enough, never had any hairspray to hand...

Thanks. This morning the grips were still moving so I removed them, scrubbed everything with alcohol and then tried soaking the grips in hot water before sliding them on with hairspray. Went out for a ride this afternoon and although they seemed set when I started, they were soon halfway off the front of the bars...

They now have good ol' Fizik Microtex. Much better!

Good stuff. Not red though, I hope? ;-)

The black velvety one without the Fizik logos all down the side (I hate the shiny stuff).

Is it bad that secretly (or not so secretly), somewhere in my head, I have a niggling desire to buy an Arrospok for the front? sigh

I do genuinely find myself dropping off quite high curbs sometimes and I've had to true the front rim once in the past few months. I wouldn't mind something stronger and, well, they're something of a guilty pleasure...

Don't buy a red aerospoke then :P Black one wont look ugly.

you can't true arrospokes. Once they're out, that's it.

Yes, it is bad. But its your bike, so do what ya like with it! Can't say I'd feel happier dropping off kerbs on a spok than a proper wheel. Wait, what you doing on kerbs anyways? Tsk tsk.

Wait, what you doing on kerbs anyways? Tsk tsk.

Japan's bike laws are... strange, to say the least. No-one really knows what they are. Including the police!

I've been told by cops to get off the road and ride on the pavement. Then two blocks down I've been told to get off the pavement and ride on the road by a different cop. A lot of the pavements have dedicated cycle lanes (that people inevitably walk in), some have signs stating that you can ride on them, and some are officially pedestrian-only but no-one gives a shit. It's really confusing.

Basically the first part of my university commute is on a pavement cycle lane (dodging onto the pavement itself or the road when neccessary - carefully! - to avoid the morons who walk in the lane) and the second part is on a road, between which are kerbs. You often find it's neccessary to transition from one to the other outside of that commute, too, and often there are decent sized drops down.

In short: Japan is a mess and you just end up learning to use common sense and ride wherever is safest.

You should leave it to dry properly before going for a ride straight away after installing the grip.

Sadly I need the bike to get around every day! Saying that, I made an effort not to ride the horns - further 'onto' the grips was onto the shoulders, and yet even that was enough to push them forward off the bars.

Ideally it's best to leave it overnight to get it to dry properly, so the next morning it'll be dry.

the other problem is that the more you attempt this the more it'll stretch, so be careful next time you install them.

Loved the look of the Nitto RB-001, I didn't like the inward curve on the hood, but I reckon it's comfortable to ride on all the time.

Have to agree with some of the other comments, I think if this was all black it would look stealthy as fuck. And awesome. But nice frame imo!

The crankset needs replacing at some point (well, it's fine for now, but I'd like a Sugino Messenger set) so perhaps I'll go all-black. I personally like the splashes of colour and think it makes it a little different from the many other stealth bikes, but hey ho.

I'll see if I can get a photo of it with taped RB-001s today (I'll be riding it nearly all day...).

With the new bars, wrapped.

Today I set about seeing if I could slam the rear wheel further into the cutout (I can't without a half-link chain, which I don't really want) and when I came to retension the chain I realised how WAY off round the crankset is. It's terrible! I can have a totally tight chain at one part of the rotation, and on the other side I'll have an inch of play or something.

I'd been getting vibration as the wheel spins which I put down to a tight chain link. I rode it for a week to see if it went away - it hasn't. I think it's because of this, actually.

Next month I'm definitely going to switch out the crankset for something better and then consider this done, I think.

Isn't it more likely that it's the ring that isn't round, rather than the crankset?

I don't know, but I would have thought that measuring the ring first, before replacing the whole thing.

If it is the ring, TA are good and not too pricey.

As for the vibration, have you also checked that your wheels are true and there's no brake rubbing?

They're not brilliant cranks anyway - Lasco I think - so I figure I might as well just replace the whole thing if I have the cash.

The wheels seem true but I'll drop into my LBS this week and have them checked properly. Brakes are fine. It's not really a vibration, more like a rattle. I hammered the bike all day today and it was really very noticeable.

are you sure it isn't the cog that isn't round?

The rattle occurs at the same point of rotation of the cranks, so I guess the problem lies with them or the chainring.